Even Lamer Topic Alert: Dining at Six Flags Great Adventure/Dorney

A nod to Andy's recent CP topic (glad you had a good time).

Somewhat unexpectedly (it hasn't been official for too long), we are gearing up for one last family road trip before the oldest heads off to college. Her track-running adventures are taking us out to Philly (never been), and since we have the all-parks-add-on, we thought it would be a good opportunity to visit some parks we haven't visited in a long time (since 2005, to be exact).

After a track meet, we're going to ping-pong between Dorney Park and Six Flags Great Adventure for a few days. Curious if any frequenters to these parks (especially SFGA) have any insight into how the dining options are. We'll do the all-day-dining pass at both places, but I remember next-to-nothing about the food. For context, I've now gotten used to Cedar Point's recent relatively solid dining options (with a pretty good variety).

Any hidden gems or personal must-have favorites?

As someone who has been to Great Adventure often I can say Best of the West under the log flume has the BBQ most know from other parks, smoked sirloin sandwich, pulled pork sandwich etc. Most locals are saying thats the best option. The other places that have the in park chef food are Main Street Pub at the central fountain (don't be afraid of the fish and chips idea or the wings), Yum-Yum Palace by the Carousel (Detroit style Pizza, chicken tenders), Granny's behind the Big Wheel (meatloaf) all have the tastier options. I am not sure about how they meet up with dietary rules for medical reasons. They also just added Garden State Fries at the beginning of the Boardwalk area near the games. That has Gabagool corndogs on a stick and Disco Fries, think poutine I didn't try it this last weekend.

Dorney, which I don't believe has a chef assigned to the park) has the same BBQ options at the place to the right of the WaveSwinger. Then I hear good about Tidalwave Cafe in the waterpark. I haven't tried it as I don't go into the water park often. Other than that I find most food hit or miss at Dorney.

As of last year, if there's a hidden gem at Great Adventure, it remains hidden from me. Agreed that your best bet is probably Best of the West for BBQ - it's not good barbecue, but it's acceptable theme park food.

My memory of the Yum Yum Palace is mostly some of the most passively hostile service I can remember anywhere. That happens of course and probably has nothing to do with YYP itself. In general, my advice would be order thoughtfully and hack the menu the best you can. I've managed to assemble a halfway decent salad at Granny's out of the basic option plus chicken tenders and the fixin's bar that's there for burgers.

There are some non-sit down options over by Nitro/Jersey Devil that I've never tried because we're almost always looking for a place with air conditioning. I have literally never seen the Mexican places open, but that's OK because the idea of theme park Mexican skeeves me out.

The Mexican place by El Toro (Macho Nacho) is actually decent for park food, not much different from Chipotle. Here's a quick rundown of the things worth considering:

Macho Nacho - Burritos and burrito bowls
Best of the West - BBQ sandwiches, served with slaw, tater tots, and cornbread
Granny's - Meatloaf served with corn muffin and choice of side
Yum Yum Cafe - Pizza and burgers served with choice of side
Momma Flora's - Cheese steaks, gyros
Main Street Pub - shepherd's pie or battered fish, served with choice of side (fries, onion rings, cauliflower bites, Brussels sprouts)

hambone:

but it's acceptable theme park food.

Well I hate to say it but at a Six Flags(old Cedar Fair also pre merger) acceptable park food was the best you'd find at most of their parks.

I'm not going to theme parks expecting better than high end fast food. Otherwise I'd fear for what they would charge for it.

I'm at Dorney today, and just had lunch at the Iron Mill grill and bar. Had a crispy chicken sandwich and seasoned fries for $17 with season pass discount. It was similar to a chick fila. Its was decent. Their food has improved, but its all the same quick-service options you'd expect.

We're still "mid-trip", but today was our day at Six Flags Great Adventure. The food was above average. As a family of 4 we did our usual two all-day dining plan bands, even though the website comically says "NO SHARING!@#!$!" This will always be more than enough food for us.

We were at the park from 12-9, and first hit up the Main Street Pub. Got the fish with cauliflower bites on the side. I'm sort of a seafood nerd, so I wanted to try it. Definitely happy with the portion size and the fish was crispy without being a giant greaseball. Put it this way; it was better than Applebee's but obviously not as good as an actual dockside joint. Nicely done.

Second meal was nothing special; Chicken Caesar salad at Granny's. We did like how you picked out your giant salad and they gave you a platter of fresh warm chicken to put on top yourself.

Third scan of the pass was a nice surprise; there is a brand new place in the new Boardwalk area called "Riptide Seafood Shack". Menu had fried green tomatoes, fried shrimp, and a couple po-boy sandwich variations. Went with fried fish Po-Boy, and it landed right where the fish at the Pub did. Since I asked, they gave me a couple fried green tomatoes instead of fries (nice as the tomatoes are actually their own entrée).

The kids enjoyed a lion's share of hand-breaded chicken tenders and various sides.

This is a one-and-done trip for us, and while we were going to get a 4th round somewhere the lines were so good we ended up just riding and relaxing before heading back to our hotel in Philly.

Thanks for the suggestions. Left the park pleasantly surprised by the quality and variety; the new seafood place being a nice surprise.

I saw a Youtube video last night showing the menu of the new Riptide place near the boardwalk. Definitely looked like a nice menu and I think you got lucky that it opened just in time for your visit. It was not open yet when I visited about a week and a half ago.

Chef Jeremy has been very enthusiatic about building the menus as each place opens. He had mentioned the Boardwalk earlier this year but that was the Funnel Cakes (still to come) and the Garden State Fries stand. So another option in that area is pretty impressive. That's 5 new menus this season. Pub and Best of the West previously done and now the 3 places in the Boardwalk.

Great Adventure seems to have decided that even with the Shoreline Pier this year is more about the in park experience. Food upgrades, Live Enteratainment returning, and splashing some paint and landscaping work around the park.

I'll probably (OK I will) do a trip report later when we get home, but this was our first visit to Great Adventure in 20 years (almost to the day). Our overall impression was that the park was simply immaculate. Everything was super clean, the landscaping was well attended everywhere, lots of the rides/buildings had new paintjobs, and everything was working (lights, theming, etc.). The employees were also awesome and seemingly happy. We have a new favorite bartender in Juan at the Ale House, who was just a joy to talk to, and the ride ops for most (but not all) coasters were hustling and adding their personalities to their jobs.

We were a bit blown away, as it completely retconned our experience from 2006, when the park seemed to fit every Six Flags stereotype at the time.

It wasn't perfect (but what is?), but the majority of what we experienced felt like this particular park has been possessed by the ghost of Cedar Fair past (for the better). The other park we visited (Dorney) seems to have gone in the opposite direction, but more on that later.

Just being back at Great Adventure made me feel like I was living inside Roller Coaster Tycoon 2. I was so prepared to have negative things to say about the place but nothing could be further from the the reality.

The park definitely was looking a lot better than the last time I was there in terms of cleanliness, upkeep, and landscaping. The log flume looks brand new and I liked that they have the safari pick up right in the park now (I don't remember that being a thing in the past as I think I remember the safari being an upcharge). Unfortunately, the day I was there, the crowd was entirely made up on obnoxious, poorly behaved school children that really made it kind of annoying to be there. The rides we did (El Toro, Safari, Medusa, Log Flume, Nitro, Flash, Houdini, Hypnotwister) were all really enjoyable and the food we had at Best of the West was okay. Was disappointed that Jersey Devil coaster was closed all day and Superman spent most of the day closed as well so wasn't able to get on them. The other thing that was a shame was El Toro running one train with the second one no where to even be seen. That is such a great ride it really deserves better capacity. Batman began testing while we were there and that might have been the first time so far this season so I think that will open pretty soon. Was also disappointed to walk into the Boardwalk cheesesteak/fries place at 5PM only to be told they were closed so we didn't end up bothering with a second meal as we wanted to hit the road.

I really think they're trying to do the right thing with this park in terms of clean up and increased entertainment (looks like their new offerings in Shoreline Pier are similar to Boardwalk Nights at CP), but there are still some things to improve. I noticed the kids area was a complete ghost town so there were virtually no families (aside from mint) in the park at all. I'm not entirely sure if families are scared to visit the place or if it was just because school was still in session. I will also say that I think they do a very poor job of enforcing their chaperone policy or perhaps wave it altogether for school groups.

Part of the reason Great Adventure has a Cedar Fair feel is Mike Fehnel came from Dorney to Great Adventure this year to be Park President.

El Toro's second train or a few cars of it were sitting in the maintenance area to the right as you go up Nitro's lift hill (along with some Barrels of Fun cars)

The park definitely still has work to do but the vibe is a lot better than recent years. I am wondering what Fright Fest will bring as that tends to become insane crowd behavior.

dragonoffrost:

Part of the reason Great Adventure has a Cedar Fair feel is Mike Fehnel came from Dorney to Great Adventure this year to be Park President.

It's almost as if when you empower local leadership with knowledge of the product, familiarity with the market, and literal boots on the ground (shoes on the midway?) you get a positive guest experience.

Who knew?