The big one. Furie's trip with ECG across the East Coast!
- Thread starter furie
- Start date
I do have to admit some of the problems would have really pissed me off, but it can not be helped they are no ones fault 
So far I guess I have been lucky that every trip I have done the rides have been open, apart from one trip to DLP.
I have probably just caused problems for the Denmark trip lol.
So far I guess I have been lucky that every trip I have done the rides have been open, apart from one trip to DLP.I have probably just caused problems for the Denmark trip lol.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Damn, the weather does seem like it was a real downer for all your reports so far, but hey, at least it didn't really close anything. What the Hell is up with Flying Turns though? I swear that thing has been under construction since like, the dawn of time (just a slight exaggeration there but you get the point). Shame about Phoenix too, I've only ever heard positive things about it until now!
I'm excited for the Dorney part, but I'm also excited to see where Toro ranked for ya.
I'm excited for the Dorney part, but I'm also excited to see where Toro ranked for ya.
Thing is, when you're doing a trip like this, you have a massive number of parks and coasters (around 60 coasters). If you don't get to ride half the "awesome" coasters, it's okay because you're still getting to ride a few awesome ones, and quite a few good/excellent ones. It's a shame, yes, but there's no point in being to down hearted about it really because the good far outweighs the negative.
So I thought anyway...
Two new FaceBook Albums by the way covering all the shots from SFNE, Lake Compounce and Hershey Park:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... abee903feb
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 96b07915b1
Tay, read the Flying Turns news item and construction topic to find out what the hell is going on with it
So I thought anyway...
Two new FaceBook Albums by the way covering all the shots from SFNE, Lake Compounce and Hershey Park:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... abee903feb
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 96b07915b1
Tay, read the Flying Turns news item and construction topic to find out what the hell is going on with it
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ Maybe when I'm done getting ready for school haha, CoasterForce and your trip reports are being a DISTRACTION .
Haha, no but, I best be seeing at LEAST two more reports by the time 3:00 comes around (or wait, that's 8:00 for you guys)!
.Haha, no but, I best be seeing at LEAST two more reports by the time 3:00 comes around (or wait, that's 8:00 for you guys)!
As you have put a post between mine - have the Dorney section. Probably the weakest of the lot, sorry.
Dorney Park
Expected Highlights
Talon mainly, just because of the praise it gets. Other than that, Possessed was to be my first Impulse and Steel Force my first Morgan hyper (will be good to compare it to PMBO which is the closest I have experience to of).
On top of that, the lovely looking Hydra! I followed construction of Hydra, so there’s some interest there, especially to see what my next floorless would be like.
The day itself
The rain lightened as we pulled up into a pretty empty car park. This is good and bad. Good for now queues, bad for an excuse for Dorney to suddenly close if the rain gets bad. Minor_Furie snuck in on The Kid’s annual pass and I only had to pay a late entry fee to get in ($20) – even though it was about 3:30 or something.
We didn’t waste any time and headed right for Talon!
Shared front row with a bubbly young ride op who worked Hydra. She said that the park would probably stay open as long as the rain stayed off.
Then it was a quick wander around the park taking in all the open coasters (all of them). We rode Possessed a few times to get a good idea of the difference between front, back, middle, etc. Other than that and the kiddie coasters we couldn’t do (two down by Possessed) – we rode them all.
We didn’t ride giant Snoopy though…
This report is a bit light. The rain really suppressed the day a little. After a mildly disappointing Knoebels (weather, not park’s fault), it was dreary and we were really just hunting the coasters. The park is a bit bland too, with some hills, but lots of open concrete. So it was nothing overly exciting to really go on about.
The Whip was good though, and I was in fits as the op went to every car (there was just the three of us out of the 24 cars or whatever it is). He buckled the buckles, checked the restraints and loudly exclaimed “CHECK” for each and every one. Took ages for him to do it.
Another highlight was Jerry getting us on Woodstock Express. We wondered why he wasn’t coming on, but then realized as the pain started! Silly kiddie coaster! :lol:
We ended the day with a last few goes of Steel Force before the heavy rain stopped play an hour before the park was meant to close. We re-rode all the major steel at least twice so it wasn’t too bad a trip all told.
Reviews
Talon
The question here is would this be as good as everyone says. Could I finally find a B&M Invert significantly better than the others. Well, the pacing is spot on – the ride flows really nicely from element to element. It’s a good length too with some great speed and forces. However, it just didn’t do the stand out thing! Yes, it’s a great coaster, but the elements weren’t as fun as Great Bear’s. The speed didn’t seem to match Nemesis’ (it does, it’s faster, but Nemesis has you two feet from the walls at all times so it feels faster.
So, great ride, fast, forceful and pretty good fun (but not as much fun as Great Bear).
Possessed
Another stand out moment here! Going up the back spike on the back row! Great fun, and really quite a thrill for the first time. Really enjoyed it, but it waned quickly with each run. I preferred the front of the train over the back, just because the run through the station is more thrilling, and the twisted spike better. Good solid ride, and fun enough 8/10.
Hydra
Eugh! Nasty, nasty ride! The jo-jo roll is just like a Colossus (Thorpe) in-line twist (which I hate). The rest of the ride was a bit too bouncy and slow to be great fun. It wasn’t far off Batman – The Dark Knight to be honest, but the Jo-Jo roll really put me off the rest of the ride. So it was okay and fun enough, but the Jo-Jo roll left me dead to the ride really. 7/10.
Looks very pretty despite the ride quality.
Thunderhawk
Pretty bland out and back woodie. Then again, after Boulder Dash, I’m sure that will forever be my opinion of any woodie 6/10.
Steel Force
Actually, I really enjoyed this in a fun way. It was nothing special by any means, but it was good fun. There was a little bit of floater air time and willy lift and while it was never massively fast or exciting, it was just “fun”. We rode it a few times just because it made us smile. So already better than PMBO! 7/10.
Conclusions
Dorney is a bit of a “meh” park. The park itself is neat, tidy and bland. The coasters are few and far between and none are massively outstanding – but they’re all good! Likewise the flats all looked a little mediocre. Weather does affect the way you view a park, but I still think this is probably a fair assessment.
Talon just compounded my Invert confusion. I can see the differences between them all, and I know now why Ben says Nemesis has those dead spots – Talon shows you how it should be done properly going from element to element. However, none of the four inverts now on my list are very far apart in overall enjoyment. They all have their pluses and negatives and all come out about the same overall in my head. Maybe Alpengeist that set the world alight?
Tomorrow is Six Flags Great Adventure – surely the biggest ride park on the trip. Lots to look forward to there – as long as the thunder buggers off!
Dorney Park
Expected Highlights
Talon mainly, just because of the praise it gets. Other than that, Possessed was to be my first Impulse and Steel Force my first Morgan hyper (will be good to compare it to PMBO which is the closest I have experience to of).
On top of that, the lovely looking Hydra! I followed construction of Hydra, so there’s some interest there, especially to see what my next floorless would be like.
The day itself
The rain lightened as we pulled up into a pretty empty car park. This is good and bad. Good for now queues, bad for an excuse for Dorney to suddenly close if the rain gets bad. Minor_Furie snuck in on The Kid’s annual pass and I only had to pay a late entry fee to get in ($20) – even though it was about 3:30 or something.
We didn’t waste any time and headed right for Talon!
Shared front row with a bubbly young ride op who worked Hydra. She said that the park would probably stay open as long as the rain stayed off.
Then it was a quick wander around the park taking in all the open coasters (all of them). We rode Possessed a few times to get a good idea of the difference between front, back, middle, etc. Other than that and the kiddie coasters we couldn’t do (two down by Possessed) – we rode them all.
We didn’t ride giant Snoopy though…
This report is a bit light. The rain really suppressed the day a little. After a mildly disappointing Knoebels (weather, not park’s fault), it was dreary and we were really just hunting the coasters. The park is a bit bland too, with some hills, but lots of open concrete. So it was nothing overly exciting to really go on about.
The Whip was good though, and I was in fits as the op went to every car (there was just the three of us out of the 24 cars or whatever it is). He buckled the buckles, checked the restraints and loudly exclaimed “CHECK” for each and every one. Took ages for him to do it.
Another highlight was Jerry getting us on Woodstock Express. We wondered why he wasn’t coming on, but then realized as the pain started! Silly kiddie coaster! :lol:
We ended the day with a last few goes of Steel Force before the heavy rain stopped play an hour before the park was meant to close. We re-rode all the major steel at least twice so it wasn’t too bad a trip all told.
Reviews
Talon
The question here is would this be as good as everyone says. Could I finally find a B&M Invert significantly better than the others. Well, the pacing is spot on – the ride flows really nicely from element to element. It’s a good length too with some great speed and forces. However, it just didn’t do the stand out thing! Yes, it’s a great coaster, but the elements weren’t as fun as Great Bear’s. The speed didn’t seem to match Nemesis’ (it does, it’s faster, but Nemesis has you two feet from the walls at all times so it feels faster.
So, great ride, fast, forceful and pretty good fun (but not as much fun as Great Bear).
Possessed
Another stand out moment here! Going up the back spike on the back row! Great fun, and really quite a thrill for the first time. Really enjoyed it, but it waned quickly with each run. I preferred the front of the train over the back, just because the run through the station is more thrilling, and the twisted spike better. Good solid ride, and fun enough 8/10.
Hydra
Eugh! Nasty, nasty ride! The jo-jo roll is just like a Colossus (Thorpe) in-line twist (which I hate). The rest of the ride was a bit too bouncy and slow to be great fun. It wasn’t far off Batman – The Dark Knight to be honest, but the Jo-Jo roll really put me off the rest of the ride. So it was okay and fun enough, but the Jo-Jo roll left me dead to the ride really. 7/10.
Looks very pretty despite the ride quality.
Thunderhawk
Pretty bland out and back woodie. Then again, after Boulder Dash, I’m sure that will forever be my opinion of any woodie
6/10.Steel Force
Actually, I really enjoyed this in a fun way. It was nothing special by any means, but it was good fun. There was a little bit of floater air time and willy lift and while it was never massively fast or exciting, it was just “fun”. We rode it a few times just because it made us smile. So already better than PMBO! 7/10.
Conclusions
Dorney is a bit of a “meh” park. The park itself is neat, tidy and bland. The coasters are few and far between and none are massively outstanding – but they’re all good! Likewise the flats all looked a little mediocre. Weather does affect the way you view a park, but I still think this is probably a fair assessment.
Talon just compounded my Invert confusion. I can see the differences between them all, and I know now why Ben says Nemesis has those dead spots – Talon shows you how it should be done properly going from element to element. However, none of the four inverts now on my list are very far apart in overall enjoyment. They all have their pluses and negatives and all come out about the same overall in my head. Maybe Alpengeist that set the world alight?
Tomorrow is Six Flags Great Adventure – surely the biggest ride park on the trip. Lots to look forward to there – as long as the thunder buggers off!
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Oo, your first Impulse ehh? Interesting, I had the chance to go on that one when it was back at Geauga Lake, but I chickened out (I was like, ten). You'll have to try one with a twisting back spike in the back seat though, because that is really the only highlight of impulse coasters in my opinion.
Shame Talon wasn't as good as I thought you'd think it was (I've never been on it but I've always liked the looks), but at least it was good fun. Same with Hydra though, always thought it looked cool so your review made me sad .
I never noticed the atmosphere looking slightly bland until you mentioned it, so that kinda sucks. It's still a park I wanna visit though.
Shame Talon wasn't as good as I thought you'd think it was (I've never been on it but I've always liked the looks), but at least it was good fun. Same with Hydra though, always thought it looked cool so your review made me sad
.I never noticed the atmosphere looking slightly bland until you mentioned it, so that kinda sucks. It's still a park I wanna visit though.
Next park is Great Adventure - should be an interesting read I'm sure
I'd best take up a few points raised
I really liked both Great Bear and Talon. I didn't mind the dull end of Great Bear, the ride was over, so it was over - not an issue. It just had a couple more dead spots during the actual ride where it didn't seem to be doing much. When it WAS doing things though, it was excellent.
Talon was again, great - so I think maybe I was just expecting too much difference between the inverts. I still have two to review yet, so maybe one of them will make the difference.
Hydra, both Jerry and Minor_Furie enjoy the Jo-Jo Roll, I just personally hate it. It puts me off the ride before it begins. The fact it's not really stand out from then on, and is pretty full of vibrations (and not good ones ) means it just didn't do much. Again though, without the Jo-Jo roll in the account, the ride is not really massively distinguishable from Batman.
Snoo, Jerry is right, people are interested because they're seeing this from an unusual point of view. We saw it last year from Mike, Andy, Ben and Jake of course - but my opinion is more worthy
Phoenix was a real shame, but it shows that a coaster isn't always great. It did make me question my view on Balder - was it just running badly, but Loefet and Harvey didn't seem to think so. It should cause some major discussion too in the future.
I think Jerry's reports show a lot more of the good time we're having. I'm just taking perfunctory shots for this trip report, the detail (I hope) is all in the writing. Jerry was getting the more candid shots and videos which show that we were really having a great time - despite of weather, closures, poor quality rides, etc. The Hershey one especially captures the fact we spent most of the day laughing and smiling.
Fahrenheit? It's really not all that
Dorney was bland Taylor, but not a poor park. It was very neat and well kept. It had bits of shrubbery here and there and trees and some almost terrain coasters (Hydra into the cobra roll for instance). So it's fine and dandy, just nothing outstanding. Compared to the shoddy mess of some UK parks, it was a jewel It was very "designed" though and not quite organic enough for me. It did look like the kind of park somebody just getting the hand of RCT may pull out.
Six Flags Great Adventure coming once Jerry has caught up again!
I'd best take up a few points raised
I really liked both Great Bear and Talon. I didn't mind the dull end of Great Bear, the ride was over, so it was over - not an issue. It just had a couple more dead spots during the actual ride where it didn't seem to be doing much. When it WAS doing things though, it was excellent.
Talon was again, great - so I think maybe I was just expecting too much difference between the inverts. I still have two to review yet, so maybe one of them will make the difference.
Hydra, both Jerry and Minor_Furie enjoy the Jo-Jo Roll, I just personally hate it. It puts me off the ride before it begins. The fact it's not really stand out from then on, and is pretty full of vibrations (and not good ones
) means it just didn't do much. Again though, without the Jo-Jo roll in the account, the ride is not really massively distinguishable from Batman.Snoo, Jerry is right, people are interested because they're seeing this from an unusual point of view. We saw it last year from Mike, Andy, Ben and Jake of course - but my opinion is more worthy
Phoenix was a real shame, but it shows that a coaster isn't always great. It did make me question my view on Balder - was it just running badly, but Loefet and Harvey didn't seem to think so. It should cause some major discussion too in the future.
I think Jerry's reports show a lot more of the good time we're having. I'm just taking perfunctory shots for this trip report, the detail (I hope) is all in the writing. Jerry was getting the more candid shots and videos which show that we were really having a great time - despite of weather, closures, poor quality rides, etc.
The Hershey one especially captures the fact we spent most of the day laughing and smiling.Fahrenheit? It's really not all that
Dorney was bland Taylor, but not a poor park. It was very neat and well kept. It had bits of shrubbery here and there and trees and some almost terrain coasters (Hydra into the cobra roll for instance). So it's fine and dandy, just nothing outstanding. Compared to the shoddy mess of some UK parks, it was a jewel
It was very "designed" though and not quite organic enough for me. It did look like the kind of park somebody just getting the hand of RCT may pull out. Six Flags Great Adventure coming once Jerry has caught up again!
furie said:We saw it last year from Mike, Andy, Ben and Jake of course - but my opinion is more worthy
Hey, I think I was the only one who did a PTR though :wink:
And
<3
Talon <3
I agree with Dorney, it's just completely and utterly average. I didn't hate it, but, it didn't knock me out in anyway. Voodoo/Possessed <3
And you couldn't get on either of the kiddies by Possessed? We got on the Dragon Coaster, have they changed that?
OH, and Hydra sucks, but, the Jojo is awesome, pfft.
The kiddie coasters would have let us on the Dragon, but I already had that model from Tusenfryd (which I don't count because it's powered) so it seemed better to miss it and save on the embarrassment :lol:
The closeness of the ground make it seem much faster, but it's still 60mph plus and you really feel it. It's seriously gob smacking when you see it shoot past the station
Yep, far too unknown a coaster.
Actually, if you watch Jerry's video, you can see the airtime. His camera rises as the train lifts off, then you see the sudden "jolt" down as it hits the track again - this is literally the amount of airtime the coaster gives. Watch some of the hills and you'll see the camera rise just before the crest, and not come back down for good few seconds until the bottom of the hill. It's proper ejector too with you right up against the (loose) restraint. Watch Minor_Furie grab my arm too as he gets thrown right out of his seat!
southend_marc said:
The closeness of the ground make it seem much faster, but it's still 60mph plus and you really feel it. It's seriously gob smacking when you see it shoot past the station
Yep, far too unknown a coaster.
Actually, if you watch Jerry's video, you can see the airtime. His camera rises as the train lifts off, then you see the sudden "jolt" down as it hits the track again - this is literally the amount of airtime the coaster gives. Watch some of the hills and you'll see the camera rise just before the crest, and not come back down for good few seconds until the bottom of the hill. It's proper ejector too with you right up against the (loose) restraint. Watch Minor_Furie grab my arm too as he gets thrown right out of his seat!
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Aww no updates since I've been away .
Not anymore though, I think it's getting more recognition these days.
.Not anymore though, I think it's getting more recognition these days.
If you mean Lisebergbanana Marc (the schwartzkopf on the hill in Liseberg), then you'll see I said exactly that. The coaster is massively different, but they are similar in the way they use the hill for the lift and drop, and that it's the naturalness of the landscape makes them exceptional coasters.
Once again there's not a whole lot for me to add other than we made the best of things despite the weather. Hell, I was just thrilled that the park was open & the coasters were all up & running.
So does this look familiar? If you read my Dorney Park opening day PTR it should (just replace the furies with the wife & the kid :wink.
We had better weather on opening day of course, but there's something about the lack of queues when I go to parks, isn't there?
Little do they know of the pain that's about to ensue. hahaha!
Well at least minor_furie is managing to enjoy the ride in spite of the pain. :--D
I'd also like to add that I'm glad that I'm a little less than a inch shy of furie's height, as he always seems to be in pain in OTSRs when I'm not (i.e. Jo-Jo roll, sky swat, etc.). Of course body mass might also have something to do with it as well, :lol: thus Ben, minor_furie & my agreement on Jo-Jo (<3) as we're all skinny
s.
So as dour as the day was & non-thrilling furie's reports make the parks out to be, we had a really fun time. I really enjoyed having Dorney to ourselves as the rain kept the chavs away & gave us the freedom to do as we pleased. Dorney can be pretty awful on a nice day when all the homeboys from Philly show up & they take over the park. They have no issues with cutting the lines (in large numbers), intimidating the GP & starting fights, which can ruin an otherwise perfectly fine day.
OK furie, please continue & I'll try to stay on pace. :wink:
So does this look familiar? If you read my Dorney Park opening day PTR it should (just replace the furies with the wife & the kid :wink
.
We had better weather on opening day of course, but there's something about the lack of queues when I go to parks, isn't there?
Little do they know of the pain that's about to ensue. hahaha!
Well at least minor_furie is managing to enjoy the ride in spite of the pain. :--D
I'd also like to add that I'm glad that I'm a little less than a inch shy of furie's height, as he always seems to be in pain in OTSRs when I'm not (i.e. Jo-Jo roll, sky swat, etc.). Of course body mass might also have something to do with it as well, :lol: thus Ben, minor_furie & my agreement on Jo-Jo (<3) as we're all skinny
So as dour as the day was & non-thrilling furie's reports make the parks out to be, we had a really fun time. I really enjoyed having Dorney to ourselves as the rain kept the chavs away & gave us the freedom to do as we pleased. Dorney can be pretty awful on a nice day when all the homeboys from Philly show up & they take over the park. They have no issues with cutting the lines (in large numbers), intimidating the GP & starting fights, which can ruin an otherwise perfectly fine day.
OK furie, please continue & I'll try to stay on pace. :wink:
Thanks Jerry, but now I'm the one lagging behind. This is the last one I have pre-written :lol:
Day 5
Six Flags Great Adventure
The rain lifted and the thunder looked like it was moving away. A quick trip to the closest park on slightly misty highways – Six Flags Great Adventure is the BIG Coaster Trip. Lots here, and some of the biggest and best!
Expected Highlights
So much here really, but I guess the real highlights are El Toro, Kingda Ka, Nitro and Superman.
El Toro is pretty much THE woodie everyone talks about, and I really want to see if it can live up to the hype, unlike it’s little sister Balder.
Kingda Ka just for the sheer speed of the launch and the height. Let’s face it, it’s the biggest and fastest, so even if it’s rubbish, it has to be done.
Superman? I’m interested to find out what a “real” B&M Flyer is like. Air is very slow and methodic, so an intense and interesting layout should be good.
Nitro is on the hit list as it’s the first B&M Hyper for me. I hear such mixed reviews, it will be interesting to find out what all the arguing is about. Plus, more B&M experience for me
Other than that, the park is huge and has so many coasters. There’s the other Bizarro and a ton of smaller stuff, including a Batman Clone and the much maligned Dark Knight coaster. It’s going to be a full day!
The day itself
You could see the day starting to get warm right away, almost as good a start as the almost empty parking lot. It’s going to be a relatively good day. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling too good. Probably the cold and wet (combined with stress and tiredness) has given me a sore throat and mild headache. I’ve taken a couple of pain killers, but they’re not really touching it.
Ah well, can still make a good day of it I’m sure.
The view across the parking lot is superb
Badly put together skyline shot.
Excited? You bet we are!
On the way in through the gates, we found evidence (Justin kind of evidence – natch) of new ground works and excavations at the park! After yesterday’s excellent update at Knoebels, this was brilliant to see something new happening here at Great Adventure!
Obvious ground clearing for “something big”
Getting into the park was slightly less than cheap, with Jerry’s free entry vouchers! (Hurrah!) and while we waited for the rope to be dropped, we went to get a Flash Pass to make the day move quickly. Lots of coasters to ride, and it’s a big old park!
First on our agenda was El Toro of course. This is the potential Boulder Dash beater, so it had to be done. We managed a re-ride right from the off due to the small queue as everyone else crowded Superman. Back row FTW!
El Toro is a happy coaster!
We’d not seen Ka run yet, but it was still pretty foggy at the top of the big one – lots of time yet!
Lost in the mist, Ka needs better weather to get going.
Over to the other Bizarro then, the old Medusa floorless coaster. It’s got exactly the same annoying soundtrack as SFNE’s Bizarro, but the speakers are a bit lower, so it’s not quite as loud and brash. Same theming generally though littering the track. It does make you realize just how dumped it all is – not really theming, just a plonking down of a few bits. At least it made some of the ride less boring, unlike SNFE where it seemed to detract a little from the awesome ride.
I couldn’t get a good shot of this ride at all.
Still no sign of Ka opening, even though the weather was becoming glorious. So we headed over for Superman, time for a flyer! Waited extra time for the front row, so we didn’t have to look at the shoes!
Jerry and Minor_Furie re-rode, but I sat it out (this may give you a clue as to what I thought of the ride) and took a couple of photos and examined the excellent D.C. merchandise!
Great American Scream Machine next. Here’s a hint for Arrow – make your loops curved, not right angled – then your riders would be able to walk after coming off!
Wander through the park then to take in the kiddie coaster (same as Oakwood’s only without trees) and lunch at the Chinese. Amazingly, the food outlet had one guy serving food, then drinks, then taking the cash! He was relaxed and happy, but the queue was enormous by the time we left!
Silly dark ride coaster next (Skull Mountain) and then onto the next Big Boy – Nitro!
Wile E likes Nitro!
Round then from Nitro to Batman, not a good move after lots of noodles. However, having to wait for two people to be sick and have the mess cleaned up, we had time for our stomachs to digest things a little. It was odd, same seat on each train that the chuck up occurred. Lovely!
Bit wobbly coming off Batman, so we headed for the newest ride in the park “The Dark Knight”. Yeah!
After the excitement of that, we headed out to grab a couple of drinks from the car and to find out what was going on with Kingda Ka – still not open.
Closed, closed, closed?
It’s broken and won’t be open all day. Our second Intamin Rocket failure of the trip. We’ve been here five days now and not been on a single launch (other than Possessed which doesn’t count )!!! Ah well. It’s disappointing obviously, as it’s something that is a major thing to do. However, I’m still not really swayed by launches and it will just be Stealth but taller and faster. Nothing to write home about
After a quick break, time to catch up on the count, just two in the park left. I think we fitted in another Nitro ride here. I can’t quite remember, but we certainly rode it twice. Anyway, for the count, Rolling Thunder first up (I loved that game in the arcades 20 years ago), then I think we had a couple more goes on El Toro. Over then to Bizarro for Jerry to get his on-ride.
Hara laughed at our lack of Ka as we walked past! Smug tigers head thing that it was!
A bit of a kerfuffle later and me and Minor_Furie did the mine train and I grabbed a couple more goes on El Toro to round the day off. By now I was feeling seriously not too good. Throat was like somebody had attacked it with a sander and my head was pounding. So I grabbed a stuffed Batman teddy for Maxi-Minor_Furie (very cool) from the Superman shop, and that was pretty much the end of the day. Nice early evening ahead of us to prepare for the long haul down to Kings Dominion the next day – maybe taking in Six Flags America while we were passing – we’d have to see.
Thank goodness the weather was looking up…
Reviews
This is going to be a chore! I may put the bigger rides in the middle to force you to read about the tosh. Speaking of tosh, we’ll start here.
The Dark Knight
I didn’t really follow this construction last year. For some reason I thought it was a spinning wild mouse. You have no idea from the outset though, just a semi-poor video pre-show. It babbles a load os rubbish to try and tie it in to last year’s Batman film – then you board!
Rats! I was expecting a mouse!
It’s a normal mouse coaster with a few poor effects around it. I didn’t think it was awful, but… I have a strong belief in things suiting their purpose and doing thing right.
A wild mouse on its own in a field is a mediocre coaster. It would get a 5 or 6 out of ten depending really.
A dark ride would be rated on its quality of effects and interaction with the rider. So Duel for instance would get a pretty good rating as it’s pretty good.
If you mix a coaster into a dark ride, then it needs to be good on both sides – if you’re trying to take away the fact it’s a poor ride by making it a dark ride. Space Invader at Blackpool and Black Hole at Alton for instance had some scenery inside, but it was just tat to make the ride a bit more interesting – it never went as far as to try and be a dark ride. So the actual ride was still the most important thing.
Dark Knight does the wrong thing. It attempts to be a dark ride on a coaster track, and it does it badly. So it’s a mediocre ride with sparse and mediocre effects (the best is the 3D screen in the middle of the tight turns). As such, it rates lower for me than it would have done if it was just a mouse coaster – at least then it would succeed at being a mouse coaster. This fails at being a dark ride, and fails at being a decent coaster. So 4/10.
Nitro
I’ll follow that rubbish with something a bit more interesting then. My first B&M Hyper, and what would I think. These have such massive differences of opinion assigned to them. Utter rubbish on one side and fantastic on the other.
I didn’t take any photos of this coaster –so have an obligatory furie shot of a bunny!
What to say? Well, I liked the restraints, but wasn’t too keen on the way the ops pinned you down (or tried too, they didn’t manage it completely). The lift hill was long, loud and exciting and the first drop was good enough really.
First run I wasn’t massively impressed. It was “okay”. You could feel the ride trying to do something, but arms up, it just wasn’t succeeding. A bit disappointing it wasn’t a stand out moment, but I thought the ride was good fun and far from awful.
On the second run, Jerry showed me how he rides them. You have to stop from being stapled (almost check, they really do try at SFGA), hold onto the restraint and push away from yourself (check) and then enjoy the ride (check). Ahhhhh, I see! Coming up to the crest of the hill, you get gently lifted from your seat, from there until the bottom of the drop, you just float gently against the restraints (with a tiny little bit of willy lift).
It’s actually a whole lot of fun, and really nice ride. It’s not mind blowingly exciting, but to be honest by this point, I’d had enough of that It was just really nice - very enjoyable. So excellent fun all told, a good 8/10. – would have been more if I hadn’t been so tightly stapled.
Blackbeard’s lost will to live
Standard Zierer family coaster thing. Same rating as Treetops at Oakwood, only half a mark less for not being in the trees. Yawn.
Superman: Ultimate Flight
Ah, another interesting review. The layout seemed much more compact than I was expecting, after air’s sprawling mass of track. So it was a bit of a shock.
Interesting? Shocking?
Quite excited still though as everyone raves about the pretzel loop. So off we go and down into the loop. Good stuff so far, great start. Over onto our backs and… ARRRGH! FAT MAN ON MY CHEST ( ( c ) 2009 Ben ). Really hurt my chest cavity and caused pain in my breathing. Very unpleasant indeed. The rest of the layout was really “meh” then too. It was a bit like a fight where there’s a vicious punch to the nose, then the rest ends with the two guys hugging each other to the ground. So over all, not impressed.
Jerry was fine though and Minor_Furie really liked it. Big thumbs down from me though, and I think I’ll give Tatsu a miss if I’m ever there. 6/10
Skull Mountain
‘salright I suppose? Indoor semi-kiddie coaster, not bad not good. 5/10.
Great American Scream Machine
I think this ride looks both striking and hideous. It’s all big amounts of blatant metal sticking up out of the ground. It kind of embodies every cliché I have of the American’s. Big, brash, bold and in your face – when in reality, they do things better when being more subtle. The ride started fin, and after Sooper Dooper Looper, I was expecting a decent Arrow looper.
Ouch, was I wrong? Coming into one of the loops (the brain damage has left my memory in tatters) the lead in was made out of a solid brick wall. The train slammed down really badly and jarred both me and Minor_Furie. The pain that followed wasn’t as bad, but with the residual agony it was dreadful. Shame as it could have been a fun coaster otherwise. 4/10.
Kingda Ka
This is as close as we got to being to the tiger
Batman: The Ride
Top of the list Invert for me finally? Time to show me something new? Divv rates this highly as it’s very intense, so I’m looking forward to it. Intense it was – right from the off. It just hammers through the tight layout and I can see why in 1992 (or whenever) John Wardley wanted one for Alton.
Fast, furious and powerful. I came off with slight pins and needles and a dizzy head (though I wasn’t feeling well so this may have contributed to those feelings). Hmmmm, it hasn’t really helped where I stand. I’m seeing the opposite end of the intensity scale from Inferno here and it’s not really fun. It’s a great ride, but again, I can’t really rate it anywhere too different. All the Inverts are great and they are all different, but separating them in terms of over all ride enjoyment is a seemingly impossible task. There’s still the big boy left though, Alpengeist! Other than that onethey’re all great in their own ways. Maybe the floorless will be easier?
Bizarro
I’ve already mentioned the remake of this higher up. It’s all a bit of a mess to be honest, but the ride is the main thing. As with Batman The Dark Knight and Hydra though, it’s just “okay”. It was a bit better than Hydra, but marginally. Really nothing at all stand out about it. Dominator coming up though, the biggest and allegedly the best! Bring on Kings Dominion tomorrow!
El Toro
Okay, I’ll put you all out of your misery (as if ). What did I think of the bull? Well, Boulder Dash was going to take a lot of beating, and I don’t rate Balder. El Toro fitted in nicely between the two really. It showed the potential of Balder, but with better airtime (due to the restraints) than Bizarro at SFNE. The hill is superb fun, so fast. The first drop is not as scary as I though, but better just than Balder’s (my favourite part of Balder). The hills that follow though are superb. They launch you and drag you down by the groin – in a good way. Really good fun. The ride tails off with a good twisting section that’s fun, but that’s after the insane ejector hill which is a blast.
The ride loses out for me because it’s too “designed”. The same reason Jerry loves it. It’s a little too soul-less and perfectly calculated for me. I prefer a coaster (especially wood) to shock me and make me feel I’m in danger. El Toro didn’t really do that, it just provided a well designed formula for airtime.
So it’s a superb ride, fast and full of solid air. I really liked it and it was one of the best moments of the trip (after Boulder Dash). If T-Express is this good or better – I can see why it does so well 10/10
Rolling Thunder
Obviously going to struggle after El Toro (and sitting so close). It’s another mediocre woodie to add to the trip. It’s a bit harsh and bumpy but old time kind of fun. 6/10.
Runaway Mine Train
The best I’ve been on, quite good fun without the need for 200 lift hills! 6/10!
Conclusions
That was hard to write. Far too much going on, I wasn’t well and it’s over a week ago now since I was there. I liked Six Flags Great Adventure as a park. It’s lacking in flats and those interesting, quirky, rides I love. The top end coasters are good, particularly El Toro, Nitro and Batman. Ka must be worth a blast or two as well. The rest I could take or leave, but they’re solid additions to the park.
Shame I didn’t feel 100%, or I’d have done Nitro and El Toro some more to solidify them to my mind. However, the last run I had on El Toro was utterly fantastic and I like to stop when I get a brilliant ride to remember, rather than risk a mediocre one (or one ruined by a headache).
For those who have been to say MM or the like, you may find less to appeal to you at Great Adventure, but I think those top three or four rides are worth heading there for.
No real conclusion on the Invert or Floorless front either. I’m sitting confused on that front, and don’t even get me started on trying to sort out my Top Ten. Bizarro scored very highly, then Boulder Dash crushed it. El Toro then crushed it further… It’s going to be a tough one… Fun, think of fun…
At least the weather was good, and only two rides down so far this trip – things are looking good… Luck was about to change though for the next two days.
Day 5
Six Flags Great Adventure
The rain lifted and the thunder looked like it was moving away. A quick trip to the closest park on slightly misty highways – Six Flags Great Adventure is the BIG Coaster Trip. Lots here, and some of the biggest and best!
Expected Highlights
So much here really, but I guess the real highlights are El Toro, Kingda Ka, Nitro and Superman.
El Toro is pretty much THE woodie everyone talks about, and I really want to see if it can live up to the hype, unlike it’s little sister Balder.
Kingda Ka just for the sheer speed of the launch and the height. Let’s face it, it’s the biggest and fastest, so even if it’s rubbish, it has to be done.
Superman? I’m interested to find out what a “real” B&M Flyer is like. Air is very slow and methodic, so an intense and interesting layout should be good.
Nitro is on the hit list as it’s the first B&M Hyper for me. I hear such mixed reviews, it will be interesting to find out what all the arguing is about. Plus, more B&M experience for me
Other than that, the park is huge and has so many coasters. There’s the other Bizarro and a ton of smaller stuff, including a Batman Clone and the much maligned Dark Knight coaster. It’s going to be a full day!
The day itself
You could see the day starting to get warm right away, almost as good a start as the almost empty parking lot. It’s going to be a relatively good day. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling too good. Probably the cold and wet (combined with stress and tiredness) has given me a sore throat and mild headache. I’ve taken a couple of pain killers, but they’re not really touching it.
Ah well, can still make a good day of it I’m sure.
The view across the parking lot is superb
Badly put together skyline shot.
Excited? You bet we are!
On the way in through the gates, we found evidence (Justin kind of evidence – natch) of new ground works and excavations at the park! After yesterday’s excellent update at Knoebels, this was brilliant to see something new happening here at Great Adventure!
Obvious ground clearing for “something big”
Getting into the park was slightly less than cheap, with Jerry’s free entry vouchers! (Hurrah!) and while we waited for the rope to be dropped, we went to get a Flash Pass to make the day move quickly. Lots of coasters to ride, and it’s a big old park!
First on our agenda was El Toro of course. This is the potential Boulder Dash beater, so it had to be done. We managed a re-ride right from the off due to the small queue as everyone else crowded Superman. Back row FTW!
El Toro is a happy coaster!
We’d not seen Ka run yet, but it was still pretty foggy at the top of the big one – lots of time yet!
Lost in the mist, Ka needs better weather to get going.
Over to the other Bizarro then, the old Medusa floorless coaster. It’s got exactly the same annoying soundtrack as SFNE’s Bizarro, but the speakers are a bit lower, so it’s not quite as loud and brash. Same theming generally though littering the track. It does make you realize just how dumped it all is – not really theming, just a plonking down of a few bits. At least it made some of the ride less boring, unlike SNFE where it seemed to detract a little from the awesome ride.
I couldn’t get a good shot of this ride at all.
Still no sign of Ka opening, even though the weather was becoming glorious. So we headed over for Superman, time for a flyer! Waited extra time for the front row, so we didn’t have to look at the shoes!
Jerry and Minor_Furie re-rode, but I sat it out (this may give you a clue as to what I thought of the ride) and took a couple of photos and examined the excellent D.C. merchandise!
Great American Scream Machine next. Here’s a hint for Arrow – make your loops curved, not right angled – then your riders would be able to walk after coming off!
Wander through the park then to take in the kiddie coaster (same as Oakwood’s only without trees) and lunch at the Chinese. Amazingly, the food outlet had one guy serving food, then drinks, then taking the cash! He was relaxed and happy, but the queue was enormous by the time we left!
Silly dark ride coaster next (Skull Mountain) and then onto the next Big Boy – Nitro!
Wile E likes Nitro!
Round then from Nitro to Batman, not a good move after lots of noodles. However, having to wait for two people to be sick and have the mess cleaned up, we had time for our stomachs to digest things a little. It was odd, same seat on each train that the chuck up occurred. Lovely!
Bit wobbly coming off Batman, so we headed for the newest ride in the park “The Dark Knight”. Yeah!
After the excitement of that, we headed out to grab a couple of drinks from the car and to find out what was going on with Kingda Ka – still not open.
Closed, closed, closed?
It’s broken and won’t be open all day. Our second Intamin Rocket failure of the trip. We’ve been here five days now and not been on a single launch (other than Possessed which doesn’t count
)!!! Ah well. It’s disappointing obviously, as it’s something that is a major thing to do. However, I’m still not really swayed by launches and it will just be Stealth but taller and faster. Nothing to write home about After a quick break, time to catch up on the count, just two in the park left. I think we fitted in another Nitro ride here. I can’t quite remember, but we certainly rode it twice. Anyway, for the count, Rolling Thunder first up (I loved that game in the arcades 20 years ago), then I think we had a couple more goes on El Toro. Over then to Bizarro for Jerry to get his on-ride.
Hara laughed at our lack of Ka as we walked past! Smug tigers head thing that it was!
A bit of a kerfuffle later and me and Minor_Furie did the mine train and I grabbed a couple more goes on El Toro to round the day off. By now I was feeling seriously not too good. Throat was like somebody had attacked it with a sander and my head was pounding. So I grabbed a stuffed Batman teddy for Maxi-Minor_Furie (very cool) from the Superman shop, and that was pretty much the end of the day. Nice early evening ahead of us to prepare for the long haul down to Kings Dominion the next day – maybe taking in Six Flags America while we were passing – we’d have to see.
Thank goodness the weather was looking up…
Reviews
This is going to be a chore! I may put the bigger rides in the middle to force you to read about the tosh. Speaking of tosh, we’ll start here.
The Dark Knight
I didn’t really follow this construction last year. For some reason I thought it was a spinning wild mouse. You have no idea from the outset though, just a semi-poor video pre-show. It babbles a load os rubbish to try and tie it in to last year’s Batman film – then you board!
Rats! I was expecting a mouse!
It’s a normal mouse coaster with a few poor effects around it. I didn’t think it was awful, but… I have a strong belief in things suiting their purpose and doing thing right.
A wild mouse on its own in a field is a mediocre coaster. It would get a 5 or 6 out of ten depending really.
A dark ride would be rated on its quality of effects and interaction with the rider. So Duel for instance would get a pretty good rating as it’s pretty good.
If you mix a coaster into a dark ride, then it needs to be good on both sides – if you’re trying to take away the fact it’s a poor ride by making it a dark ride. Space Invader at Blackpool and Black Hole at Alton for instance had some scenery inside, but it was just tat to make the ride a bit more interesting – it never went as far as to try and be a dark ride. So the actual ride was still the most important thing.
Dark Knight does the wrong thing. It attempts to be a dark ride on a coaster track, and it does it badly. So it’s a mediocre ride with sparse and mediocre effects (the best is the 3D screen in the middle of the tight turns). As such, it rates lower for me than it would have done if it was just a mouse coaster – at least then it would succeed at being a mouse coaster. This fails at being a dark ride, and fails at being a decent coaster. So 4/10.
Nitro
I’ll follow that rubbish with something a bit more interesting then. My first B&M Hyper, and what would I think. These have such massive differences of opinion assigned to them. Utter rubbish on one side and fantastic on the other.
I didn’t take any photos of this coaster –so have an obligatory furie shot of a bunny!
What to say? Well, I liked the restraints, but wasn’t too keen on the way the ops pinned you down (or tried too, they didn’t manage it completely). The lift hill was long, loud and exciting and the first drop was good enough really.
First run I wasn’t massively impressed. It was “okay”. You could feel the ride trying to do something, but arms up, it just wasn’t succeeding. A bit disappointing it wasn’t a stand out moment, but I thought the ride was good fun and far from awful.
On the second run, Jerry showed me how he rides them. You have to stop from being stapled (almost check, they really do try at SFGA), hold onto the restraint and push away from yourself (check) and then enjoy the ride (check). Ahhhhh, I see! Coming up to the crest of the hill, you get gently lifted from your seat, from there until the bottom of the drop, you just float gently against the restraints (with a tiny little bit of willy lift).
It’s actually a whole lot of fun, and really nice ride. It’s not mind blowingly exciting, but to be honest by this point, I’d had enough of that
It was just really nice - very enjoyable. So excellent fun all told, a good 8/10. – would have been more if I hadn’t been so tightly stapled.Blackbeard’s lost will to live
Standard Zierer family coaster thing. Same rating as Treetops at Oakwood, only half a mark less for not being in the trees. Yawn.
Superman: Ultimate Flight
Ah, another interesting review. The layout seemed much more compact than I was expecting, after air’s sprawling mass of track. So it was a bit of a shock.
Interesting? Shocking?
Quite excited still though as everyone raves about the pretzel loop. So off we go and down into the loop. Good stuff so far, great start. Over onto our backs and… ARRRGH! FAT MAN ON MY CHEST ( ( c ) 2009 Ben ). Really hurt my chest cavity and caused pain in my breathing. Very unpleasant indeed. The rest of the layout was really “meh” then too. It was a bit like a fight where there’s a vicious punch to the nose, then the rest ends with the two guys hugging each other to the ground. So over all, not impressed.
Jerry was fine though and Minor_Furie really liked it. Big thumbs down from me though, and I think I’ll give Tatsu a miss if I’m ever there. 6/10
Skull Mountain
‘salright I suppose? Indoor semi-kiddie coaster, not bad not good. 5/10.
Great American Scream Machine
I think this ride looks both striking and hideous. It’s all big amounts of blatant metal sticking up out of the ground. It kind of embodies every cliché I have of the American’s. Big, brash, bold and in your face – when in reality, they do things better when being more subtle. The ride started fin, and after Sooper Dooper Looper, I was expecting a decent Arrow looper.
Ouch, was I wrong? Coming into one of the loops (the brain damage has left my memory in tatters) the lead in was made out of a solid brick wall. The train slammed down really badly and jarred both me and Minor_Furie. The pain that followed wasn’t as bad, but with the residual agony it was dreadful. Shame as it could have been a fun coaster otherwise. 4/10.
Kingda Ka
This is as close as we got to being to the tiger
Batman: The Ride
Top of the list Invert for me finally? Time to show me something new? Divv rates this highly as it’s very intense, so I’m looking forward to it. Intense it was – right from the off. It just hammers through the tight layout and I can see why in 1992 (or whenever) John Wardley wanted one for Alton.
Fast, furious and powerful. I came off with slight pins and needles and a dizzy head (though I wasn’t feeling well so this may have contributed to those feelings). Hmmmm, it hasn’t really helped where I stand. I’m seeing the opposite end of the intensity scale from Inferno here and it’s not really fun. It’s a great ride, but again, I can’t really rate it anywhere too different. All the Inverts are great and they are all different, but separating them in terms of over all ride enjoyment is a seemingly impossible task. There’s still the big boy left though, Alpengeist! Other than that onethey’re all great in their own ways. Maybe the floorless will be easier?
Bizarro
I’ve already mentioned the remake of this higher up. It’s all a bit of a mess to be honest, but the ride is the main thing. As with Batman The Dark Knight and Hydra though, it’s just “okay”. It was a bit better than Hydra, but marginally. Really nothing at all stand out about it. Dominator coming up though, the biggest and allegedly the best! Bring on Kings Dominion tomorrow!
El Toro
Okay, I’ll put you all out of your misery (as if
). What did I think of the bull? Well, Boulder Dash was going to take a lot of beating, and I don’t rate Balder. El Toro fitted in nicely between the two really. It showed the potential of Balder, but with better airtime (due to the restraints) than Bizarro at SFNE. The hill is superb fun, so fast. The first drop is not as scary as I though, but better just than Balder’s (my favourite part of Balder). The hills that follow though are superb. They launch you and drag you down by the groin – in a good way. Really good fun. The ride tails off with a good twisting section that’s fun, but that’s after the insane ejector hill which is a blast.
The ride loses out for me because it’s too “designed”. The same reason Jerry loves it. It’s a little too soul-less and perfectly calculated for me. I prefer a coaster (especially wood) to shock me and make me feel I’m in danger. El Toro didn’t really do that, it just provided a well designed formula for airtime.
So it’s a superb ride, fast and full of solid air. I really liked it and it was one of the best moments of the trip (after Boulder Dash). If T-Express is this good or better – I can see why it does so well
10/10Rolling Thunder
Obviously going to struggle after El Toro (and sitting so close). It’s another mediocre woodie to add to the trip. It’s a bit harsh and bumpy but old time kind of fun. 6/10.
Runaway Mine Train
The best I’ve been on, quite good fun without the need for 200 lift hills! 6/10!
Conclusions
That was hard to write. Far too much going on, I wasn’t well and it’s over a week ago now since I was there. I liked Six Flags Great Adventure as a park. It’s lacking in flats and those interesting, quirky, rides I love. The top end coasters are good, particularly El Toro, Nitro and Batman. Ka must be worth a blast or two as well. The rest I could take or leave, but they’re solid additions to the park.
Shame I didn’t feel 100%, or I’d have done Nitro and El Toro some more to solidify them to my mind. However, the last run I had on El Toro was utterly fantastic and I like to stop when I get a brilliant ride to remember, rather than risk a mediocre one (or one ruined by a headache).
For those who have been to say MM or the like, you may find less to appeal to you at Great Adventure, but I think those top three or four rides are worth heading there for.
No real conclusion on the Invert or Floorless front either. I’m sitting confused on that front, and don’t even get me started on trying to sort out my Top Ten. Bizarro scored very highly, then Boulder Dash crushed it. El Toro then crushed it further… It’s going to be a tough one… Fun, think of fun…
At least the weather was good, and only two rides down so far this trip – things are looking good… Luck was about to change though for the next two days.
