Trip Report for Great Adventure
5/22/04
Crowds/Weather: Light/Sunny
“Um… what IS open?”
Cla Park Rating: 3 out of 5
Park Rating
Mike: 3.5 out of 5
Comments: Walking through Great Adventure on an off-season weekday sometimes feels like one is in a ghost park. Not only is the park completely empty of people in certain places, there are also long stretches of rides that are closed. The Chiller (both sides closed) leads to Freefall (Closed for day) leads too Movietown Water Effect (closed forever?) leads to the flume near the rapids (also closed). Add in the closed skyride, parachute and who knows what else and you have…. ghost park. It would be funny if there weren’t people here who paid admission like it was a regular operating day.
On the plus side, 2 train operation on Medusa plus 3 train operation on Nitro leads to manageable lines despite half the attractions being closed. Of the rides that were open, operations were solid. A bit slow, but I don’t mind that so much in May.
They were running multiple trains on many coasters – running and stacking for sometimes long periods but at least running multiple trains. By the end of the day (6PM-8PM) all rides had multiple trains and were completely empty walk-ons.
Great Adventure is a coaster park. The theming is incoherent, the shows mediocre to bad and it lacks pretty much any original non-coaster attractions. Regardless, many of the non-coaster attractions are so consistently closed I’d be uncomfortable recommending any for an out of town visit. And let’s not even discuss the food.
As a coaster park, SFGadv has Nitro. This makes it a destination park for enthusiasts and a park I’ll visit bi-yearly.
While the ride closures were disappointing, the ability to marathon on coasters of the caliber of Nitro, Medusa, Batman and Superman: Ultimate Flight make SFGadv a park worth considering for a weekday, off-season trip. Despite my criticisms, we certainly had fun.
Nitro
Mike: 5 out of 5
Comments: Ntiro is so much fun I’m left gasping for words to describe it. What’s most notable is it’s gentility, the feeling of floating which returns throughout the ride, and the general feeling of “openness” the restraints and trains allow. Great Adventure finally has a destination coaster.
Clarisse: 4.7 out of 5
Comments: This ride is suh-weeeT! The airtime on this ride is phenom! The first time on this coaster my restraints were a little loose, that combined with the sensation of floating and slight nervousness from recent events, made me a more than a little nervous. Nitro is smooooooooth! No over the shoulder restraints, leaving your upper body free.
Batman
Mike: 4.75 out of 5
Comments: Here’s a clone we’re quire happy to ride another 5 or more times around the country. Short, intense, and filled with action, Batman is a “stomach in your mouth” kind of coaster. Don’t be surprised to see vomit at the exit, as I have twice in my visits in the past years.
Clarisse: 4.8 out of 5
Comments: Very nice ride! It’s intense J but short L. There is minimal to no head banging on the over the shoulder restraints.
Skull Mountain
Mike: 2.75 out of 5
Comments: It’s better then you think while falling short of being great. The back seat is a fair amount of fun, and if it were just a little crazier and a lot longer it would be a great coaster. The ride also suffers from effects that no longer work. This ride is worth it during walk-on conditions but absolutely not worth the long waits it has in mid-summer.
Clarisse: 3.9 out of 5
Comments: I realize I’m probably over rating this coaster but I really liked it, and I’d never gone on it before. Its very close to dark in here, which is cool cause you have almost no idea what’s going on or where you’re going next (you can kinda see the track in the front). Supposedly there are animatronics that weren’t working, if they provide light I think that would make my rating lower. If they were corny I think I would have rated it lower as well.
If you’re riding in the back with your arms up, expect to elbow your ride partner in the head.
Take a pussy coaster, stick it in a dark warehouse & it gains serious points.
Medusa
Mike: 4.75 out of 5
Comments: This floorless coaster by B&M is nearly a flawless ride experience, both filled with features, unique and long. Like Raptor at CP, a day when this attraction is a walk-on is a very good coaster day indeed.
Clarisse: 4.689 out of 5
Comments: The front of this coaster is always worth the wait! This dangly feet ride is smooth, beautiful (track and scenery) and thrilling yet it’s gentle. This prince of a ride loops, banks and corkscrews. I have the usual complaints about the over the shoulder restraints. Another otsr complaint I haven’t mentioned before is that you cant put your arms up! Your ride mate is so close to you that the combination of the restraint and your ride partner keeps your arms where the park wants them, down and to the side. The main thing I would ask for is a longer ride.
The pretty purple seats are black with dirt on the head rests (mmmmm yummy!)
Houdini’s Great Escape
Mike: 3.6 out of 5
Comments: Small bells and whistles make this quality ride a touch better then it’s New England brother. A very fun and surprising ride.
Clarisse: 2.7 out of 5
Comments: The theaming around this attraction is much better than 6 flags New England. Great Adventure’s crowds are much much rowdier than New England’s. The attraction is better and more detailed here. It’s cute, bring your mom and grandma on!
Rolling Thunder
Mike: 3.25 out of 5
Comments: While it’s true there is not much airtime on this wood coaster, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s not fun. If only it ever actually raced, I’d rate it even higher…
Clarisse: 3.1 out of 5
Comments: Big Boobied Woman alert! Wear a sports bra! It’s a nice classic coaster.
Congo Rapids
Mike: 2 out of 5
Comments: Slow, boring rapids that completely drench you. The queue herds people so tightly together I felt like I was in a cattle car. A “bring everything on” rule is not announced until you are on the loading platform.
Clarisse: 2.9 out of 5
Comments: Everyone including us wants to ride this ride after Nitro and the line is parked making me remember how much I hate crowds & my fellow humans. There’s that mist on the ceiling that makes everyone damp and mildewy more that it cools. Not to mention there are too many people on a boat, we got to ride with 10 other strangers, yay (12 seats in total).
I got pleasantly soaked on this ride. I didn’t have as much fun as I should have though, cause I was worried about my book and camera (that I wasn’t allowed to leave on the platform).
Everything aside, the ride itself was nice and relaxing, the entire package (ride, crowds ect) made me slightly homicidal.
Great American Scream Machine
Clarisse: 1.2 out of 5
Comments: Yes, I heard many screams on this ride; unfortunately they were screams of pain, not pleasure. This ride is brutal, horribly brutal. It wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t have the over the shoulder head restraints. If you’re not (approximately) 5’ 10” or taller your head will ping back and forth on them, and your brain will also ping back and forth in your skull. Riding this ride is risking brain damage. Another thing about the restraints is that they STINK! They smell like they’ve never been cleaned since the ride opened and whenever it rains, they make sure to get them wet.
Mike: 3.25 out of 5
Viper
Mike: 0 out of 5
Comments: Worst. Coaster. Evah! Seriously. Only go on this if you are either morbidly curious or a masochist. Also realize you are risking the rest of your day at the park (due to the strong possibility of a strained neck, back or headache) if you decide to ride this Japanese torture machine.
Cla N/A out of 5
Comments: I sent mike in first ‘cause I’ve heard only bad things about this ride. Based on his reaction, I’m glad I didn’t go on it. It’s a really cool looking ride though.
Superman: Ultimate Flight
Mike: 4.25 out of 5
Comments: A gimmick roller coaster with one good moment and the rest filler. But holy shit, what a good element! Good enough to get this 2.5 coaster a 4.25 rating. Regardless, don’t bother waiting 90 minutes+ for this crowd favorite, wait for smaller lines.
Clarisse: 4.398 out of 5
Comments: I really really like this ride! You are suspended face down by the restraints, which are novel, but the wait to disembark the ride is annoying. The reasons for this are that stupid teenagers like to pretend they are vomiting and there are stains, from spit on the platform (not the loading one-the one behind that one). I spent the disembarking wait fantasizing about what would happen if the restraints failed. These thoughts made me giggle (it would be funny in a cartoon, if it happened in reality, if you didn’t die, it would fucking hurt!)
Mine Train
Mike: 2.75 out of 5
Comments: I’d rather be marathoning on Nitro, but fun. It’s an ok old steel coaster, a little out of control, a little scenic and a little rough. Painfully slow operations possibly due to it’s age, but the usually small line makes it not so much an issue.
Clarisse: 2.5 out of 5
Comments: the most notable thing about this ride, was the complete lack of smiles and cheers of the train coming back int. This coaster goes slightly faster than I expected. It’s cute and fun, but doesn’t reach the level of thrilling.
One point of the ride is really pretty; it goes over a pond with water lilies.
The Chiller (Robin)
Clarisse: NA (retro rating 4.2) out of 5
Comments: Stupid Great Adventure has one of its signature rides closed. There’s a damn crane sitting still next to it, signifying that it probably won’t be open all day, which it wasn’t. I’m intimately familiar with this ride however. It was an intense painful ride before they removed the over the shoulder restraints (GO GREAT ADVENTURE – OTSRS SUCK ME HARD!)
The Chiller (Batman)
Clarisse: N/A (retro rating 3.9) out of 5
Comments: Since this is supposed to be the dueling sidekick to Robin (yes, Batman is finally Robin’s bitch) it was closed too. I’ve only ever ridden it once though, when it first opened, cause its been closed forever. I heard they finally reopened it, but of course Great Adventure teased us. I remember it wasn’t as good as Robin, I need to experience it without the over the shoulder torture devices.