Six Flags over Texas - 7/16/08

I always read trip reports on here of people who show up to the park really late in the day and miss all the morning ride time due to some sort of prior engagement. I've never really understood this until recently when I found myself on a training trip (first job, just graduated from GT) in Dallas for a week. I had no time on the Sunday I arrived and I was flying out right after the course was over on Friday, so my sole option was to go to Six Flags over Texas one evening. I was worried I wouldn't get to ride everything I wanted to, but I was pleasantly surprised with the crowds. Tickets online were $29.99 + $3.00 process fee + tax. Another person in my class was a native with a parking pass, so that was covered.

While we planned on getting there at like 5:30 (park closes at 10), we managed to have the class end an hour early and walked through the front gates at about 4:30. It was Wednesday by now and I hadn't realized just how hot and humid the area was until I was standing idle. Our first stop was Titan.

Before I get into the specific rides, I have to commend the park for its operations on the evening I was there. All of the rides were up and running and most (if not all) had two or three trains going. The one glaring exception was Superman Tower of Power which had just one tower running. Sadly, this fact kept me from riding it. I've ridden Power Tower and Dr. Doom, so I wasn't too concerned about it.

Titan – running two trains. Wait time was about 4 or 5 trains. The ride shut down almost right as we got there because of "lightning in the area" even though it was very clear for miles. It opened back up later and we came back to see a similar wait as before. I rode Goliath @ SFMM two summers ago (and reported on it), so this ride didn't have any surprises, really. Just like I commented about Goliath, I am not a fan of consistent positive G-forces, so with the exception of the first and third hills, I consider this ride just OK.

Texas Giant – running two trains. Wait time was 1 or 2 trains (depending on row). This was the second of four coasters I really wanted to hit at the park but was left feeling kind of disappointed. The first half of the ride was a lot of fun, but the second half was so rough that it was almost unbearable. I mean, most roughness I can handle, but the main problem here were the lateral jerks which slammed the restraint into my legs. No thanks.

Shockwave – running two trains. Wait was 1 train at the most (front row, even). Coaster #3 of 4, so I'm doing pretty well so far (it's been about 30 minutes in the park). I like Mind Bender at SFoG a fair amount, but I have to say that this ride was better, in my opinion. Much more airtime, and I actually liked the view better.

Mr. Freeze – running both stations. Wait was about 3 trains on the left station and 1 train on the right. Go figure. Coaster #4 of 4. Having never ridden this ride (or even a similar one), I can't compare the experience to when the ride had OTSR's, but the ride with just the lab restraint is incredible. It's awesome to be slowly going through the top hat and reaching for the ground. We rode this one twice in a row.

I had successfully ridden all the coasters I had come to the park to ride and still had like 3 hours left until close. With the remaining time, we rode:

Batman – running two trains. 2 train wait. Ridden the SFoG version hundreds of times.
La Vibora – running some high number of cars. 15 minutes wait. Surprising amount of fun.
Judge Roy Scream – running two trains. 1 train wait. Classic out and back. Being out of the park area adds to the effect.
Flashback – 2 train wait. Amazingly, I had never ridden a Vekoma Boomerang before, so this was a first for me. Didn't think it was as rough as Déjà Vu.

I'm glad that our local was there was us because if he hadn't pushed for it, I never would have gone and seen the show they have when the sun goes down: Cirque Dreams Coobrila. What an incredible show! I hadn't heard much about it before, so its level of awesomeness took me by surprise. It was the type of show I would have paid to see if I hadn't been able to see it with admission to the park.

Bottom line: I probably wouldn't make a special trip just to get back to the park, but it was $35 and 5 hours well spent.