Kings Dominion/Six Flags America; 6/28/09; part 2

I decided that after Kings Dominion, I would break up the drive by stopping at Six Flags America, so I re-programmed the GPS (I have quickly become useless without GPS) and headed up to the park.

At first, I didn't see what the big fuss was about this park being shoddy. The parking lot was a little confusing, but it didn't appear littered or poorly maintained. The parking attendant was nice, and I don't know if he was just being nice when he let me park for free after seeing my Great Adventure Season Pass with parking, if he didn't notice that it was a Great Adventure pass, or if you ARE indeed entitled to free parking at all Six Flags parks (there's been a lot of discrepancies on the parking policy at other parks besides your home park), but in any case, I got to park for free. I was pleased with this. I got into the park easily without having to get a guest ticket (ahem, Cedar Fair, ahem), and the appearance of the main area looked like every other decent amusement park I've been to in the past few years.

Then I got to the Gotham coaster area. Ew. EWWWWW! This area is bare, with minimal to no landscaping, the coasters all looked like they were going to fall over (I SWEAR the lift hill on Superman was sagging at the top), and there were metal pipes and coaster parts out by Jokers Jinx. Is it possible to feel pity for machines? If so, that is definitely what I felt for these decent to great coasters. Maybe things looked worse because it was also a supremely ugly day, with spitting rain every now and then and thick blankets of gray clouds, but I don't think so. Superman's trains were faded and filthy, and the main parts of the cars were so dented up and cracked that they looked kind of like papier mache (sp?). My ride partner (a nice young man also travelling by himself) asked if I was scared to ride Superman, and I said yes. What I didn't say was that mainly I was scared because the darn thing looked like it was going to fall apart.

Now the actual rides:

Superman Ride of Steel: I'm kind of back and forth on this ride. I had a great time on it, but there were some vibrations throughout the whole ride that were detracting from the experience (not that bad, but they made it feel slower). I thought the two super-long helixes were a little bit much and not nearly face-ripping in intensity as they could have been, but some of the hills in the second half looked like they were going to be rough and impossible to navigate and they gave ridiculous ejector air in seat 2-2. I liked this ride a lot, but I think I really want to check out ROS in New England to get the REAL picture. Maybe sooner rather than later. I want something to unseat El Toro! LOL This did not do so, but it was a great ride. I wish I could have re-rode, but it was really sporadic in operations and I didn't have another chance (although it was a walk-on for my one and only ride). I'm going to give it a weak 9.

Jokers Jinx: The ride ops were a lot of fun on this ride, which added to the excellent experience. This ride is unique, crazy, and SO much fun. You have no idea what you're in for, you only have lapbars to keep you in the seat for a coaster with inversions (I have not looked this up on RCDB either, but is this a Premier ride? I'll have to check it out), and just as you think you're just going to keep wrapping around the structure at a medium pace, this thing goes totally out of control, building up speed until everything is a blur. I loved it. Really unique ride, and it didn't appear as poorly maintained as Batwing and ROS. 8.5-9/10.

Batwing: The paint was peeling off this in sheets, and this is another ride that suffered from really poor aesthetics in the surrounding area. This was also only a one-train wait on each side, but the ride ops were letting people fart around and change their minds on which seats they wanted to ride in a million times and whether or not they wanted to wear their T-shirts or just put them around their necks (which shouldn't have been allowed anyway...loose articles in lockers, people!!!). Slow loading became nearly non-existent loading. The restraints are marginally more comfortable than the B&M versions, but I must say, going up the hill on your back instead of hanging there (as well as arriving to the station on your back instead of hanging there) is a much better design concept. This ride also was much faster and forceful than the Superman flyer. However, I still didn't care for it all that much. I'd ride it again with no problem, but flyers are just not my thing (except Manta). 7/10.

Mind Eraser: POS. I can say that this kept up a great pace, but that's all I can say. I was just crying, "Pleasenomorepleasenomorepleasenomore". After this, I had a splitting headache that lasted until about 5 pm the next day. 2/10.

Roar: Meh...this was rough at times, but not brutal like Howler. It looked well-maintained, I liked the colors of the trains, and I liked being able to stay on afterwards for another ride if I wanted (I did not). I was actually bored, and I was still hurting from MindEraser. 4.5/10.

Rodeo: Typically I wouldn't even mention a flat ride, but this thing is FUN!!! If you can tolerate spin n pukes, you've gotta do this. Plus, the ride op was crazy! He would slow the ride down after the cycle and then speed it back up and be like, "Hehehe...gotcha!" and "you still think this is a kiddie ride?" Then he let everyone who wanted to ride again just stay on. After two cycles, I felt like I was gonna boot, so I had to get off, but I want one of these Mad Cows in my back yard some day! LOL

I was hurting too much after this ride to do much else, so I left to try and find a Coach outlet store, but it was too late in the day, so I just drove home and slept for forever. It may have been ugly outside, but it ended up being the best day ever for coaster riding! Next up.....? Only 12 more to 100 coasters! :)

Joker's Jinx is the same exact layout as Flight of Fear at KD, minus the midcourse brake.

I find it funny that we generally agreed on KD, but I disagree with you about SFA. We had a great time there and would happily go back.

Roar IMO is better then any wood at KD.

We wanted to ride Rodeo but some weird guy was on it and hurled. I would hate that part of the job. Clean up on car 12.

Did you get a chance to ride Wild One, the white woodie you have to pass under to get to Gotham? I think it is a decent wood coaster compared to some, like Roar/Hurler.

I did NOT get a chance to ride Wild One, and I really wanted to, but I was just too tired to do anything else. Next time. It's really not that far for me, so I could definitely go back.

Make sure you ride that one for sure next time. It sure has a history and they have some signs in the line that tell of its past. I thought that was kind of neat and wanted to read it, but the girl with me could have cared less, so we just jumped on the ride and went. LOL