Went to Great Adventure yesterday, and to my surprise it was packed. Every major roller coaster had lines of 45 minutes, to several hours. Upon entering the park, I got FastLane passes for Batman, The Chiller, Scream Machine, and Medusa. (I didn't get one for Nitro, because it was closed at the time) Now besides the fact that I didn't have to wait in line for these four rides, my trip to Six Flags was horrible. Every flat ride that I wanted to ride was closed, Nitro was closed until late afternoon, and when it finally opened the lines were ridiculous. I haven't been to many parks in the country, so can anyone tell me if any park has as many closed
rides as Great Adventure does. It doesn't make any sense why you all want a new coaster for 2002, when they can't maintain the rides that they currently have.

Nothing kills a trip faster than crowds.........EXCEPT when you get there and find the rides closed!

I too had a miserable time at SFGadv. Just last week I was talking to a SFGadv regular who was waiting next to me in line for Batwing at SFA and I told him my wretched experience and he said that was highly typical of that park. He said the majority of the rides (flat rides) never open up till late afternoon and the area around Dino Island and GASM always looks like a bad part of Philadelphia, with stuff all closed up....looking like an unpopular boardwalk at some remote beach. As for coaster lines being rediculous, they weren't too bad when I went, 30 minutes to 2 hours (the longest being Batman and Chiller). Because of the Batman lines and Chiller lines, I spent my time on Nitro and Medusa because the high ride capacity kept the lines moving.

I truly was not impressed with this park one bit and because I thought it was so bad, I doubt I will be going back for a long time, Nitro wasn't worth that...and the price to get into that park is utterly rediculous counsidering the flat rides didn't open till around 4 PM and the coasters weren't too impressive. People that are hung up on this park being the best truly haven't been to better I think. They have a few good coasters but thats it. And thats my opinion. No Flaming Necessary.

__________________
Ich lebe deinen Traum!

I agree this park looks very run down.Evrytime i viset i never stay long then 1pm becuase after a few coasters rides and then everything else is closed or cramped with lines. ifonly more rides where open maybe it would be worth the money.If i payed full admission i would be very upset that all those rides where closed.

I couldn't have said it better myself Drachenfire

Sorry you had a bad time...Then again, I'm not really surprised. SFGAdv.'s flat rides rarely ever work, and the place gets more crowded each time I go.

The main reason why I think a new coaster would help would be that it would even out the crowds a bit more. They need something since SFGAdv. is not too far from NYC and Philadelphia...However, you're right that they need to try to maintain their flat rides a bit more. I go pretty often, and they have about half of them open usually.

Though Nitro is my number 2 or 3 coaster (Batwing at SFA gives it one heck of a run...), I think the park has a bit of work to do. The lines are not only big, but there is a lot of cutting, as well as smoking where there are signs saying no smoking. I honestly think that half the people in line for Nitro are blind, because there are lots of signs around saying "No Smoking"...They've put some guards there to make sure everything goes all right, which is a step in the right direction, but they do have a long way to go.

BTW, I went to SFA last week, and they had a lot of rides closed to. Nowhere close to SFGAdv., but a pretty big amount for a park of its size. Batwing and S:ROS made up for it though

__________________
"YOU got into Harvard Law School?!"
"Why, is that hard?"

well you guys just happened to go on bad days. i normally go on days when its raining in the morning then clears up, then theres no one there. a few times i went, i got on nitro front seat with about a 1 minute wait. you just have to go on the right days

__________________
I'm Back
I was once TN's top poster!
2007 Gadv Count: Kingda Ka-6, El Toro-6, Nitro-4, Medusa-2, S:UF-2, R:TC-1, B:TC-, GASM-0, Skull Mt-0, B:TR-0, RMT-0, RT-0

I agree with you Great Adventure King. Tell me how you can have a horrible time at one of the best theme parks in the world. What isnt there to like about six flags great adventure besides the high prices for everything? They have the greatest collecton of rollercoasters in the world ,so what could be the problem. People are just jealous because their home park is probrable six flags astroworld or knotts berry farm, who has nothing to offer.

Though I do see your point in that people could be jealous, SFGAdv. does have several major faults. Here's a list:

1. Line Cutting (In line for Nitro, at least 8 of the 15 times I've gone on, people have cut the line a lot. Though I am Very glad that they added Nitro this year, the line cutting seems to be the most on this ride. In previous years, I had only seen it a couple times in line for Medusa, which I actually went on more.)

2. Minimal Flat Ride Operation (Whenever I go, usually 1/3-1/2, sometimes even more, of the flat rides are closed. They do a pretty good job w/ coasters, but the flat rides are closed too often.)

3. Areas with Bad Odors (This may sound like a stupid problem, but it is actually quite disturbing. If you walk by "Casa De Taco" on the way to Rolling Thunder or Runaway Train/Medusa, there is a very foul stench that smells like crap.)

4. High Prices (As you mentioned, it really helps to have a season pass for parking...$10 each time if you don't. Food is kinda pricy too...Fortunately candy isn't too expensive, so I usually get that. I would never want to have any kind of meal there, though, which was not the case w/ other parks. CP, IOA, and BGW all had great food, and PKD's food didn't look too bad either. SFGAdv. had a similar case to SFA, though, so I don't really think it is a problem strictly relating to GAdv.)

Those are the major problems that I think they need to get fixed A.S.A.P. There are some other little ones too, but most people would probably get into this huge fight w/ me about being a stickler and criticizing the park too much, so I'll stop there. Whenever I go, some of these problems combine, and if it wasn't my homepark, I probably wouldn't want to go back. If I was a one time visitor, the three B&Ms wouldn't save the park from its other problems...I know it sounds awful, but that's what I think.

__________________
"YOU got into Harvard Law School?!"
"Why, is that hard?"

ok,
1) linecutting - hey its not the parks fault, its the people that come to the park

2) minimal flat rides - yes there are a lot closed but what do you need rides that get you sick for, they have great rollercoasters

3) costs - everything is very expensive, you have to do it right. i have a season pass and parking pass, i have never bought anything there, theres a mcdonalds right outside the park that if im hungry i just leave and go back.

4) smells - who cares you just walk right by

great adventure is a great park, even if you dont like the amusement park you can go to the safari, which is very cool or a great water park

__________________
I'm Back
I was once TN's top poster!
2007 Gadv Count: Kingda Ka-6, El Toro-6, Nitro-4, Medusa-2, S:UF-2, R:TC-1, B:TC-, GASM-0, Skull Mt-0, B:TR-0, RMT-0, RT-0

1) True, it's not the park's fault, and I'm glad they're fixing the problem. But they could add more security guards, and they should have done that in the first place.

2) Though I am a park regular and I sort of agree in that I mainly go for the coasters, perhaps one time visitors would greatly enjoy the flat rides. Flat rides have improved some of my park visits a lot, such as to BGW...

3) Okay, I guess you're right...$10 for parking is ridiculous though. The closest I've ever seen was at another SF (SFA)...That was $9. Most other parks have it for $6, which is reasonable. But the SF parks really like to make the prices higher.

4) Yes, but it is very disturbing...my friends and I always seem to take a huge note of that. Perhaps others don't really care about it, but I do. If SFGAdv. wants to definitely be one of the best parks in the world, I'd say they should try to be a bit cleaner.

Believe me, I'm not trying to make SFGAdv. seem horrible. It is my homepark, after all, so I do enjoy going there. I just think they can use a bit of fixing up. What can I say, I'm a natural pessimist

__________________
"YOU got into Harvard Law School?!"
"Why, is that hard?"

I been going to SFgadv for a really long time now i think i know when to go. just get over it just becuase they have a few good coaster dosent mean there the best park in the world. and this is my home park but they are not the best park in the world. and about the line cuting that is the parksfalt becuase that shouldent be all tat dose it cuase fighting and arguments over somthing that could be prevented! Sorry SFGadv is not the best park they are a good park with decent coaster but they are missing alot of key elements to a Great Park!

I never said I thought they were the best park...I went to Cedar Point and IOA, and I liked them a lot better. I think the park has a lot of potential if they fix these things up, but I don't think they are/will be the best. SFGAdv. is a good park, yes, but not the best. I agree with you on that and sorry if I made something confusing.

__________________
"YOU got into Harvard Law School?!"
"Why, is that hard?"

I haven't read all the above posts, but this is my opinion on SFGA.
I have a season pass to the place and most times I go, I'll get right inline for nitro, hit it up, and get out. I can't STAND crowds, which sucks considering I love rollercoasters, but whatever. One of the coolest things about nitro is listening to the people getting off, EVERYONE is talking about how it was! it is really cool. This year I've been to Sea world orlando, BGT, and IOA, and of course SFGA. Six Flags is my home park and I like its rides, but hate it's atmosphere....and I would be really pissed if I spent $45 for there for one day. The season pass has enabled me to look past the many problems. My Best time at SFGA was on a may tuesday when it was overcast. The park was EMPTY, I went on Nitro 4 times in a row without leaving the terminal(but had to move out of the first seat), the B:TR four times, without leaving the first seat.....LITERALLY no one came into the terminal in the time it took us to ride the coaster FOUR TIMES! it was awesome. Other than that, it is usually busy.

__________________
Your best friend is you I'm my best friend too I share the same views and hardly ever argue

It does suck when you travel all that way and the park is operating on a sub-standard day.