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I was only too happy when my frat brothers wanted to take a trip down there. My best friend and coaster buddy is now married with children. Therefore I am left by my lonesome...... (Memo to self...must find significant other with similar interests)
Anyway, we took the hour drive to the middle of nowhere. When the park loomed infront of us I almost shrieked with glee, then I remembered I was with the brothaz.......I had to butch up. Anyhow, Superman does look nice in the front. I remembered when Gadv.com interviewed Kristin (Great Adventure's PR Director) she said they wanted to create a vista of coasters..and that they did.
After waiting 15 minutes purchasing tickets, we jetted to Superman. We arrived at about 11am so the park was well full by then. The line for Superman was about 2 hours long, so we jetted to the front to buy a Fast Pass..or whatever. Dumb old me was not paying attention during fastlane 101. I thought the system was similar to Magic Moutain where you purchased 4 passes for $15 and jumped in front. But noooooo....they had this Q-bot deal that had everybody confused like sheep without a collie.
Well after chanting and gnashing of teeth, we figured out the contraption. We reserved Superman and then headed to reserve Chiller. The bleedin' thing said something along the lines of wrong ride. We then had to head back to the office for them to change the 'Bot'. So far we wasted about an hour. Curses! They were nice enough to reserve Superman, the Chiller and Batman for us though. We then headed for Scream Machine since there was no line. That ride was better than I remembered. I told my buds to sit tall and keep their heads forward. They all commented how good the ride was.
Our next ride was Skull Mountain. That ride had no line also. It was not as good as I remembered. The ride is hella short; there was light creeping in form some place which defeated the "in the dark" sensation. Kudos for Great Adventure for attempting to add diversity to their lineup.
We were then due for the man of steel. As we cut our way to the front I noticed how blah the queue looked. With such a grandiose entrance one would think that the line would have more than the blah concrete and blah superhero placards. The ride too was blah might I add. Except for the pretzel loop this was a giant kiddie coaster. (Yes, this is my first B&M flying coaster). The restraints were comfy and the relcining mechanism was trick. But I was mildly entertained by this ride. Oh well......I guess Batwing is better after all. I was impressed on how fast they were dispatching trains.
We still had some more time to hit more rides before our next reservation. (what's up with Q-bot spacing these reservations 2 hours apart???) We hit Medusa, with it's line moving hella fast as always. Very good ride. Still the only zero g roll that gives me massive airtime.
Next we had lunch at Nathans in the Boardwalk. The sit down Restaurant (Moose lodge??) in Frontier Adventures was closed. After donating a kidney, we finished our sparse rations and headed for our next reservation, The Chiller. I think this is the first time I'm riding it since the retrofit. But This ride gives Xcelerator a run for its money for my fav launched coaster.
Next we hit Freefall. Amazing how this ride still packs after all these years. The ol boy is getting a lil rough though. They should try converting to magnetic brakes.
Next ride was Nitro. The queue was full but we only waited about 25 mins. Another coaster with a blah queue. Seems like the theming committee took a sabbatical since 1997. This ride was dethroned from my #1 position since July. Here was its chance to redeem itself. The ride was good.....damn good really. I was thrust out of my seat on almost all the hills. The first drop (from the front) was phenomenal. The final bunnies were good too. The verdict...X still reigns supreme.
Our next ride was Batman (last ride reserved on Q-bot) Of all the Batmen I've ridden, this one seems to whip the most. Maybe its the rust of the rails....hmmm. That ride is in need of some TLC. The queue was nothing like it was in 94 when I rode it. And who has our Batmobile? Does Six Flags rotate this car amongst its parks?
This was our final coaster of the day. The gang was getting tired...wussies!! They wanted to get me on a spin and puke since I was being blamed for taking them on all these wild coasters. We went on Fantasy Fling. OK ride. Didnt really scare me...but I had to pretend I was terrified so that they would pull me on another.
Overall this was a good visit. The Q-bot system is a good idea, but poorly executed. We found out later that for an extra cost, you could upgrade to Gold Q-bot which would decrease the wait times 75%. This is clearly capitalism at work. This park is still my fav. But how long will it be before my sentimental attachments are gone and I can't see past it's faults. I still have to visit Great America..I hear it shines a glimmer of hope for Six Flags.
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Antuan said:
This is clearly capitalism at work. This park is still my fav. But how long will it be before my sentimental attachments are gone and I can't see past it's faultsInteresting, I feel the same way about my homepark (dorney). Nice TR though.
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