9/12 Trip Report (Riding of the Bull Siete)

[bgr861509]

I left my house at 5:00 am to attend Riding of the Bull Siete, hosted by the American Coaster Enthusiasts New Jersey Region at Great Adventure. I arrived at the park shortly before 8:00 am, and I had to wait 15 minutes before they opened the toll plaza. After going through the plaza, I picked up my registration envelope and signed up for two of the three tours being offered, they were the same tours for Coaster Con XXXVIII. I signed up for the Houdini/Superman/Green Lantern tour at 12:05, and the Kingda Ka/Zumanjaro/Bizarro tour at 5:20 after lunch.

 

The day began with morning exclusive ride time on Nitro, which ran for 1 hour prior to the park opening. I rode Nitro 8 times without having to leave the station. After Nitro, I went and picked up a flash pass for the day, because I just love using the system, I have used it all 6 visits this season. I chose Kingda Ka as my next ride, I rode that twice, in the second and third rows respectively. Before my first tour, I rode Zumanjaro, because I did not ride it last visit, only 10 days ago.

 

Now, It was time for my first tour of the day, we met at the exit of the Go-Karts, and our first stop was Houdini's Great Escape, We were underneath the ride in the basement. I thought it was a neat way to start the tour. Our next stops on the tour were Superman and Green Lantern, We got to see the storage area for Superman and had many photo opportunities as well. The tour lasted just over an hour and the park was starting to get a little bit busier.

 

I wanted to go on some more rides before lunch, I rode Namtab again with a one-train operation and it moved a little bit slow, I wanted to ride the Dark Knight next, but it was down for minor technical difficulties. I was looking for the next ride with the shortest wait, I chose Bizarro even though it was on the other side of the park. That was the last ride before lunch. Anyways, I would come back to Bizarro for nighttime exclusive ride time as part of Riding of the Bull. It would be offered for one hour starting at 9:00 pm alongside with the Runaway Mine Train and El Diablo.

 

Just like tradition, the lunch was a mexican fiesta buffet, I was in there for an hour and a half break, it was very cloudy and overcast for most of the day, but it did not rain or storm, which was predicted for Saturday afternoon and evening. After Lunch, I rode the Bull before my 2nd tour of the day. This was just a warm-up of what was to come to close out Riding of the Bull. We had two hours of exclusive ride time on El Toro, the signature moment of Riding of the Bull.

 

It was redemption time for me on my second tour of the day, the Kingda Ka, Zumanjaro, and Bizarro tour at 5:20. Our first stop was Kingda Ka, and the last time I did that tour, my camera battery died right as that part was beginning. I had my shot at redemption and it could not have come at a better time. It was the same tour, but in the opposite order.

 

Now that my touring was done for the day, I had one thing on my mind, riding as much as I can before 9:00, the weather held up most of the day, I rode Superman and Green Lantern next, and night was descending upon Great Adventure. Believe it or not, that was the first night rides on GL and SUF for me. To keep the momentum going, I rode Zumanjaro again, this time at night, and my next stop was Kingda Ka for one night ride. My plan was to ride Kingda Ka, Zumanjaro, and Nitro before the exclusive ride time session tonight.

 

It was so humid, I went and got some ice cream to have on the way to Nitro for a couple of night rides, which I love riding at night, by the way. I rode Nitro 2 more times to make it 10 for the day, i rode in the same row. It was 8:30 at this point, I went and retreived my sweatshirt, rain jacket, and souvenir cups from my locker and turned the flash pass in for the day. It was time to make my way to the other side of the park for the final act of Riding of the Bull.

 

I arrived at El Toro at 9:00, but it wasn't quite ready for us yet, so I went and rode Bizarro two more times before heading back to close out on the Bull, That was my plan was to close out by riding El Toro, it is Riding of the Bull after all. I rode "The Bull" 12 consecutive times without having to leave the station. As a result, I broke my previous record from Coaster Con, I rode El Toro 13 times in one day. It was a long and fun 15 hour day at the park, it's so worth it. One family I met from Virginia was nice enough to offer me a ride to the hotel where I would be staying for the night, the Hampton Inn and Suites in nearby Robbinsville. They were staying there as well. In 2015, I have doubled my appearances at Great Adventure and hope to be back before the end of the season, maybe for Fright Fest and Holiday In The Park. Before I close, I just wanted to say thank you to Six Flags Great Adventure for hosting Riding of the Bull Siete and our national convention, Coaster Con XXXVIII. I am proud to call this my home park. I had no doubt that God was with us because it did not rain or storm during our most important aspect of Riding of the Bull. I had another amazing time at my 3rd consecutive Riding of the Bull.

Edited September 14, 2015 by bgr861509

[Yoshi]

Great report, it sounds like it you got a lot of rides in.

[Matt Kaiser]

It was nice meeting you, Brian! I didn't realize you were a member on GAH too.