Questions About SFGAdv

Hello all. I am going to SFGAdv for the first time this Saturday the 22nd with my family. I know there are going to be extremely long lines likely becuse school just got out and it is a Saturday and there is some kind of Mardi Gras special weekend but I can not change the day that I am going so I will have to make the best of it. I have a few questions to ask of the many people who have been to SFGAdv in New Jersey.

1. Due to the most likely long lines, which coasters at the park have the longest lines and which should I hit first to minimize the waiting. Is there a path that you take around the park that would be the most efficient to ride the coasters and other rides in the quickest amount of time.

2. Are there any other aspects that I should not miss. For example...... is there a great log flume or rapids ride or antique ride I need to enjoy. Same with food, where is a great place to eat food besides chatting with the lemon chill guy ;) Is anything equivalent to the Potato Patch fries at Kennywood :) Yum.

3. Are there any good shows to catch? My mom and dad like to see 1 or 2 shows at a park, which are some good ones?

4. I am looking forward to riding Nitro.... is it a long line..... does the line move quickly. Also, is both Batman and Robin operating now with lapbars. Oh, is Viper operating or is it stillSBNO or torn down? Lastly, my dad can not ride coasters with inversions. Does Skull Mountain have inversions, I doubt it.

5. Can I ride all coasters in 12 hours going on other rides and watching shows, is it possible. If not, are there any coasters to forget about riding that are not worth it? Oh, one more thing, is there a free water park and what time does the drive through Safari open, how long does it take to complete, and is it any good or worthwhile?

Sorry about the long post. Thanks for all of the help, it is greatly appreciated and you do not have to answer all questions, if you only know one answer that is still great too, thank you very much :)

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Dave

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ACE15 said:

1. Due to the most likely long lines, which coasters at the park have the longest lines and which should I hit first to minimize the waiting.

Start at the Chiller...enter the park and swing right into movie town. it has the slowest line. Batman usually has the longest line, so you can hit that second. Make your way to Nitro next....then skull mountain, then medusa, then runaway train, then Viper, then Rollin thunder, then Scream Machine

2. Are there any other aspects that I should not miss. For example...... is there a great log flume or rapids ride or antique ride I need to enjoy. Same with food, where is a great place to eat food besides chatting with the lemon chill guy Is anything equivalent to the Potato Patch fries at Kennywood Yum.

Log flume is OK, same with Congo Rapids (raft Ride) not really awesome theming...but nice on a hot day. Movie Town water effect is the best after Perilous Plunge (IMO) Flat rides not to miss....Houdini's great escape(Boardwalk) Evolution (lets sing Kumbaya and hope that it is open), Freefall, Mase, Chaos, Jumpin Jack Flash. As for Food, Mama Flora's Cucina in Old Country...!!!hay que buena!!!


3. Are there any good shows to catch? My mom and dad like to see 1 or 2 shows at a park, which are some good ones?

Lethal Weapon is ....ehh, so is the Batman stunt show. Hopefully they have some special feature when you visit

4. I am looking forward to riding Nitro.... is it a long line..... does the line move quickly. Also, is both Batman and Robin operating now with lapbars. Oh, is Viper operating or is it stillSBNO or torn down? Lastly, my dad can not ride coasters with inversions. Does Skull Mountain have inversions, I doubt it.

Nitro has got to be the fastest line I've been on. Batman now has lapbars, Viper is open (ACK), skull mountain has 0 inversions

5. Can I ride all coasters in 12 hours going on other rides and watching shows, is it possible. If not, are there any coasters to forget about riding that are not worth it? Oh, one more thing, is there a free water park and what time does the drive through Safari open, how long does it take to complete, and is it any good or worthwhile?

OK So you can skip Viper...nothin special there. You can definitely ride all the coasters...go to the safari and see a show or two in 12 hours...if you ride once that is. Safara takes about 1.5 hours to complete (last time I checked it opens at 10...when the park opens). Its fun actually. They have a radio station that describes the animals as you drive through. For a first time visitor I recommend it.

Sorry about the long post. Thanks for all of the help, it is greatly appreciated and you do not have to answer all questions, if you only know one answer that is still great too, thank you very much

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Dave"

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Well, If you get there by opening, go straight to Chiller. Its lines can get rediculous all day. I'm prettys ure only Batman is open, but Robin is due any day now. Same with B:TR, hit it now. For some reason it always has long lines.

BUT! When youre done with these two, head towards Medusa/Viper/RT/MT. Most of the GP will be drawn by Chiller and Nitro to that end of the park. However, this leads to Medusa having walk-on lines until 11:30 - 12 ish. By the time you're done with Medusa, MT, RT and Viper, hit the log flume, and then grab a bite to eat at Best of the West (good burgers).

Now, Start to come back up. Go into the boardwalk around 2-ish, and once you escape the wrath of the Nathans-Games-Walkway Bottleneck, walk to gasm. Usually, it only has a 10-20 minute wait on a saturday. You may also want to hit Twister, a Huss Topspin. Dino Island usually gets packed, because it is air conditioned. If u can see a large que in the building, skip it for now.

Ok, so you have 7 coasters done, and 3 more to go. You can strole over alongside the lake, and see/pray for Evolution to be open. Wups! If BBTT is open, and there is no line (there never is) just hit it. The drop is actually kind of fun. Now, Since you have time, and you will be scorched, either Get in line for Skull Mounatin (indoor que, fans, next to a waterfall). If you can see people in the cavern next to the waterfall, you're looking at a 20 minute wait.

By now it is 6-ish, so either grab dinner early, or hop on some lakeside flats to drive the crowd to dinner. This is a great time to ride Congo Rapids, and possibly B:TR again. Now, with so much time left, you will want to wait for Nitro, twice. A dusk/night ride on Nitro is the way to experience this ride, first hand.When youre donw with your 2 laps (I bet you $20 you will want to ride again), you can try heading back to Frontier Adventures. Usually, the flume, Viper, and RT empty out. Whta better way to end the night, but sme re0rides on Medusa.

Have fun!

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How much more floorless can they get?

Sounds like they've covered it, although last weekend I hit Nitro two times in a row at opening and then Chiller for only a ten minute wait. You can't go wrong hitting Nitro early, and generally, the rest of the day is a twenty to thirty minute wait.

They also have a dolphin show this year, if that interests you at all. By the way, the safari opens one hour before the park.

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Jim Hansen
Number of coasters ridden: 171

*** This post was edited by SJCoasternut on 6/21/2002. ***

The shows that your family may want to watch are Dolphin Discovery, Ski Xtreme, chinese acrobats, or whats up rock show for little kids. Chiller should be the first ride than B:TR and than Nitro since your in the area than whatever.

i was there yesterday, RED chiller is closed, blue chiller is open, i talked to a guy he said red has been closed for a while and they said it will open 'once it gets busy enough' expect to wait a long time not because of massive crowds but because of poorly trained and slow employees when i was there they were stacking 2 trains on MEDUSA, a coaster that should be running 3 trains!! only 1 train on rolling thunder, and batman was just ungodly slow w\ the lapbars, it did about 12 cycles for us to get on, musta taken at least an hour, nitro moves very fast and is one of the shorter lines in the park!! VIPER is closed, i talked to a employe he said its closed "because it sucks" anyways he says it can run but they only run it when they are SUPER busy and have the extra employees witch isent often, about 70% of their flat rides have been removed\SBNO\broken, i would just hit up the coasters, you can do them all in one day and grab 2nds on what you liked, PS if you have been on a B&M inverter, dont ride batman, 2 train operation, and they stack for about 2-3 min, so the line moves EXTREMLY EXTREMLY EXTREMLY slow, its just not worth that long of a wait because they load and unload soo slowly! god i really hate that park... why did i even go there?? ... ooh yea, caz its funny(from 80-90's they had a wanna-be-like-disney complex) BTW skull mnt dosent loop, nor is it very fun

my only advice is to go to The Chiller first and early. Its a ride not to be missed and the line gets really long occasionally. Medusa usally packs a line but it moves well, same with Nitro.

Circo Magnifico i heard was good and I also heard Ski Exteme was good also.

A late afternoon trip through the safari. Make sure you check to see what time the safari closes!

1 - Hit Chiller first. That line always becomes longest. After Chiller, hit FreeFall, then Batman. Don't worry about getting to Nitro first...that's a people-eater...the line will never be longer than a half hour.

2 - Not really, but the Carousel is a pure antique. You gotta do a ride on it...it's tradition.

3 - The Dolphin Discovery show is excellent. Also, Ski Extreme is awesome if you're into water stunts. I haven't seen Circo Magnifico, yet, but I hear it's excellent. Think a smaller Cirque Du Soleil.

4 - Nitro will never be over a half hour line if it's running 3 trains. At least one side of Chiller will be operating...it depends on if they have the correct amount of employees if both sides will run. Viper has been down for the past week. Don't ask me why. Skull Mountain has NO inversions. Ride it in the back for the best ride, though.

5 - Forget about riding Viper, Blackbeards Train, or Road Runner Railway. The others you can do. Hurricane Harbor is a completely separate park. Safari opens at 9, closes at 4, takes about 45 minutes to an hour to drive through. I"d say it's worth it if it's your first trip to the park. I suggest going through it when the park becomes extremely crowded midday. After you eat lunch, get your hand stamped and go through the safari. It'll alleviate some stress of lines.

And, while you're there, stop in the Boardwalk Arcade and say hi. I'm there 2-10 on saturday, so PLEASE come in and talk to me, lol. It's the blue and white striped tent down by the lakefront.

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-Kyle Brylczyk
KoRn - Untouchables, June 11th, 2002

I agree Definatly hit chiller first it has the longest lines in the park. But I would not wait all day to ride nitro I mean what if there is a break down and you dont get to ride it.Also if you have been on other hypers dont get your hopes up to high for nitro. I mean its good , but it is not as fast or intense as goliath.

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I just want to ride as many coasters as posible

I was there last Sunday( fathers day). I agree hit Chiller first. At first only Robin was open, then Closed and Batman side opened up. There is no more Lethal Weopon and I didnt see the Stunt show either that day. Doesnt mean its not there. I waited no more than 30 minutes for Nitro and thats for the front. We were at the top of the stairs in 10 minutes. Ride the front. Its worth the 20 extra minutes. From what I could tell Best of the West didnt have any burgers. I know they used to, but they are not on the menu anymore. I like the fried chicken place near movie town, across from Evolution and Skull mountain. Also the dolphin show is alright, but the one at Hershey was alot better.

Those first two responses hit pretty much everything that I wanted to say. However I would add that I have never been impressed with SFGAdv shows, but their line-up of shows has changed since I last viewed them. (SF in general has a week line-up of shows, but that's JMO) Also, I will reiterate that the safari does open earlier than the park..it opens at 9, but don't go there then...wait till mid-day like someone else suggested. Also, a can't miss attraction is Houdini's Great Escape...it is a unique ride that shouldn't be missed.

Happy Coastering!

Sean

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"Have fun stormin' the castle!"

But Remember, Like Kyle and myself said, Hit Freefall, Chiller, and B:tr first. Then, Get to Frontier Adventures asap. Medusa is usually deserted in the am.

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How much more floorless can they get?

Thanks for all the help, if there are still more suggestins I would love to hear them. Kyle, maybe I will try to stop by for a quick stop but then I have to get back to the coasters, I won't be hitting many parks this summer at all, so I need my coaster time. What you look like anyway Kyle, or do you have a nametag on? Oh, what is the Houdini's Escape ride? Also what is Circo Magnifico and Evolution. I do plan on going to the Safari in the afternoon to get out of the hot sun which is supposed to be above 90 degrees on Saturday. I am going to go to the Chiller and Batman: The Ride and Freefall first because they seem to get the most crowded and then to Frontier Adventures for the short waits on Medusa. Are there any other coasters in Frontier Adventures besides Medusa. Where are good food places or good flat rides. Thanks.

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Dave

Houdini's Great Escape: A Vekoma Fun house, it is kinda fun but if there is any lne skip it. Circo Magnifico is the new Acrobat show for 2002. I've been told that it's really cool.

Evolution, well Evolution is Evolution. Someone help me with designer/model, I have a brain fart and can't remember.

In Frontier Adventures, There are 4 coasters: Medusa, Rolling Thunder, Mine Train, and Viper. I reccomend just getting these done while you're in the area.

Oh yeah, Hit the flume while you're down there anyways.

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How much more floorless can they get?

"the Carousel is a pure antique. You gotta do a ride on it...it's tradition. "

make sure you ride the CHICKEN too..forget the horse!! LOL

Why did they take the horsecollars out of Chiller? Are the inversions gone now?

no, the inversions are still there. a seatbelt and large lap bar provide just as much protection in an inversion as a OTSR.

Only with more the thrill... and less the Advil...

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How much more floorless can they get?

*bump* :)

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Dave