Great Adventure, 6/22/09

With the weather calling for a chance of thunderstorms, I took a chance and went to the park today hoping it wouldn't be that crowded.

I got there at 2:30 and went to Nitro first. 3 trains running with the line just down the stairs. The rapids only had about a 10 minute wait, I didn't get that wet but others got drenched. Skull Mountain and Blackbeard's were both walk ons. For some reason they weren't letting people sit in the last row on Blackbeard's.

Scream Machine was also a walk on with 2 trains running, Superman was a little under 15 minutes also with 2 trains running. From the Scream Machine I saw KK had somewhat of a wait so I figured I would try it later.

Rolling Thunder had both sides open, I forgot how much more fun the ride is with both trains racing even though my train lost both times.

Bizarro had 3 trains running and the line was just out of the station, the mist didn't seem to be on as strong at the bottom of the first drop.

Runaway Mine Train was also a walk on, the 3rd car of 1 train was closed. The Log Flume was a little over 15 minutes, a lot of people were using the water sprayers today.

I went back to Rolling Thunder. Dainan (from Great Adventure Online) was working at the control panel and only the left side was open. I saw on the brake run a mechanic working on a train on the brakes on the right track. When the train pulled back into the station, the buzz bars wouldn't release and they had to be manually opened.

Kingda Ka was now about 5 minutes to get into the station and then 5 minutes to board the train. I got air time on the top hap for the first time today.

The Dark Knight was a 5 minute wait only because of the pre-show. I won't ruin the new surprise at the end but even though I knew what it was and approximately when it was going to happen, I still was a little surprised by it. With no one waiting to ride, I grabbed a re-ride and was going back to Nitro but it was closed with a worker on the lift hill so I went to Batman instead. 2 train wait for the last row.

They were just letting people into Nitro's line so I joined the line and went for the front row. They were taking a train off so that took a few minutes but it was a 4 train wait for the front. By the time we got back to the station, the line was past the 30 minute sign and I didn't feel like waiting 15 or more minutes for another ride and went back to the rapids. It was empty, with most boats half empty.

I finished the day at Skull Mountain, where I got 7 rides in a row.

One thing I noticed was the lack of enforcement of loose articles being allowed in line. If it is for safety it was annoying to see people with stuffed animals, soda bottles and souvenir bottles allowed to board the coaster with those items and take them on the ride. I saw this happen 4 times today. I also got the idea the ops are tired of the policy and some offered to put loose articles people had to the side at the entrance to the rides.

The other thing I noticed was a lot of ride breakdowns today. The skyride closed around 3:15 for a few hours and opened later in the day and got stuck with people on it and then closed again I think for the day.

I saw El Toro stuck on the lift hill and Runaway Mine Train broke down yet again today, the 3rd visit this season where I saw it break down. Plus there was Nitro closed for a while and Rolling Thunder both that I mentioned earlier.

I was glad the park wasn't that crowded since I'm sure crowds are going to pick up a lot soon.

Ride Count:
Skull Mountain - 8
Congo Rapids - 2
Log Flume - 1
Nitro - 2
Dark Knight - 2
Batman - 1
Blackbeard's - 1
Scream Machine - 1
Superman - 1
Kingda Ka - 1
Rolling Thunder - 3
Runaway Mine Train - 2
Bizarro - 1

Yay!! KK working! But I am very nervous about my GAdv trip next month and KK's status then...

Tig, I went to GAdv twice in four days, and Ka was running all day the first day and then not at all the second time. However, the wind was pretty bad on the second day, so I think maybe they just weren't even chancing it? Not sure...I haven't heard why it was down for the ENTIRE day, and I don't know when it went back up. Good luck!