'Tuan does New England 7/5/06

The main reasons for my summer New York Trip this year was to snag a ride on Kingda Ka and El Toro (Oh yeah, and to see my family J). Last year I had to depend on my frat buddies and friends for means of transportation. This year I decided to get my own set of wheels so I could set my own schedule. I reserved a Dodge Status, but due to a little flirting with Keisha, the rental car agent (who was surprised that I was from the Caribbean) she upgraded me to a Chrysler 300M. Damn, these baby Bentlys are nice.

So anyhow, this was the first time I have been to NYC with my own set of wheels. What to do…what to do. I checked the directions to Six Flags New England on a whim just to see how close it was to my house. To my surprise, its only an hour and 45 minutes away. All my friends were working, and Hiromi, ( the other half ) is in Tokyo L. but thank God my cousin Kamila is visiting from Jamaica for the summer. She has never been to an amusement park let alone a rollercoaster….purrrfect! .

So we left this morning, the rain pouring as we moved at snail’s pace on I-95 north. I forgot how aggressive people drove in the Bronx. I got cut off about 6 times in the first 20 minutes. In California I am the raging lunatic driver, while here I am the slow old man. Yikes!

Anyhow, after about 2 hours we exited from I-91 and immediately the neighborhood took me back to Darien Center ( or whatever town SFDL is in) As we pulled up on the park on the right I was amazed at how well landscaped the surrounding area was. We parked in the rather small parking lot and took the little tram about 100 yards to the front gate. I loved (LOVED) the entrance to this park. It was very small, but well landscaped and clean. There weren’t many people (yay!) so we made a beeline to Superman.

SUPERMAN (choir singing Gloria Patri in the background)The only other coaster I was as excited to ride was X. I coerced Kamila to ride in the front seat. What better way to induct her into coasterdom but to let her ride on the #1 rated steel coaster in the front. Baptism by fire, there is no other way. I was happy that the line was very short. We waited some extra trains for the front, which took forever since their dispatch times were horrendous. Seems like they had Eltoritis since they only had two people checking the trains. Anyhow, SFNE is pardoned because it is so pretty.

So we were off. Didn’t take long for us to crest 208 feet and down we went. I loved the tunnel. Way (WAY) better than Goliaths similar plummet. The second hill reminded me of Darien Lake’s. Awesome floater. I didn’t even remember the over banked turn because we flew through it so fast. The next hill was phenomenal. I loved the little dip right before you started the ascent…nice touch. I was pinned to the restraints at the top and violently slammed my hand into the fiberglass shell on the way down. SWEEEEET! The next hill was even more violent than the previous. I unconsciously let out an expletive while Kamila, a devout Christian, was chanting the Lord’s Prayer. Her eyes were closed the whole time, while she muttered prayers and let out yelps on every hill. The curves were nice, but the train lost a lot of speed during this section. The drop into the tunnel was intense, although the mist was a bit much.

The final bunnies for me were a disappointment. First, the trim grabbed pretty hard. I am almost sure that Superman at Darien Lake was a lot more intense. Even Nitro seemed like it had more oomph at the end. The verdict. Yes, it is good….. hella GOOD! But is it my number one?!?…… I’m not sure yet. I thought it would dethrone the X-Nitro-Dueling Dragons trifecta immediately from the #1 spot. Instead it left me in a quandary. 9.75/10

Our next ride was Batman. By this time Kamila was very excited by the scenery and the characters (puppets she calls them….she is so cute) This was our shortest line of the day, which merely extended form the station. This is another of B&M’s quiet creations. I did like the colors and the station placards were well done. Unfortunately, that was where it ended. The ride was so shaky I thought I was on PGA’s Vortex. The trim after the hammerhead turn caught pretty hard, and the ride b*tch slapped me curling out of the o-g roll. The corkscrews were a mess. It shook so hard I though my neck was going to come undone. Ugh. I give it a 6.6/10, only because it is so pretty. Kamila liked it, but thought it was pretty lackluster. I know anything after superman is going to seem blah, but this is her second coaster ever….heh!

Next up was Mind Eraser, that dreadful beast. The longest line of the day (beats me), worse than Kong and it needs painting. Nuff said. 4/10

Next we went to eat. I was starving by this time and needed some place cool to rest. We ate at Oktoberfest Patio, which didn’t have AC, but at least it would shield us from impending rain. So after I gave my right testicle for pizza, some fries and drinks, we sat down to a nasty table and snarfed our food down. Again, SFNE is pardoned because it is so pretty.

After eating, we decided to walk around and check out the scenery. This is a really really pretty park. I think it’s even prettier than 2005 Great Adventure (yes, I said it). The water park is huge and there were just slides all over the damn place. I loved the architecture, and the pretty fountains and the cobblestone midways.

Our next ride was Pandemonium. This was my first spinny coaster ever, and Kamila assured me that this was her last ride for the day L. She had had enough. Anyway, we got on after 10 minutes and off we went. It was…..cute! Not as spinny as I thought it would be. But I can see why the kids like it. 7/10….love the colors too.

I bought Kamila a drink and she sat down to read a book while I hit Flashback and Cyclone. Flashback was another typical boomie. Rough as all get up though, even though it had the vekoma trains which are generally smoother than the Arrows (or is it the other way around…..I dunno) 5/10…they all just suck I guess.

Next was Cylcone, one train so the line crawled. Seems as if they recently renovated the queue (can any locals confirm?) as the walkways looked fresh. The train seemed to crawl on the turnarounds, so I really wasn’t expecting much. I could see that this was another of Six Flag’s neuterings as evidenced by the phantom track at the first drop. Anyhow, the first drop took me by surprise, which caused the little kid next to me to laugh uncontrollably. We crawled through the first turn around and bam, I fell into a huge pot hole on the second drop. Normally potholes = bad. But this one had me clenching the restraint. Overall this coaster had some cool drops. I wish I visited during the old Riverside days before it was de-balled. 8/10…..it has potential.

Next ride was SWAT/ Catapult. I saw Kamila deep into her book from a distance and there was no line for this relocated Astroworld masterpiece. I must admit, I’m not a flat ride dude, but this one (just looking at it) intrigued me. The ride was…ehh. Scary on the forward spin, blah on the backward. For me Delirium still rules the flat ride world! 6.75/10

Next was Thunderbolt. Kamila was getting tired, but agreed to ride this one since it seemed so “little.” There was absolutely no line and we even grabbed the front. The drops were cool, shallow, but cool. The last hill before the last turnaround provided major airage! Nice surprise. 7/10…cool lil’ classic.

By this time Kamila was ready to head back home. I begged her to do Superman one last time and she obliged. We took the second row in the first car as a part of the deal we made…so after about a 5 minute wait (the line got really short) we were off again. This time it seemed a little more intense. Those two hills after that over banked turn are probably the best designed on any hypercoaster. Oh Stengel, we thank thee! Another awesome ride, and the end to an awesome day.

By this time it was only 4, but it seemed like I felt fulfilled. It seems like I have created another coaster monster, since Kamila is excited about hitting Great Adventure tomorrow.

I really loved SFNE. It is perhaps the cutest SF Park I have ever been to. There are some things they have to work on, but they are head and shoulders above a park like Marine World, which is of similar size. It is definitely worthy of a yearly visit from me. Tomorrow (G-Adv), I wonder what coaster delights await me…..

*** Edited 7/6/2006 4:19:07 AM UTC by Antuan***

Nice reading, though. I'll write my short TR soon. I still have to finish my HWN day 3, and 4. ;)