Six Flags Great Adventure - August 27, 2005

We arrived at the park roughly 45 minutes before 10:00am and waiting in line with our pre-purchased tickets until about 10:30am. They opened the gates about half hour early but we realized that none of the rides would be open until 10:00am sharp. We briskly walked over to the grand carousel where they had the midway blocked off by gates. Naturally, everyone joined us in anticipation for the gates being removed and Kingda Ka being open. It had been testing since we got there and there were no signs indicating its closure so we knew that it was going to be running today. The finally opened the gates at 10:01am on my watch and we raced over to the Golden Kingdom.

Kingda Ka: 4th train out on in the left back station // back seat. The wait for the front seat had already exceeded about 10 trains so we weren’t about to wait for that just yet. We figured we’d get a spin on Kingda Ka and then ride the rest of the coasters while everyone else is in line for Ka. Great ride! Acceleration is fantastic, the brakes on the top are a nice addition giving you more time to look around. The speed hill was unimpressive (as it was before) but the majority of the ride is awesome. I’d say the launch isn’t quite as sooth as Dragster’s but feels much more intense. I still prefer Storm Runner over the both of them though. 10/10

Superman: Ultimate Flight: After learning our lesson earlier in the year, we decided to ride this one early in the day. They were surprisingly running two trains which was not the case back in late May. We waited about 15 minutes for the front seat which was great timing since the line was beginning to build heavily behind us. Except for the hill and first inversion, the ride is pretty much uneventful. But the first inversion is worth at least an hour’s wait, but no more. 6/10

Scream Machine: The ride was a walk-on and it was near Superman so we decided to give it a spin but that was a mistake. One word: painful. I was trying to position my head in the best position possible to avoid being slammed against the shoulder harness the entire ride which took the fun out of it. 2/10

Nitro: Next we ventured to the back of the park where it was empty. Nitro, Batman, and The Chiller (Robin only) were all walk-ons. We hit Nitro first. What a ride! This ride still thrills me to death. I think it’s one of the top 3 steel coasters out there just nearly falling behind Millennium Force and S:ROS. Airtime hills are great and the drop is still every bit as intense as it was its first year of operation. 10/10

Batman: The Ride: This ride has lost its punch after being on Talon, Dueling Dragons, and Raptor this season. Still a great ride though. It’s always nice waiting 5 minutes for this thing seeing that the line still seems to attract at least an hour’s wait daily. 7/10

The Chiller (Robin): Batman side wasn’t running (what else is new?) so we decided to hit up the Robin side with the wait all of the way up to the station platform. The girl at controls was being really goofy with the launch sequence which showed that she at least enjoyed her job. It’s tough to find that this late in the season with most of the seasonal help giving off the “I want to go home” attitude. The launch is intense the batwing is great. I’m still not liking the zero-G roll or the backwards part on this ride though. 8/10

Skull Mountain: It was starting to get hot and this is a nice cool-off queue line. The line was only about 10 minutes so we decided to do it. There’s not much to say about the ride. It’s lame as hell, but I still like to ride it. 1/10

Medusa: I love this ride. It doesn’t quite compare to Kraken but it’s pretty darn close. The first loop is fantastic as always and I love the zero-G roll. I did notice that the ride seemed a little rougher than what I’m used to, but nothing to raise a big red flag about. 8/10

Overall Experience: We were very surprised by the line lengths today. The park seemed extremely crowded and we expected that to be the case but the lines were relatively short and fast moving. I have no major complaints about the day.

Rides: 9/10
Food: 8/10
Employees: 9/10**
Cleanliness: 9/10
Spirit of the Tiger show: 7/10

**I was especially pleased with the speed and precision of the Kingda Ka crews throughout the day. The ride seemed to be running fairly decent with intermitting delays each hour or so. When the ride was running, however, the crews were hitting their intervals nearly 100% of the time. I loved the crew at Dragster this year, but yesterday’s Kingda Ka crew was much more efficient and definitely faster.

Also, is the new queue format at Kingda Ka a result of the major breakdown? It seems like they are keeping the guests as far away from the launch track as possible. I can’t say I really like the new format (people were cutting in line all day) but I could understand why they did it. Seems like a big waste of queue on the other side though.

Looks like some wood has arrived for next year's addition as well. I got some pictures while standing in the Kingda Ka station. *** Edited 8/28/2005 2:57:01 PM UTC by S2K***

Sounds like you had alot of fun. You know I feel upset because I was also scheduled to visit the park that day. But unfortunately change of plans and couldnt make it. But yesterday was a very nice day, I was in New York and the weather was great so it must've been really nice in the park. And from everything you said about the lines about heading to Ka first, then Superman, then Movietown, next time I go which will be next weekend, I'll be sure to take what you said and give it a whirl. Glad you had fun! *** Edited 8/28/2005 4:07:50 PM UTC by NiTroFrEaK***

Glad that you had fun. I know how annoying those lines can be.

You said that in late May they were only running one train on superman. That's pritty sad. The wait is long enough and slow enough as it is with two trains.

Glad you had a good time. I was just there, this past Monday. I had a great day too.