Photo Trip Report: Six Flags New England, 08/14/2013

BOOM, I'm back, dummy! Of course, those of you that may not be familiar with me (or my whining that got me pushed into the shame corner for a week) may be surprised at my presence, but for now, I've decided to make my first ever trip report, this one for Six Flags New England.

You see, the idea of going to a theme park this year first came up when planning a trip to visit a wedding within the family, in Virginia. There were a few parks we wanted to go on that trip, and part of the suggestions were King's Dominion (skipped due to the "african heat"), and Dorney Park (which, after another wedding back in April, we stopped near after staying at a Howard Johnson's, and a return visit would have entailed a nicer hotel, but we skipped that due to requiring a bit more coordination, and more heat), which we both bailed on, so the conversation came up to go to Six Flags New England, a park that I've been wanting to go to for years, but have never gotten the time to do. Instead of going to a park on the trip, we made the decision to go there, helped by my Mom's ability to get tickets through where she works (Phillips in North Andover, MA, in case you are wondering). With $80 in discounts awaiting for a 4-pack of tickets purchased, we were good to go, and yesterday, the journey began, and ended. After a long trip on I-495, to the Mass Pike, to I-91, to who know's what, we were at the park.

First up on our agenda was Bizarro. Me and my dad made sure that we were going to hit that one first to prevent having to wait through extremely long lines if we wanted to do it later, and... well, the line was moving when we first got in there, but it wasn't for long. Apparently, the ride stopped working about 15 minutes in. Empty trains rolled out of the station to much groaning from the discerned audience nearby. As such, a lot of people started to leave, but I, feeling optimistic, opted to stay in the line for a while to see if things got better. As the people left, we played the shrinking line to our advantage, getting on the ride within an hour, and the downtime hardly having any effect on our waiting time. As for the ride itself, well... what words can I use to describe this ride that haven't already been used? My first hyper coaster, and easily the best one I have ever rode ( ). The first drop packed a serious punch for its sheer height and angle (bear in mind, this is coming from a guy whose hometown coaster in Untamed, and even that didn't have as intense a drop as this one did), and the facade immediately afterward provided a great headchopper element. From that point on, every hill was nothing but air, even if I couldn't feel myself coming out of my seat because of the seatbelts. The twisty section was nice as well, including a second great headchopper going under the walkway. It only took one ride, but that one great ride easily caused that coaster to shoot up to #1 on my list of favorite rides.

So after being tuckered out after the ride of my life, I took a break while my dad and Emily went on the Joker's Wildcard nearby. Obviously, I have no opinion on that one. Then we went over to the other side of the DC area to go on Catwoman's Whip. Yes, I bear no shame whoring credits like that, which was the first of three (four if you count flats) rides ridden with my sister, Emily (she's 11, and not nearly into coasters as much as I am). I did it mainly to give dad a little break and show a family coaster who's really the boss of the park. The break didn't last for long, however, as once we got off we were headed to the South End to take on a B&M: Batman: The Dark Knight: the coaster that strikes fear in the hearts of any ordinary man, and a temptation to overdose on colons in others. However, the wait for TDK turned out to be even worse than Bizarro, and I'm not kidding. At least a 90 minute wait to get on, with a 30 minute wait at the place where we expected to get on, and this was even with a two-train operation. Damn, was that line deceptive. The ride was fun, however, at least for a B&M. Another milestone in my first floorless coaster: tight, zippy, and pretty forceful even with the standard B&M lineup of inversions. I loved the loop in particular: pretty much any time a loop threads through something else (wether it be the lift hill, another inversion, or just standard track) is one of the most awe-inspiring moments on a coaster for me.

Next up was, also in the South End, the resident Mind Eraser. If it's a standard SLC, do I need to say anything except that it wrecked me to no end? Once for the credit, and never again. Thankfully, I was savvy enough to plan for getting banged around, making this Vekoma tragedy the last ride before lunch. If I had eaten any food before going on that ride, I would have puked it out after getting off. After a long walk out back to the car, my family refueled for the next part of the day: a trip to Hurricane Harbor. The water park was a fun diversion from the headbanging thrills experienced before, and I got a fair amount of slides in. Among others, I got the two slides on the Zooma Falls platform (which looked uncannily similar to a slide platform at my hometown park, Water Country), two Big Kahuna slides, and the Tornado. Speaking of deceptiveness, the Tornado's big drop is about as insane as they come for terms of sheer thrill, but even I wasn't expecting how much sheer force it had. The fact that four-person tubes are used on that ride just adds to how fast you're going once you hit the trough. For three hours, I got on all I wanted to there. After a moment to change, it was back to the main park for more thrills.

The next ride I got on was... Blizzard River. You know, the raft ride? I really didn't see the need to get wet, but my sister wanted to go on for whatever reason (and she would have gone on a second time if it were possible ), and that almost ruined everything for me if I hadn't had my optimistic attitude towards everything. As a result, we spent the wait for our next ride, Pandemonium, soaking wet and shivering, but that didn't bring me down as I already knew at least I had something else to think about besides pondering the wait. Pandemonium was another ride I did with my sister (the last three of the night were all done bro-and-sis style), sitting across two asian girls in our car. For a family ride, it was definitely as stacked as they come (what would you expect coming from the same company that made Untamed?). I don't have an especially high tolerance towards spinning, but I got through it all right. After that, the night had came out in full force, and it was time for one final ride before closing up shop: Thunderbolt, a woodie, and Six Flags' oldest coaster. My sister also rode this one, marking the first "big" coaster she had ever rode, and her first woodie. Glad I chose that one to finish off the night: it had a little bit of roughness, but for my first Cy-clone, I knew it could have been a lot worse. Plenty of airtime coming up into the turnarounds, and the double dip was very satisfying to have your seat yanked out from under you.

After conquering my final coaster of the night, it was time to eat the supper we hadn't scarfed down yet. Chicken fingers and fries, with a Cherry Slurpee serving as my drink. Expensive, but considering all the money we had saved so far, it was mine to lose, and I get 99 cent refills if I go to any 7-11 before the end of the month using the cup (which I probably will take advantage of, I kid you not). So, all in all, it was a great end to an awesome day at my first Six Flags' park. I found the service to be good, the employees enthusiatic (even that guy named Shibby on Six Flags TV), and the general experience to be inviting. There were some things I didn't get to do, however, like Gotham City Gauntlet (another credit for me and my sis), and both of the Boomerangs (though mainly Goliath, which taunted me all day), but I felt I got on enough rides for the day, even with the lines and the water park diversion. Overall: an excellent day at the park with the roller coaster that's got the most (and a couple of other good rides).

Now for some pictures:

Coming into the parking lot, our car was just at the edge of Lot 2.

Good morning, SFNE! How are you doing today?

Goliath looks on in the blazing, camera un-focused sun.

Don't worry, Thunderbolt. We know about you, and we'll be back to ride later.

No time is not a good time for some Bizarro time.

Obligatory restraint shot. That's me looking on smug.

This train is ready to roll! Me and my dad are towards the middle.

We didn't quite know what was coming.

Of course, pictures can't quite do that experience justice.

Simply breathtaking!

Where's your wildcard?

Meh, I needed a break after such a wild ride.

Just in case you forgot what park you were at...

I'm in the car closest to the trees that's not being covered. My sister is behind me.

They still have yet to repaint this ride from the previous theme? Silly gooses.

Now it's time to get our MINDS ERASED!

Can you guess why I'm not especially thrilled about this?

I bet you can, if you want to.

You can just smell the horror I'm about to get myself into.

Owowowowow!

Brace position... brace position!

The smell of pain hanging overhead!

Reactions from the brake run... well, one thing's for sure: I'll never forget my first SLC.

Heading back to base stations, here's a better, especially fetching shot of Goliath.

My sister won that pencil from some game... probably while I was waiting on line for Batman.

You probably thought this park is in Springfield, didn't you?

Now for the H2O portion of our day, starting on Zooma Falls.

The Tornado has a very photogenic exit pool.

Ker-sploosh.

Splashdown central!

With Hurricane Harbor, in some spots, you even have some insane rides like this right next to you.

Up on the edge of the giant funnel.

That drop can be deceptively scary if you're not prepared for it.

Thankfully, we didn't need the Flash... at least for the water park, that is.

More from the covered slide tower.

I intentionally dumped myself here to cool off... Tornado made me a little discombobulated.

With Hurricae Harbor done, it's back to shuffle in the main park. Here's the one picture of Batman that I got.

You suck.

Now for some Dippin' Dots ERT! You can tell I enjoyed my Rocky Road.

Two coasters I didn't get to ride on my visit.

With the night falling and the mood lighting coming on, Goliath is... still being Goliath.

*sigh*

Now it's time for the final coaster of the night!

Thunderbolt isn't set up for a lot of good picture opportunities, but do you really need any?

Almost done...

Not for the vertically challenged! A great way to set up the end of the night.

The real finale, however, was the food! Chicken fingers with Sweet & Sour sauce. Simplicity never to be underestimated.

And, just for good measure, Batman in the Batmobile with candy! Of course, I had my own goodies to suck down...

Goodbye, SFNE. To my first true taste of corprate theme parks, you were a real blast.

And, just for good measure, me and my awesome Slurpee cup! I will use this thing if I have the opportunity.