Great Adventure, 11/9/17

Since last season, my trips to Great Adventure have really been reduced since I now live almost 2 1/2 hours away so the opportunity to get there isn't always available. Because I was able to get to the park yesterday, I took advantage of the park being open on a Thursday in November and to be able to get some final rides on Kingda Ka, Zumanjaro and El Toro before they close for the season after this weekend and Holiday in the Park begins.

Lines were 5 - 15 minutes for almost everything in the afternoon when I got to the park for the first few hours I were there with the exception of Justice League with the line out of the building and listed as 65 minutes in the app and The Dark Knight that was listed as 30 minutes in the app. I think the reason the line for The Dark Knight was because there was no pre-show being run, people saw no line outside and thought it was a short wait but the line started about half way in the pre-show room and was full up to the loading area.

Bizarro, Runaway Mine Train, Parachutes and Skyway were closed. Some food places and games were closed as well. There were also almost no ride greeters and bags were allowed to be left in the station on most rides. Dispatches were still fast.

Nitro got stopped on the lift because someone had a phone out and an announcement was made in the station about how there is a fine of up to $1,000 from the state of NJ and a year ban or longer from the park for having a phone out yet when the train returned to the station, the person went up to the ride operator that had the phone, got it back and was able to leave without talking to security. I wish they would go through with the threat of kicking people out of the park.

SkyScreamer was also stopped with riders maybe 2/3 of the way up the tower for around 15 minutes around 3:00 but reopened shortly after that.

Nitro, 5 rides. 2 trains running with fast dispatches. As usual the C train was slightly smoother than the B train (and A train when it is running).

Skull Mountain, 5 rides. I only rode 5 times so I could get my 400th overall Skull Mountain ride. One of the rides later in the day, the park was so empty I was the only one on the train.

The Dark Knight, 2 rides. It was nice not to have the pre-show running. I have seen it so many times, I just want to get to the coaster.

Justice League, 3 rides. Later in the day, there was no wait using the single rider line. Like Green Lantern and Joker, the single rider line doesn't start until further up in the queue so if the line is out of the building, it can take a while to get to the area where the line splits. This ride is amazing. The queue is really detailed and there is a great combination of on screen targets and actual items to shoot the lazer guns at such as the Joker animatronic. I really felt like I stepped out of NJ and into Orlando while I was in the ride building. A dark ride has been my most wanted ride for the park to get for a while and it was well worth the wait. I just hope the park maintains everything in working order unlike at The Dark Knight where a couple of years after it opened, theming stopped working and was never fixed such as the holographic billboards.

Harley Quinn Crazy Train, 1 ride. Yeah it's a junior coaster but with almost no wait, it's fun to sit in one of the last few rows and get thrown around on some of the drops with no seatbelts or seat divider.

Kingda Ka, 2 rides. I rode in the 2nd and 3rd rows. The front row line only was a 3 train wait for the 2nd ride but with so many empty rows, I thought I would be told that I had to fill in other rows (that has happened in past trips when the station isn't full) so I didn't try to wait for the front. After riding Storm Runner and Fahrenheit more often this year, it made me miss the soft strap restraints and I hope Kingda Ka eventually gets them as well.

Zumanjaro, 2 rides. 1 ride was in gondola 3 in the seat at the end of the row on the left which is one of my favorite seats since it is so close to Kingda Ka's track. It would be cool if both rides could run at the same time and be so close to Kingda Ka while the train is going up or down the top hat.

El Toro, 2 rides. Really smooth in a non wheel seat but the wheel seat wasn't too bad either. I need to get back to Lake Compounce and try Boulder Dash again after 7 years to see if El Toro should overtake Boulder Dash for my #1 wooden coaster.

SkyScreamer, 2 rides.

2 years ago it would have been almost 2 weeks into the offseason and it is nice because of Great Adventure (and to a lesser extent, Hersheypark), the coaster riding season now doesn't end until the beginning of January.

Nice trip report. Like the rides at Great Adventure so much that it helps to offset their lousy operations. I know when we go on a Saturday we have to get at least a gold flash pass to get to ride everything we want. Dining plan fail aside we still had an enjoyable day.

El Toro is amazing. I rode Boulder Dash two seasons ago. I want to get back there to compare. From what I can remember I think El Toro edges it out. The front seat ride on a Toro was amazing a few weeks ago.

We visited SFA three weeks ago, went to opening weekend for Hersheypark's Christmas Candylane this past Sunday. Love that there isn't big of an off season as years past.

We haven't done the Six Flags Holiday in the park yet, but will this season. We are planning to hit Busch Gardens Williamsburg Christmas town at some point as well.

Good report. I'm very glad to hear that someone actually got called out for having a phone out on a ride but sorry to hear that the culprit didn't get ejected from the park. The C train on Nitro runs well b/c they replaced the wheels a couple of years ago. It used to be godawful. I remember riding the C train with a guy, now sadly deceased, who used to post a lot on this site, with bad wheels and he was commenting about how bad they were throughout the ride. I got to ride Justice League several weeks ago and feel like a moron b/c I scored zero, indicating that I either couldn't figure out how to operate the gun or that I'm a lousy shot.

As to Boulder Dash, I rode it in August and as a result sustained a rib contusion that took about 2 months to heal. That wouldn't happen on El Toro b/c there isn't as much lateral motion. It could happen on Lightning Rod, which threatened to displace El Toro as my #1 but I'm still going with El Toro.

On the subject of Hersheypark: http://www.coastercritic.com/2017/10/but-what-about-the-restraints/

If you hold onto the restraint near the seat back(near the bend,) it saves you from the thigh crush experience. I can ride multiple times in a row using that technique.

Thanks, Coasterfantom2. Will have to try that.