Six Flags America 5/24/14

I've done reports on both of these parks, but there's actually quite a lot to say regarding both, especially Six Flags America.

Since we went to Kings Dominion last Memorial Day weekend and ran into insane crowds and insane traffic, we decided maybe we'd just do SFA, which is a little closer to us and wouldn't take a whole day to get through. Plus, I wanted the Apocalypse credit and Wild One credit since Apocalypse wasn't there last time and I had been too exhausted to try and even find the Wild One entrance. We loaded up the car and got on the road around 6 am and ran into NO TRAFFIC. None. We flew for the entire three hours and made it to the front gate by about 9:15. They were letting people in the parking lot, so we thought maybe ERT was 9:30, but there were no signs posted, no season pass entry line, and no one around to ask when ERT was. No big deal because we could tell by the tiny crowd gathering that even without ERT, it was going to be a good day.

This park has seriously upped its game. Our first ride was Mind Eraser, and while the operations on this ride seemed slow, it was because the ops were thoroughly checking everyone's restraints, making sure the station was clear of personal belongings that could trip a patron or employee, and answering questions patrons had about the ride or the park. Other than that, operations were speedy, safety checks were conscientious, and every person on the microphone was having guests scream and clap and laugh. So impressed!

THE RIDES:

Mind Eraser: 1 ride, front seat, 5/10. This ride is definitely less rough in the front, though I would never call it comfortable. It is forceful, disorienting, and has such potential that it will never realize. I didn't find it as unpleasant as before, and while I'd prefer NOT to ride it, it was not the nightmare I remember. Walked on.

Roar: 1 ride, back seat, 5.5-6/10. There has obviously been retracking on this ride. Lots of it. It still really shakes a lot, but I could have ridden it again from a different seat closer to the front and probably honestly enjoyed it. Jaya did not wish to reride though due to the vibration, so I only got one chance to evaluate. I love the layout and length of the ride, and I'm excited to see how a complete retracking will improve it. Fun! Walked on to this one.

Apocalypse: 1 ride, front seat, 5.5-6/10. First of all, the theming on this is awesome. I love the gray and orange color scheme, the zombie merchandise, the plane coming out of the rock wall...just everything screamed the apocalyptic theme. Is it kind out of place with that area of the park? Yeah, probably, but they still did a phenomenal job. The ride itself? Well, I had heard such awful things, but Jaya and I were both okay with it. Minimal headbanging for both of us, and the tracking itself was smooth as silk. I DID feel that there were not enough inversions but instead a ton of highly banked turns, but the first loop was seriously intense. Jaya, who votes on a regular basis to have Green Lantern removed from Great Adventure, actually stated that she'd ride it again, which was a shocker (she has sworn off Green Lantern forever and hates standups). One train wait for the front.

Superman: 2 rides, back seat and second to back seat, 7.5/10. The whole ride was filled with vibration, which I don't recall from before, and the shin restraints are not comfortable, but it is still a fun ride. The station attendants were actually encouraging one-cheek sneaks (the ride was a walk-on, so they were trying to fill trains), so we got two rides back to back. Good stuff!

Joker's Jinx: 1 ride, back seat, 7.5/10. I actually found this a little rougher than before, and Jaya swore up and down the launch was slower and longer than FoF at KD, but I didn't see the difference. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did on my last trip years ago, but it still gives me a laugh, and the ride ops were fantastic, getting people yelling and cheering and then launching them without warning. Someone yelled, "Take us to Superman!" and the operator retorted, "Don't you know you're with the VILLAINS right now?" and launched the train. The shocked screams from some of the girls riding was hilarious. Walk-on.

Batwing: 1 ride, middle of the train, 7/10. If I didn't hate the restraints so much, this ride would have scored higher. Not rough at all, and so very forceful. I didn't like this ride that much last time I visited, but it would have actually topped the list at SFA had I not been so damn scared I was going to fall out of the ride. One train wait.

Wild One: 1 ride, back seat, 10 minute wait, 7.5-8/10. I love this coaster! I had a moment where I had my hands up and got absolutely slammed into the side of the car, which caused me to hold on tight for the rest of the ride, but I got serious ejector air on many of the hills. Like SERIOUS ejector air. I was very happy the restraints were tightly pushed down. One my top 10 wood coasters at this time.

The park was so empty, and there are not a lot of flats, so after riding all the coasters, we didn't really have anything to do. Instead of waiting for the flyers, which appeared to have a 2-3 cycle wait, we thought it would be quite the feat to do 20 coasters in one day, and we decided to go to Kings Dominion after all. We knew it would be a huge risk and probably expensive due to most likely needing FastLane, but we had to do it. Plus, I wanted the credit for Woodstock Express (what a great little coaster, more on that later). So, we packed it in and headed for Virginia. Stay tuned for that report!