Associated parks:
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I went to Six Flags Great Adventure today with my sister, mom, and little brother to cap off my spring vacation. After the two hour drive, we arrived at the park at about 11:00 after a quick stop at KFC. We parked in a newly paved spot and we were greeted to an almost empty lot. This is exactly what we had hoped for.
Being in an amusement park in March when its 70 degrees, sunny, and completely empty was heaven on earth. I wanted to go to get our pictures taken for the season pass first, but my sister wanted to stop and ride Houdini’s Great Escape. I am not in a complete rush, so we withstood the longest wait of the day, a grand total of about 10 minutes. Then, onto getting our season passes processed. With so many camera stations and staff, the short line took half the amount of time that it did last year. Still in the boardwalk area, we decided to hit our first coaster of the day, Great American Scream Machine. Only my sister and I can usually handle the coasters, so when I say “we” dealing with coasters, that only means us unless I note otherwise. As we walked threw Scream Machine’s line, I noticed all the TVs were on playing classic Scooby Doo episodes. This is the first time the Televisions were ever on when I was in the park, and ironically the only day in which I didn’t have to wait and watch them. From what I saw, every line that had TV’s, had them on as well. Scream Machine had a one train wait only because only one train was running. (After our ride, they put the blue train on as well)
Exiting the boardwalk, we headed over to catch a ride on Rolling Thunder. Sadly, only the right side was open. There was not a soul in the line, so we grabbed the first two rows since my little brother decided to join us. When we entered the train, the ride ops started talking to each other. Apparently, something happened that needed to close the ride. This could have been a routine safety check. Well, we were already on the coaster, so luckily we got a ride in before they closed the coaster temporarily. We then passed Viper, which was also closed temporarily.
Following our path, we then decided to take a quick ride on Medusa while the line was short. I started thinking, maybe more people will come realizing it’s a beautiful day, not rain like they forecasted the night before. Walking directly up to the station is a beautiful thing, but bypassing the empty middle rows was also tough. But, the front row of Medusa is the sweet spot, so we couldn’t resist. Ouch, a two train wait. There are two paths that lead to NITRO from Medusa, a scenic route and the crowded route. Since it was actually getting hot for someone like me who decided to wear a fleece, we took the scenic path along the lake. As we drew near, I discovered that the Dolphin Discovery show was actually open this early in the season. They let us in and it was packed and almost over. Oh well, while it would have been nice to relax a bit, there were more important things on our agenda (NITRO).
NITRO’s lift hill seems to ascend into the heavens as you approach it from Movie Town. The line for the front was longer than the rest of the rows put together, so we decided to sit near the rear of the train. The ride was a bit sluggish, but the upward spiral was as intense as ever. One ride on NITRO is not enough so we walked through the line, and into the station. This time, I wanted to sit near the front, so we got row three or four. On this ride, I noticed the trim before the hammerhead a little more than before, drowning any slim possibility for decent airtime on a coaster still awaking from its months of sleep. Good thing the midcourse brakes did not slow us down much, because the bunny hops provided the most airtime in the entire ride. We hit the brake run and came to a complete stop before the station. The train in front of us in the station was having a computer glitch or mechanical failure because row 9 kept coming up as “unlocked”. The ride ops began pulling and pushing the lap bar up and down but to no avail. Everyone in the train was removed. After about 10 minutes, a ride up came down the brake run telling us that if they can’t fix it within 5 minutes, we will exit the train from there. The computer finally recognized it as “locked” and the train rolled out of the station. Again, like Rolling Thunder, we were the last riders on NITRO before there was a Temporary closing.
Since I have never been on Batman: The Ride in my previous visits, with these lines, I wouldn’t pass it up for anything. We took a spin in the middle of the train and it was a little rough, but nothing like Viper or Scream Machine. Definitely the most intense B&M I’ve been on. My sister didn’t want to ride again, so I took another ride by myself. I didn’t want to pressure the ride op for a re-ride, but since there was no one waiting for my row, I would ask if needed. No need, he asked me if I wanted to stay on the ride and like any sane enthusiast, I said yes. When our train arrived back in the station, I was hoping no one was waiting for the second to last row. Nope, still a close to empty station. So I got another ride without the hassle of walking through the rather long, vacant line. With this being my first re-ride, I was extremely happy with how this day was turning out.
I knew I wanted to close out the day with Medusa, so I met up with the rest of my attending family and started heading in that direction. I never rode Viper before and I know I was not missing much, but I wanted to get a ride for the count. I was accustomed to leaving loose articles on the opposite side you enter from, but Viper likes to be different. So I stuck the two disposable cameras in my pocket and entered the train. Again, the train is unique, but the restraint system is something else… The ride itself has a nice drop and some interesting inversions but the head banging is worse then any arrow I have ever been on.
After a great day, I needed to finish off on a great ride. Medusa won the “best ride of the day” award, so it was only right to finish the day with it. Already having a front row ride, we took a seat towards the rear of the train. Again, a fantastic ride throughout. To capitalize on a great day, we were able to snag two empty seats in the row ahead of us. After two final Medusa rides, we were all tired from a lot of walking so we left the park and headed off to the car.
Pros
- A practically empty park on a Saturday. (No line jumping)
- Three trains were running on NITRO and Medusa when lines were usually no more than 5 minutes. Two trains on B:TR, Rolling Thunder, and Scream Machine (later in the day).
Cons
- Malfunctioning vending machines near the future site of the extreme ski show. You press one button and it gives you something else you didn’t want. This something else was warm as well…
- B&R: The Chiller was closed
- High Prices
*** This post was edited by NoRulz2k on 3/30/2002. ***
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Im the #1 Canobie Lake Park Fan!!!These are my top 3 coasters:
1. S:RoS @ SFNE 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Cyclone
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So what is better? SFMM or CP? I don't care! They both have 29 coasters between them that they build so we can have a good time!
I was there today and no Intamin Fan Evolution was not running, I also relized that the park seemed alot nicer and there are these weird massage foot things there too, and yes there is a Ham on Rye virtual reality thing there. Its left of the ferris wheel, and the line for Season Passes went real fast unlike last year.
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