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Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, NJ Weather: Rain to Overcast to Sun Crowds: None It seems like the trips that almost don’t happen are always the best. Once again, weather was the big concern. The remnants of Tropical Storm Barry were making their way up the coast and threatened to wash out the entire day. Fortunately it seemed to have picked up steam on its way, and it looked to do most of its damage over central Jersey before the late morning. With that in mind, and a 10:30 park opening, we weren’t in a huge rush. We were out the door and on the road by 8:15, and made it by 11am. That’s actually pretty amazing time, especially considering the deluge and the leftover NYC rush hour traffic we encountered during the drive. So I’ll let you know now, I had not been to Great Adventure in YEARS. In fact, this was my first visit since 2003, and second since 2001. I considered it my home park from about 1995 until I moved to Georgia for college in 1999, and visits since have been few and far between. Moving to California didn’t seem like it was going to increase that, but after the reviews of El Toro (along with the addition of Kingda Ka a few years back), I knew I had to go back. I had also heard good things about the park in general. I was really looking forward to seeing what had changed, for better or worse. We pulled into the empty lot right at 11, and I fed my Amex into the neat but overpriced parking machine. You don’t pay to park at the movies or the golf course, why do I have to pay to park at the amusement park? Ugh. Either way, we pulled into about the second row (of two) of cars and were headed for the entrance. I was definitely looking forward to ET more than KK, but considering KK’s reliability reputation, it was the priority to get on. With a moderate drizzle, it wasn’t running. The good news, El Toro was. The better news, there was no one in the station. We worked our way to the back row (duh) and walked on to the empty train. Ok, here goes. I loved the way it kicks into high gear to ascend the lift in no time. That seemed faster than some of the coasters in the park! No need to give anyone the play-by-play, just to say that this ride is incredible. Not only was the drop spectacular, but it seemed a fitting memorial to Viper, the dismantled former tenet of this very spot. In fact, the first 500 or so feet of this ride share its ill-fated layout exactly. Viper, if nothing else, had a gut-wrenching drop. Luckily, El Toro’s similarity to it ended there. Crazy ejector airtime first half, rapid fire magic carpet second half. Glass smooth and unrelenting. An empty station greeted us on return, so there were a couple more stay-in back seat rides. After the three, my thighs needed a break. It was a great start to the day. We wandered over to Kingda Ka, but the rain had picked up, so there was very little to watch. Golden Kingdom looked nice, a good job of themeing. Not quite Disney or Universal, but way ahead of CF or Paramount. Glad to see at least ONE section with a coherent and well executed theme. The boardwalk was up next. I missed Superman during my last visit in 2003, so it was a moderate priority, if only to get the credit. It’s sad to say that about this ride, but after being on the original in Atlanta on opening day, this was anticlimactic. With one train operation and its own difficulties in the rain, I settled for Scream Machine instead. This ride has not changed at ALL. I wouldn’t say it’s aged well exactly, but it has aged consistently, if nothing else. My hope was to stay near KK until I saw consistent testing, and though it had tested once or twice already (a GREAT sign), the rain let us know we had some time, so we headed over to the other side of the park. I was thrilled to see Chiller running (the Robin side), so I happily waited the two cycles for a second row seat. I had ridden it sans-shoulder harnesses, but not sans-corkscrew. The corkscrew I did miss, but the harnesses I did not. Still a terrific ride, I don’t care what anyone else says. There’s something to be said about a launch coaster that takes off right from the station, mere feet from waiting riders. I still love the anticipation! We found that Batman was down when we rounded the corner. That was a surprise, this ride is a work-horse. Again, we had a consolation coaster, Nitro. It was certainly tricky in the rain, but that adds some fun sometimes. Great ride, no question, but I was able to confirm my personal opinion that Goliath (SFOG) is above and beyond. The next stop on the morning loop around the park was Skull Mountain. I was beginning to get the feeling that the low crowds was not just because of the early hour, so I thought maybe I could get every coaster in. Hence the visit to SM. Good first drop in the back seat, mostly just bumpy everywhere else. When we came out the exit, we were stunned to see the sun trying to fight through the clouds. The rain had stopped, and KK was testing, so we cut across the park to find a small line building up by the entrance. There was no confirmation that it would open anytime soon, but there was a lot of activity in the station, giving us some hope. To everyone’s delight, they opened up after about 20 minutes. I’m not one to take chances with a ride like this, so I wanted to get ON. We found ourselves walking on the second train, near the middle. Great coaster, even if there isn’t much to it. The anticipation is amazing, though somewhat diminished thanks to Dragster. A fair amount of vibration, but the launch, pull-up, airtime over the crest, and drop were outstanding. The hill didn’t do a whole lot for me, and the restraints were absolutely terrible. All considered, easily a top 10 coaster, but one notch behind Dragster. Sorry Six Flags, but CP did it first, and your improvements (36 feet and 6 mph) were overshadowed by the awful restraints. Surprised to see the wait actually going down, we got right back in line. Our breather was waiting for the front seat, about 15, maybe 20 minutes. Awesome. Front seat is where to be on this one, of course. Here you see, feel, and HEAR the speed. 125 mph of wind right in your exposed face is indescribable. I remember the wind from Dragster, but I really forgot how loud it was. Also, gotta love the face skin flapping in the breeze, what a weird sensation. Time for lunch, some overpriced Nathan’s chicken fingers on the nearby boardwalk. With Superman nearby, and my fears of an awful one-train operation wait under control, it was time to get the credit. Thank goodness for the pretzel roll and the one cycle wait, otherwise it would barely have been worth the walk. I kid, Superman is fun. I wanted to pick up where we left off and headed towards Medusa, but my father was still against rides after lunch, so he caught the tiger show on the way, and I hit up Rolling Thunder. This ride just seems plain silly now. Why bother? To make up for it, I took a couple spins on El Toro. I decided to give it a ride in the front (2nd row), and I found the ejector airtime to be actually more intense. That may just be me, but I preferred the back anyway. I gave it a ride in the back to compare, and the results were in, my new #2. Again, sorry Six Flags, but the overall experience didn’t top Thunderhead. It seemed like ET was wooden for the sake of being wooden, and may as well have been a steel coaster and you never would know the difference. An absolutely overwhelming and highest caliber coaster, don’t get me wrong, I just missed the “feel” of a wooden coaster. Maybe that doesn’t make sense to some people, but putting it ahead of the Great Escape Comet, Hersheypark Wildcat, and knocking Rampage out of my top 5 speaks for itself. Little did I know, that backseat ride would take about 30 minutes. Our train was stranded on the brake run because of a stuck restraint on the train in the station. Amazing, in all my coaster riding, I had never had to be evacuated from a ride. Luckily, it was the end of the ride and not the top of the lift, so the escape was easy enough. While people were busy raising hell about being “traumatized”, I passed on by and got on with riding. The worst part about the breakdown was that the sun had come out and it was getting a little toasty. Oh well, the things people will complain about… Medusa was up next, a nice refresher of the fun yet unremarkable experience of most B&M floorless coasters. Back on the “must ride everything” theme, Runaway Train was unfortunately open, so I had to ride. I am dumb. To make up for that, we took a nice rest and enjoyed a beer back towards movie town. I don’t care how crappy park beer is, there’s nothing like that first ride afterwards. This time, Batman was running. Two trains, both empty! I must be getting old, because that walk-on front seat ride with only us on the train was plenty. Maybe I could have given it another spin in the back, but I just didn’t feel the need. (Nice to have the option though!) Nitro’s station was empty, so another back seat ride on that was in store. So that was it, I had gotten on every coaster, El Toro, Scream Machine, Chiller, Nitro, Skull Mountain, Kingda Ka, Superman, Rolling Thunder, Medusa, Runaway Train, and Batman. We figured that was pretty good for a 6 hour visit, thanks to the total wait time of about maybe 45 minutes for the entire day. 6pm was closing in, so we took one last spin on Kingda Ka after another 5 minute wait. Overall, it was one of those days where going to a park is total bliss. I was modestly impressed with how the park had changed. No question this park is the best in the chain, but it’s still just a Six Flags in a lot of ways. There is no way I would want to be here on a crowded summer day, and it’s easy for any park to be fun when it’s completely empty. Either way, this park seemed like it was headed in the right direction. I wish the same was true of the rest of the chain. In total, I got 5 rides on El Toro, 3 on Kingda Ka, 2 on Nitro, one on everything else. There was not a single non-coaster ride the entire day! Oh, PS, I know I missed Blackbeard’s Treasure Train, or whatever it’s called. Shut up, that one doesn’t count. Back to Trip Reports
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