Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) Discussion Thread

It didn't? I thought I read that somewhere, oh well.

It was a rumor last year that the park was getting a major refurbishment along with the new trains but never happened.

A drop tower on Kingda Ka is not a good idea. I'm sure it would be fun but there are much more convenient additions that wouldn't require people walk all the way out there.

I really can't understand why everyone thinks a drop tower on Kingda Ka is the most plausible thing in the entire world, when they have a 270-foot tower sitting right there just itching to be converted to a gyro drop.

The only way a drop tower is going on Kingda Ka is if it's attached to the front side of the tower, which, seeing as the State of New Jersey no longer allows guests to even use the original queue because it comes too close to any falling objects (have they seen the projectiles flying from El Toro at guests waiting?), I don't imagine they'll take kindly to the idea of people boarding and riding a ride directly underneath the thing.

Just the other day, some family, friends and I were at the park. It was one of the least crowded day that I've been to the park with the longest wait being about 20-30 minutes for superman. So this is what happened:

Superman 1x- longest wait of the day at 20-30 min.

Green Lantern 1x- 1 train wait a little uncomfortable but fun otherwise.

Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train 2x- fun little ride with no wait, was the strange close of our day.

The Dark Knight 1x- wait for pre show, a lot of the effects were not working or were turned off, including the jump scare at the end of the ride.

Bizarro 1x- quicker ride ops than last year, station wait, fun, only head banging exiting the cobra roll, the auger of death was a little crazy this time around, wetting us a little. Considering the heat that day (upper 90s) this was welcomed.

Skull Mountain 3x- or should I say Takis mountain. This is the ride that has suffered from the Takis advertising. The giant adverts destroyed what little atmosphere the ride had. Not as bad as what I saw of NTAG but still bad.

Batman 1x- still forceful and smooth, station wait.

Nitro 2x-there actually was a jack hammering moment of roughness coming out of the hammerhead going into the hill following, I could feel it in my spine! I also would have gone on more times if it weren't for the worst ride ops in history. These guys were stapling and triple stacking! And if facial recognition serves me right, these were last years bizarro ops.

Runaway Mine Train 3x- my first arrow ride, the coat hanger transitions were so messed up yet at the same time awesome. Second row back car offers some of the most underrated airtime in the park on the last two drops.

El Toro 3x- In a row. 1 train waits from 12:00-1:00. Back row offers the most kick ass airtime ever, especially on the thunder drop as we named it. Also, fastest ride ops in the park, only staking trains because it only runs two. Reason for short lines is probably SORA as the ride time for that is ~1:30:00 long and in the area. It's also the new ride so it will attract lots of patrons and divert them away from the good stuff.

Also, our party must have drank a gallon of ice water each! It was very hot today, which also probably contributed to the deadness of the park today.

^^I don't think they would need to remove Rolling Thunder to create a path/queue to reach the Kingda Ka tower.

I really can't understand why everyone thinks a drop tower on Kingda Ka is the most plausible thing in the entire world, when they have a 270-foot tower sitting right there just itching to be converted to a gyro drop.

Am I the only one that really likes the Parachute drop? It's now the only ride of it's kind in the United States and is an enjoyable ride that caters to a lot of people. The capacity is low, the ride is short and it's probably closed due to weather conditions more than every other ride in the park but it's still unique and it would be a shame if the park removed it.

I could understand it from a business standpoint, but it would still be a shame.

^I agree. Love the Parachute tower and it's quite a thrill for the lower height restriction kids it can accommodate!

Oh, trust me, I definitely do enjoy it and it would suck to see it go, seeing as it's one of the only parachute drops left running. But every time I see it I realize how 'simple' (relatively) an AtmosFEAR-esque conversion would be, and how it would be, by far, the cheapest way for the park to go the drop tower route.

I'd miss the parachutes. I usually ride the parachutes almost every trip to the park. It seems like they are running more of the parachutes more often now too with 4 or 6 running instead of only 2 like years ago. I just wish you were up at the top for more than a few seconds before the parachute starts lowering.

Add me as another one who loves the Parachutes. They seem to be open more often and running most if not all of the parachutes. Seems to be pretty popular with the guests IMO.

Also agree about the Nitro ops. We were there 2 weeks ago. At that time they were only running 2 trains and stacking every single time. They would just saunter up to the front of the train and socialize for a few minutes before checking the train. Nitro usually has good capacity so that was very disappointing to see.

I'm another person who would not like to see the parachutes go. It's a nice, relaxing ride with a great view. My only complaint is how short the ride's duration is. Perhaps they can make the parachutes go up and down twice?

I agree about the Parachutes, me and my mom try to ride them every time we visit SFGADV and would be sad to see them go. Also, can't they just put the drop tower in the middle of the tower and keep the parachutes (like the Knott's observation tower)?

Also, can't they just put the drop tower in the middle of the tower and keep the parachutes (like the Knott's observation tower)?

Not quite an easy task. Now that the parachutes are running closer to capacity and with them still being very popular, we shouldn't even be discussing a potential departure.

/\ Not to mention that they just went through completely repainting the whole tower, though I know that type of expense hasn't stopped SFGAdv in the past, like Chiller (though I know there were plenty of other extenuating circumstances with that ride's situation).

From Screamscape:

Six Flags put out an interesting survey for SFGAdv guests asking them to vote for the best sounding name for an “Africa themed, intense thrill ride”. They were to choose from “Kimanjo, Zumanjaro, Kimondo, Kushuku, or Shango”.    This alone seems to lock in the location that the park’s next major ride will go in somewhere on the new Safari end of the park, no matter if this is the rumored freefall ride or something else entirely. As for the names… while Six Flags failed to explain what any of them meant in the survey, running the names through Google and Google Translate has yielded some interesting and even amusing results.     Kimanjo is the name of a location in Kenya.     Zumanjaro comes up with no results at all and appears to be simply made up, as if they tried to put “Zu” in font of Kilamanjaro. Sorry… as the old Disney ads used to put it, Nahtazu!    Kimondo is another province within Kenya, but also translated from Swahili as the word for a Meteor or Shooting Star in the sky.    Kushuku translates from Swahili as “Skepticism”    And finally, Shango translates from Swahili as “Chlamydia”.  Ummm… yeah… they went there. Sorry… while Six Flags may end up starting a new Meme with that one, I don’t think we’ll be riding Chlamydia: The Ride anytime soon.My vote is for Kimondo… as a shooting star is a perfect theme for a massive freefall tower I think. 

I think that the safari area would be a cool place for a new attraction, but do they really have room? The best thing I can think of for the area is to remove the stadium and put something there. There is room for a decent sized safari themed area that can hold a record breaking drop tower and even a new coaster in the future that can go out away from the park over the water.

^That survey is just a universal survey for all the parks. I took that survey for all different parks and they were all the exact same. Could be Six Flags just getting a feel for new concepts.

If they are going for a Safari theme, they could go and build an attraction near Bizzarro's entrance and expand the midway a bit, but I have little confidence in this happening. Take out the stadium? That a big people-attracter since they have some pretty big names giving concerts in there. Ripping it out would not attract as many people per season.

What I could see them doing, but would be expensive, is extend the Kingda Ka path down to the base of the top-hat, re-use the old Safari Discover Center, add a third station to the Off-Road Adventure attraction to make it more into a transportation ride and increase capacity, open up a new theme area with two or three flat rides along with the drop tower added to the ride, and open up the old Golden Kingdom path link to make it more accessible. This would cost a couple million, but it wouldn't surprise me if they are willing to sink that much into a concept like this. Then again, they could instead remove Rolling Thunder, which would scale back this.

From Screamscape:

 

Six Flags put out an interesting survey for SFGAdv guests asking them to vote for the best sounding name for an “Africa themed, intense thrill ride”. They were to choose from “Kimanjo, Zumanjaro, Kimondo, Kushuku, or Shango”.    This alone seems to lock in the location that the park’s next major ride will go in somewhere on the new Safari end of the park, no matter if this is the rumored freefall ride or something else entirely. As for the names… while Six Flags failed to explain what any of them meant in the survey, running the names through Google and Google Translate has yielded some interesting and even amusing results.     Kimanjo is the name of a location in Kenya.     Zumanjaro comes up with no results at all and appears to be simply made up, as if they tried to put “Zu” in font of Kilamanjaro. Sorry… as the old Disney ads used to put it, Nahtazu!    Kimondo is another province within Kenya, but also translated from Swahili as the word for a Meteor or Shooting Star in the sky.    Kushuku translates from Swahili as “Skepticism”    And finally, Shango translates from Swahili as “Chlamydia”.  Ummm… yeah… they went there. Sorry… while Six Flags may end up starting a new Meme with that one, I don’t think we’ll be riding Chlamydia: The Ride anytime soon.My vote is for Kimondo… as a shooting star is a perfect theme for a massive freefall tower I think. 

 

 

I think that the safari area would be a cool place for a new attraction, but do they really have room? The best thing I can think of for the area is to remove the stadium and put something there. There is room for a decent sized safari themed area that can hold a record breaking drop tower and even a new coaster in the future that can go out away from the park over the water.

I'm sorry, but there is only one thing that comes to mind for me when I think of Shango.

Anyway, I kinda hope these names are for a drop tower. Lex Luther looks pretty cool out in California, but I won't be getting out there anytime soon. A trip to NJ might be easier for me.

How bad is El Toro for overweight people? I'm overweight (for my short height.) I heard the ride is pretty horrible for overweight people. Just wanted to ask.

How bad is El Toro for overweight people? I'm overweight (for my short height.) I heard the ride is pretty horrible for overweight people. Just wanted to ask.

It's fine for overweight people, not so good for obese people.

It depends on how flexible your spare tire is and how thick your thunder thighs are. I've seen people of all sizes fit. Some bitch that they get stapled while others are happy to fit. Some people have guts that led me to believe they would never get the lap bar low enough to register, but somehow they shifted some of their folds above the lap bar. I've seen other people that don't look too big have to do the walk of shame and that's when I realized they had thighs like the Michelin Man.

It all depends on how your weight is distributed.

From Screamscape:

 

Six Flags put out an interesting survey for SFGAdv guests asking them to vote for the best sounding name for an “Africa themed, intense thrill ride”. They were to choose from “Kimanjo, Zumanjaro, Kimondo, Kushuku, or Shango”.    This alone seems to lock in the location that the park’s next major ride will go in somewhere on the new Safari end of the park, no matter if this is the rumored freefall ride or something else entirely. As for the names… while Six Flags failed to explain what any of them meant in the survey, running the names through Google and Google Translate has yielded some interesting and even amusing results.     Kimanjo is the name of a location in Kenya.     Zumanjaro comes up with no results at all and appears to be simply made up, as if they tried to put “Zu” in font of Kilamanjaro. Sorry… as the old Disney ads used to put it, Nahtazu!    Kimondo is another province within Kenya, but also translated from Swahili as the word for a Meteor or Shooting Star in the sky.    Kushuku translates from Swahili as “Skepticism”    And finally, Shango translates from Swahili as “Chlamydia”.  Ummm… yeah… they went there. Sorry… while Six Flags may end up starting a new Meme with that one, I don’t think we’ll be riding Chlamydia: The Ride anytime soon.My vote is for Kimondo… as a shooting star is a perfect theme for a massive freefall tower I think. 

 

 

I think that the safari area would be a cool place for a new attraction, but do they really have room? The best thing I can think of for the area is to remove the stadium and put something there. There is room for a decent sized safari themed area that can hold a record breaking drop tower and even a new coaster in the future that can go out away from the park over the water.

 

 

I'm sorry, but there is only one thing that comes to mind for me when I think of Shango.

[attachment=0]papashango1.jpg[/attachment]

 

Anyway, I kinda hope these names are for a drop tower. Lex Luther looks pretty cool out in California, but I won't be getting out there anytime soon. A trip to NJ might be easier for me.

Hahaha! Love that you made a Papa Shango reference in here!

Rolling Tnunder (at least the left side) has reopened to the public. I rode it last night and it rode AWESOME.

I rode it today and is running the best it has in years, but is not AWESOME. You get little pops of air and no jack hammering

How bad is El Toro for overweight people? I'm overweight (for my short height.) I heard the ride is pretty horrible for overweight people. Just wanted to ask.

As somebody already stated, it really does depends on your actual dimensions.

I use to be close to 300 pounds and somehow I still managed to ride. They needed to help me put the restraint down but I still never had a problem.

If you don't think you are going to fit, just make sure you try out the test seat before you enter the ride. As long as the green light comes on you are good to go...

Normally I just go to the park to ride El Toro. However, today I decided to head to The Safari Off Road Adventure when the park opened to check it out.

Overall I enjoyed the ride. We got very close to a lot of animals today. The tour guide was very entertaining stating fact in between ad-libbed jokes and scripted jokes. One kid on the bus asked why baboons were not part of the tour. Besides the fact that a baboons can gnaw or rip your arm off, the tour guide mentioned that he didn't think guests would like poop thrown at them. However, the ride op did hint that the park plans to incorporate the baboons into the park (not the safari) in 2014. So something may be happening in the area behind Kingda Ka (where the baboons are now housed).

The queue is well shaded, a good thing with the current heat wave.

Here's my vehicle

At times the truck uses the old paved safari road, but also does quite a bit of off-roading making the ride bumpy at times.

We are supposed to be animals but first we encountered deers and then this creature.

This poor guy was scooping up animal poop.

OK, now we're talking. I'm skipping pictures of all the lame animals.

OK, ostriches are lame, but this female was protecting her eggs. Male also watch the eggs, but we know this one is female because she has gray feathers. See I learned something today.

There are two water buffaloes in that water, they will spend practically all day in the water if given the opportunity.

White Rhinos. I already know why they are called "white" and the tour guide didn't share the info so you'll have to look it up on Google.

I used to think zebras were lame, but apparently they don't play well with others.

Hey Wes, the giraffes said hi.

At the halfway point can you disembark or return immediately. If you disembark there are two upcharge options. The Soarin Eagle zipline and the Giraffe Feed.

By the looks of it, not worth it to me.

In theory the giraffes are supposed to walk up to that platform to be fed. Even though the trainer was trying to attract the giraffes I did not see them approach the platform during the 15-20 minutes I was a Camp Aventura.

I think these are the same giant tortoises that used to be near Kingda Ka

There are other animals to see and even some animal parts.

This ostrich wouldn't move so we went further off-road to pass him.

Since lions pretty much sleep all day, I present sleeping lions in a large enclosure.

Brown bears, yeah!

And that tiger in the background is the real Kingda Ka.

Some of the Rolling Thunder trains are wrapped. Only the left side is open and it is running quite well after recent work. I rode in a non-wheel seat, pain free and with mild pops of air.