29yrswithaGApass Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Click the logo below to view the full trip report: Below are some samples. Feel free to comment and discuss! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 (edited) Those last 3 pictures are amazing. I wonder how long those lines for the trails were, at least 2 hours? It is very surprising to see all those people waiting at the metal detectors that late. I hope they were pass holders since by the time they got into the park they probably had time for 1 trail or 1 or 2 rides. Edited October 21, 2012 by Yoshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted October 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Those last 3 pictures are amazing. I wonder how long those lines for the trails were, at least 2 hours? It is very surprising to see all those people waiting at the metal detectors that late. I hope they were pass holders since by the time they got into the park they probably had time for 1 trail or 1 or 2 rides. When we left at 9pm people were still pouring into the park. The add-on lots appeared to be full and the guests looked like they may have even been coming over from the Hurricane Harbor lot. There were so many people still heading in at that hour that it looked like a parade winding its way through the main parking lot. Tonight was a night that the park could have easily stayed open until 2AM and made tons of money. Most of the people heading in had paper (print at home) tickets in their hands. There was no way the folks in the lot were going to make it into the park and get on more than one attraction. I would estimate Insanity had a wait of two hours and the others probably a solid one hour. All the queues for the rides were pretty packed too. The upside, the crowd while huge was civilized. Everyone seemed to be having fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc12192 Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Man was it packed yesterday. People were in fact parking in Harbors lot but the park announced they would be staying open until 12 which i think was for the enormous amount of people entering the park so late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batmanrobinchiller Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 I overheard on the radio there were a lot of people in the park. Instead of closing at 11, the park decided to keep the rides/attractions open till 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Just an fyi,the park never gives attendance numbers to the public. Let's just say it was a near capacity crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAM527 Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 We left our house around 6pm last night and got off at Exit 16 on 195W, luckily we only had to wait at 2 lights to get in the line on 537. My wife's sister and family weren't so lucky, they were coming through Freehold and got stuck in traffic well before the outlets. After not moving for almost an hour they eventually gave up, turned around and went home. We ventured onward and were completely amazed at how many people were headed to Great Adventure on a Saturday night, even last year were were able to go on the weekends and even the last weekend with virtually no problems. The main tickets booths and parking lot were closed and we went through the Hurricane Harbor ticket booths at around 7:30 or so, we were one of a handful of cars that just missed a semi close parking space and then we were directed all the way down to the farthest end of the lot in the corner. Not knowing exactly where we were (never been in the Hurricane Harbor parking lot before) we just started walking We saw a group of people waiting at what looked like a bus stop and decided that was a better option than trying to walk the whole way. What a great idea that was, we hopped on a Safari bus, went past the Safari entrance, through the Safari exit parking lot, in a fence away from everyone walking and out the fence by the Security Guard booth, then dropped off behind the Bugs Bunny planter. The line to get in through the metal detectors around 8pm was only about 5 people deep and the line to show our pass and get in the park was...well there was no line, we went right in. Surprisingly with all of the cars and people, the park didn't seem that crowded, there were tables and benches to sit at and plenty of room to walk if you know how to avoid the cattle and take short cuts and back ways around. We didn't go near any rides or trails and actually only went to the park because my wife wanted a Fright Fest sweatshirt but we did get to see four shows, starting at 8:30 Doc Swan's Sideshow, then Bad Bob The Bone Butcher, Professor Zombini and the original Dead Man's Party. Around 9:10 an announcement was made that the park was going to be open until 12. Sometime around 11:15 we decided to leave and headed back to the shuttle bus area, when we got to our car we wondered if we should wait or get in the long line of cars, we decided to go and go nowhere we went! We didn't get out of the Hurricane Harbor parking lot and access road until almost 1am, I kept looking at the main lot and thinking those people wouldn't be getting out until 2 or 3 am or later, once we blended into traffic on 537 we were moving and on our way, we got home around 1:30am. All in all except for the traffic going in and the idiots trying to make their own lanes on the way out it wasn't a bad night. Sorry for the long post and I'll attach the photo I took looking off of the Great Adventure overpass at the traffic on 537 and headed into the main entrance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 ^ Thanks for the report! We saw the bumper to bumper traffic on the entrance roadway when we left and figured that it would have taken hours to get out of the main lot later in the night. I have often thought that the traffic on Route 537 would flow much better out of the park if they had larger and better signs (the overhead type) near I-195. The signs aren't the best and so many people get confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAM527 Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 I have often thought that the traffic on Route 537 would flow much better out of the park if they had larger and better signs (the overhead type) near I-195. The signs aren't the best and so many people get confused. I agree with you, I think that every time we leave that those little signs and road are deceiving especially at night, the overpass is way outdated and needs to be another lane or two wider. There were people moving into the right lane and I was yelling (from the closed windows safety of my car) stay in the left lane because virtually no one gets on 195 East. People from New York were getting into the exit lane which is the U-Turn and Wawa turnoff thinking that was where they needed to go, then trying to get back into the right lane. Then everyone in the right lane that needs to be in the left lane for 195 West. Other times I've seen people that get on 195 East with me and get off at the next exit, I would have to guess to turn around. I was also thinking last night that the Turnpike overpass where the truck fire was must still be one lane on 195 so that was probably backed up for a few miles too. I did forget to mention in the Hurricane Harbor parking lot, there must have been at least 20 people directing you and parking cars. Everything entering and in the park seemed as organized as it could have been. The only exception was leaving the park, if the overpass can't be widened, on a super busy night to get people out and away which should be the main goal instead of the free for all that it is, the Police should be involved and close the incoming lanes and make every lane on 537 leaving the park one direction, this is how the NASCAR tracks (Pocono, Watkin's Glen, Richmond) handle large volumes of traffic all leaving at once and there's ways to make entering 195 West three to four lanes also. Just an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafreak Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 i made an attempt to go to the park got to the wawa around 6pm, by 7 made it to thje entrance bridge by 720 i made it to hh lot and they were parking cars on the grass, decided not to bother and took off, i had friends in the park it took them 2 hrs to get on 537 from the main lot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaman10000 Posted November 11, 2012 Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 It was completely packed that day, I waited almost 40 minutes just to park. I had to park in the Hurricane Harbor lot and walk across the cars waiting to get in. I didn't stay very long since the lines for Nitro and El Toro were both outside the queue house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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