Hot Day at the Park 6/11

[scott]

A couple of weeks ago I thought it would be fun to take a trip to the park on the 11^th as a pre-graduation fun day. My daughter would be graduating on the 12^th. Well a couple of weeks ago I didn’t expect the temps to be in the mid 90s. I assumed that everyone would back out because of the heat but they didn’t.

 

First thing I noticed driving up the entrance road was that there was a line of cars on the left. I assumed they were going to Hurricane Harbor. I was almost right, they wanted to go to the water park but it must have been at capacity so the entrance was closed. Looking to the right I could see the lot for the park was about getting close to 3/4 full. That was at about between 1:00 and 1:30.

 

The kids were hungry so we went over to Yum Yum. My wife didn’t want to wait on the lines there so we walked to Best of the West. I noticed a pretty good size line for the Log Flume. It was probably over an hour wait (not surprised). In Best of the West the air conditioning felt good, lines weren’t long, and the food wasn’t bad.

 

With full bellies we went back out to brave the heat. The wife and the two younger ones peeled off to ride the Runaway Train while I took older kids to Bizarro. Bizzaro didn’t have much of a wait since they came out of the station on the 3^rd train. I waited with their phones, wallets, and sun glasses in the shade of the old photo booth. I wish they were still doing photos there. I think 17 and 18 year olds may find it to be a bit of a buzz kill to have a dad walking around with them but I think it’s better than renting a locker or having one of them stay back to hold the things that are forbidden from the rides.

 

I expect there want a line for the Runaway Train either since the younger kids came over to ride Bizzaro when the big kids were coming off. I continued to hold the older kids stuff but they left us to get on line for Congo Rapids. The young kids were on and off Bizzaro nearly as quick as the older kids.

 

The wife and the younger kids went into the boardwalk and got some ice cream while I made my way to Congo Rapids so the older kids had their phones when they got back from braving the rapids. Well I got over there and found the line for the rapids to be 20 or 30 people passed the entrance and was told it was a 2 hour wait. Again I wasn’t surprised, it was really hot. I also figured that’s where everyone was to keep the lines short for just about everything else. I found some shade under the locker canopy for a bit then a nice woman allowed me to share some of her shade under one of the umbrella tables. I wasn’t sure if my daughter and her friends got on line for the rapids since my daughter hasn’t waited more than 30 minutes for any ride in her 13 years of getting a season pass. She has had a logical argument of “we can come any time when it isn’t crowded. Why would I wait on a long line for rides I have ridden a lot and we can come back on a day that isn’t so crowded”. I couldn’t fight her argument with my “When I was your age we waited a minimum of an hour for everything”. She was 8. Smarty pants.

 

To my surprise, they did wait and since I told them I would be waiting at the exit I waited too. While I sat there the line for Nitro went from being maybe a 5 minute wait to a 20 minute wait. The kids got off of the rapids and over to Nitro, So I continued to sit under the umbrella.

 

While I waited for the older kids to get off of Nitro, the younger kids and my wife caught up to me. They had a ride on Twix then came over to us. Well my youngest was hot and ready to call it quits so after we purchased the ride photo from Nitro they started to walk to the gate to go home. I think it was 4:00 maybe 5:00.

 

The older kids and I grabbed a seat and ate some ice cream before we walked over to Batman. I think they might have been 15 minutes from walking in the entrance to walking out of the exit. 20 minutes tops.

 

On my walk to Congo Rapids I noticed the path to Justice League was open for the picnic area but I didn’t know how long the wait for the rapids was so I walked over to where I told the older kids I would meet them. As they went to ride batman I went to snap a 4 days to opening snap of the Justice League exterior. Well I waited too long and the gate was closed.

 

The older kids and I started to walk to Superman but a couple of the kids became distracted by a skill game in the center row of the Boardwalk that has a Nintendo Switch as a prize. Although there is some skill involved, these games aren’t as skill based as you might think. The spent a few dollars there and then walked the rest of the way to Superman. Superman had a bit of a wait, I think it was one train and slow dispatches. It might have even had a short down time, I’m not sure. They might have waited an hour for that one. I expect they waited because the one friend who got in with the bring a friend pass wanted to ride and the season pass holders were glad to wait for him since he can’t come just any time.

 

As I waited I found out that the younger kids got some food before leaving and got a second wind. They had a ride on the Teacups then came over to ride Green Lantern. I came to find out that second wind wasn’t good for me.

 

When the older kids came off of Superman they had about enough and decided they were ready to go home. The left with my wife at then, it must have been about 7:30 or 7:45.

 

Like I said, the younger kids had that second wind and the sun wasn’t as hot at that time so we started to head to the Runaway Train again. My daughter said she wants to ride it over and over. On the way they wanted to stop in the arcade. 5 games of air hockey later it was 8:45 and we were finally on our way to the Runaway Train.

Well there was no line for the train so they got on right away. I expect my daughter had initially thought it was going to be 10 circuits but it was too late. She got 3 in without getting off.

 

As a Dad it was a great day. It’s always a blast when the kids enjoy the park the way I did at their age. I love to share it with them.

 

As someone who wanted to ride every ride in the park it was torture holding the bag.

 

Ride counts weren’t impressive but it was worth it

 

Me 0

 

Older Kids;

Bizarro 1X

Congo Rapids 1X

Nitro 1X

Batman the Ride 1X

Superman 1X

 

Younger kids;

Runaway Train 4X

Bizarro 1X

Teacups 1X

Twix 1X

Green Lantern 1X

 

I will try and post the couple of pictures I took later tonight.

Edited June 14, 2017 by scott

[Yoshi]

I would have thought it would be more crowded overall with it being the last Sunday for bring a friend free before Father's Day. Last year I thought I remember someone posted the line of cars to get into the park was backed up to Wawa. Sorry you didn't get to ride anything, hopefully next time you go to the park you can ride some coasters.

[dougdrummer]

Great detailed report! We were thinking of going that day, but just being outside for a few minutes at home put the brakes on that idea. I couldn't fathom sitting around in the heat at GA, since they have limited shade areas. Sounds like you made it work and the family had a good time.

[Mrpq]

. Last year I thought I remember someone posted the line of cars to get into the park was backed up to Wawa.

If I got to the park the the line of cars was that long, Id bite the bullet and just drive to Dorney. That is CRAZY, the line of cars out to wawa

[Viper26]

If I got to the park the the line of cars was that long, Id bite the bullet and just drive to Dorney. That is CRAZY, the line of cars out to wawa

It happens a few times a year, most notably during Columbus Day Weekend and the last weekend of Fright Fest. On bring a friend free days and other days crowds are high, traffic usually gets backed up to Tommy's Inn which is halfway between the Wawa and the park sign.

 

The worst traffic getting to the park was when The Marshall Tucker Band had a concert in 1981. Traffic was backed up to the NJ Turnpike and the park reached beyond capacity crowds. That was also before Route 537 was widened to from one to 2 lanes in each direction.

[MidnightCat]

That's really interesting. Awhile back, maybe in the 90's, on Rt. 195, I saw traffic that took up both exit lanes to 16A. Maybe that still happens, not sure.

[dougdrummer]

That's really interesting. Awhile back, maybe in the 90's, on Rt. 195, I saw traffic that took up both exit lanes to 16A. Maybe that still happens, not sure.

If you remember far back enough, there was only one lane exiting I-195 EB at 16, until the County sponsored a road project to widen to a second exit lane. On peak summer days the traffic used to queue for a mile back on I-195 and was VERY unsafe.

[Viper26]

If you remember far back enough, there was only one lane exiting I-195 EB at 16, until the County sponsored a road project to widen to a second exit lane. On peak summer days the traffic used to queue for a mile back on I-195 and was VERY unsafe.

NJDOT is starting a project to widen I-195 from 2 lanes in each direction to 3 between I-295/Route 29 in Hamilton and Exit 16. Hopefully this can alleviate congestion from the Turnpike and the park.

[Matt Kaiser]

In my experience, the bottleneck is very rarely 195, it's the light at the Wawa intersection that causes traffic to be at a standstill for hours inside the parking lot on Fright Fest nights.

[dougdrummer]

NJDOT is starting a project to widen I-195 from 2 lanes in each direction to 3 between I-295/Route 29 in Hamilton and Exit 16. Hopefully this can alleviate congestion from the Turnpike and the park.

I hadn't heard about that. That is a huge endeavor, especially with environmental permitting. I was the project manager for the design of the third lane widening of the AC Expressay in the WB diretion, from the Parkway to west of Hammonton. It was 24 miles of widening, which was broken into three contracts that took about 7 years to complete construction. The Environmental Impact Statement and all the DEP/Pinelands permits took several years to acquire before the construction could even start. I'll have to do some research and see what phase the 195 project is in.

[Viper26]

In my experience, the bottleneck is very rarely 195, it's the light at the Wawa intersection that causes traffic to be at a standstill for hours inside the parking lot on Fright Fest nights.

The Pine Drive light immediately after the exit can cause some traffic on 195. The merging traffic from the Turnpike to 195 in Robbinsville also causes traffic but from the Turnpike to exit 16, traffic moves at a decent pace.

 

 

I hadn't heard about that. That is a huge endeavor, especially with environmental permitting. I was the project manager for the design of the third lane widening of the AC Expressay in the WB diretion, from the Parkway to west of Hammonton. It was 24 miles of widening, which was broken into three contracts that took about 7 years to complete construction. The Environmental Impact Statement and all the DEP/Pinelands permits took several years to acquire before the construction could even start. I'll have to do some research and see what phase the 195 project is in.

They already have construction workers starting widening work near the Coxs Corner exit on 195.

 

Also I wonder why the AC Expressway wasn't widened from 2 lanes per direction to 3 between Hammonton and Route 42 in Washington Twp. Maybe it has to do with environmental concerns in Winslow or budget limits. But it's kind of unusual as the highway was widened to three per direction in Atlantic County between the GSP and Route 73 while the Route 42 freeway has 3 to 5 lanes per direction leaving the part in between with only 2 per direction.