Park Review
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Jackson, New Jersey
The Places: Six Flags Great Adventure I was interested in seeing Six Flags Great Adventure again because my visit last summer was arguably one of the worst amusement park experiences I have had. Granted, I visited on a weekend so I expected crowds, but that Sunday was horrid. Medusa was, in essence, running only one train because the train would run the course then have to sit on the brake run and wait for both trains to get unloaded/loaded before allowing riders off. Rolling Thunder was a painful experience, and the less said about Batman and Robin the better. Basically, I decided not to write a review because I had next-to-nothing positive to say about the park, the rides, or the staff. So it was with mixed emotions that I headed into the parking lot to see the Great American Scream Machine looking me in the eye. After strutting our stuff at the wonderful new season pass entrance, we met up with comet John and headed for the attraction I had missed last summer - Houdini�s Great Escape. This is a Vekoma Mad House and, without giving anything away, I must say I was floored. My first reaction when the ride ended was, �Well, at least Vekoma can do something right!� I must say, this attraction was loads of fun and made a great start to the day. If Six Flags St. Louis would only get this and something along the lines of a Huss Frisbee next year, I would be a happy man. Next up was Rolling Thunder. Not only were they running all four trains, but they were racing! The ops were not releasing the coasters at the same time; instead, they had learned to do a dispatch delay on one side so that the trains crest the lift hill at the same time. Now, last year I had hopped off Rolling Thunder in disgust. But this visit I was led to seat 1.2 on the left side (the right was the only one open last year) and had an airtime filled, relatively smooth ride! Kudos to Six Flags for keeping the single-locking lapbars and three bench PTC trains. I was out of my seat and the racing aspect really allowed me to understand the genius behind Cobb�s design. What a great coaster and a fun ride. I can only imagine it with grease! The out trip was full of air, and the return trip had Cobb�s touch with some unique out-of-your-seat time. Bill was the man. I left the coaster and would not shut up about the great ride I had just experienced, so the people I was with probably got tired of me right away. While walking we saw Lawsuit: The Ride (oh, I mean Viper). What a piece, so long, goodbye you piece of Togo crap. It was on to Medusa and, while it is not as intense as Kumba, it still gives a great ride. The floorless aspect does not do a whole heck of a lot for me, but that first drop, the diving loop and section after the mid-course were all just so much fun. We rode in row seven and I came back with a huge smile on my face. We took a ride on the mine train, which has a nice location and station�and that�s really about it. Did I recognize those bunny hops? Oh yes, the exact same hills were later used on Magnum and they are painful there, too. The run out over the lake to end the ride is a very nice touch. We walked past the lakeside area, waved at Evolution (which stared silently at us) and experienced Nitro. This brought my hyper/mega/giga count up to five (along with Magnum, Millie, Steel Force and Superman Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England). Superman blows everyone else out of the water, but Nitro beat out the remaining contenders for overall ride experience. Millie is fun, but Nitro just has more of what I like in a coaster. This was my first B&M hyper, so as I boarded row two, I was a little unsure of what to expect. The seats are definitely open, and for the first time I did not mind having no space between myself and the dinner tray (lapbar). The brakes released, and the train took a nice dive out of the station into a small u-turn and engaged the lift. The lift speed was perfect - fast enough to ensure good capacity, but slow enough to remind riders how high 200 feet really is. The first drop is superb and feels like it never ends. Since we were in the front it did not have a lot of air, but the view, both of the track and of the surrounding areas, more than made up for it. The turn off the second hill took me by surprise, as it has a beautifully engineered diving turn which leads into a large airtime hill. After the third hill, I was not sure what to expect, as I had only seen a few photos of the course. The trim brake slowed us only a little, the hammerhead was fun and the fourth hill again provided more air. The real story was the upward helix, which pulled more g�s than I had anticipated. After grazing the brakes, we entered the bunny hops back to the station, which were out-and-out fun. Nitro is a great ride, and I think shows that B&M is indeed still creating coasters with some force. Ever jubilant, we boarded the Riptide, an Arrow hydro flume that has had the hump removed. Even without it, the drop was fun and the ensuing skid out on the water was grea t- one of the company�s best concepts. The Pendulum (?), a Huss Frisbee, was next and, as usual, it was a delight. I love these things; they have airtime and unique g�s all mixed together in a nice package. GASM called next, and we walked past the many faded pictures in the queue (including one correct image of the Screamin� Eagle and one mirror image of its first drop) all the way up to the station. I boarded in 2.1 and enjoyed the ride more overall than before (I was in the second-to-last seat on my last visit). The pop of air going into the brake run surprised me, as did the two moments where I banged my jaw against the OTSR (going into the second loop and the first corkscrew). Overall fun, but I will take Medusa any day of the week and (twice on Sunday) over GASM. This part of the park has become upcharge city, as a spring-powered slingshot and a Zamperla Turbo Force were added close to the skycoaster. I think that if a park is going to add upcharge attraction,s I would much rather have them be �extreme� style rides instead of the virtual attractions/simulators (as at Paramount�s Kingx Island) where the operators come out on the midway and hustle you. Over to Gotham for a ride on Stuntman�s Freefall with a ten minute (if that) wait. These rides, though short, are still great drops. We flew over to Batman for a ride. It�s the same old coaster - fast, furious, intense. Nothing more really can be said about this experience. We went to Church next and enjoyed the backseat bliss of Skull Mountain. A fun ride for the whole family that has a first drop with more pull than I expected on my first trip in 2000. We got one more ride in one Medusa and then enjoyed a ride on the �mad cows�, SFGAdv�s Break Dance. Granted, this ride (which has a differently-angled turntable and spokes than the Coney version) was better than the BD�s found at most theme parks, but it just could not satisfy when compared to the awesome power I had encountered earlier in the day at Coney Island. John said goodbye, and we headed over for a 15-minute wait in the skyride. Here I got lots of great dusk shots of the entire park and again marveled at how beautiful the area is. We waited around 45 minutes for Nitro�s backseat (completely in the dark), and it was great! The hills all had fun airtime, the helix was intense and the second (curving) drop is one of my all time favorite steel coaster moments. Great job, Great Adventure, this coaster is definitely a crowd pleaser. The only thing that needs to be changed is the two train ops, but I have heard this was not the park�s fault and is being worked on quite diligently. After this awesome Nitro ride, we hit Batman and Robin: The Headache for one last coaster ride in the front of car two. It�s still painful, even with my ability to hold my hands against the front of the car, thus keeping my head out of the OTSR. We ended the night watching the Six Flags gala celebration event in the main area. Fun, cheesy, but I really do not need to hear Daffy singing a modified version of Sir Mix a Lot�s only hit (sing along with me: I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brothers can�t deny, etc.). Daffy�s was something along the line�s of, �I like those ducks and I cannot lie�� It was kind of like a car wreck, and I did not know whether I wanted to cover my ears or hear more. At any rate, I had a wonderful day at SFGAdv and have developed a new appreciation for the park. A huge thanks to Ed for doing all that extra driving (and putting up with me all day, a huge chore in itself). I appreciated it more than you can ever know.
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