Six Flags Great Adventure, 11/2/08, Closing Day

I can't believe the end of the season is already here. It seems like I was just getting my pass processed in April and riding KK for the first time. This was my first trip to a park in November which was cool.

I was afraid the park would be backed today since in past years I read multiple TR's that said full queues and 2+ hour lines were normal for closing day. Maybe the cold weather stopped people or because it was after Halloween and people didn't realize the park was open kept people away but it wasn't that crowded at all, comparable to a Friday Night Frightfest.

I got to the park around 1:00 and was glad to see no line of cars to get into the lot like the 40 minutes it took back on an April weekday.

First ride of the day was Nitro. 3 trains running and just crowded enough that you had to walk around each time rather than stay on. Someone's drink was thrown in the trash from the train that arrived in the station when I was waiting for the back row. The op said to them since nothing can be left in the station, we threw it out. The riders got it out of the trash. The ops couldn't have left it to the side? Especially because I think the person at the entrance wasn't enforcing no loose articles as I saw someone take a pocketbook with them on the ride.

Skull Mountain had some maintenance door open near the top of the building which caused the entire ride area to be visible, even more than the strobes. You could clearly see the entire track layout the entire ride. I also discovered that near the bottom of the first drop, there is some Tiki Mask on the wall in neon colors that I never saw before, I guess because with no lights on it, you can't see it normally.

Despite being on the closed rides board, Medusa was open. 3 trains running but horrible stacking and double stacking making the 3rd train worthless. The signs about the ride changing got a bunch of people talking.

Kingda Ka only had 2 trains running earlier and looked like it was at least an hour, it later went to 4 trains and was a little less than a half hour.

Superman also had about a 25 - 30 minute line earlier in the day but by 7:00 was a walk on.

Scream Machine only had 2 trains but 3 were not needed as it was a walk on all day.

The Dark Knight was a 5 minute wait to get into the pre-show room. 2 girls behind be were going to ask an op what kind of ride it was and if it went upside down. I explained to them that it was a wild mouse and only had a few small drops. They went back for another ride but again, way too many people think it is a thrill ride (not their fault though).

I tired the parachutes for the first time today. I don't see how only 1 side can ever be running since they had 2 sides running today and it took over 10 minutes with maybe 20 people in line.

There were tons of sales all over the park. The Souvenir bottles were $3.99 with $0.99 refills but since you have to put them in a locker, I didn't bother, which is the same reason I never got one all season. Popcorn or Cotton Candy buckets were down to $4.99. Many shops had everything in them for 50% off. I was going to get a couple of shirts but sizes were very limited (basically 1 or 2 sizes).

Nitro - 5
Superman - 2
Medusa - 2
Kingda Ka - 1
Skull Mountain - 3
Rolling Thunder Right - 1
Runaway Mine Train - 3
The Dark Knight - 1
Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train - 1
Great American Scream Machine - 2
Tango - 1
Skyway - 2
Parachutes - 1

No El Toro?

ApolloAndy said:
No El Toro?

I asked this of Yoshi earlier in the year. I believe the restraint system is designed in a slightly tight configuration for him.

I was going to make the 2.5 hr. drive on this day also, just to wander the park by myself. I wanted to try to be there as dark fell so I could see the park at night since all my other visits this year were strictly daylight. Parks, by and large, are so pretty at night.

I was hopeful that crowds would be just as Yoshi described with the cooler weather helping to keep them lower. I just couldn't make the drive after attending a concert Sat. night and not getting to bed until 3 am. Even with the 'extra' hour, tennis at 7 am came way too early.

Seems it would've been the type of day I would've been looking for. My goals were to ride DK for the first time and get El Toro and Nitro as much as possible, particuarly at night.

Yes that is correct, I can get the belt buckled but I can't get the lap bar to light up green. My goal is to ride ET next April.

We started the day at SFGADV and crowds were lighter than I had expected. Did a mini-marathon on Nitro at opening that lasted about an hour. We then toured the park and focused on the coasters. Medusa had a massive line due to the signs announcing the changes in the future so we skipped it. We left at 1:30 but got 13 Nitro rides, 1 RT, 1 RMT and 2 ET.