Associated parks:
None
Before we start...
I'd like to point out a few things. Firstly, my coaster rating system is a follows: The scale ranges from -3 to 5 with -3 being totally depressing, and 5 being absolutely spiffy. Secondly, I am not one of these people who has ridden 600 or some oddd number of coasters, so I can only compare rides with what I've already ridden.
So, without further ado, here we go!
The drive up there took about 16 hours. We can usually get there in under 14, but there was some roadwork midway through Virginia. We didn't arrive at our destination until midnight, but I refused to let that ruin my big day.
I arose from sleep (more like arising from the dead...) at the ungodly hour of 5 am. Remember, this is coming from someone who enjoys leisurely awakenings at 10 or 11 in the morning. Fortunately, I was able to sleep a bit in the car, as someone else did the driving. we arrived at the park right as it opened, and the crowds were minimal. We were right in thinking that the area schools were not out yet. I was very surpirised, that as we drove in, I could not get the slightest glimpse of Nitro's humongous hills. The trees were really dense, and that made it kind of neat.
Whta I did see upon pulling into the parking lot was the Great American Scream Machine. It towered over the midway section of the park, rearing its bright red head over the trees. No sign of Nitro yet.
I used my Six Flags Over Gerogia season pass to get in, and immediatly headed for Nitro. I thought the Main Street could've used some spicing up, but that stage thing was kinda neat. It reminded me of the stage from the end of the movie Blazing Saddles. LOL that was one heck of a funny movie...
Okay, where was I...Oh yeah, right. Nitro. I took the long way of getting to Nitro so that I could pass by the Chiller to see if it was running. It was indeed testing, and I looked forward to hopping on it later in the day.
Once again I have to comment on the trees. The foliage, as well as the layout of the paths made it impossible to see the coasters until you're right on top of them. It almost made me feel like I was in a small park, at least until I remembered that this was SIX FLAGS!
I pulled my attention away from landscaping to behold the awesome sight of Nitro. This was what I came for, and this would be what I do. I entered the queue line and proceeded to walk up the stairs, trying not to slip. The station isn't much to see, but the ride more than makes up for that.
I have successfully boarded my second hypercoaster without waiting more that thirty seconds.
NITRO
I nab the front seat for the view, pull down my firghteningly minimal restraint, and we head out of the station. The lift chain engages, and my destiny is fullfilled. We pass the signs telling us what height we've achieved. Not as though we need them. The fact that we're towering over the once massive Batman is more than enough for me. I think to myself "Are we there yet?"
I answer myself. "No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No"
Are we there yet?"
"Yep."
My arms extend, my mouth opens, and we plummet. And plummet. And plummet some more. Then WOOOOSH! We're heading back up again, to another staggering height. We're jerked to the left, then we drop again. I experience that blissful sensation of weightlessness, and I scream. And the pre-teen girls behind me scream. Loudly. Ouch.
Down past the on ride photo we go, heading up once more into what B&M calls a hammerhead. Why? Who knows. Who cares! Its happening right here, in Jackson New Jersey, and I like it.
We've turned around out of the hammer head, and drop past some shrubberies. To my relief, the screaming had stopped. I uncover my ears, and we head into the helix. My neack strains to keep my head in place, and my arms are pushed downwards. Just in time, we pull out of the spiral, and into the brake run. We don't slow down much though, and once again we drop, this time without warning. And where would we be without some bunny hops? We go down. Positive Gs. We go up. Air time! We go down. Positive Gs. We go up. Air time! We go down. We go up, and into the final brakes.
That, my freinds, is truly a hyper hypercoaster.
Final Rating: 4.5!
After my heavenly experience on Nitro, I decide its time to do something new. Chiller is not open yet, so I go questing to fight a mythical demon. Its quite a quest, too. Themap didn't help me much, and neither did the staff, but eventually I found my way to...
MEDUSA
I had read about floorless coasters, and I had fantasized about riding them. Now I could fulfill my fantasies. Once I finally found her, I got into Medusa's queue line. She's a walk on. While I walk through the queue, I notice the sign on the ride building saying "Medusa Mining Company"...Now, who knew that Medusa owned a mining company? I sure didn't. Ah well; we learn something new every day. I rode Medusa three times in a row. Once in the front, and twice in the back.
Take it from me. 'Dusa is a real monster in the back. In fact, its a totally different ride experience in the back, rather than the front. I've chosen to review the back.
I climb in the seat, fasten my seat belt to my retraint, and below me the steel floor drops out and folds away. Spiffy. We depart from Medusa's mining company headquarters, turn around, and begin our ascent.
And boy do we ascend. Even though I had just come off the tallest coaster in the northeast US, Medusa still felt mighty big. I see the first car go over the crest of the hill, then the second then the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.
Now its my turn. Hands up? Check. Legs out? Check. Eyes open? Check. Scream?
CHEEEEEEEEEEECK!
Downwards we go, at the breakneck speed of sixty-one miles per hour. We enter the vertical loop, and I experience some more blissfull air time. We speed down again, and I really see why floorless coasters are great. My feet really feel vulnerable way down there. But I don't look at my feet too long. We head up into the diving loop, and roar through it past the queue line. Now, I have to aggree with Robert Coker on this. The Zero-G roll is perhaps the most incredible inversion that Bolliger and Mabbilard have given us. Again, I don't have too much time to think, as were already in the cobra roll. Up and over we go, the over and down. Wow! That was great!
It ain't over yet though baby. We pop up into the midcourse break run. Out of the brake run, we drop into the spiral. Great positive Gs here! We don't dawdle in the spiral though. We head out of there like a coon with a hound on its tail, flip through the first (interlocking) corkscrew, turn around, flip through the second (interlocking) corkcrew, turn around into the brake run and complete the ride.
Medusa is 3985 feet of pure fun. Kudos to B&M for building such a magnificent coaster, and kudos to Six Flags Great Adveture for buying it.
Final Rating: (Front) 3.5/5; (Back) 4/5
The Chiller: Batman
By now, I fugured, Chiller should be open, so I headed that way. The Chiller is really the most visible ride in the park, and what a sight it is. I watched from the outer queue line as train after train blasted out of the tunnel, into that maze of red and blue supports, through the top hat, and into the final iversion. That sound of the LIMs blasting the train forward is quite a sound to behold. The line slowly moved into the building, and I noticed the "brick" walls peeling off...Odd, eh?
Once I got into the station, I was promplty deafened by the operators voice proclaiming the launch in "5..4..3..2..1....." I chose the second seat to the front, and was aboard in less that ten minutes. I climbed into the seat, which is no easy task, and pulled the newly added lap bar down. No headbanging on this ride! Once again, the operator announced our launch, but this time I was a little more nervous than before. After all, this was my first LIM launched ride.
BAM!
That launch had me thinking "Hey where'd the station go" and nearly had me thinking "Hey! There's my breakfast!" I barely had time to notice the scenery inside the dome before we were headed up. And we really did head up quite a ways. I was jerked to the left as we flipped into the top hat, and jerked again as we exited. Wow! Down we went, then up again, and through the barrel roll. That had to be my favorite ride moment ever, spinning through the barrel roll at neary seventy miles per hour.
Just as I though gravity was going to kick in, another set of LIMs catapulted us forward, then backward we went! Going backwards through the barrel roll was, if possible, even more mind boggling that forwards. By the time that registered in my mind, we were already up the first incline of the top hat, and ready to get funky. Upside down we went for the fourth time, then we roared back into the station, and I breathed for the first time i nearly forty seconds. Whew! What a ride!
Final Ranking: 4/5
I left The Chiller feeling dizzied and very happy. Now, it was time to revisit my newly appointed favorite ride: Nitro. I have already reviewed this beat, so I won't again, bit just a word of advice: If you ride Nitro once, ride it in the front. If you ride Nitro twice, ride it in the front, then the back.
Lunch time! We headed to that place near Nitro, and I got a personal peperoni pizza. Guess what? It wasn't overpriced! I'm used to my home park, Six Flags Over Georgia, which is horribly overpriced ($9.00 for a hamburger, fries, and a medium drink!) so this was a real treat for me. It was still pretty chilly outside, so I passed by a few water rides, and headed to...
The Great American Scream Machine
This coaster won two awards from me that day: the coveted loudest lift hill award, and the puchie award. I waited thirty minutes to get on the Great American Scream Machine, and once in the station I chose the shortest line, which happened to be the middle. In five minutes, I was on. We left the station, dipped down, turned around, and my head jerked to the left. "Oh great..." What a fabulous start to a ride. Soon, I was having my eardrums burst by the melodious ROARING of the lift chain. I mean, wow! it was loud!
We attained our final height, turned to the left (ouch) and began to drop. I screamed.
"OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUCCCCCCHHHHHH!"
Up we went into the loop, a little haven of non-headbanging for the weary. BAM! Nevermind about that haven. You know, for being such a spectacular looking ride, you'd think this ride could offer some great thrills, but nope. In fact, I'm going to cut this review short because I was so horribly disappointed (and bruised) by this ride.
Final rating: -2.5/5
After my nearly paranormal experience on GASM, I headed over to a less hostile, but much better ride. Nitro again! MUAHAHAHAHA! I could ride this baby for the rest of my life...
Anyways, after Nitro I rode that kiddie coaster (just for the sake of adding it to my coaster count), thenthe mine train, which was actually pretty thrilling, then Medusa one more time. Gotta love that 'Dusa.
This hereby concludes my trip to Six Flags Great Adventure, and what a wonderful trip it was.
Noteworthy Notes
The park was very clean. I hardly noticd any trash at all, congrats to the staff!
The entrance could use some spicing up.
They were selling Superman merchandise in the stores. Remember what happened when they started selling Superman merchandise in 2001 at SFOG?
Medusa was a little too hard to find. The map could be improved, and the park needs better signage.
Speaking of Medusa, I loved how the entrance to it was in between the two halves of the cobra roll. Spectacular!
Okay. I'm done. Bye bye now.
*** This post was edited by coasterrod on 6/13/2002. ***
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How much more floorless can they get?
Well, I suppose I very well could be wrong about the SMan merchandise. Ah well.
I didn't ride BTR because it had one of the longest lines in the park, and i really didn't feel like waiting that long for somehting I'd ridden countless times at another park. As for Viper, it was closed up until about five minutes before I had to leave, and had a really long line.
Actallu, I forgot to mention Rolling Thunder in my TR. It was fun, really no airtime, but fone. Oh, and the Queue line smelled HORRIBLE!
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