A great adventure at Great Adventure: 8/15-16

8/15

Me and three of my friends left for SFGAdv at about six in the morning for a seven hour drive. Besides the huge toll we had to pay ($21.95) at the end of the PA turnpike, the trip was uneventful. We arrived at the park around 1 and headed in.

We decided that we would head to Kingda Ka first. When we got to KK, we were greeted with a 3 hour wait, but we decided to tough it out. The line was constantly moving so the wait wasnt too bad and the fans in the line definately helped out. We finally got on the ride and were off. The launch is definately much more intense than Dragster and we could definately feel the difference. When we got off, we got a good laugh out of our picture. The best part: KK did not break down a single time we were waiting in line! That's something we have yet to experience with Dragster.

While walking to our next ride, we walked around the Golden Kingdom. This is, IMO, the best job Six Flags has done ever. Everything was put together really well and it was definately suprising that there was no vandalism from what we could tell. We did notice that the security presence was definately more noticable here than any where else in the park.

Next up was Superman. The line didn't appear to be too bad but it ended up being a two hour wait. Having ridden the SFoG version, it was the same, but still fun, ride although definately not worth the two hour wait.

We then headed over to Chiller. Robin was the only side open and we noticed over a quarter of the LIMs still missing from the Batman side. Robin was definately a rush and the zero-g roll was the best that I have ever experienced. This ride was also not worth the wait (1.5 hrs.), but was definately a great ride.

When we were heading over to Nitro, we noticed B:TR stuck on the lift with part of the chain hanging down at the bottom of the lift so we figured both Batmans would be closed during our visit, a real bummer.

When we got to Nitro, we were greeted with yet another 2 hour wait. The line isn't that long, but it just crawls along. And with a two train operation, we couldn't phathom how the crew could possibly be able to stack trains, but they managed somehow (The turtles in the Golden Kingdom seemed to be moving faster than this crew). Nitro was a great ride and is definately my favorite B&M hyper coaster. The speed is incredible and the air time is great, although it doesn't come close to SFNE's Superman.

We then decided to head to Medusa. After the long trek back there, we saw the line was filling up over half of the que, but we decided to tough it out. This line really moved quickly and only ended up being about a half hour wait. This is another great B&M ride and it's awsome that this park has four of these incredible machines.

As we were leaving for the night, we decided to hop on Scream Machine for our last ride of the night. The ride turned out to be a walk-on and we ended up getting three rides in a row. We found the ride to be quite enjoyable and did not notice anysevere head banging. After a great night, we were definately ready to spend a whole day at the park.

8/16

We arriced at the park at 9:30 as suggested. We decided to run to KK as soon as they opened the gates and then go get a qbot. Well, the first part of our plan worked flawlessly as we got on the fourth public train of the day. However when we went to reserve a qbot, it looked as though it would take over an hour to do so, so we decided to tough it out without one which did not bother any of us at the time because none of us our fans of those systems, even if they are free. This turned out to be a huge mistake.

We headed over to Chiller and walked right on. The ride was as great as yesterday and we enjoyed a reride because the crew let us stay on!

We then headed over to Nitro and only had to wait 15 minutes, but the crew was still managing to somehow stack the trains. We definately enjoyed our ride much more now that it wasn't a 2 hour wait.

After our ride on Nitro, the park was definately filling up, fast.Superman had a line stretching onto the midway, the same for Scream Machine. So we decided to try out the Houdini ride/show/thing. This was a fun whatever type of attraction it is and at times does feel like you are going upside down when you really aren't. After this, we headed over to Skull Mountain. We walked right on and we were off. The ride is completely pitch black and you are not even to see your hand five inches in front of you! We had no idea of what was going on or where we were going.

Next up was the Mine Train. It looks odd seeing it with minetrain cars, but on normal steel coastertrack and supports. It was a fun little ride that we got to ride twice in a row due to no line. It then began to rain. With KK shut down, everyone left the line and the park got even more crowded. We hopped in the Medusa line when we noticed a huge wave of people coming back towards the ride. Luckily we only ended up waiting about 15 minutes.

After that, we ended up just walking around. Every ride had 2-3 hour waits and we were regretting not getting a qbot. We thought about getting one during the rain, but when we saw the price, we swore the damn thing off for life. No way were we about to pay an absurd amount for some stupid little pager, no matter how long the lines were. We ended up riding Rolling Thunder (ouch) and only waited about 15 minutes for it.

With the rain letting up, we headed over to KK. We got there just in time. Soon after we were waiting at entrance, we soon had a crowd lined up all the way past the tiger stadium! It was like everyone was a lemming! As the security guiard came over and said that when he opened the line, he better not get trampled. So much for that, as he opened the line, the entire crowd started shoving everyone forward and if we didnt also start running, it felt like we would be trampled. Great Adventure NEEDS to do something about this as this is a major problem. In the morning, people almost trampled over some kid who tripped with a couple people literally jumping over him as he was lying on the ground getting up.

Well, we managed to get on the front row of the first train out. The only other thing that concerned us was that they only tested the opposite side of the platform, not our side. Is this normal? We ended up having another great ride.

Next up we decided to tough out the Superman line. This ride really annoyed us to the point of just up and leaving the park. We had been in line for about wo hours when the ride went down. They then decided to play musical trains. They took off the second train. After one cycle with people on it. They put the train back on! WTF!?!? Then it began to rain again. After being down for an hour, the line began to slowly move and another two hours later, we were on the ride.

We headed to Scream Machine for another ride, and luckily we only had to wait about 10 minutes. We headed back to Medusa for one last ride, and then we left the park.

Overall, we definately enjoyed our visit. Is the park always this crowded? It seemed like Saturday crowds at any other park, including Cedar Point. They had multiple trains running on all the rides and the crews were generally not stacking. The employees were definately enthusiastic, with the Nitro crew being the exception. The food was pretty good, though excessively overpriced. $3.00 for a 20 oz. soda, $12.50 for chicked fingers and fries, etc. We had a great time and are already planning two return trips for next year. SFGAdv now ties SFGAm as my favorite park, with Cedar Point beginning to lose more and more ground in my standings.

I was also there on the 16th...although all your two hour lines seemed to be one hour for me...but Nitro's crew is usually fast and efficient. I was surprised they were running two trains on both Nitro and Medusa...I expected them to add a third for the large crowds, but at the same time, they probably thought the rain/threat of rain would drive people away. Still, why wouldn't they add another train when the crowds stayed that way all day?

I'm going this upcoming Monday, and i'm hoping crowds are light. But, since I have a season pass, I think I might just take the pain and buy a qbot since I won't have to pay for admission, and we are only going for one day.

Big Jim is right, Nitro usually has the best crew in the park. I never saw a slow crew on that ride and I've been there four times this year.

If Ka is doing it's thing 3 hours at a time, it's clearly getting "better." When it goes through a whole day - we all can celebrate.

Food prices are out of hand. Even from the vending machines.

Overall though - it has gotten better than the last few years.

Glad you enjoyed it though.

Maybe Q-bot is the reason those standby lines are so long? Q-boters are more than likely virtually standing in more than one line at once.

It's been a while since I've been, and if I have to wait in line for hours and hours for a coaster, I'll just go to Hersheypark.

I was at Hersheypark on the 15th, and lines were no more than 45 minutes, with most rides less than 5 cycle wait. I would consider the park pretty crowded for an August weekday. They do not offer legal line jumping.

Why should it cost admission plus Q-bot to be able to get on some some coasters? Something just doesn't sound right.

Sorry for yet another rant about Q-bot, but this TR just prooves my point.

Nice TR, by the way. It helped me to make an important amusement park decision, like good TR's are supposed to.