joeyc98

Its funny how we say Joker and Twisted Cyclone are the latest and worst RMC's, yet they look like they will still give/do give amazing rides. Yes, Twisted Cyclone looks very short. However, if we were to get a rollercoaster like that, I wouldn't complain because that short ride time would still be enjoyable.

You guys should also remember that Great Escape's Skyride doesn't have enclosed cabins like Great Adventure does. I feel like everyone is making "what if this happens or this happens" statements when I feel like there isn't any remote sign the park has a reason to remove the Skyride. Even just in the past few years, they have started using both sides more regularly, with both sides having a line constantly.

There ARE signs that the park is expanding the Old Country area once again. I imagine the next few additions to the park will be in that area. One thing that MAY be on the chopping block is the Stunt Arena. However, that's also questionable because they just moved Dead Man's Party into the Stunt Arena and I feel that was a smart move. Hopefully, if the Old Country area is filled with more rides in the next few years, maybe Showcase and the Arena will eventually have shows year round. That's what I hope 2019 brings is something more to that area.

I know the Chiller building was used the past few seasons to do department training for rides employees. I'm not sure if they've used it for that since they remodeled it for JL.

 

It was demolished, not remodeled

Haven't been to many closings. Rode Rolling Thunder during its last week of operation which was bittersweet. I have been to a handful of ride openings though, including Zumanjaro (out of luck) and the first day Medusa reopened as Bizarro.

When I rode, the cars were constantly moving through the station slowly and didn't stop; it was basically how you board the Dark Knight.

What I do can pretty much guarantee you may get in trouble, but I've yet to have to pay for a locker and I've been to the park almost 10 times this season while riding El Toro and Kingda Ka almost every visit. Normally, my friends and I will hide our phones/wallets in our clothes and take them out once we pass the entrance. Its always worked since we've never been pat down.. I always wear shorts with buttons so im never endangering people. But thats my trick.. If you do or don't approve of it, that's a different convo to be had lol.

For Fright Fest, they use that building for the Clown maze. However, it would be interesting if an old Old Country building could be re purposed for a museum.

I know this is off topic, but considering how popular Mr. Freeze still is at St. Louis and Over Texas, that doesn't surprise me.

The park map was updated on the website. Justice League is included, as well as the shortcut through Old Country (even though that was only open sporadically throughout last season). Also, no shortcut between Plaza Del Carnaval and the Golden Kingdom.

 

https://static.sixflags.com/website/files/sfgad_park-map.pdf

I regret always walking by The Chiller as a kid and never having the guts to ride it. Really wish I had been able to experience it.

I'm interested to see what buildings in the area are spruced up - especially how the observatory is incorporated - considering how abandoned the area has been the past few years.

All the BBNP rides are back up on the park's website. So there is your answer lol.

The problems with Zumanjaro not opening on time and not being able to run with Kingda Ka stem from problems with the state. I think the park working with Intamin again is a prety good chance lol

Anybody know what has been up with Skull Mountain lately? During the ride, its pitch black but the music doesn't play and none of the effects are lit up. Surprising how much more fun the ride is with the music.

To add to a looooong list of why the banning of Cell Phones in parks will never happen, I would be extremely annoyed not being able to take pictures. When I go to new parks I've never visited, I enjoy taking pictures of everything.

Seems I'm a little late to the party but cool to see they're expanding the event, I especially like what they're doing with the Skyride. I remember thinking last year that it would be cool to go on a round trip over the lights.

 

Just from reading this alone, can you please post here more? Lol

 

I've followed the Great Adventure thread on ThemeParkReview and Coastrbill's posts are always amazing.

It also wouldn't be cost effective and it has been the recent trend that parks are removing log flumes and rapid rides rather than building new ones. It would also mean without a new water ride for the theme park to replace Congo Rapids, all that would be left is Saw Mill Log Flume (and Splash Water Oasis for kids). Even though I rarely ride Congo Rapids, I hope it stays and another water ride is added just to help spread out crowds.

 

I noticed that, this past summer, I ended up riding Congo Rapids a lot more often than Sawmill Log Flume due to how hot it was. even though sometimes I barely got wet, the lines were never really long and I enjoyed getting absolutely soaked on 100+ degree days.

You still have to wait in a line, but you wait in the express line, which was sometimes longer than the regular line.

I've had an express pass for Fright Fest the past 3 years and never had this problem. Lines always moved wayy quicker in the Express Line

I've wanted a giant frisbee (again) for a long time. It's one of my favorite flat rides. I'd be happy If we got it along with 2 or 3 other flat rides, like SFFT got last year. (Although does the world really need more Troikas after Cedar Fair next year?)

Never enough Troikas.

Im curious to see where the entrance for this is going to go. Will they reopen Old Country completely or have the entrance towards the end of Movietown, behind Dark Knight?

Terrific trip report and photos!

 

Like owtoty said, I need to get back to this park. It has changed so much since I was last there in 2008. Although not the best ride, I love the look of Goliath's vertical spikes.

 

I hear the ride was perfectly smooth with the old trains, too.

I'm a fan of everything about SFNE except their ops. Both Superman and Wicked Cyclone are both in my top 10 as well, and Batman is a solid floorless. Agree that Blizzard River is better than Congo Rapids. Blizzard.

 

I did notice a lot of their operations were slow and some unfriendly. Mainly were only unfriendly if you didn't follow their instructions to sit in whichever row on whichever ride.

AGAWAM

 

To start the trip, my friends and I decided to head up on Tuesday to Six Flags New England, someplace we have been wanting to go to for years. After the 4 hour trek, we arrived around 5 and unpacked. Our room, booked through Airbnb, was extremely nice and was located on a farm. After walking around the area and exploring the farm our house was on, we decided to head to Hartford for dinner. We walked around the city and ate at Theodore's. An extremely nice "Bar & BBQ", they had amazing Jambalaya and I definitely recommend this place. Next, we headed to Ashley Reservoir and walked off dinner. The surrounding water and forest was tranquil and the views were astounding. Overall, our first day was pretty fun but my excitement was built up for the next day.

 

SIX FLAGS NEW ENGLAND

 

I was super excited to visit this park as I have always wanted to ride Superman, plus Goliath and Wicked Cyclone made me even more excited. It's hard to compare this park to Great Adventure as I can't even count the hundreds of times I have visited Great Adventure, so I'll try to describe the park to the best of my abilities.

 

(We were only able to ride every ride once, except Wicked Cyclone... because Wicked Cyclone.

 

Wicked Cyclone - Getting to the park right at opening, this was the first ride of the day. Holy Crap. This ride is outstanding. The theming adds more to the ride and I appreciate the park's attempt at it. Not being able to pick your seat is kind of a bummer. However, riding both in the middle and the back, I realized this ride is phenomenal anywhere you sit. The airtime is insane and the 200 degree stall is so cool. The outward banks provide even more awkward but funny airtime as well. I went in thinking I could compare this to El Toro but I was wrong and this ride is in a totally different category (aka RMC coasters). Being my first RMC, I was blown away by this ride and wished it was closer to home (made my 10 steel coaster as did Superman).

 

New England Skyscreamer - The views on this ride are outstanding. Plus, the ride plaza (this shares the same one as WC) is very well done and the area looks very clean and modern. The ride cycle seemed short but the outstanding height of this ride makes up for that. Makes me wish our Skyscreamer was taller.

 

Pandemonium - First, I'd like to say this was my first non-wildmouse spinning coaster. I enjoy this a lot more than those, and besides the wait building up fast due to slow dispatches, the ride was very fun and my friend and I laughed the entire time. Not worth more than a half hour wait, but a solid ride. Plus, the new paint looks good.

 

Flashback - Boomerang

 

The Great Chase - Needed the credit

 

Scream! - Awesome set of drop towers. This and Flashback were the most generic rides in this park, which is saying something because the rest of the park has a weird charm to it. Loved being shot up, then held at the top, then shot down,

 

Superman - Another holy crap ride. After getting in line at 12:15, we got into the station at 1 which meant our train was the first to have VR of the day. Say what you want about VR adding to the wait times of rollercoaster but OMFG. The fact that I did not know what element was coming after the next, VR added a whole new level of surprise to the ride. Filled with airtime and being able to sit in the back, my ride was insane and this ride definitely made my top 10 Steel Coasters. Restraints were not uncomfortable either and I don't understand the slack some people give this ride. Operations were also steady with minimal stacking (before VR started LOL).

 

MachoNacho - Lunch. Mediocre compared to Great Adventure's. Not much to report. Cold Burrito.

 

Gotham City Gauntlet - Restraints that are uncomfortable on every turn, this was a standard wild mouse. While outdoors, the theming was on par with Dark Knight's, which i appreciated. I liked the themed cars as well.

 

Blizzard Rived - Far superior to Congo Rapids, my friends and I got DRENCHED on this ride. The theming was also very nice (honestly, almost every ride had theming or was nicely landscaped besides Scream and Flashback). This was a fun way to cool down as the park lacks a log flume. Sad that this will be the only water ride once Splashwater Falls is gone.

 

Batman - A compact, slow operations filled, floorless coaster (Two of these three remind me of another ride at GA hmm). However, the ride packed a punch and was extremely fun. Also, the surrounding area was very nice with a nicely themed Chair swing across the ride.

 

Mind Eraser - SLC. My head hurts thinking about it. In pain the whole ride. Next.

 

Catwoman's Whip - Themed even nicer than Harley Quinn Crazy Train, as there was a giant Catwoman statue and immense landscaping throughout the ride. Solid family coaster.

 

Thunderbolt - This was the surprise of the entire trip. Missing Rolling Thunder a lot recently, it has been a while since I have ridden a classic wooden rollercoaster. Waiting only 20 min, which would had gone by faster had the coaster been able to run more than one train, the wait was definitely worth it. even sitting near the front, we got nice pops of airtime. With a surprise double down mid ride, I was out of my seat just as much as Wicked Cyclone (may be an over exaggeration but shhhh). Definitely a hidden gem with a lot of charm at this park.

 

And finally, after being down all morning..

 

Goliath - I'm not entirely sure why, but I have been excited to ride this for so long. GIB seem so much fun to me, and honestly, I enjoyed the ride. There was minimal headbanging. The only roughness came from the actual cars, not uneven track. My back hurt after this ride, as did my butt. Something is wrong with this ride and I have heard the park made it worse with the news trains. Besides that, the rest of the ride was very enjoyable, plus the drops provided some floater airtime. I could ride this more and I definitely thought Mind Eraser was way worse. Overall, the ride was a lot of fun even with the pain it provided and the landscaping was very nice.

 

JB's Smokehouse BBQ - Definitely worth the hype I have read about this place over at SFNE Online and TPR. The food and curly fries were very good and the Coke Freestyle Machines were an added bonus.

 

Other rides we did not get to ride include mostly the park's flat rides. If you think Great adventure is limited with Flats, try comparing it to this park. Noticeable empty ride pads were back by Pandemonium, either hidden with landscaping or with benches and planters. Don't get me wrong, the park has solid flats like Tomahawk, Kontiki, even Fireball and Houdini. I just feel there is room for more.

 

Verdict

 

This park has a lot of charm to it, with the left side of the park having more charm while the back park with Superman and the right part with Batman had more of standard Six Flags feel. The rides are also all closer together which makes it much easier to get all of the rides in. Not being able to pick your seat on rides is also a big let down. However, this is made up for by the park letting us place our belongings on the side of the station. People walked around with backpacks everywhere and you could place them on the side of every ride, with the exception of Blizzard River and Superman. With one or two more solid flats after the additions of Fireball and Skyscreamer, this park may even seem perfectly rounded. I would absolutely visit this park again, maybe even try the water park next time and stay for a few more days. I believe everyone should get to this park to ride WC and Superman as they are outstanding roller coasters. I cannot wait to visit this park again.

 

 

View from our house

 

 

On our way to Ashley Reservoir

 

 

oooooooo

 

 

aahhhhhhhhh

 

 

Like Thunderbolt, this place truly was a hidden gem

 

 

The sun setting meant tomorrow was very close

 

 

Gotta say, this parking building is more attractive than GA's

 

 

The famous M&M stairs

 

 

Guess what was closed

 

 

The tower actually never ends

 

 

I lied

 

 

I wish I took more pictures of WC

 

 

Wild Double Down though

 

 

Really loved the landscaping throughout the park

 

 

Peepin'

 

 

Are we in a Six Flags park?

 

 

Peepin'

 

 

Patiently waiting

 

 

There they are

 

 

 

There they go

 

 

So photogenic

 

 

Where's Bizarro?

 

 

Aha, some leftover Bizarro

 

 

Peepin'

 

 

Joker's Wildcard looked fun.. Superman looked more fun

 

 

IT'S ALIVE

 

 

But not time to ride yet (unfortunately, I didn't manage to get any pictures of Blizzard River as my phone was in the locker.

 

 

Time for this mini-beast instead

 

 

 

I do love how much this ride fits into such a small area

 

 

What an amazing ride (the one in the background).

 

 

Batman V Superman?

 

 

Something I really miss at Great Adventure

 

 

Only picture I have of Catwoman's Whip... only because I loved Superman so much.

 

 

Kinda fun. Kinda hurt

 

 

Finally time

 

 

I'll ride you one day.

 

 

Are we in a Six Flags park pt. 2?

 

 

 

By my reaction in this photo, I'll definitely be back.

Hey Railer- do me a favor... I understand that you dont believe inn a god and that you have major issues with the park, but please do not mock people for going to a religious concert and especially don't mock people for believing in a God...

I know that was a week ago but please refrain from making fun of religions

Thank you

Have a nice day

 

He wont be posting here anytime soon. All is well with the world lol

After seeing SS today, I really wish our JL ride would be SS themed. The voice of Enchantress just seems like a voice you'd hear in a dark ride.

I have to agree as I thought the movie was really good and would translate well to a dark ride where you have to save Midway City from Enchantress. It would also be nice to have a unique dark ride as opposed to the cookie cutter JL rides (not that the general public will ever ride more than one but besides the point).