Today was the 38th day of 90 degrees or better this year & what looks like the last real day of summer. The heat just brought back so many good memories that I thought I better finally get my images & videos posted. So here's some of my impressions of the great time we had together. Let's get this topic back on track...
(The links under the photos are for higher res images that Hixee wanted.)
After an anxious day of waiting for delayed flights followed by hurried journeys to the airports to pick up the boys and a relaxing few hours back home with some beers, cheese & crackers it was finally time to begin the long odyssey. The first stop was my local park: Six Flags Great Adventure.
I knew it was going to be a busy day as soon as we got to the exit off the New Jersey Turnpike because of the traffic being backed up on the highway off-ramp (something I've never seen before), which was confirmed when we pulled into the parking lot well before opening only to have to park about 5-6 rows back instead of our usual front row spot. So when the boys decided that they needed to go to the john after picking up their season passes, I went ahead & got us a flashpass. Normally we would have headed straight for Superman:Ultimate Flight, but since we noticed the ride was down (the crane working on the lift hill was obvious from the parking lot) we made our way for El Toro instead. Here is a look at the boys first ride on the wild bull, which wasn't even running that well yet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx13UhpIiqo[/youtube]
Everyone really enjoyed the ride, so much so that we put off heading to Kingda Ka for a re-ride since the queue was still fairly short. As soon as we got off the train again, the flashpass said it was time to head over to the giant launcher. We were quite lucky in that we only had to wait a few trains for front row seats. Brad, Hixee & Aidan were first up.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0211.jpg
A couple of minutes later they were pulling back into the station.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0212.jpg
Brad & Hix were pretty blown away!
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0213.jpg
Gavin and I were next & everyone wanted to do another re-ride before moving on. Luckily I had anticipated as much & already programmed the flashpass to ride again. Within minutes we were back on, this time Gavin & I took the second row while Hixee & Brad took the 3rd. Brad also mustered enough courage to put his hands in the air on the launch this time.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0214.jpg
Aidan couldn't get on the same train as us & had to ride by himself.
Next up was going to be Bizarro, but it was down & the boys decided to go for the mine train while I sat this one out.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0216.jpg
To me it's just a bit to rough for a mine train, but the boys didn't seem to mind. Well, maybe Gavin did. :wink:
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0217.jpg
Since Bizarro was still down, I went ahead & programed another ride on El Toro into the flashpass. WE took another drink break & before you know it we were back on for our third ride.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0218.jpg
The coaster was starting to warm up, but still wasn't running its best & not good enough for Brad to make it his #1, even though Hixee had after his first ride & Gavin ranked it about equal to T-Express at the top of his list.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0219.jpg
By now Bizarro had opened & we took a ride, but due to all the troubles they were having just getting the damn thing running, no effects were turned on. I also didn't take any photos.
By now it was time to grab a bite to eat & we opted for some Philly steak sandwiches, mostly because of the air conditioned restaurant. After chowing down we headed across the park for some floaty Nitro goodness.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHirD0f_PSg[/youtube] Everyone really enjoyed the ride & the park was getting high marks by the boys from Britain, so we moved on to Batman the Ride.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0221.jpg
The compact invert also scored high marks, but all good things must come to an end & they did just that when we moved on to the Dark Knight coaster.
The Joker mask mirror was the most fun this wild mouse has to offer.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0230.jpg
After a spin on the Dark Knight I noticed that Superman had finally opened, so we headed back across the park - passing what was left of Great American Scream Machine along the way.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0235.jpg
We went for a front row ride & I rode with the group ahead of us so that I could take some photos of the guys. I was a bit rushed on this one by the ride ops.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0237.jpg
This one came out better. It's a bird...it's a plane ..it's CoasterForce!
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0210.jpg
After the flight on Superman it was time for some more credz & we hit up both sides of Rolling Thunder next.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0224.jpg
There was only one cred left & we headed back across the park for the kiddie coaster, but had to stop along the way to say hi to Wonder Woman. Gavin liked the costume & the other two liked what was wearing it.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0225.jpg
Yay for the kiddie cred!
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0226.jpg
With all the credz out of the way & the sun setting, it was time for re-rides, starting with Nitro.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0233.jpg
We finished up our day at Great Adventure with some nighttime rides on El Toro. After two more rids on the wild bull in darkness, Brad finally came around & announced it as his new #1!
We all left the park grinning from ear to ear & a rumble in our bellies. We calmed the hunger pains with some Mexican food that provided a great ending to a near perfect day.
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/eastcoastergeneral/coasters/2010/SFGAdv 7-26/IMG_0241.jpg
That's all I can post today. I'll continue tomorrow with our visit to Dorney & Knoebels. I might even be able to squeeze in Kings Island, but I'll only promise the first two for now.