Line jumpers and loose articles at SF New England - Sunday June 10
Associated parks:
None
The weather at 7:00am was overcast and chilly in NJ when we began our journey. But, we were hopeful it would all burn off by the time we got to Massachusetts. Unfortunately for us, it did not. We got out of the car in SFNE’s parking lot and were FREEZING. After two days of sun and heat, it was now cloudy, a tad drizzly and pretty cold. But, we boarded the tram and were off towards the park. I will note here I can see why the businesses on Main Street are upset about the traffic. This park is literally located on a two lain road with almost NO traffic control. I can’t remember if there was a turn lane or not, but if there was, it wasn’t very long. Plus, we got there right before park opening and there wasn’t even anyone directing traffic. If you come from the major highway, you have to make a left into the parking lot. I can just imagine on a sunny Saturday in the middle of the summer, traffic would be pretty bad. It’s a little odd taking a tram from the parking lot and then having to go over a monstrous pedestrian bridge to get into the park too. But, I’m guessing since Six Flags took over, attendance is far greater than it was as Riverside.
After waiting for guests that thought bringing every worldly possession they have in a backpack with 50 different pockets would be a good idea, we were finally in the park. Since Superman: Ride of Steel was tops on our list, we headed right there. At this point, I will mention their park map is truly awful. For never being at the park before, we had to rely on the map to know where to go. However, we were led astray on several occasions. I know they are “artist’s interpretations”, but at least put the paths leading to the right places. Geesh.
Anyways, we get to S:ROS and were psyched. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t understand why this thing kept knocking out Millennium Force as number one. But, after riding it, I can see why. For only being as big as Magnum, this thing is awesome. Tons of airtime, lots of speed, a wicked sweet tunnel with mist, and just pure fun. I felt the ride needed new wheels or something because it seemed a tad on the rough side for an Intamin. Also, the “revised” restraints are just horrendous. The ankle restraints seem like overkill to me and are not comfortable at ALL. I had some nice dark bruises on my shins after just one ride. Overall though, the ride was awesome.
We wanted to ride Nightwing next because none of us had ever seen a flat like this before. It’s a Huss “flying” spinner for those of you that don’t know. It was loading and loading and loading and then broke down. So, we started to exit the queue. However, there was this annoying little girl behind us that was like, “go go go”, telling us to move up in the queue. My friends mocked me for this all day, but I leaned over to get to her height and was like, “IT’S BROKEN!” At the time, I thought I just said it normally, but my friends claim I said it like a big ogre and practically yelled at her. Needless to say, this little girl “followed us” to like the next three or four rides, so that was quite amusing. LOL!
Catwoman’s Whip was up next. This train seemed to go on FOREVER. So, we took up the last six rows and all sat right in the center of the seat. It was quite amusing since the rest of the train was all wee-ones mainly sitting two per row. But, we still had fun. It’s a family coaster – not much more to say. Oh wait, I almost forgot. This was classic. The ride ops was all like, “Are you guys READY?” and she got no response from the train. So, she was like, “I didn’t hear you.” Then she attempted to ask us again if we were ready, but completely botched it and tripped over her words like three times. Of course this resulted in an uproar of laughter from the entire train. Us weirdos in the back laughed through the whole ride. LOL!!
We then walked through Wiggle’s World and it was just scary. I don’t see how characters like that are appealing to small children.
The Mind Eraser was up next and all I can really say is I wish I could erase that entire experience from my mind. Awful restraints and horrible head banging. I did find it quite amusing the restraints release before the floor rises all the way back up though. Since we’re notorious for being the first off the train when it comes back, we got to ride the floor back up. Ha ha!!
Since my map tore off the South End section of the park, I think the next ride we did was called Double Trouble. This is the first amusement ride of any kind to almost injure me. This is a Chance “double inverter” as seen HERE. I was sitting in the front row on the end. The OTSR comes down first (automatically) and then the yellow “stick” comes down next and compresses you until you can’t breathe. That wasn’t the issue though. During the load process, the ride op said, “Put your head back and arms UP while the restraint lowers.” So, being the good park guest that I am, I followed what she said. However, by putting my arms up, my left arm was pinned between the side of the car and the shoulder restraint. Since the restraints lowers on its own and keeps going despite resistance, it almost broke off my arm. The pain was really intense and I had to basically yell at the ride op in front of me to stop the restraint. Of course, someone else was operating the ride, so she had to relay the message to them. That’s either a poorly designed ride, or a really bad ride op – or both I guess. What she should’ve said was “hold your arms straight out in front of you” or just leave them at your side. Putting them up in the air was the worst thing you could’ve done. Anyways, after all that, the ride sucked. LOL!!
Then it was off to Batman: The Dark Knight. Even though the park map advertises this as a “floorless inverted coaster”, it’s really just a floorless coaster. It was pretty good. I prefer Medusa at Great Adventure better though.
Twister was next – a Huss top spin. The cycle time was WAY too short. Other than that, it was a top spin. Thankfully it was a dry top spin.
We then tried out Scream. I have to admit, I didn’t know S&S made a double shot tower. But, it was awesome! Talk about the best of both worlds. I can only image how sweet Power Tower would be if it was a double shot.
Thunderbolt was then calling our name. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. After our great luck with woodies on this trip so far, I was excited to try out what looked like a classic. Turns out it was actually pretty fun. It wasn’t the smoothest, but it wasn’t that rough either. There was also some pretty good airtime. Good ride.
We then stupidly tried Houdini’s Great Escape since we wanted to compare it to the one in NJ. If possible, it was actually worse. These things can be so much fun. What is Six Flag’s problem with these rides?
Two Huss flats were up next. First it was Tomahawk. It doesn’t look that fun, but the fun begins halfway through the cycle when it reverses direction and then almost doubles its rotation speed. That’s what I call a fun flat. But, it just got better from there. Rodeo was up next. This is a Huss breakdance if you’re not familiar. Anyways, we all pile in. During the cycle, one of our friend’s doors opened, slamming into the side of the car. Obviously, the ride op stops the ride. So, I assumed it was over and undid my seatbelt. However, the ride op goes over to my friend’s car, fiddles with the door and then my friend is like, “do you just want me to hold it closed?” Amazingly, the ride op is like, “Do you mind?” So, he starts back up the ride with my friend HOLDING THE DOOR CLOSED. I was so stunned watching this all play out in front of us, I forgot to re-do my seatbelt since he started the ride back up. So, we were fiddling around trying to do up the seatbelt while the ride is spinning around. Pure insanity. Fun times though.
Pandemonium was cycling empty trains when we got there, so we waited for Time Warp instead. The ride is more forceful than I thought it was going to be. It takes FOREVER to load, but the ride was pretty fun.
Pandemonium was just “eh”. I actually thought the spinning detracted from the ride. Like, when you go around the corners, the free-spin of the ride evens out the corners. So, it’s basically a pretty boring ride that goes up and down a little bit. It looks fun though. LOL!!
Catapult had been testing while we were waiting for these two rides, then it ran many times with people. So, we headed up to ride. I was really looking forward to this since I’ve been psyched about trying a Fly Swatter since they came out. But, of course it broke down as we were next to get on. Grrrrrr. They said it should be back up and running in 10-20 minutes, so we rode Cyclone in the meantime.
Cyclone is the biggest pile of junk I’ve ever ridden. There wasn’t anything good about this ride. It was just horrible. If you ever go to this park, avoid Cyclone like the plague.
Catapult was working again, so we got in line. Of course, we were next to get on and then it broke down. Great. Just great.
We then decided to get some food, so we headed over to the “food court” in Movie Town. Two of us went to get chicken fingers and realized right before the register they didn’t take credit. Since neither of us had cash, we had to put the food back. So, the lady was like, “On the other side, they take credit.” Then she was like, “They have the same food too.” I’m thinking to myself, “Why would this side not take credit but the other side take it and both have the same food?” But, we moved on. However, the chicken fingers and fries were horrific and were served on an ant-infested counter. So, the food at SFNE has a LOT to be desired. Normally I’m fine with park food. But, this was nasty and the ants all over the place just turned me off.
We then rode S:ROS two more times. I didn’t mention it earlier, but the queue is designed quite poorly. Almost everyone going through the line jumps through this row of shrubs and into the roofed part of the queue. Of course, five kids do this in front of us while we’re walking through the empty queue. Since there is a cop standing RIGHT NEXT TO where the kids cut in the line, I said something to her. She wasn’t very happy I said anything to her, but she made them get behind us. Why she needed me to tell her what line jumping was surprised me a little.
Anyways, while going up the lift, the ride stopped. We were all like, “uh oh.” Moron lady in front of us whips out her cell phone and starts having a conversation with people. Keep in mind, EVERY SINGLE safety announcement in the queues say if you are caught on a ride using a cell phone or camera, you WILL be ejected from the park. Anyways, a ride op comes up the lift and stops at me and is like, “Can I have your camera please?” Since I didn’t even have a camera in the park, I told her I didn’t have one. So, she moves a couple cars in front of me and asks these two kids to hand it over. She was there for several minutes and got a couple cameras and a couple cell phones from these kids. Since she was up there, I told her about the chick that was just having a conversation on her phone. So, she took that phone too. he he! So, the ride continues and we get back to the station where our friendly cop is waiting with the cameras and cell phones. Much to the entire train’s surprise, the cop just gave back the devices and away the people went. Why would you go through all the effort of stopping a ride to take cameras and phones just to give them right back? What is THAT about?
So, we ride again, deal with more line jumpers and a girl in front of us on the lift whips out a camera and starts taking pics. We all start yelling at her to put it away because we don’t want to get hit with it. So, she screams at us that it’s in her bra. Oh great. Low and behold, at the bottom of the drop, out comes the camera. She’s holding it up in the air, in front of her face and all over taking pics of who knows what. This is during the entire ride. Thankfully we were done with the ride for the day because we were just annoyed at that point. But, the ride itself continued to deliver.
We then picked up Nightwing since it was running. Talk about a freaky ride. It wasn’t really all that comfortable, but it was interesting. I’ll give it that. The load time is way too long though.
As a last ditch effort, we headed back over to Catapult to see if it was working yet. After waiting around for like 10 minutes though, we gave up on it and decided to head home.
Overall, the park was pretty fun. I enjoyed it. Would I go back? Probably not. If I was in the area, I’d stop by for Catapult and some rides on S:ROS, but that’s about it. The park wasn’t too crowded, it was relatively clean and for the most part, the rides were fun. Luckily it wasn’t crowded or we would’ve liked the park a lot less. The sun managed to come out in full force a couple hours after we arrived which made the day quite nice. So, it ended up to be a pretty fun day. Again, the people I was with made the day what it was.
Next trip: Cedar Point VIP and hopefully Holiday World.
I'm really sorry to hear that Cyclone is now a pile of junk. That coaster used to be so much fun and intense before it got neutered. It was still fun when it had the Morgans, but seemed more intense when it had the old PTC trains but took forever to load. *** Edited 6/26/2007 3:17:01 AM UTC by Cropsey***
BTW, Scream isn't a Double Shot (85-foot towers with repeated Space Shot motions), it's actually a Combo Ride (Space Shot and Turbo Drop program in one ride).
I'm sorry you didn't get on Catapult as I think it's one of the better flats out there.
I'm more sorry you suffered through the Riverside Cyclone. It's got one train that isn't too bad, but it still doesn't make up for the rough ride. I can't think of any other coaster that shakes you while it's going down the hills.
Still, I think it's a decent park despite my being spoiled by Islands of Adventure, Cedar Point and Hersheypark.
kRaXLeRidAh said:
BTW, Scream isn't a Double Shot (85-foot towers with repeated Space Shot motions), it's actually a Combo Ride (Space Shot and Turbo Drop program in one ride).
Except for the original tower, which can only run the Turbo Drop sequence. There's a switch on the newer towers for Turbo Drop, Space Shot, and Combo, the older tower doesn't have the option.
Spinout said:
Why wouldn't you go back there again (because you didn't like one ride)?
The Mind Eraser and Cyclone didn't ruin my day at the park. They didn't even ruin the park for me. But, I don't live anywhere near the park and I don't think it's worth the drive for me personally. If/when I live in NYC again, I might consider a trip up there again especially if I have a season pass for Six Flags again. But, at the moment, the park doesn't really offer anything unique. The coasters at Great Adventure are better. The atmosphere at Hershey Park is way better. Dorney Park is closer and I loved that park when I went last summer. That area of the country has a TON of parks to chose from and I'd just rather spend my money on one of the others. That's all.
I'm not saying it was a bad park at all. I guess I should have said "Will I make the effort of going back in the future, probably not." That's really what I meant. It's not like I'd avoid going there. We had a lot of fun. Fun is good. :)
As for the Scream I've only seen it running combo mode this year. In years past I've seen it run all three depending on the day. I don't know if they have permanently gone to combo mode or not, but i think so and hope so.
No offense but when I was reading your TR and so the word Double Trouble I began laughing and thinking oh you were in for it. My one and only experience on that ride was not much better than yours. I've seen it rated as the 2nd most hated attraction in the country on the themeparkcritic website before. I guess you now know why.
That's a real bummer that you didn't get on the Catapult. That thing is probably the most intense flat ride i've ever been on in a good way. You almost feel like your going to faint when your up-side down.
For me Millennium Force is still way better than Superman. But i too can see why other people see it differently. The ejection air time on superman far exceeds any other rollercoaster that I have been on.
-Eric: Major Parks: SFNE(homepark), SFA,SFGADV,CP,BGE,BGA,Kennywood,and Sea World: Track record 65 different coasters ridden #1 is Millennium Force #2 is El Toro and than there are all the others
We really didn't have a bad day at all. We had WAY worse service, atmosphere and ride down time at Great Adventure on Friday. From what I remember, most of the stands were open, employees seemed friendly, lots of the buildings looked either new or newly painted, and their soft serve ice cream cones are to die for!
I comment on things that happened to us or we noticed that may seem like complaining to others. But, we usually make them funny. It takes a lot to piss us off or make us angry. I wasn't really happy with the chicken fingers, fries and ants, but it's a theme park. I wasn't even really upset with almost getting my arm chopped off. Things like that just make for a more memorable day. :)
El Toro. My plan is to have the best ride possible. So im going to ride it as the last ride of my first day and its going to be as far back in the train as possible.
Im a little concerned about the trip b/c the last day I was at the park it was almost 2 years ago now. There were 2.5 hour waits for Nitro 1.5 for Medusa 3 supposively for Superman and KK went down after waiting 2.5 hours.That was a thursday too. Fortunately the other 2 days went much better and made up for it.
-Eric: Major Parks: SFNE(homepark), SFA,SFGADV,CP,BGE,BGA,Kennywood,and Sea World: Track record 65 different coasters ridden #1 is Millennium Force #2 is El Toro and than there are all the others
You should have no problem getting the last row of El Toro as a walk on late at night. Everyone bunches up by the front of the train, leaving the back almost empty.
halltd said:
Ahhhh. Thanks for the clarification. The combo ride is definitely the way to go though. That was fun. I know I'm dreaming, but I would love to see CP convert Power Tower over to that.
If you want the next best thing, if you're ever in the Niagara Falls area... Marineland Canada has the shot/drop combo on their Sky Screamer triple-tower of which is 300+ feet tall. I think it might be slightly taller than Cedar Point's... not to mention it's on a 150' hill at that.
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