Six Flags Great Adventure (PA/NJ Trip Day 2) - 7/10/17

From my cousins house in Hamburg, its about a 2 hour or so drive to Jackson, NJ. My GPS actually took me a bunch of backroads though due to accidents on 276 and 476. I still got there right about at opening. By the time I walked to the gate, the park was open and everything was up and running except El Toro, which would open later.

I got up to the gate, went through the metal detector and this security guard, who looked like Tyler Perry as Madea kept me there for ten minutes examining every piece of photography equipment I have and questioning me repeatedly on if parks allow me to bring it in, and specifically, if Six Flags parks allow it. After finally convincing her that I've brought it into over 15 parks this year, including four other Six Flags parks, she finally let me go.

I initially walked to Kingda Ka by accident when I wanted to go to El Toro. I haven't been there in five years and didn't even look at a map. So after realizing my mistake, I walked to El Toro, which was shut down and not yet even testing. That was disappointing, but I knew I could get on there later.

I walked back around and ended up by Harley Quinn Crazy Train. I figured since it wasn't really a kiddie coaster, I would get the credit. It was actually kind of fun for being so small. That said, the train is by-far the longest train I've ever seen on a coaster. It is crazy long.

After I got off HQCT, I decided to ride Joker. I did not ride it at SFNE because I was really afraid that it would leave me feeling dizzy and horrible and not able to ride anything else, but I sucked it up, put my stuff in a locker and got in line, which was a one-train wait. I will admit, I was extremely nervous about riding it, up until it began. That said, it was AWESOME. I only flipped completely 2 or 3 times, and spent most of the time rocking back and forth. After the drop from the top, to the next level down, I was basically facing the ground the entire time similar to a flying coaster. It was a really neat experience that I highly recommend to anyone not prone to motion sickness.

I really wanted to knock out the credits I was missing at the park, so I went right over to Batman and then Superman and Green Lantern. Batman and Superman were essentially the same as the other clones, so I wasn't expecting anything different, nor did I get anything different. Green Lantern was awful. I apologize to those that like it, but stand-up coasters are awful for the most part as it is, and it was rough as hell. It definitely needs some track work and a repaint (Chang's old yellow paint is showing through in many places). After GL, I needed a break for a bit, so I went to lunch at the burger place at the end of the Boardwalk food court. It was an okay burger and fries - nothing special.

I finished lunch and decided to walk back by Bizarro and the Mine Train. Unfortunately the Mine Train was one of my missing credits and from what I was told, hasn't been open in awhile since they are doing some work on it. I spent awhile taking some pictures by Bizarro and circling around to take more of El Toro before finally getting my credit on Bizarro. For me, it wasn't good or bad. I banged my head a little bit, but nothing major. The layout is kind of boring but it does have a bunch of inversions and isn't super rough. It is an okay floorless in my opinion.

By this point, I was starting to get tired and was extremely dehydrated, so I grabbed a bottled water and headed off for the couple things I still wanted to ride. Namely, El Toro and Zumanjaro. I walked right on to Zumanjaro and typically I'm not nervous on drop towers or with heights, but I was pretty nervous as that tower started to climb. First off, I was worried that after floating on the drop and then slamming down into the seat, I would crush a certain part of my anatomy like I did at Kings Island, but luckily, the restraints pinned me down so that wouldn't happen. We ascended the tower, held for about 8-10 seconds and dropped hard. And let me tell you, it was PHENOMENAL. That was one of the biggest rushes I've ever had on any ride. If I wasn't ready to get my final rides in, I probably would have gone again.

After leaving Zumanjaro, I wanted to get in like for Kingda Ka, but it was down for about the 30th time that day, so having ridden it a bunch of times on my last trip, I just decided to skip it in favor of one more ride on El Toro. El Toro was pretty much the only wait of the day, and not because of the line, but because the machines to rent lockers both went down at the same time and had to be reset. After that fiasco was taken care of, I got in line, waited 1 train and took a middle row rather than wait for the front or back. It was a big rougher than I remember from a few years ago, but that first drop gets me every time. The turnaround seemed a bit rough but the rest wasn't horrible. I would have ridden again perhaps if I weren't leaving.

Great Adventure is a great park. I'm not a fan of all of the advertisements, including the top spin that is covered fully in twix ads, but they have a great collection of coasters and flats, a pretty good kids area and although I didn't go this time, a decent waterpark. The weird part is that I feel like that the setup is quite odd. Instead of a hub-and-spokes like a lot of parks, or a big circle, its almost like there's just random branches at weird spots off the main midway and several dead ends. Ka/Zumanjaro, Justice League and a couple other spots just bothered me. That said, I love Great Adventure. Its a great park and by-far the best Six Flags park I've been to thus far.