Great Adventure, 4/20/13

I wasn't sure how crowded it would be today with it being Boy Scout Weekend and 2 or 3 years ago I went on a Saturday when the Scouts were there and it was kind of crowded. Thankfully that wasn't the case this year.

Blackbeard's is now open and it was a 2 train wait. Unfortunately, you only get 1 lap instead of 2 which I'm hoping is just temporary and they go back to 2 laps after the ride is running reliably.

Skull Mountain was a station wait, I walked around for a 2nd ride. All of the effects are now turned on/working which was nice to see. Before my 2nd ride, someone had a cell phone out in the train and the ride op at the microphone said to put away the phone. The person still didn't put away the phone and was told the train won't dispatch until the phone is away. They put the phone away and then took the phone out as soon as the train was dispatched. The ride op stopped the train on the lift hill until they put the phone away. I was really hoping security would be called and they would get kicked out of the park but unfortunately that didn't happen.

Nitro is now running 3 trains and was just over 10 minutes. I got 3 rides in around 45 minutes.

The Dark Knight had no wait except to get into the pre-show

Green Lantern's line was at the bottom of the stairs with 2 trains running

Kingda Ka had been closed all day and I saw a rollback while in Green Lantern's station while the ride was testing. I went over to the Golden Kingdom but saw the ride had shut down after opening for a little bit and the line was out past the entrance. I went to check to see if the switchbacks were full and they were so there was no way I was going to wait that long especially with the ride already breaking down after just opening. I heard someone say it was a 2 hour wait and with breakdowns and not all 3 trains running, I guess it was possible.

I haven't ridden Rolling Thunder yet this year so stopped there. With the line in the station and a 4 train wait, it still took almost 20 minutes. Unless it's a 1 or 2 train wait, it looks like I'll be skipping it most trips this year. Only the right side was running with 2 trains.

Runaway Mine Train was a 1 - 2 train wait and I got 3 rides having to walk around. When the train got to the final brake run, some kids reached their arms out to touch the wall near the exit area. The ride op at the microphone saw and told them to keep their hands in the car and the train was stopped from advancing. A few seconds later, they did the same thing and reached their arms out again.

Bizarro was a 2 train wait and then I was able to get a re-ride. 3 trains were running.

It was just over 20 minutes until closing so I thought I could get a couple rides at Nitro to finish the day. I ended up getting 3 more rides including getting the final train of the day thanks to that train having a lot of empty seats so I could re-ride.

Lucky You!

My first visit to GA was in June of 2000. I got to ride all of its coasters while I was there and spend a few hours giving Hurricane Harbor the once-over. In October of 2006 I visited GA again. Four new Coasters had opened since I was last there (Nitro, Superman, Kingdom Ka and El Toro. It took me eight hours to get one ride each on them, the park was PACKED! (I later heard the park had ser an attendance record, over 43,000 people walked through the turnstyles. Oh well, what you get is what you get, if you want to get some rides you'll just have to "Tough Out" the lines. I got to ride all four coasters, so I called the mission a success.

^^ that is why I am starting to get very anxious about Great Adventure. If you don't get there before the middle to end of May, you always need Flashpass to actually ride anything because it gets so crowded. I have to get there soon if I want to have a pleasant visit there.

Yoshi, I can't believe the people were being so openly belligerent. I would have been rooting for security to come and take them away too. What part of no loose articles do they not understand? I know Skull Mountain is not the fastest, scariest coaster in the world, but someone could still get hurt. Plus, just why can't anyone follow rules? So little courtesy towards other people too to keep screwing around and holding the other riders up. Just ignorant.

We went today and it wasn't crowded at all. We asked the ride op about the 1 train cycle on Blackbeard. He replied a new computer system was installed and you only get 1 pass. Not sure how much truth that holds but hopefully he is incorrect.

Day was mostly for the kids. Nothing major to report. My 18 month finally got on his first rides. Safari Cars, Lady Bug Ride, and RigShaw ride. Still trying to get my 7 year old to agree to go on El Toro. She afraid. BLAH!

At 7 I would have been terrified. Lol

Regulus said:

In October of 2006 I visited GA again. Four new Coasters had opened since I was last there (Nitro, Superman, Kingdom Ka and El Toro. It took me eight hours to get one ride each on them, the park was PACKED! (I later heard the park had ser an attendance record, over 43,000 people walked through the turnstyles. Oh well, what you get is what you get, if you want to get some rides you'll just have to "Tough Out" the lines. I got to ride all four coasters, so I called the mission a success.

Yeah October crowds can be horrible unless you go on a Friday night. Last year it was so crowded on those Saturdays that the park extended the closing an hour to midnight and they had overflow queues set up for almost all the coasters with trashcans and chains (even for rides like Skull Mountain).

bunky666 said:

Yoshi, I can't believe the people were being so openly belligerent. I would have been rooting for security to come and take them away too. What part of no loose articles do they not understand? I know Skull Mountain is not the fastest, scariest coaster in the world, but someone could still get hurt. Plus, just why can't anyone follow rules? So little courtesy towards other people too to keep screwing around and holding the other riders up. Just ignorant.

It seems like every visit I see people acting badly. Last week it was the kids rolling down the hill in the parking lot where the Bugs Bunny topiary/planter was and could have fallen off and gotten hit with a car or hit the parking lot. And almost every trip to the park I get cut in line for Green Lantern because I refuse to climb under or jump over the switchbacks in the beginning of the queue, or have kids pass me in the empty part of a queue by running.

A couple of years ago I saw someone with a video camera out on Blackbeard's. They were told to put the camera away and when the ride started they took the camera out again. After the first lap the guy was kicked off the ride but didn't get in any other kind of trouble. I'd really like to see someone thrown out of the park for it so other people see that the park is serious about rules being broken.

Crashmando said:

We went today and it wasn't crowded at all. We asked the ride op about the 1 train cycle on Blackbeard. He replied a new computer system was installed and you only get 1 pass. Not sure how much truth that holds but hopefully he is incorrect.

Hopefully they can get it back to 2 laps again. It seems like it has such a short ride time now with only 1 lap especially after it takes all that time to load the train and check the lap bars since they don't let you wait in the station for the next cycle while the train is running.

GA loves their major company rides. Three Intamins and five B&M's. "Wowzers trousers Bruce!" Anyways, I used to love maintaining this park on RCT 2. The game didn't make Batman the Ride in their "Real" parks. They encouraged you to "add" the missing rides. The park was missing Batman and Robin: The Chiller and Batman the Ride. Probably they couldn't get permission from DC to put those rides in the game. In fact, at SFOT and SMM there weren't the DC themed rides either.

I've always wanted to go to SGA because I am a sucker for wooden coasters with a lot of air time. I also like wooden coasters with terrain based layout and tunnels. Toro follows the first qualification much better than the second, so I think I'd like it. Probably it will be nothing near as good as Voyage.

I've seen pictures and videos of Nitro, and I must complain that it is third on Golden Ticket's steel coaster list. Nothing special is present on the ride. It doesn't have Millennium's rop, Bizzaro's (New England) pacing, Apollo's air time, or even Intimidator's (Carowinds) high speed turns. Why is Nitro so highly regarded then?

I've heard Kingda Ka is Kind'of Bla compared to TTD from others on Coasterbuzz and other similar sites. The restraints are more similar to I305 than MF. It also only runs three trains compared to five on TTD. No wonder Kind'of Bla has such long lines.

Actually, SGA looks like an overrated park filled with crowds from Pilly, NY, and Boston. CP or even KI looks better than it. I've never been there, so who an I to say this, though?

That's a whole lot of observation, complaining, and rating of something you never experienced, Tyler. It's nice that you recognized that at the end of your post, but why post such strong opinions in the first place?

bunky said: that is why I am starting to get very anxious about Great Adventure. If you don't get there before the middle to end of May, you always need Flashpass to actually ride anything because it gets so crowded. I have to get there soon if I want to have a pleasant visit there.

I don't understand these statements. That wasn't my experience. I attended on a Friday in mid-July and not only didn't need Flashpass, but had a very pleasant visit. You may have had some bad luck, but I would be cautious about stating that you always need a Flashpass after May or that you can't have a pleasant experience either way after May.

Analyzing is excusable until you experience it yourself. HEY HEY HEY, another proverb of Tyler Boes.

In GA, people don't puke as much after they ride Medusa/Bizzaro as they do in the video game, right? I needed about 20 handymen after it's exit in order to prevent guests from complaining.

I wouldn't call KK "blah" in comparison to TTD - quite the opposite, in fact. I'd say KK is way more exciting than TTD...it's just that at 120+ MPH, I vastly prefer the straight-line launch without excessive vibration. KK always feels like it's tearing itself apart.

^^ FEELS like it? I'd put money on it! Hehehe...

Tyler, I much prefer TTD over Ka except night flights. I'd recommend it at least once because there's nothing quite like getting launched into pure darkness and shot into space. Very thrilling (and less buggy).

Carrie, I have had a whole lotta bad luck then in the summer. I rarely go on weekends because of crowds, but it seems to me to get absolutely insane with crowds by late June at the latest. If you have a weekday recommendation in particular for GAdv, I'd love to hear it because I'm broke and really don't wanna buy FP if not needed. Yoshi, if you have thoughts on this as well, it is much appreciated.

Tyler Boes said: I've seen pictures and videos of Nitro, and I must complain that it is third on Golden Ticket's steel coaster list. Nothing special is present on the ride.

It's just another B&M, but many MANY more people ride it than other great rides, so it rates high. Just like Millennium Force. (Don't get me wrong, they're both fun rides, just looking at the reality of a "poll" or "greatest" list.)

Tyler, as somebody who had actually been on Nitro, while it ranking #3 might be a bit high in my book, it's quite a phenomenal ride. I'm shocked I have to explain this, but you can't get airtime on YouTube.

Yoshi, why no Toro?!?!

Oh, I don't know...Nitro is one of my top 10 coasters. The pacing stays nice and constant, the helix is pretty darn forceful, and from any seat, you will get sustained periods of floater air. I have never ridden another B&M hyper, but Nitro is a very good ride. Often I will spend my day riding Nitro, Toro, and the back seat of Skull Mountain and leave happy.

Tyler, I liked your Bizarro/Medusa RCT joke! I can imagine there would be a lot of vomiting on that ride...it has a LOT of inversions.

Tyler Boes said:

Toro...Probably it will be nothing near as good as Voyage.

Toro is better than Voyage.

I've seen pictures and videos of Nitro, and I must complain that it is third on Golden Ticket's steel coaster list. Nothing special is present on the ride. It doesn't have Millennium's rop, Bizzaro's (New England) pacing, Apollo's air time, or even Intimidator's (Carowinds) high speed turns. Why is Nitro so highly regarded then?

Because it's a good ride full of airtime. Other than Bizzaro New England, it has more air than the other coasters you mentioned combined.

I've heard Kingda Ka is Kind'of Bla compared to TTD from others on Coasterbuzz and other similar sites.

Nothing about Ka is 'blah'. Ka's problem is that it has OTSRs that aren't that comfortable. If it had I305's restraints, it would be a much better ride. Or TTD's restraints.

Actually, SGA looks like an overrated park filled with crowds from Pilly, NY, and Boston. CP or even KI looks better than it. I've never been there, so who an I to say this, though?

I've been to the park a few times now and I think it's a great park with a great lineup of coasters. I've been during the week with no problems with lines what so ever. The longest I've ever waited was 40 minutes for Toro after opening.

Well, I did wait a year to ride Ka, but that's beside the point.

Yeah, I find it difficult to believe Voyage would unseat Toro as my number one.

I have rarely had problems at Great Adventure with being underwhelmed or disgusted or disappointed. I think it still suffers somewhat from the very bad rep it got in the past, but I have rarely had a bad day there, and the one truly horrible day, three-quarters of it was my own damn fault.

I don't think lapbar restraints or soft restraints would help Ka all that much. The ride is so much more shaky than TTD, but maybe it's just not noticeable on TTD because of the different restraints. Not sure.

bunky666 said: I don't think lapbar restraints or soft restraints would help Ka all that much. The ride is so much more shaky than TTD, but maybe it's just not noticeable on TTD because of the different restraints. Not sure.

There may be other factors, but yes the restraints are close to your upper body and they (and their associated mechanisms inside the headrest) are above the track, so there is a different weight distribution = more vibration thorough the back/headrest and into you.

GayCoasterGuy said:

It's just another B&M, but many MANY more people ride it than other great rides, so it rates high. Just like Millennium Force. (Don't get me wrong, they're both fun rides, just looking at the reality of a "poll" or "greatest" list.)

Except that you have polls like CoasterBuzz's top 100 and Mitch's Steel Poll that account for (and normalize) differences in ridership and these coasters still rank incredibly high.

Seem to be treading into that "enthusiasts know better" territory that just makes me cringe. Popular rides are popular because people like them. It seems to be a concept that escapes the more enthusiastic among us.

Tyler Boes said:

Toro...Probably it will be nothing near as good as Voyage.

Tekwardo said:

Toro is better than Voyage.

bunky666 said:

Yeah, I find it difficult to believe Voyage would unseat Toro as my number one.

I think they're equally great, but in totally different ways. The main difference I've found is that El Toro is infinitely more rerideable. I don't feel like I'm going to die after a couple of laps on El Toro. The same intensity that makes Voyage so special is also it's one weakness.

Tekwardo said:

Nothing about Ka is 'blah'. Ka's problem is that it has OTSRs that aren't that comfortable. If it had I305's restraints, it would be a much better ride. Or TTD's restraints.

I305 Ka have the same restraints. They both need MF restraints.