4/17/16

[RC98]

Today was another great day at the park. It started off pretty empty and became a lot more crowded as the day went on.

 

I started off going to Kingda Ka since I saw trains running but it went down as soon as I got in line so I left and went to Toro, which had a mostly empty station. I got to ride it 4 times without leaving the station, with the ride ops openly allowing rerides. While I was at Toro I also saw that Zumanjaro had gotten stuck with riders on it.

 

Once Toro’s station filled up I went back to Ka, which had reopened, and waited about a half hour for the front row. It was my first time riding it in the front and I think that’s where I’ll be riding it pretty much all the time now. It’s so much better there that I find it worth the extra wait! Zum was open again so I rode it twice, walking on the first time and waiting one cycle the second. It felt smoother than last week when I rode it.

 

Next I was ready for lunch so I figured I’d check to see if Macho Nacho was open and it was! Service was slow which I expected for its first day open but the food was great, still my favorite in the park.

 

I went to Bizarro next and rode twice with a station wait each time in the second row, the fire worked both times. Next I took the Skyride from the Fort to the other side of the park, with about a 10 minute wait. Both sides were running but it seemed like the line for the left (lake) side was moving faster.

 

Next I rode Nitro in the second row, with about a 15 minute wait from the 30 minute sign. The operations here (and at most of the coasters) were a lot better than last weekend. All the coasters were running all of their trains except for Bizarro which ran two, and all were running efficiently. After riding I checked the line but it was almost out to the switchbacks so I moved on to Skull Mountain, which had about a 10 minute wait for the back row. This time there was some lighting at the bottom of the first drop and some tiny blacklight bulbs on some of the supports about halfway through the ride which weren’t on last week.

 

Next was Batman, which had a 20-25 minute wait for the front row. I think this might be the most underrated coaster in the park, it made me gray out in the first vertical loop while riding in the front. I can’t imagine how intense getting whipped around is in the back!

 

Next I rode the Swashbuckler to do something different. Since a lot of families were at the park the line extended out of the queue space. I ended up underestimating the wait, which ended up being nearly a half hour. It was fun but I wouldn’t wait that long for it again. After this I was getting ready to leave but Skyscreamer opened up from being down right as I was near it so I got in line and waited one cycle to ride. By the time I got off the queue was over half full. At this point the park was getting more crowded so I left after learning the hard way that Cold Stone ice cream isn’t on the dining plan.

 

Ride count

Toro 4x

Bizarro, Zum 2x

Ka, Batman, Skyscreamer, Swashbucker, Skyride, Nitro 1x

 

Pics

The spot where Zum keeps getting stuck, they dropped the cars from this height

 

I found the Adventure Alley bus hidden in the parking lot, taken from Zum's queue

 

Macho Nacho open

 

Bizarro with fireballs

 

 

The Joker's sign, taken from the Skyride. It's a bit small but fits well with the ride

[29yrswithaGApass]

Great report!

 

Zumanjaro was stuck around that same spot yesterday too when I was leaving. They released the cars one by one from this spot.

 

[The Master]

The adventure alley bus used to be Mr Six's bus.

[Yoshi]

It seems like Zumanjaro is having some issues this year getting stuck with riders. At the beginning of last season it was breaking down on some of my trips to the park in April but with the gondolas still in the loading area. Hopefully this won't be a frequent problem as the season goes on.

[Nitro#1]

I went that day as well, first trip of the season for me. Entry line for passholders at 10:30 was ridiculous and they had a bunch of lanes closed. As usual some people didn't know what they were doing, stopping the entire line and annoying everyone. There was no line for day tickets or for unprocessed pass vouchers. When I finally got in at 10:45, I decided to start on the right side of the park. Nitro was closed with a big line of people outside the queue and a maintenance worker on the lift hill. Decided to try Batman and it was closed too. Terrible management to not open all the entry lanes and then fail to open two major coasters on time. With nothing good open on that side of the park, I tried to take the Skyride to El Toro, but of course, it was also closed, so I walked. While on the way to El Toro, I noticed that Zumanjaro was open, but I didn't see any Kingda Ka trains launch.

 

El Toro was actually open and had no line. I rode it once in the first row of the 2nd car. Great ride as always. Was going to reride, but decided to try Kingda Ka instead. While leaving El Toro's station, I noticed that Zumanjaro was stuck, so KK wasn't going to be open either. Went to Bizarro and walked right onto the front row.

 

After this I took the Skyride over to Nitro. As soon as I got in line, it broke and they sent out an empty train, which got stuck on the lift hill. Went to Batman and waited 1 train for a middle row. When leaving the station, it got a lot more crowded since Nitro was broken. Decided to have lunch after this.

 

Nitro was finally working then, so I rode it in the 3rd row, waiting 10 minutes. After this, I went back to the other side of the park and rode Mine Train and then rode Bizarro again calling it a day after that.

 

Overall, a good start to the season, but I wish Six Flags would get their act together and make sure all the rides open on time.

[Viper26]

Nice report! When I visited in March, I almost blacked out on Batman at the helix. But I did black out on Nitro at its helix though. It's probably the tight helices that black me out.

[RC98]

^ I actually used to gray out on Nitro's helix but for some reason I just grew out of it. Batman's helix came pretty close, that coaster is deceptively intense.

 

Nitro#1, your day sounds like how mine started last week. I guess it's just early season problems, I'd hope that by summer they'll have everything open with the park each day.

[Matt Kaiser]

I gray out on the helix when it's hot/humid. Staying hydrated helps a bit. Do what fighter jet pilots do to fight g forces - flex all your leg muscles during the helix and you (probably) won't gray out.