Six Flags Great Adventure!
I have heard all kinds of nightmare stories about how busy Great Adventure gets and really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Because we were driving from Hershey, we planned on popping into the park to get lunch using our Dining Pass (ding). Anyway, I got the Mac and Cheese covered in Pulled Pork and when I ran to the bathroom, noticed that Joker had about a 10 minute line. Hopped on quick and then got Harley Quinn out of the way, Took a quick look around and the park was dead! Headed out to quickly set up the tent so I could get back to the park! Great Adventure has a few really pretty areas, and some that look/feel very dated. Adventure Alley needs some help. My favorite section is probably the Boardwalk or Plaza de Carnival. Very solid Six Flags park full of B&Ms.
On to the rides…
Batman is still a very solid invert. Not as good as the original at Great America as it tends to shuffle a little bit. 5 minute wait. Solid B.
Bizarro is a fun old B&M. It really feels like an ugly stepsister of the park as it is way tucked back in a corner. I’m not a huge floorless fan and while this one was decent, still not an amazing ride. There is no reason that they needed all three trains on this because they were still stacking all of them and they didn’t need to move faster because there was never a line. I bet this is the next coaster to close at that park. No line, B-.
El Diablo was my first Super Loop and I was pleasantly surprised. It is very cramped, but the is not nearly as uncomfortable as I would have expected. This would be a great ride as part of a package, but would be kind of a disappointment if this was all you got for Great Adventure.I also think it is odd that Six Flags installed rides that are controlled and are not just push a button to operate. Usually had a one cycle wait.
El Freakin Toro is flipping insane. It is my new favorite coaster. I really wish Intamin was making more of these prefabs. The airtime was amazing and the ride is really a rush. There are a few potholes that could use a little work, but it is so smooth for a wooden coaster. I knew it would be good, but this ride is pretty much pure perfection. I got 8 rides in on it to end the night and they sent the last train at 10:10 even though no one was boarding trains. The employees looked like they were actually having fun and this was an amazing experience! A+ and never really had more than a one train wait.
Green Lantern is a pretty good stand up, but who wants to get their manhood destroyed on a roller coaster? Not me. I think I may rather still see Great American Scream Machine at this park, but what park would say no to a B&M. I wish they would have sent it to Great America like originally intended and put floorless trains on it to fill the major looping coaster gap in that lineup. Half empty trains all day, C.
Harley Quinn Crazy Train is a nice family coaster. The train is ridiculously long. I really like the rename to go with the Joker area. Walk on, D.
Houdini’s Great Escape is a very odd attraction. The pre show is pretty cool and the whole thing is just weird. It does not feel like a ride that would be at a Six Flags park. Walk on.
Justice League had no wait. It is way tucked back in a corner that it appears no one goes to and while the area looks very nice, there was nothing else back there. The first time we were big Cyborg and the second time they were sending empty cars so it was walk on. I really like these new Sally shooters as they are very interactive and fun rides.
Kingda Ka is not very good. Dragster is so much better. It shakes really bad and still has the old Intamin over the shoulder restraints. I had 2 decent rides on it and one that was gosh awful and pretty much ruined the rest of my day. I bashed my head a few times and it is not all that great of a ride. Longest line of the trip at around a half hour once, and then 15 minutes for the others. Good rides, C+, bad ride D.
Nitro is my new favorite B&M hyper by far. The floater air is out of this world and it is set in a very nice location back by the trees and the lake. The helix is surprisingly intense and compliments the airtime quite nicely. Overall, amazing ride that I could ride all day. A+, Rode it 5 times in a row without getting off, so there was never a line, yet they continued to dispatch quickly with all three trains.
Parachute Training Center is a very unique ride as St. Louis and Texas no longer have theirs so I wanted to make sure I rode this one. It is not nearly as thrilling as I thought it would be. The view is nice, but then immediately they bring you back down at a very leisurely pace.
Safari Off Road Adventure is an amazing attraction for Great Adventure. It is a very high quality safari that really might be better than the one at Disney. There are tons of animals and the workers really seem to get into it and seem to enjoy their job. The animals were all over and provide a one of a kind experience. I was very pleasantly surprised by this, especially since it is a Six Flags park we are talking about.
Skull Mountain is odd. This being said, the airtime in the back row during the first drop is outstanding! The building is pitch black on the inside which exactly what I would expect from Six Flags for a ride with stuff that doesn’t work on the inside. Interesting Ride. Walk on, C-.
Skyway is really fun! I really wish more parks still had their sky rides, especially these cabin type ones. Great Adventure’s is very pretty and it is awesome that they still have their double from the World’s Fair. You can totally see old Eagle's Flight/Delta Flyer cars sitting in the boneyard on Nitro.
Superman is just another clone. I like the one at Great America better. This one did not seem as forceful in the pretzel and shook a little more.
The Joker is in a really prime location at Great Adventure. I would have much rather seen something original go into that spot. These S&S 4D Freespins are okay, and while better than Great America’s, it still is not a very good ride. 10 minutes, C.
The Dark Knight is another clone we have at Great America and this one is a tad better. It has a little change in the theming as there is something on the ground and they still run the pre show. Walk on if there was no pre show, C-.
Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom is not worth the walk all the way back to it. You can call me lazy, but other than the fact that you can tell you are really high in the air, the drop seems the same as Giant Drop. Fun ride, just a waste getting rid of Rolling Thunder to add it.
This feels really out of place.
This part of the park feels really stuck in the 70s.
Really cool, retro architecture.
Great Adventure has really good food. This is the Philly Cheesesteak Fries.
Got quite a bit of food from here.
How difficult would it be for Great America to put these in?
I'm gonna miss getting Rita's as my snack.
Didn't get to ride Mine Train as it was down both days and they were welding a section of track in this area.
This thing looks like it hasn't been used in years.
This looked really out of place.
Those tents really smell like mold and mildew.
I'll close on my Great Adventure money shot.
Scorecard
Batman: The Ride 1
Bizarro 4
El Diablo 1
El Toro 14
Green Lantern 2
Harley Quinn Crazy Train 1
Houdini’s Great Escape 2
Justice League: Battle For Metropolis 2
Kingda Ka 3
Nitro 8
Parachute Training Center: Edwards AFB 1
Safari Off Road Adventure 1
Skull Mountain 2
Skyway 1
Superman: Ultimate Flight 1
The Joker 2
The Dark Knight Coaster 1
Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom 1
Total 48