Six Flags Great Adventure, 4/26/08 Great Night

I left at around 5:00, there was supposedly an accident on the NJ Turnpike between exits 7 and 7A. Traffic would go from 10 - 15 mph to 40 mph and then back to 10 - 15 mph, back to 40 mph and repeat which was kind of strange. At 7A, it was still backed up so it must have been past that.

I got to the patk at 6:15, the lot looked kind of crowded but SUF's line didn't look too bad and GASM appeared to have a station wait.

First ride of the day was Nitro. The line was a little past the stairs. 10 minute wait with 3 trains running. I went back for a 2nd and 3rd ride but while in the station for the 3rd ride, it broke down. One train was stopped on the MCBR and the other was stopped outside the station. I went to Batman while they fixed it, it looked like it opened 15 minutes later. The Nitro crew was great tonight, barely any stacking even with 3 trains and they were almost running to check each row.

Batman's line was 5 minutes, still a little too intense for me in the back row. I went for 2 rides.

Skull Mountain had a 3 train wait for the back row, they had the sound effects on today. I stopped at Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train. Got the front row and never knew the locomotive was hollow and you could put your feet in there. Good for people who are tall and want some more leg room.

I went on GASM to check out SUF's line. 2 train wait for the front with 2 trains running. SUF's line looked kind of short so I went to that next. 10 minute wait with 2 trains running. Fun ride but the line usually makes it a ride to skip since it's not worth the 45+ minute wait it can easily get even on a slower day.

Decided to give Kingda Ka a second chance tonight (2 weeks ago, the launch really got me and my chest hurt a little afterwards). 5 minute wait for the 3rd row, 4 trains running. The launch was still very intense but not as bad as last time. It's a once a trip type ride for me though.

Next was Rolling Thunder which was the low point of the night. 2 trains running, right side only. Apparently they were training a new operator and as a result, the dispatches were very slow as they were going over procedures. The op teaching the training op, stopped the train slightly out of the station with riders in it to show him something. Then when I was on the train, the training op took the controls for possibly the first time. I didn't like the idea of someone in training practicing with riders on the train. Then when we got to the top of the lift, they stopped the train for a few seconds even though the other train was in the station by then so it must have been something else to do with training. While we were stopped, they started the right side which only had the blue train and cycled it empty.

I think this type of training should be done before the park opens, or after it closes and without guests on the trains. It was only a 2 train wait but took almost 15 minutes because of everything happening.

Medusa was next, 3 trains running but they announced they were going to take a train off so I went to Runaway Mine Train while the took the train off. 2 trains running and no wait. Went back to Medusa for a 1 train wait for the front and went to row 5 for a re-ride.

It was 9:30 at this point and I ran back to Movietown and went to Batman. I was the only one in the station and had a walk on for the front (I almost had a solo ride but people stayed on). I finished the day with Nitro which was now running 2 trains. 2 train wait for the front and I went to row 6 for 2 more re-rides to close out the park with the last ride of the night.

Overall it was a great trip and I got a lot of rides in for being in the park a little less than 4 hours.

Ride Count:
Batman, 3x
Nitro, 5x
Skull Mountain, 1x
BBLTT, 1x
GASM, 1x
SUF, 1x
Kingda Ka, 1x
Medusa, 2x
RMT, 1x
Rolling Thunder, 1x *** Edited 4/27/2008 4:27:00 AM UTC by YoshiFan***

The timing of the training is probably to due with the staff shift. I'm not sure if I would feel uneasy if training was going on. I was there as a park attendant before and doing it in the moment with the guests is part of the experience to build experience. Sorry if you're one of those people during that cycle. They're clearly learning the cycle.