Agawam/Six Flags New England PTR 8/16/2016 & 8/16/2016

[joeyc98]

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.

Edited August 21, 2016 by joeyc98

[gencx]

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.

Edited August 20, 2016 by gencx

[joeyc98]

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.

[owtoty]

This makes me want to go back to SFNE. I haven't been since 2014 which was before Wicked Cyclone existed. I also rode Superman as Bizarro, so I'd like to try the VR.

[29yrswithaGApass]

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.

[joeyc98]

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.

[Sluggo77]

Nice review. Actually shared the link to this over on SFNE Online. There is a ton of negative based on the parks decision to assign seats and the overall behavior of employees in general. Wanted to share someone's thoughts who doesn't have SFNE as their home park.