I don't normally post at all in here but read the forums pretty often. This was my first time back to Six Flags in three years and I was pretty amazed at how much has changed since I last visited. I also had a friend who had never visited Six Flags before so it was great to see his perspective on things (his home park is Cedar Point).
We got to the park right at opening and it was pretty dead. A few school groups were there but most were gone by 4PM which made the park even emptier for the remainder for the day. Everything except for Twister was open at some point throughout the day (Sky Zooma closed down at the end of the day). I was worried about the major attractions being closed down after reading things on here but to my surprise everything ran smoothly.
Anyway, here was our ride count for the day:
Kingda Ka- 2x (waited 10 mins first time and 45 mins second time since we did front row. It was my first time doing the front row and I thought the extra wait time was worth it).
Zumanjaro - 1x (first time on, it opened closer to 11AM but the wait was probably only 10 minutes most)
Superman- 1x (25 Minute Wait)
Green Lantern - 1x (20 Minute Wait)
Safari: Off Road Adventure (10 Minute Wait)
-This was my first time doing the safari in the 16 years I visited the park. I never drove through it before and the only other time I can say I was back there was during a cross country race 5 years ago. I thought this attraction was pretty cool and was definitely a great addition to the park. We didn't get off at Camp Adventura, but overall this was a lot of fun.
Skyride - 2x (both wait times were 5 minutes or less).
Runaway Mine Train- 1x- Walk On
Bizzaro - 2x - Walk On
-My friend was very shocked how empty this ride was during our visit. I told him the history of the ride and how it was very normal for this ride to be empty at anytime during the day. (At least that's how it's been every time I rode it in the past). After seeing it yesterday, a part of me wondered what the future would hold for the roller coaster in our park. I would hate to see it go, being that it was one of my favorite upside coasters, but I would completely understand why if it did.
Skull Mountain - 1x - Walk On
The Dark Knight - 1x - Walk On
-I've been on this plenty of times to know what to expect...but for some reason I felt this ride has gotten much slower?
Batman - 1x - 40 Minutes
-1 Train running - I figured this was something related to this whole reverse batman deal. I don't think I could ever enjoy this ride when it comes to waiting in that hot sewer section with no air whatsoever.
Nitro - 3x - Each less than 10 minutes.
-This was my friend's favorite ride out of everything. We did the front row at one point which sealed the deal for him.
Sky Screamer - 1x - 5 Minutes
El Toro - 2x - (1st Time 25 Mins, 2nd Time Walk On)
-Definitely has gotten much rougher since my last visit.
El Diablo - 1x - 15 Minutes
-Really liked this ride. I would definitely go on this again on future visits. In my opinion, it's a nice addition to the area...still don't know how I feel about calling it a roller coaster (my friend also agreed), but whatever. This ride was temporaily closed at some point for some reason, probably technical difficulties. The lady who was operating it when we rode (I think her name was Rosa) was hilarious and entertaining the entire time. It definitely made the ride more enjoyable.
So there you have it, hitting pretty much all the major things in the park in 1 day. No doubt this was an excellent trip. Before I wrap up, I would like to give some thoughts on some other things in regards to the park. I recently graduated with a Hospitality/Tourism Management degree so I know a bit about business strategies in regards to amusement parks and blah blah blah (we study Disney/Universal extensively). So here are some other things that struck me while visiting yesterday:
Park Ticket Price- Compared to Disney/Universal, I don't mind the current admission prices for the park - especially when you can purchase it advance online and save a good amount of money. We both did a 1x ticket online which came out to about $57 +/- when taxes and a nice $9 processing fee was included. I do believe the park does great deals when it comes to season pass prices and offers so this isn't really a problem the park faces. I do however, feel the prices should be reduced in the spring time when not everything is open including the new ride/attraction for the year.
Parking - Now this is just a slap in the face. $25 to park in a unsafe lot with minimal security presence is unacceptable. Disney and Universal charge $17 and have great service to get you to the park gates. In 2012 I had a season parking pass and since I always drove I'd charge them a few bucks each to pay off the pass.
Food/Drink Prices - Ouch. I interned in Florida last summer so I had a Disney Annual Water Park Pass for my days off and always got lunch there. The Disney price for chicken tenders/fries was about $8+/- with tax...here it was $12+/-...another slap in the face. But I can completely understand why they up charge everything.
Advertisements - Always expected this since this has been the trend for the past 5-6 years. My friend noticed it immediately and goes "I guess this is the only reason why it stays in business". I'm so used to the advertisements now but it's a shame how much it deteriorates the experience.
Finally, I was very annoyed yesterday that the walkway between GK and PDC was closed (Safari Discoveries)....that walk from El Toro to Kingda Ka without that pathway is annoying. And then I see that it was temporarily opened yesterday for a short period of time from Railer's report. Hopefully this walkway and Safari Discoveries opens back up because that extended walk around the Boardwalk is a pain in the butt.
And there you have it...personally I think the park is heading in the right direction, but it's about time we get some shows and a dark ride in the park. Sorry for the length of this, wasn't expecting to type this much in the beginning!
