Six Flags Great Adventure TR 1 of 2 better a little late than never

Before this, I had previously been to Great Adventure on two different occasions. Once in 2005 for 3 days, and the other for just one day with the golden flash pass last summer. So before I went to the park I was wondering if I would end up writing this TR afterwards. It turns out that there were far too many interesting experiences that happened to not share anything. I actually ended up going on two separate trips two weeks apart to SFGadv. I was planning on writing one TR for both trips, but just too many interesting things happened especially on the 2nd trip, and so I am writing one TR for both. Ok so on to the first one.

Day I Trip I Saturday, July 26th.

The arrival

I arrived at the park around noon. It was Saturday July 26th. I know what you are thinking. Why am I such an idiot to go to this park on a Saturday, and believe me when I say I was thinking the same thing, but I didn’t have a choice b/c it was the only time that would work out for the other six people who came. In 2005 I went to this park on a Thursday in late august and I remember a 1.5 hour wait for Medusa and a 2.5 hour wait for Nitro.( http://coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=42922) So yes I was worried, very worried. This was also a very warm sunny day. It spelled perfect conditions for a crowd. Amazingly it was not that bad at all as you will soon see!

Rolling Thunder 6/10

In my group of seven there was only one person who was at all intimidated by most of the rides here, Alex. He had never been to a six flags park until just this summer. So we did Rolling Thunder as the warm up ride for him. The ride itself was actually better than I remembered, but the race was horrible b/c the other side only had the flash pass people so that train never got full. We probably won the race by more than a full train length. In fact I never saw the other train until I looked behind my self when we finished and it was barely there.

El Toro 10/10

This is when I first ran into the locker policy. I forgot my glasses case at home and didn’t want to hold onto them during the ride, and so instead I wasted a dollar before ever ride. It almost felt like discrimination to be honest. It was about a 30 minute wait. I got a seat towards the back like any smart person would do. I don’t understand why while in the station the crowd goes towards the front. I rode El Toro last summer, and thought that it was better than every other coaster I’ve been on except MF. And while I still think that is the case the gap b/t El Toro and the next best coaster has widened. The gap was widened to the point that I would say that there are two coasters that to me stand far above and beyond the rest. El Toro and MF. Every other person in my group agreed that this was the best ride they have ever been on, and we have all been on SROS at SFNE our home park. El Toro’s airtime puts Superman’s to shame which I did not know was possible until I rode this ride.

Medusa 8/10

Before this ride my friends actually got me to put my things in the bushes instead of using a locker, and I did that. It was nearly a walk-on. I got a back seat. I love how smooth this coaster is. A great ride and yes I did get all my things back, but it was the last time I pulled that stunt.

GASM 5/10

We were going to ride superman next, but the wait was just too much. It was about a 15 minute wait for GASM instead. I got a seat towards the front and it was the first ride of the day that most of us really did not enjoy. It was way too jerky and gave half the people in my group too much of a headache.

Nitro 9.5/10 2x

It was really hot outside and everyone in my group went on the Congo rapids ride, but on the way I saw a really short wait for Nitro. The water ride had about a 1.5 hour wait! So being the coaster fanatic that I am, I briefly left my group and got two rides in on Nitro before their one ride on the Congo rapids ride. My first ride was in the very front and my next was the very back. Both waits were no more than 35 minutes! It was amazing how different both rides felt. It really was like ridding a different roller coaster. I still give the edge to the back.

Big Wheel 6/10

After we had a break eating we hoped onto the Ferris wheel. The only thing that surprised me about it was how much higher it was than it first appeared. It was in a good location and gave good views.

Dark Knight 5/10

This was my first time ever on this ride. It had about a 1.5 hour wait. Yes that made it by far the longest wait of the day up until that point. It broke down at one point, but we waited it out. The ride was ok. I have to agree with everyone else in that it could have been a lot better. The interesting part of the ride was not actually the ride, but what they showed on the TV’s before the ride. Six Flags made a top five list of their best coasters, and it was a little skeptical. My group was like what the heck when SROS was #2 and ahead of El Toro. I guess that we in New England don’t really appreciate superman as much as we should, KK being #1 was the really far fetched part.

Kingda Ka 10/10

Alex unfortunately, the wild card, was too chicken for this ride, but I can’t totally blame him b/c this was really his first ever summer on big roller coasters. So that can wait till next summer! He later told us that he went on El Toro. And I actually almost got jealous when I heard that, but I wanted to see people go on KK for the first time. For four of us it was the first time. Dave was the other person in our group and he had actually been on this ride more times than me. I told every one else the rule about KK “front seat or no seat.” It was now dark out and this was certainly going to be our last ride. It was about a 1.5 hour wait. I could see a little fear in everyone except for me and Dave. But I told them they would love it, and we all did! One of us said afterwards that it was their favorite ride.

Final thoughts on day I

I could not believe the crowd, or lack there of. It was a warm Saturday in the middle of July and there was no threat of rain, yet Nitro had 30 minute waits, El Toro had 30 minute waits, Medusa was nearly a walk-on ect. It really makes me think that it has now come to the point where everyone knows that Saturday’s are going to be the worse days so no one goes on those days anymore.

Day 2 Trip I Sunday July 27th

This was an extremely short day. Only 3 of us went me, Alex and Dave. The others went straight home, Dave and Alex had to work early the next morning so we were to leave the park by 1PM. Fortunately the park was as uncrowded as i have ever seen it when we got there at 11 AM.

El Toro 10/10 2x

Alex actually wanted a warm up ride on Rolling Thunder first, but obviously Dave and I did not let that happen. We got two rides in, and as usual El Toro delivered, but it was not quite what it was the afternoon before. This ride just gets better the later in the day you ride it.

Nitro 9.5/10 4x

I got four quick rides on Nitro before we left. The longest of these waits was probably about four minutes! I think I found Nitro’s best attribute with these four rides. It’s not the height, speed, or the airtime, but just the fact that it is so reridable. To me that is what separates this ride apart the most from the rest.

Final thoughts on Day 2

Even though we only got in a few rides it was still more than worth it. I could not help but think on that day if I would be back in two weeks. I had a 2nd trip I was planning this summer that would involve SFGADV, Hershey, and CP. If all those plans fell into place I would be right back at Gadv in exactly two weeks to the day. It turns out that not enough of my friends could make the trip to those three parks so on August 10th-12th I was indeed back at GADV for a 2nd trip. I’ll have that TR up in a few days hopefully. Even though I had about the same amount of fun on both trips my 2nd trip will have far more interesting topics to mention. You may have a hard time believing some of the things that happened especially the last part.

Thanks for reading! *** Edited 8/15/2008 5:42:53 AM UTC by GIGAFORCE01*** *** Edited 8/15/2008 5:50:28 AM UTC by GIGAFORCE01***

Good trip report! Millennium Force better than Toro? Them are fightin' words! LOL I'll write more when I read the second part of this.

^ Yes I do rank MF one spot higher than El Toro. That shouldn't be that much of a surprise. Based on what I saw from your recent TR, We have the same top two just in reverse order. Plus your comparing a wooden coaster to a steel coaster. One coaster is airtime first, out of control second, while the other is speed/intensity first, that drop second and airtime 3rd.