11/10/16

[Yoshi]

I had the opportunity to get to the park today and get some end of season rides in some of the rides not open for HITP. With nice weather and bring a friend free it was less crowded than I was expecting.

 

Nitro was first with the B and C train running. The A train is taken part behind the building where the trains are stored and you can see it from the brake run. It was a station wait and was excellent as always. I walked around for a 2nd ride this time waiting at the end of the stairs.

 

The Dark Knight had no pre-show running and the room almost full so with a line to the station I guessed it was around 25 minutes and thought I would go back later. It was the same with Skull Mountain with around a 20 minute wait so I skipped that too.

 

Sky Screamer was a 3 cycle wait. On Six Flags TV, there was an ad showing all the new additions to the chain in 2017 and when they showed Justice League, I heard people talking about how cool it looks and I'm sure it will be a real popular ride.

 

El Toro was around 10 minutes and was mostly smooth in a non wheel seat. After 2 rides I was going to ride Kingda Ka but it was broken down so I went to Zumanjaro instead. There was no wait and after 2 rides I saw Kingda Ka cycle and empty train and then a train of riders. After getting to the queue it had broken down again and with many people leaving the line, I thought it might be a while and didn't want to spend time waiting only for it to possibly breaking down again. I haven't ridden Kingda Ka since April and only got 4 rides total this season but that's ok since it's not one of my favorite coasters in the park.

 

The Parachutes had about a 5 minute wait with 2 out of 4 sides open. Green Lantern was closed the entire time I was at the park with the train in the station. Superman was around 20 minutes with 1 train running.

 

By 6:00 the park was starting to empty out and most rides were walk ons.

 

This was my 3rd trip to the park since The Joker opened and I finally decided to try the coaster with almost no wait. 3 cars were running. I got the purple side and the seats and restraints were comfortable. I hoped the car wouldn't flip too much and it turned out there were 0 flips, just a few half flips. The vertical lift was cool and better than vertical lift hills where you are lying on your back like Fahrenheit and Impulse. It seemed like the coaster was at the end of the circuit very fast and didn't make me dizzy like I thought it might.

 

I thought the coaster was overall ok and I can see riding the coaster a few times a season but not every trip to the park, especially if it has a long line. Maybe I'll try the green side during HITP. The Joker was also the 50th new coaster I have ridden since the beginning of the 2015 season. I never expected that I would have tried that many new coasters in only 2 seasons and hope to get to 150 next year (The Joker was #146).

 

Skull Mountain had an almost empty station and I went for the last row. I was surprised that car 5 was closed off but not broken because people were riding in the car. After a re-ride and walking past the side of the building I saw the new Flash Pass entrance was closed so it looked like they were using the old system of Flash Pass going up the exit. I wonder what the reasoning for that was since it seems strange the park would have gone to the trouble to build a new Flash Pass queue and merge point in the station only for the addition of VR and then go back to blocking off a car for Flash Pass.

 

After another ride on Nitro I went back to The Dark Knight that was a walk on and another Sky Screamer ride also with no wait.

 

There were a lot of HITP decorations already set up and I look forward to visiting again and seeing the park with lights all over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Skill Crane prize

 

This store display was being set up when I walked past it.

 

 

 

 

[SatansHockey]

From my experience the purple side rarely flips, I've gone on it several times and only get 1 flip on the purple side here and there but mostly 0 flips. If there is no line I always ask for the green side, I always flip at least 2x on the green side, the most I had so far was 4 flips.

 

I have no problems with the purple side not flipping as much if they actually let us choose what side we want. I've started to just ask for the green side if they say purple, most say fine but some say no. I don't argue but it's always worth asking.

Edited November 11, 2016 by SatansHockey

[Mrpq]

I flipped at least 3 times on the purple side the pther weekend.

 

From what I heard Ka has been having iossues all year. Just looking at the ride and even now seeing the tower up close from the Drop of doom line, its a tired looking ride that could use some TLC

[Mr.Six]

Great Trip Update. I'm going today, I have no idea how the Veterans Day crowds will be though!

[owtoty]

From my experience, the car that starts forwards at the top on the green side is the best. I always get the most flips in that car by far. I think the most times I've flipped is maybe 6. What I did the last few trips is go on the Joker right before closing, so there is no wait. I went on it on Tuesday and went on at least five times that day, and three in a row just before I left. It's a fun coaster when there's no wait, but I'm not a fan of waiting a long time for it.

[Mrpq]

Thats a one rider a trip coaster for me lol, along with batman, superman and green lantern (if i even decid to ride that head banging machine)

[Yoshi]

Yeah those rides are usually one ride per trip for me as well. I used to ride Batman more often but the ride is so forceful.

From my experience the purple side rarely flips, I've gone on it several times and only get 1 flip on the purple side here and there but mostly 0 flips. If there is no line I always ask for the green side, I always flip at least 2x on the green side, the most I had so far was 4 flips.

I have no problems with the purple side not flipping as much if they actually let us choose what side we want. I've started to just ask for the green side if they say purple, most say fine but some say no. I don't argue but it's always worth asking.

I didn't really pay attention to the Fiesta Texas version last year and wonder if that version is the same with 1 side flipping more than the other or it only applies to Great Adventure's version. With the sides being different, it would be good to have separate queues close to the the station similar to what Dragon Challenge has at Universal.

 

I flipped at least 3 times on the purple side the pther weekend.

 

From what I heard Ka has been having iossues all year. Just looking at the ride and even now seeing the tower up close from the Drop of doom line, its a tired looking ride that could use some TLC

It's a shame that Kingda Ka still has a lot of problems all these years later, Top Thrill Dragster supposedly has a lot of breakdowns as well so I guess it just comes along with the design of the rides/

 

Great Trip Update. I'm going today, I have no idea how the Veterans Day crowds will be though!

Thanks

 

From my experience, the car that starts forwards at the top on the green side is the best. I always get the most flips in that car by far. I think the most times I've flipped is maybe 6. What I did the last few trips is go on the Joker right before closing, so there is no wait. I went on it on Tuesday and went on at least five times that day, and three in a row just before I left. It's a fun coaster when there's no wait, but I'm not a fan of waiting a long time for it.

That's good to know, I'll try to avoid those seats if or when I try the green side.

[29yrswithaGApass]

Great report and photos Yoshi! Thanks for sharing - with your update I don't feel as bad about not making it out to the park this weekend.

[Yoshi]

Thank You