Canobie Coaster Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 Holiday in the Park looks great and I hope to make it there sometime in the next week or two. This pretty much confirms Riddler's Revenge for Mind Eraser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logrog04 Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 JB'S Smokehouse is mobbed, the kitchen is such a mess they lost our orders and it took an extra 15 minutes to get them Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 This pretty much confirms Riddler's Revenge for Mind Eraser. Makes sense, they should name it after another ride that sucks To be fair, they made "Mindbender" Riddler themed, stuck it in Gotham City in Georgia and called it a day. "Mind Eraser" is sort of the same deal. I expect them to throw up a few question marks and leave the name alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 ^ I honestly would take Mind Eraser over Riddler's Revenge, which is a statement that I never would have uttered without those new trains. It's an enjoyable ride now. I wonder if they'll paint it green for the Riddler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 It wasn't listed online, but Flashback is also open. I know it's just a boomerang, but I'll take any coaster this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Hamilton Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 It does seem like Six Flags likes to retheme rough coasters when they get new trains. Look at what they did with Blue Hawk. It’s probably so people know it’s better than it was and hopefully will get more riders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 I've been marathoning Joker tonight and I think there's some technique to getting a wilder ride. If you throw your weight in the direction the car is rocking, you can get extra flips. I was able to get 7-8 flips on a few rides compared to just 3-4 riding normally. Has anyone else noticed or tried this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesman Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 SFNE's first holiday in the park was pretty cool. Even though not the whole park is open I recommend it. I really liked how each section had a different scent to it. I was happy they opened after thanksgiving so I could ride some rollercoasters before heading back to school and dealing with finals. The crowds weren't bad at first with everything being a walk on, as the night went on the crowds got worse but most rides did not have more than a 20 minute wait as people were spending most of the time on the midway so its kinda hard to navigate around the park. Longest line I saw was thunderbolt at one point for 45 minutes. Restaurants and shows also had a very long line. All coasters unfortunately only had 1 train running (besides joker) and I believe they will stay like that for the rest of HITP. That being said I think the new loading techniques have made a huge difference with trains being dispatched asap. Hopefully it gets passed through out the chain and stays like that. And my theory for mind eraser after it gets re-themed is that they will change the south end of the park into Gotham city. The park also made minor updates to trains through out the park with some new handles and foam and some new foam on OTSR. In the mind eraser station they got new light fixtures and fans. As well as heat lamps in the station to stay warm. If you look on the grass theres pieces of metal that looks like it could be RMC track or joker track. Anyone have any idea of what it is? On the kids safari they put out the penguins from blizzard river. Also got my last rides in on buzzsaw, definitely going to miss this ride. All rides except Goliath are open in the jingle bell junction Flashback was open which wasn't supposed too that was a nice surprise. Although rough wasn't too much head banging Around now crowds started to pick up Heres the midway with the most lights... and most of the crowd Giant ornament Rockville decked out, I recommend going to the shows early as the line for it went all the way to scream and security had to cut off the line since they were at capacity, can definitely see the park adding a bigger theater or arena in the future. looking at the south end polar playland had some nice lights such as this, the car ride here had a lot of themeing I suggest you ride it even if you're not a kid a look at the Harley Quinn site with riddler errrrr Mind Eraser in the background. And btw I find Mind Eraser actually enjoyable now. Scream in hibernation At least they found a use for the old sky ride supports the kids whip has been removed and looks like something is going on there Also a nice walkthrough area in bugs bunny area There were fire pits through out the park to keep you warm. you can also buy s'mores to make for only... $8 While waiting for thunderbolt the ride op accidentally hit the e-stop so we had to wait for maintenance to come and reset it... However when that happened the last trim was turned off and we got some good air time on the last 2 hills. Also anyone know if the second train is a train repainted from the cyclone? heat lamps keeping the floor mechanisms warm hmmm?? Thats it for holiday in the park at SFNE. can't wait for the actual season so I can ride superman and Wicked Cyclone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Holiday in the Park Review Six Flags New England may have received a new coaster in 2017 (and a good one too), but I was most looking forward to Holiday in the Park. If New Jersey was any indication, I knew the lights would be spectacular, but that wasn’t the primary source of my excitement. Rather it was the fact that there would now be bonafide thrill rides open in New England in the cold December months. New Englanders know cold like Floridians know heat. If activities are open, we will show up even in cold weather. Yes there are the crazed Patriots fans bare-chested even in sub-zero temps, but a majority of us are reasonable. We’ll dress like we’re going skiing with hand-warmers in one hand and a warm Dunkin beverage in the other. Until Six Flags announced Holiday in the Park, the season for thrill seekers in New England ended at Halloween. In the past I’ve been so coaster deprived that I’ve visited Fun World (think Jeepers with better arcade games) and Santa’s Village leading up to Christmas. Admittedly the latter is a very fun theme park, but the biggest adrenalin rush there is trying to beat the Elfabet before park closing. It was a bummer seeing Superman and Wicked Cyclone down for the season. There’s no sugar coating that. But the fact that I had 6 (or 7 if you count Fireball) other coasters available in late November-December more than makes up for this fact. At this time last year, none of those coasters were operating. If the event is successful, I’m hopeful the park can add one or two of their big kahunas in future years. No Superman until 2018. But at least the park has their best coaster operating. Back to the event, I was at the park opening to close yesterday. The temperature hovered just above 40 degrees when I arrived at 2. The lot wasn’t nearly as crowded as a summer day, but the park was far from empty. Every ride was a walk-on, but the lines for food stands and shows reminded me that the event was reasonably well attended. Walking down Main Street, it was apparent the park spared no expense on holiday decorations. Buddy the Elf would have been filling the park with snow if you catch my drift. I couldn’t wait for sundown, so the park would be illuminated with the technicolor glow of their proclaimed millions of lights. Since all of the coaster were running one train outside of the Joker, I decided to start with the four good operational coasters. I had no intentions of riding the kiddie coaster again. And then Flashback was surprisingly open even though it wasn’t listed on the park’s website. However, it was closed for the evening by the time I reached it. I started with Thunderbolt and I believe I was on the second train of the day. I could tell it was running a bit sluggish in the colder temperatures, but I figured it would warm up as the day progressed. It still had one or two tiny pops of air and is pretty smooth despite being almost 80 years old. I then made my way over to Mind Eraser. Until this year, a ride on Mind Eraser should have been reserved as punishment for all the naughty boys and girls in lieu of coal. Coal is bad for the environment; Mind Eraser was just bad for your skull. But with the new trains, Mind Eraser is actually enjoyable. It doesn’t track the best, but the lack of headbanging allowed me to enjoy the chaotic, fast-paced layout. The old trains made the SLC like a fruitcake, a gift that just kept on delivering one blow to the head after another. With the new trains, it's actually a fun ride. Batman is probably one of the weaker B&M floorless coasters out there due to its length, but I always make sure to ride it since it rarely has a wait exceeding 15 minutes. In the summer, the coaster has assigned seating. I’m not sure if it was due to low crowds or not having the staff available for a grouper (could have been both), but there was choice seating. Because of this, I took every opportunity to grab the front. I’ve been on this coaster dozens of times, but I can probably count on one hand how many times I’ve ridden in the front. The front is definitely the best seat on this coaster. The added rush of the crisp wind certainly helped, but the floorless effect is lost on every row outside of the front. The ride is relentlessly paced and is really the floorless analogous to Batman the Ride. The final corkscrews are a bit of a headbanger if you aren’t prepared, but the rest of the ride is perfectly smooth. I swear the midways got busier as the day went on... A B&M in late November/December, sign me up! Batman's zero-G roll is still one of the best out there. Who would have thought a B&M could be more of a headbanger than a SLC? With Mind Eraser's new trains, that's the case. And Batman isn't even that bad. The highlight of the event for me was the Joker. I’m actually a really big fan of these free fly coasters. They are often overshadowed by 2-3 other coasters in their respective parks, but on this day it was the park’s best operating attraction. I racked up 15 rides, mostly in a marathon at the end of the night. During these rides, I tried every possible seat. It has been known that the green side gives a wilder ride and my rides further affirmed this. But one thing I realized is that it’s possible to influence flips and induce a wilder ride. If you ride in a relaxed state, you’ll probably get 1-2 flips on purple and 3-4 on green. But then I found there’s some technique to this ride. After a few rides, I tried throwing myself into the flips and I was able to get 7-8 flips on a few rides. I found it easiest to force the flips riding backwards on the green side. The key is to really lunge into the backflip on the second hump. If you can complete that flip, the ride kept flipping until the second level. On my failed attempts, the car stalled upside down for a few seconds which was a thrill in its own right. If you throw your weight into the flips, you can get some insanely wild rides on Joker. Enough of the coasters we’re all familiar with. I want to highlight some of the changes for Holiday in the Park. After the lights, I think the most noteworthy addition is a Circ du Soleil style show called Frost. I wasn’t a big fan of the music selection (there were some weird dubstep Christmas songs and some songs with no affiliation whatsoever to holidays), but the acrobatic feats were spectacular. There was pole dancing (the acrobatic kind, not the type you’d find in Springfield), balancing, dancing, and trampolines. My personal favorite was the finale which consisted of a series of trampoline flips adjacent to a wall. The show was definitely a cut above what I’d expect from Six Flags and it seemed very well received. I attended the early show and it was probably 90% full. The latter shows had considerably longer lines as people probably wanted to escape good ole Jack Frost. Artsy pole dancing as opposed to what you'll find in downtown Springfield. Don't try this at home. Unless you want to break every bone in your body. In that case, do try this at home and be sure to record it. The lights were a highlight as well. The park’s “main” tree looks spectacular. It’s tall for sure. The only odd thing is that the park retrofitted one of the old Skyway towers into a tree that dwarfs their main one. Then there are countless other trees spread throughout the park. I don’t think the park left a single tree undecorated, which is impressive considering it’s their first year hosting the event. Main Street had a light show every 15 minutes synchronized to music that was very well executed. I couldn’t help but think of that old Bud Light commercial to the Tran Siberian Orchestra music. It was definitely a spectacle to see and it appeared to be pretty popular as people would park themselves on the midway Snapchatting the whole thing. The "big" tree. Though it's dwarfed by this one less than 200 feet away. The old Sky Ride station was turned into Santa's House. The North End was a bit of a Ghost Town, but it did look nice. Goliath does make for a nice lawn ornament. So many lights. If I were more photo inclined I would have made a gif. Looks like you'll just have to visit yourself to see the show. Is it just me or does Gingy look pretty terrifying? That smile is straight from the Joker. Operations were surprisingly fast. Part of that could be attributed to less than full trains, but I didn’t really notice the attendants standing around socializing too much, which is something that’s all too familiar at Six Flags. I did notice many of the operators were freezing though. I was stunned when one said that Six Flags only provided a windbreaker (the same one they wear in the summer) and a sweater. If they wanted a hat or winter coat, they had to pay extra. That’s pretty crummy for the operators since the temperature is only going to drop as we progress into December. I also noticed some new food items specific for Holiday in the Event. The wings place in Rockville was converted to a soup restaurant that was pretty popular. Outside of any of the hot chocolate stands, the soup place had the longest wait. It probably also helped that the stand was pumping artificial snow onto the midway every few minutes. Winter is coming. The park certainly wasted no time clearing the plot for Harley Quinn’s Spinsanity. There was no trace of the Tea Cups or the Slingshot. The South End is going to look a lot different in 2018. Or should I say Gotham City? It has long been a rumor that the South End would be rethemed to the famous dwelling place of the Batman. With Harley Quinn being added, the only non-Batman themed ride on the South End will be Mind Eraser. This sign on Main Street and the park map suggests Mind Eraser could be rethemed to the Riddler, making it the chain’s best coaster called Riddler’s Revenge. They wasted no time clearing space for Harley Quinn. My money is on it still not opening until Memorial Day though. Hmmm what could be coming on 2018's opening day? Well the park map pretty much confirms Mind Eraser is getting a Riddler theme. The Tea Cups will be returning in 2018 and the likely location is Buzzsaw’s pad. The Zierer flying carpet is a surprisingly forceful ride, but it’s at the end of its lifespan. I made sure to get my final rides on the attraction. I will miss it, but I can’t complain about getting one of those amazing giant frisbees instead. It will look weird seeing the Tea Cups here. The only downside to my visit was that I injured my ankle on my last Thunderbolt ride. The coaster had heated up and I was in the third row. The coaster was giving some pretty good pops of air, so I was eager to see what the money hill (the second to last bunny hill) would dish out. Well it delivered alright. It gave a really violent and strong pop of air. Only problem was that my foot had slipped below the seat in front of me and it delivered a stinger to my ankle. Full disclaimer, my right ankle has been injured since May. I originally injured it playing ultimate frisbee and every few weeks I re-aggravate it driving, walking down the stairs, or even watching TV. So it was a complete fluke that it just happened to occur on Thunderbolt. But as a precaution I made my way over to First Aid. After icing my ankle (though the weather could have done it for me) for 10-15 minutes, I was good as new. Still my favorite lights in the park. There's just something about the classic sign. Of course the First Aid building is on a hill. By the last hour, the midways were completely dead. The employee to guest ratio was probably 5 to 1, if not higher. I think the cold defeated most guests. The one thing that did shock me was just how quick the park was to shut all the food stands and shops at closing. Usually these stay open past closing for anyone who wants to make a last second purchase. Not today. Would I return to Holiday in the Park? Absolutely. It’s slim pickings in New England from a coaster perspective in New England and I’ll take any opportunity that I’m given. I would have shown up had the park only had 1-2 major coasters open, but they had 4-5 major coasters open. Then when you add in the music, lights, and shows, Six Flags New England has a cool winner on its hands. Six Flags New England put on a great event! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Great reports guys! We're heading to the event next weekend for the first time and we can't wait! By the last hour, the midways were completely dead. The employee to guest ratio was probably 5 to 1, if not higher. I think the cold defeated most guests This seems to be a Sunday phenomenon. The same thing happens at Great Adventure during Holiday in the Park. I think it's a combination of the cold and the fact that it's a school night. Every park clears out a little as it approaches closing time, but the ridiculous mass exodus that occurs on Sundays is insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 ^ That's true. The park clears out any Sunday night, but it's especially noticeable when rides are a walk-on to begin with. I'd keep an eye on the weather next weekend. The first forecasts for next weekend had a chance of snow, which is why I pushed my visit up to yesterday. Granted any forecast that far out is like an enthusiast picking Cedar Point's next coaster. Though as I look at it now, it looks like the temperature has gone up and the precipitation moved to Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Great reports. I don't think I'd make the trek (4+ hours) to this park with WC and Supes closed, but it looks like they put on a great event and I hope it remains successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseeker4552 Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Thanks for the reports. Seeing all those lights is really putting me in the Christmas spirit. I can't wait for Holiday in the Park and Knott's Merry Farm in a few weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Great reports. I don't think I'd make the trek (4+ hours) to this park with WC and Supes closed, but it looks like they put on a great event and I hope it remains successful. Alternatively I am considering trying to make the trek down to your Six Flags since they have a hyper coaster open this time of year. I am just hoping the event is successful enough that maybe Wicked Cyclone could be added in future years. As amazing as the views from Sky Screamer would be, I could see that being one heck of a frigid experience this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Alternatively I am considering trying to make the trek down to your Six Flags since they have a hyper coaster open this time of year. Do it! Holiday in the Park at Great Adventure is f*cking fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 I was there last year and loved it. No ride lines (for a change at that one) and some amazing B&Ms. Only downside was that Joker was down last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 The Holiday in the Park looks really good! I don't think I'll ever get out there for it, but I'd love to try some day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggo77 Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 (edited) Six Flags New England held their media day for the park's first ever Holiday in the Park this past weekend and TPR was there to cover the festivities. Like other Six Flags HITP events the entire park isn’t open but a large section of it is. This includes several of the parks coasters. The ones running were Batman, Flashback, Mind Eraser aka Riddler?, Joker & Thunderbolt. The Great Chase is open for the little ones or those who are all about grabbing a credit. Other thrill rides and several of the kiddie rides are also open. For me having coasters open in December in New England is enough to say sign me up! However after attending SFNE’s Holiday in the Park I have to say that the coasters became an afterthought once inside. My first impression was just WOW! The park looks incredible. A ton of thought and detail has been put into all of the lighting, displays, shows and general entertainment. The first thing we did upon arrival was to go to the special media day showing of the park’s main holiday show called Frost - A Holiday Cirque Extravaganza. In a nutshell it’s basically a variety show with singing, dancing, trampolines and other Cirque type performances set to several remixed holiday tracks. It runs for approximately 30 mins non stop. Having a true show in the park was a welcomed addition. I found it very entertaining and definitely recommend checking it out. Another awesome sighting was that Six Flags President & CEO, Jim Reid-Anderson, was also at the park. He was with several Six Flags employees including SFNE’s Park President John Winkler. When we exited the theater I ran into Jim. All I have to say is what a friendly and awesome guy. I didn’t want to take up to much of his time but when we started talking he just encouraged the conversation. You can see that he’s really into the parks and I enjoyed our brief conversation. I could have definitely continued on for a while. After that we headed down to the park’s Kringle Way Tree, which is set up in front of Goliath, for the tree lighting ceremony. At this point you could see how well attended HITP was. After this we took our time and just walked the park taking in the sights, sounds and smells. Yup they have sections of the park with specific holiday scents! This was the first time that I’ve ever gone to SFNE and rode only one ride. To boot it was Flashback, a Boomerang, which at that point had no line. Outside of that we just spent several hours walking the park and enjoyed it. Just wanted to give a huge thanks to the park for inviting TPR and to Robb for having us cover it. As always the awesome Jen McGrath and the rest of the SFNE team put on a great event. I also want to again thank Mr. Jim Reid-Anderson for being so friendly and willing to chat. That’s what the holidays are supposed to be all about! Six Flags New England has another hit on their hands. I highly recommend a visit to SFNE’s Holiday in the Park. Here's a bunch of photos, hopefully not overkill, of HITP. These really don't show how great the park looks. TPR's back in Agawam We're ready to check out SFNE's Inaugural HITP Some cool swag handed out to the media attendees. Here's some shots from the Frost show. This dudes balancing act was nuts. All sorts of crazy trampoline fun. After the show SFNE's Communications Manager, Jen McGrath and Park President, John Winkler said a few words. As mentioned SF's President and CEO Jim Reid-Anderson was also in attendance. Thanks again for being so awesome Jim!!!! Sorry for the poor photo quality. Not sure what happened with this one. Lots of S'more pits throughout the park. This is where you can meet the big man. Here's several pics around the park. Now we're ready for the Kringle Way Tree lighting. So were a whole bunch of other people! Let's light this thing! There it is with a side of Goliath in the background. Hi Superman. See you in April! Pretty cool walk through ornament. The Polar Playland area was really done up well for the kiddo's. A little love for the last few days that Buzzsaw will be doing this. According to the Dippin' Dots guy big changes are coming to the South End In 2018. It's Mind Eraser I wonder why its sign is in green ???????????????? More of Gotham's finest. Harley Quinn will be making her debut here next year. Some more of the festive fun. Totally Kickin' Chicken has been converted into the Snowflake Soup Company for HITP. Here's more views of HITP. Good night SFNE. Absolutely loved HITP. Hope it continues to grow for years to come. For all those in the area also don't forget that on December 31st the park will be having Fireworks starting at 8:30 p.m. Edited December 6, 2017 by Sluggo77 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 We're totally in this picture, but I totally can't find us. it's like Where's Waldo. We were there on Saturday also, though we didn't know anything about the event and didn't participate in it at all. Great report!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Great report! It definitely looks like a hit for the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggo77 Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Thanks Guys! You both always add great comments and reports so I appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Very nice, indeed--looks like they went all out at Six Flags New England. I especially like the walk-through ornament. Thanks for the report and the photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zachbinx113 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 Awesome! Can’t believe JRA was there! Thank you for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Holiday in the Park seems to be totally crushing it, and I think a lot of the credit for that goes to New Englanders who honestly, truly give ZERO f*cks about cold weather. When we were there a few weeks ago we absolutely noticed a major difference in these crowds versus the Great Adventure crowds. Generally at Great Adventure, later at night when it gets significantly colder the park clears out quickly and on colder days basically everything is a walk-on aside from Justice League. That didn't happen in New England, these people don't care. My kind of people... Obviously all of the east coast parks are going to have a rough weekend and I expect many of them (including maybe this one) to close due to accumulating snowfall, but I was curious to see how they would perform on a Friday night (generally these are slow at Great Adventure) on a cold night where the temperature at park open was in the low 30's and they seem to be doing really well! I figured it would be a major test for them so I decided to check in on queue times and social media to see how things are looking. It's 33 degrees and snow is on the way in a few hours. I expected the park to be dead tonight but the reports seem to say otherwise. Thunderbolt is posting at 30 minutes, every coaster (including Fireball) is posting at at least 10 (minus Flashback which is a recurring theme since nobody knows it's open) and rides like the Bumper Cars and train have reached as high as 20. Is the park bursting at the seams busy? No. But there seems to be a significant crowd on a night where you wouldn't really expect one and I'm sure they're filling Rockville Theater to capacity and probably turning people away (which they were doing for every show the other night... they really need a bigger theater). Also, every ride is open including Flashback which at this point seems to be a permanent part of the Holiday in the Park lineup. I'm really impressed with the turnout at this event. They were slammed when we were there last weekend and people seem more than happy to flock to this event in temperatures that nobody would have ever dreamed they would even a few short years ago. The turnout tonight is a BIG DEAL for the future of this event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 The more the merrier! I wonder why Flashback still isn't listed as a ride for the event yet it keeps opening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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