Great Adventure, 6/10/09

Since schools will be letting out soon, I decided to take 1 last trip to the park for a while to enjoy the low crowds. I got to the park at 2:30, the lot was a little more crowded than 2 weeks ago and Superman looked to have a 40 minute line from the lot, not a good sign.

I went to Nitro first, line was just past the 30 minute sign. 6 minutes later I was in the station with all 3 trains running. I went back for a 2nd ride but after that the line was getting close to the 60 minute sign so I went to other rides.

The dryer by the rapids is now $3.00 instead of $5.00. The rapids looked to have around a 15 minute wait.

Skull Mountain was a 3 train wait and the became a walk on so I got 4 rides.

Buccaneer was loading with only 2 people in line so I stopped for a ride and then went to Blackbeards since it had no wait. The parachutes also only had 5 people in line so I took advantage of that and went there next.

Scream Machine had 2 trains running and was a 2 train wait for the front. I saw Superman's line had died down so I went there next and waited around 15 minutes for a front row ride.

Kingda Ka had a long line and the guy at the entrance said it was 40 minutes. I figured I would try it later and went to Rolling Thunder. Only the left side was open with 2 trains running. We stopped on the lift for about 10 seconds. I was a little worried for a second since the ride isn't that comfortable with those seat dividers (they seem worse than Thunderhawk's) and wasn't happy about possibly being stuck on the lift like that. Thankfully the ride resumed.

Toro had the first set of switchbacks full and Runaway Mine Train had an empty car on the block brake.

I went to Bizarro, 3 trains running with the line just out of the station and on the stairs so it was around 10 minutes. The log flume had no wait at all which was a surprise. Runaway Mine Train was starting to test and the op said it would be open in about 10 minutes. Rather than wait I went back to check Kingda Ka's line.

It had become a station wait with all 4 trains running. I think they made an announcement over the loudspeakers to the ops that they had 58 dispatches in the past hour and to keep it up.

I ended up getting 3 rides in about 40 minutes which is a lot better than the 1+ hour wait it can easily get. After reading an old thread about the old queue for the ride, I was interested in seeing what I could of it from the ride. I couldn't believe how long it was even with the switchback areas removed and would hate to wait in that kind of line (there is no way I would ever wait 7 or 8 hours for any ride).

It was 6:40 at this point and with only 20 minutes left I went back to Bizarro for 2 more rides, and got to Runaway Mine Train which had opened back up. I got a solo ride and after that the park was closed.

I'm glad I had another chance to get a lot of rides in since probably starting with next week or the week after that, the summer crowds are going to be there making lines a lot worse.

Ride Count:
Nitro - 2
Buccanner - 1
Superman - 1
Bizarro - 3
Kingda Ka - 3
Skull Mountain – 4
Parachutes - 1
Rolling Thunder Left - 1
Runaway Mine Train - 1
Log Flume - 1
Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train - 1
Great American Scream Machine - 1

Hey Yoshi, thanks (as always) for the GAdv update!!

So in your expert GAdv opinion...do you feel good about KK's operating status the rest of the season? Unfortunately due to other park-going, GAdv will likely only be a "one trip" (but 2 or 3 day visit in that trip) excursion from now until forever maybe (unlike my 3 trips and 8 total visits in 07!), but anyway, so obviously I want to go when KK's temperament is good!

Since I read KK's repairs are patchwork until the season ends, do you think KK will be ok at least for the foreseeable future?? (like it appeared to be yesterday!)

In my 11 total visits in 07 and 08 KK was never down during any of those days (other than the semi-late-ish morning open)...in fact I've never even witnessed a rollback! (and I have over 50 KK rides! and watch it like a hawk throughout the park to make sure it stays running, like while on Nitro, for ex.) So anyway, any expert insight on Ka's operation status? Also, are the greens still the opening, midway-side of station trains? Thanks for your help, and looking forward to getting out to my home park away from home soon!

Yesterday was the first time I have been to the park since the ride has reopened so I'm not sure how reliable it has been on other days but it seemed to be running the entire time I was at the park. I also read on Great Adventure online that the so called patchwork that Screamscape reported on was not true and the ride is totally fixed.

I'm not sure what you were asking with the last question the :

"Also, are the greens still the opening, midway-side of station trains? "

If it was about both sides being open, this was my first visit this season with all 4 trains running and both sides open but my past trips were during April and May and during the week for the most part.

I was only to Great Adventure once so far this year, but Ka was extremely temperamental. It was windy though, so I know that is typically a problem with launch coasters. There WAS a rollback three trains ahead of me as well. I'm going tomorrow and Wednesday, so I'll post something...I'm taking my nephew, who so far has only been on Dorney's rides. He's so psyched for Kingda Ka, so we'll definitely be hitting that. Plus, I lost weight, so I'm excited to see how Toro feels with a little more room. LOL

^I doubt it'll make a difference. Stapled is stapled, no matter your size. :) But on El Toro, I'd be concerned for my life if I wasn't stapled.