Great Adventure, 7/6/09

Even though I knew the park was probably going to be crowded today, my sister wanted to see the Glow In the Park parade since she missed it on both her visits to the park last year so we decided to take a chance ang go to the park. We got there around 4:00 and the lot had a lot of cars in it, more than I have seen all season. Superman looked to have at least a 45 minute wait looking at it from the lot.

The first ride was Blackbeard's since my sister needed the credit. 10 minute wait, and they still give you 2 laps. We went to Skull Mountain next which was a little less than 10 minutes. There were so many flashpass users they gave them almost an entire train even though they are only supposed to get car 5. We stopped to see the dolphin show. It was ok but nothing that special.

Both sides of the skyway were running and it was 15 minutes. We saw the log flume had at least an hour wait so decided to go to Runaway Mine Train next, the line was down the stairs. How often do you see that? The front 3 rows of 1 train were closed so we took the 4th car. It was a little less than 10 minutes. We were going to go for a 2nd ride, but the line had gotten past the steps and they actually had a flashpass person there to allow flashpass users to merge at that point. I have never seen that happen before I guess because the lines hasn't been that long in years.

We then stopped at the Tea Cups which was a 1 cycle wait and the Carousel also a 1 cycle wait. Skull Mountain was down to a 1 train wait so we stopped there, took the sky way back to Frontier Adventures saw the log flume still had at least a 45 minute wait so skipped it and stopped at the mine train again with about a 5 minute wait.

Walking to Movie Town I saw Scream Machine was a walk on so I stopped there for a ride and went to see the Glow In the Park parade. I had seen parts of it last year when walking to other rides but never stopped to see the whole parade.

It was really great, not as good as Spectro Magic but very impressive for what it was. The Great Adventure float at the end with Kingda Ka was really cool.

The Dark Knight had a few minute wait to get into the pre-show. My sister really liked the coaster, especially the individual lap bars (on a lot of coasters like Steel Force, even with the lap bar at the lowest it will go, she still has a lot of room).

I really wanted to ride Nitro but hadn't gotten to it earlier in the day because I knew it was going to have a very long wait. At this point it was a little after 9:30 and the line was at the 30 minute sign and it was around 12 minutes. Amazing ride as usual. That just shows how crowded it was since the line is usually around the 30 minute sign in the middle of the day when I go to the park during the week in May and early June.

We finished the day with another ride on Dark Knight.

Other than skipping a lot of the major coasters and the log flume due to crowds, it was still a good trip to the park.

Good report as usual. Just out of curiosity, when do the crowds at Great Adventure start to become more manageable again? Late August? After Labor Day?

I, too, enjoy reading your trip reports Yoshi. I see you went on a Monday and it was pretty busy. I might be planning a trip to GA on Monday the 27th of July. I am guessing the crowds then would be pretty bad as well. Do you think I would be able to ride most of the coasters during the entire day? How long would rides like El Torro, Kingda Ka (if open), Bizzaro, and Nitro have? Just curious like Gary I guess.

^^Late August is still packed. Last year I went on a Tuesday in the last week in August and even after 5, Nitro was 40 minutes. By 9, it died down and I got a lot of rides in but that isn't much time. After Labor Day is quieter but even that is hit or miss. I went the Sunday after Labor Day last year and had 5 minute waits or less for everything even Kingda Ka but I read a report for the next Sunday after that saying waits worse a lot worse. Then for Frightfest it picks up again except Friday nights where it generally isn't crowded at all.

^If you go during the summer and get there at opening, it is manageable if you get the major coasters out of the way first. Kingda Ka being closed makes lines a lot worse too.

By mid day, I would say Nitro, Bizarro and El Toro will have around 45 minute waits on average. I would not expect Kingda Ka to be open, rumors are it might open for Frightfest at the earliest. You should be able to get on all the coasters though.

All this talk of crowds has me concerned for my visit next tuesday..

I am assuming that you are not using flashpasses. We will be heading there for a Sunday visit in early August from open to close. Would you advise spending the $$$ on them for the 3 of us that ride?

And if so, Gold or Regular?

TIA Dave

You should be able to ride everything without a flashpass but if you want re-rides, a flashpass will probably be needed. Regular is a lot cheaper but if lines get long, you might not get a lot of extra rides in with regular. I guess it also depends on weather, if rain is forecasted and it doesn't rain, crowds might be light enough that you don't need the flashpass at all.