Six Flags Great Adventure

[rikibeth]

melovechocolate and I should have started out earlier in the day. We hit traffic on the NJ Turnpike that really wasn't much fun. However, I kept myself at least moderately entertained by looking at all the motorcycles that were out. Next time, I might just go by back roads -- 206 would get me most of the way there, and I wouldn't be sitting in traffic.

While season passes are good at every park, PARKING passes are one park only. I decided it was worth the extra $5 for "preferred" parking, because I knew it was going to be a long day. I hadn't packed a swimsuit, so we were JUST there for the theme park, not the water park, and that was plenty.


Since Batman: The Dark Night is our favorite ride at Six Flags New England, we decided to make Batman: The Ride our first ride at Great Adventure. They're very similar in terms of drops and loops and turns, but the one at Great Adventure is a suspended coaster, which is pretty cool. Not the first suspended coaster I've ever ridden -- but it's a lot SMOOTHER than the New England Mind Eraser. melovechocolate liked it so much, we rode it twice.

The next one we lined up for was Batman & Robin: The Chiller. However, first it got shut due to thunderclouds overhead, and then when that was past they were having "technical difficulties," so we bailed, and did not wind up going back to it. "Technical difficulties" are never reassuring! I wanted to try Nitro, but melovechocolate was highly opposed. She said it looked WORSE than Superman: Ride of Steel, which we've pretty much been too scared to try at New England. The stats say she may be right, although the real dealbreaker for me is the PITCH of the initial drop -- Nitro looked fractionally less steep to me. I dunno. Maybe next time we go to New England, we'll go straight from Batman to Superman, because we're both always bravest right after the Batman rush. What we did instead, because we were right there, was Skull Mountain. Which is an easy, baby coaster -- it felt to me like Poison Ivy's Tangled Train -- but it was all inside, in the dark. Cute.

We were both all psyched for Superman: Ultimate Flight, but that was way on the other side of the park, so on our way there, we went on -- oh, I can't remember what they call it there, and the ride list is not helping -- the one that came with the traveling carnival every year when I was a kid was called the Round-Up. You know it -- a centrifuge that tilts. No floor drop. Pretty basic, but fun, and no line. The Buccaneer was right across from that, and although I don't enjoy it at all, melovechocolate does, so I said I'd wait for her. This turned out to be a huge bonus, because she met another girl her age on the ride, who was there with her dad and her spoilsport little brother, so what happened for the rest of the day is that I went on the cool rides with melovechocolate and Victoria, while her dad fed her little brother snacks and waited. He was very grateful that at least Victoria got to go on cool rides. We took the skyway across the park, waited in a LONG line for the Saw Mill Log Flume, where melovechocolate and Victoria exchanged life stories and I amused myself by text messaging fashion-spotter notes to eternaleponine. There was the girl in the black Converse with checkered laces and a The Used tank top, the two girls in "American Idiot" t-shirts that were not actual tour shirts, and an especially noteworthy pair of pinstriped Converse with one checkered shoelace and one multi-skull shoelace -- which amused me because those two designs are sold packaged together at Hot Topic. (Confession: yes, I own them too. Actually, I bought them because I knew kalessin wanted the checkered laces for his old, beat-up 8-eye Docs, so I gave those to him and kept the skulls. I was using them in my black Converse but I swapped them out to spiderwebs this weekend, since I thought the spiderwebs were more mom- and grandmother-friendly. Yes, I am a dork.) There were also a lot of Underoath t-shirts -- I saw at least three. For the record: ewww. Underoath, I am told, is "screamo" -- which to me translates as Nasty Horrid Noise. Kids These Days. Anyway, the log flume was fun, but I could have done with a shorter wait. We would have done the Runaway Mine Train, since even Victoria's little brother liked it, but it was closed. We were very disappointed that El Toro was not yet open --a new wooden coaster with VERY banked turns, and a steeper drop than I thought possible in wooden construction, wow! -- and finally made our way over to the Superman.

The line for that one was also annoyingly long, but it was made more pleasant for me because of Adam and Mackenzie, who were standing right in front of me, and I struck up a conversation with them because Adam was wearing a Toasters t-shirt. Mackenzie said something about being the oldest ones at the show when they saw them at The Knitting Factory, and I said how well I knew that feeling and started telling her about the Horrorpops show last month, and we were off and running, including a few choruses of the "When We Were Your Age, We Didn't HAVE Hot Topic" Massacree Movement. Her contribution was that they didn't MAKE "arm-warmers," you did them yourself, cutting up fishnets that you'd stocked up on at the post-Halloween sales, and pulling the panty part down over your chest to anchor them in place.

The ride itself was FANTASTIC. melovechocolate was looking forward to it, having heard in great detail from lordavon how utterly cool it was, but Victoria was a little nervous, since she'd never even done any upside-down coasters before. Luckily there was a boy their age in line ahead of us who reassured them that it was EASY. Well... I'd have to say ALMOST easy. They put you in one of the standard shoulder-harness chairs, but with additional leg restraints, and then they take the bottom of the seat and pull it up and back, so you're lying prone -- FLYING LIKE SUPERMAN. Woo-hoo! The "almost" part comes in at the dive into the first straight loop. Diving face forward into a loop is a little hairy. The twists and the banks, though? Wow.

Victoria had to leave soon after that, so we couldn't do more coasters with her, but there was time for her to go on the parachute drop with melovechocolate, which was great for them, because that's another one I don't really enjoy (although I went on one at Knotts' Berry Farm when I was seven and liked it, and my dad gritted his teeth and suffered through it with me, because he feels the same way about vertical drops that I do now). Then Victoria went home (her dad is supposed to e-mail me some pictures he took of them) and melovechocolate and I grabbed a couple more coasters. First the Great American Scream Machine, which had excellent loops, but the same problem as the Mind Eraser in that it whipped your head around side-to-side much more than was comfortable. Headrests would improve it a lot. There was a sign that suggested removing earrings. Mine were okay... but I was VERY glad I didn't have any cartilage piercings.

The final one we went on was the Medusa. This one REALLY felt like New England's Batman. Same floor dropping out from below the seats, same twist in the initial drop... the stats aren't exactly the same, and the track pattern's not identical, but the experience is as close as makes no difference. Good times. We made sure to get the front row.


By then it was approaching 7 PM, and just as I was about to call immlass to make dinner plans, I got a voicemail from mcroft, asking me to give a call because wasn't it dinnertime? We ran through the list of ethnic options, and didn't get to a firm conclusion, so we decided it was best if I drove out to their place and we figured it out from there. Found it, no trouble, got to meet their three lovely cats, and wound up going to Chili's, where good conversation and a decent meal was had by all. Thank you, you two. la_directora wasn't well enough to join us, which was a pity, but there will be other times.

Went home 206 all the way, which was really pretty simple. Got in at 11. My parents were still up waiting for us, which I didn't really expect, but they were glad to know we made it home safe.

Today is going to be the family barbecue, and tomorrow we drive home.

Comments

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

You totally need to do Superman: Ride of Steel. Yeah, the first hill is a doozy, but it's AMAZING. I love the roller coaster so much.

I'm really sorry I couldn't meet you last night, but given how awful last night and this morning were, it's all for the best. Though I'm even a bit more disappointed knowing that you went to Chili's. I LOVE Chili's, and I never get to go there these days, since they aren't in the city. *pout*

If I make it up to Connecticut again this summer, perhaps we can plan a trip to Six Flags New England.

[cherrybutterfly.livejournal.com]

I would so like to hang. I have NEVER rode a roller coaster though..but I am willing to give it a shot...*hugs*

Nice to see you Wednesday!

[lordavon.livejournal.com]

If you can do the drop coasters, ride of steel is *nothing*.

Pick me a day on the 12-15th, preferrably not the 14th, and we can go to Six Flags NE. :) And I'll hold both your hands to get you on it if need be. And I won't even make you ride in the front row. (Love the front row.)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Here's the thing. I LOVE loops and banked turns. Steep not-banked drops with big air? Not so much! There's one drop on the Cyclone that has me gritting my teeth, and the initial drop on the Flashback, before it gets to the loops, is absolutely the worst part of it. I don't even like the Buzz Saw.

YOU went on the Vomit Comet at Space Camp and loved it. You are NOT a reliable predictor of MY stomach.

If you get me brave enough, though, I might. Must ask for day off (thinking the Tuesday). Do you want to do the water park as well?

[lordavon.livejournal.com]

Actually, they don't have a vomit comet at Space Camp -- at least, they didn't then.

But I do understand. I was nervy about the upside down thing forever, til I did it.

[lordavon.livejournal.com]

I'm just as happy just doing the main park. Tuesday sounds excellent. :)