6/2/04 at SFGadv...Small Hail at 80 mph?!?

This is my first TR...so bear with me, my CB peeps...Went with my girlfriend, to Six Flags Great Adventure for a few hours, figured we'd hit a few coasters there. Surely, there would be some lines!

First we went to Superman, was the longest wait of the day...at about 20 minutes. They were running two trains on pretty much every coaster we rode (obviously except Chiller), so the ops were fairly quick on all of the coasters. Superman, as usual, was fun as hell.

Then we went over to Medusa, and the line started at the station entrance...literally. We walked through the queue lines, all the way up the stairs, only to get stopped by the line right at the station entrance. Since the line was so short, we decided to go back around and get back in line for a second ride. Of course, Medusa rocked as usual.

After stopping off at a gift shop to get m'lady a visor, we decided to head over towards Chiller, since the threat of rain/storms was imminent, and dark clouds were definitely approaching. We went into the Chiller station, not knowing how long the lines were (we should have expected the following due to the fact that the walkways around that area were more empty than usual). We walk all the way through the queue, right into the station, to see less than 30 total people in there, and we hop right into a line...after our first ride, the ride ops offered those a re-ride to those rows where nobody was waiting...since nobody was there, we re-rode. Chiller was loud, as usual, but still very fun. Is it just me, or does Chiller seem to go 5X faster going from the launch than going back?

Rain still seemed imminent, but nothing yet, so we went over to Batman: The Ride and rode that. The line again was virtually non-existent, even less than on Chiller, so we rode that once. The new yellow color is so bright, I raved about it (to myself). I remarked to my girlfriend that I always seem to forget everything after the zero-g-roll, which helps to make the ride consistently fun for me.

Then we headed over to Nitro, which was about a 15 minute wait. As we began our wait in line, it started dripping, and by the time we got on the train, the rain was coming down pretty well. So we got on the train, the rain seemed to slow down to a near stop going up the lift hill, yet it then started coming down harder again while on the ride...for the second time ever on this ride, I was hit with the rain, what I love to describe as "getting hit with small hail at 80 mph", constantly throughout the ride. I had to close my eyes this time, it was so bad. I was actually yelling "It Hurts So Good!" on the ride. :)

Overall it was a very fun day, the park wasn't packed at all, and everything was fun. The coasters were running well, the ops were fairly efficient, Batman looks great, and I'm looking forward to returning soon (with my new season pass)

How Fast Is Nitro? I was on power tower at valleyfair, and it just started raining, and we all take our sandles off and get on the ride. And when we got launched up, the rain PELTED our feet, those red marks stayed of my foot for atleast 3 days.

Nitro's top speed is 80 mph...yeah it hurts, no red marks on that ride, but it still stings and hurts for the two or three minutes you're flying through the course.

Nice TR.

Which side of the Chiller did you get to ride?

BigJim Says: Is it just me, or does Chiller seem to go 5X faster going from the launch than going back?
I think the reason for this is that going forward, Chiller does go faster through the top hat or cobra roll. It goes faster through the zero-g backward, however.

Also, I have been on Nitro in the rain, and yes it can feel like needles on your face.