Great Adventure 07/14/09 (LONG)
Made my first trip out to Six Flags Great Adventure -- don't know why it took me so long to go, since it's not like its all THAT far from me. Not sure what i was actually expecting from the park, but i was pleasantly surprised after hearing various horror stories of excessive crowds and unruly guests.
Weather was beautiful -- hot but lacking oppressive humidity. Got to the park at 10:30(ish) and the parking lot looked pretty light. We didn't get a Flash Pass right away (waiting to see what crowds would be like and we were on a bit of a budget) and ultimately decided not to get one at all, which wasn't the worst idea in the world, as it would turn out.
We decided to start over by Batman/Nitro and work our way around counter-clockwise, since everyone else seemed to be heading the opposite direction.
Hit Bat-Insignia The Ride (old joke??) first. Walked right up to the station and waited one train for the 2nd row. I'm a sucker for B&M Inverts. Not sure what about them i enjoy so much, they're not super-crazy intense, but they are comfortable, fast and fun. This one was no different (though i sorely missed the presence of an Immelman, which i find to be a favorite element along with the heart-line roll) seemed a bit shorter than other inverts but it was surprisingly (and happily) disorienting. 9/10
Jumped over to Nitro after this. Line was at the bottom of the station stairs and we were in the station in about 5 minutes. I was really looking forward to this one and the ride did not disappoint in the least. The seats were way comfy and the freedom of the restraint system was quiet nice, especially considering the size of the ride (perhaps i'm used to Steel Force and Phantom's big boat train design) and the floating airtime was pretty sweet. The opening drop got me more than i was prepared for and the rest of the ride was a blur. Hot stuff 
10/10
We headed over to the Skyride to relax our way over to the other side of the park, but hit up Skull Mountain first. Walk-on. Nothing much to say i guess. It was a fun, peppy little thing. Are there supposed to be effects or something in the dark mass of twisted track? I could barely make out some sound effects i think, but i couldn't see much around us. I certainly wouldn't wait in line for it, but it was a fun for what it was. 6/10
Hopped the Skyride over to Frontier Land (or whatever) and walked up to Bizarro. CLOSED. Security at the head of the queue said they were working on it and hoped to be running it later.
Ventured over to El Toro next. This was our first line of the day. It was just about noon at this point and i guess we caught up to the rest of the crowds. We got in line at the 60min wait sign. These signs proved to be "worst-case scenarios" all day, as waits were easily half of what was posted. After about 30 minutes we got to the station. I was surprised at how narrow the station was, and everyone seemed to jam up near the front, so we hopped into a mid train seat almost right away while everyone was clambering near the head of the station. Sitting in the train, i was kind of in awe and how small and open the trains were. You're really just hanging out there in those things. Anyway, up the lift we went and even the lift is a bit of a shock - fast lil sucker. As most of you already know, the ride is completely insane!! Pure head-copping, seat-ejecting insanity! And so smooth, especially with the crazy twists and turns towards the end. Had a perma-grim plastered on my face for a good while after that first ride. Holy F*$#!/10
Rolling Thunder was next door so we hit the left side. I suppose a older ride like Thunder is gonna pale in comparasion to something like El Toro, but I thought it was a bit rough. Not without some merit, but i wasn't terribly impressed. Also, our return to the station was delayed 15 minutes or so with a "technical difficulty" that left our train sitting on the return breaks outside the station, so maybe i'm letting that inconvenience cloud my judgment a tad. 5/10
Stopped to see some tigers and the closed Kinda Ka.
Moseyed down to the Boardwalk section. Is it me, or does that area need some TLC? As nicely themed and tended to as the other sections of the park were, the Boardwalk section seemed in dire need of a make-over. It had a beaten up feel (at once overstuffed and chaotic, yet somehow empty and uninviting) that i was expecting the whole park to have actually (though was happy to find out my expectations were mostly wrong).
Hit up Superman next. First Flyer. Unique experience. Trains were more comfortable than i was expecting. Wait was about 40 minutes (as opposed to the 90min that was advertised). Sat (laid?) in the front. Nice moment dangling over the lift hill before the rest of the train cleared it and the pretzel loop was pretty intense. But aside from a near-miss with one of the supports (i was in the far left seat) the rest was just kinda "meh". 7/10 for those couple really good moments.
Food break. Not totally rape-worthy chicken nuggets and fries and ice tea combo for $7.50. Kelly's CheeseSteak and drink combo of over $12 on the other hand....
Log flume. Good ride for digesting lunch. Don't think i've been on a flume that has that many drops. We got a good soaking actually (i never get wet on these things). 7/10
Went to Mine Train next. 5 min wait. Kinda big for a train I thought. Had a couple really good moments with short but steep drops. Liked the finale down by the water Kinda rough in spots though. 6/10
Saw empty trains running the Bizarro course. Large group of people waiting at the (empty) queue entrance. No word on opening.
Decided to hit up El Toro again while awaiting the verdict on Bizarro. Wait was a bit longer this time, but not too bad. Sat more towards the back this time. A bit of a shake in spots i didn't notice on the first ride but nothing painful and still way super OMG crazy. I want one of these in my backyard.
Swung back around to Bizarro. Same status. Getting late and noticed the Sky Ride was down so we walked back to MovieTown/Gotham for re-rides on both Nitro and Batman (waits considerably longer than earlier, but still not horrible).
Opting not to get back to see if Bizarro had opened yet we headed for the exit at around 7pm. Was tempted to head back for a last ride on Toro, but was getting hungry and tired (man have i gotten that old already?) and we had to drive back to PA, so back to the car we went and that was that.
All in all it was a great day. Lucked out in the crowd department and the ops were all friendly and efficient. Surprised by the lack of lines and wonder how much shorter they would have been IF.....
Biggest con of the day was closures -- with both KK and Bizarro down all day, the skyride being closed sometime after 12 and not up again until we left at 7, Rolling Thunder trapping us for a time and Batman actually had a small hiccup when we were in line the second time. Hey, it happens but it still kinda blows.
Still, there was lots to do and see and we didn't even ride GASM (my back was sore and i have heard bad, bangy stories) or Dark Knight.
I can certainly say i wouldn't hesitate to go back if the opportunityarises (and maybe I'll have extra extra-income) and splurge on my veryown Q-Bot....Someday....
Last edited by Tsunami78, July 15, 2009, 2:54P
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