Great Adventure 7/29/10

I usually stay away from Great Adventure in July and August but with the forecast originally calling for thunderstorms all day and changed at the last minute for the later afternoon and night to be clear, I decided to take a chance and take a trip to the park.

The first thing I noticed as usual was Scream Machine but this time was different of course because the ride wasn't running like past trips and is almost completely gone except the lift hill, drop, first loop and MCBR.

First ride of the day was Nitro. 3 trains running with the line at the bottom of the stairs and just under 10 minutes. I got row 8 and the ride vibrated almost the entire time, it was so bad I didn't walk around for another ride and went to Batman instead. The tunnel is cooler now but still wouldn't be comfortable to wait in with it being so hot out. This also was just under 10 minutes.

I saw the Dark Knight had the pre-show doors open so I went there next and walked into the middle of the pre-show. I still wish there was a way to skip it. At Coasters After Dark they weren't allowing re-rides despite an empty station but today they said I could stay on.

I went back to Batman and walked right onto the last row and tried Nitro again, this time in row 3 with around a 10 minute wait and it was a much better ride.

The Skyway had a long line with 1 side running so Skull Mountain was next, 1 train wait for the last row and I was able to get 4 rides in a row having to change seats a few times. The skull figure was not lit up today and it was very dark inside the building.

Walking past Fantasy Fling the ride op was telling people to not lean over the chains on the ride and had apparently stopped the ride in the middle of the cycle because people were leaning over the chains and lifting their feet up. Blackbeard's was loading so I walked right onto the coaster and went into Frontier Adventures.

Runaway Mine Train was a 1 train wait, I got 3 rides having to walk around once. The Log Flume was only around 5 minutes, which was surprising since it usually has a longer line even on slow days. Bizarro was running 2 trains, again just under a 10 minute wait. The music was working today but the lights were still not on, on the shields at the bottom of the first drop. I went back to the Log Flume, this time waiting 2 minutes and walked on to Runaway Mine Train.

The Skyway had only 10 or so people in line so I rode that next, planning to take a full circuit but the other side still had a long line and walked to Rolling Thunder. Just the right side was open with the green and blue trains running. The green train must have been recently put together since earlier this season I saw it taken apart near Nitro. 1 train wait for the front row, this was my first time on the right side this season and it wasn't rough at all. I moved to the 2nd car for a re-ride.

The Golden Kingdom is very dark at night especially with Balin's Jungleland and Kingda Ka closed. I stopped to take some pictures of Scream Machine, and a worker told me I better get some pictures while I can since he said it will be gone tomorrow. We talked for a minute about Chang and how Scream Machine was running great this year and how it was a shame they had to get rid of Scream Machine.

The Parachutes had 2 sides open despite the low crowds and the wait was only a couple of minutes. I finished the night at Superman, 2 trains running and a 1 train wait for a middle row. I also noticed that it looked like the repainted the Superman Shield again this year since in May or early June it was starting to get faded again.

It was a great trip to the park with crowds much lighter than normal for July and I was able to get a lot of rides in just under 4 1/2 hours.

Is Kingda Ka down again, or was it just closed when you were over there?

Planning on going here for the first time next week... good to hear that the crowds may be manageable. I was predisposed to buying a FlashPass, but may hold off now until I see how the day starts out.

I went on a Tuesday in July, and I thought it would be horrible, but it wasn't bad kpjb. Ka was down on my visit, but the rest of the park was splended, and Toro is something words can't describe.

We were there on 7/9 and had less then 10 minute waits on everything including Toro. Ka was the only wait that we had, but that was because the ride was down for a light rain.

But...but...I thought they artifically inflated lines to sell Q-bots!

Wait. No, I didn't. :)

Ka was down Wednesday and Thursday for some rehab, I heard the catch car replacement.

I saw way more flashpass users than I expected. It didn't save them any time except maybe 5 minutes at Nitro. Some were just going through the regular lines since they were so short.

Back when the Q-Bot people were courting us, I could get them for free. When we went to SFNE last year, I got one even though the lines were very short just because I didn't have to pay.

It still helped us out a lot, though. For example, the lines for Thunderbolt and the S&S tower next to it were both about 10 or 15 minutes, so I'd Q-Bot one while I got in line for the other, then as I got off the coaster, I could walk right on to the tower ride. Even though it was only 10 minutes at a time, it still probably saved us an hour or two throughout the day, and since I'll probably never be back there (at least not any time soon) it was worth it to me. That being said, I would have never done it if it wasn't free, but now that I did it, I'd absolutely pay for it next time.

That's why I may pick one up even if the crowds are light on Monday. It's only $61, and I'm getting in hella-cheap on a hookup, so I'll break even on regular admission anyhow.