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Reviews: Trip Report: Six Flags Great Adventure

By goliath_sfmm

May. 27th, 2005 -- So, you want to hear about Kingda Ka, don't you? Well, you are just gonna have to wait!

I got there at around 9:30 AM. The ticket process and security process went well, and I started to get queued up at the carousel. When I got there, I thought I was pretty far back, but 15 minutes later when I looked back, the line was at the main fountain! Then at about 9:58, the rope went down. The only way I can describe it is that it was like the start of a marathon. Everyone running as fast as they could, tripping over everyone and everything. We all ran to Kingda Ka. I ran through the winding part of Kingda Ka's queue, and didn't have to go through the first two main switchback parts. Everyone had to go through the last one, though, but at that point we were still in a fast walk. I went to the right side as the guard told me to, and waited from there. 10:00 rolled by. 10:15 came and went. 10:30 blew by. 10:45 passed, with still no sign of any good things. They then told us they were having technical difficulties. I could tell it was a problem with the sled and cable, as the horn sounded, and nothing happened. They then decided, after blowing the horn three unsuccessful times, to take Blueberry Muffin off of the tracks, so the right side had only Schoolbus Badunkadunk. From what I understand, capacity doesn't do anything much differently with three trains instead of four. The first train goes out at 11:05. Four trains later, I was on Schoolbus Badunkadunk.

We roll out of the station, and I start to tune everything out, except for the ride op's ever repeating instructions, "Arms in, head back, hold on" going through my head. I look over to my left, and see a few mechanics that were working on Blueberry Muffin looking over at us. I was so tuned out that I didn't even hear the horn go off. I just waited...and waited...and suddenly, FOOM! I couldn't comprehend what had happened to me! Just as the launch starts to get unbearably fast, I tilt upwards. Up and up, and up some more, until you feel like you will fly out of the back of the seat. Suddenly, the train starts to level out. The train slows, and then the world stands still for a few milliseconds. The train starts to tilt forward, and you see the tiny little cars the size of a grain of rice (no joke). You start to think of what a great view this is, but it shall be no longer. You tilt forward more, and more, and more, gaining more and more speed along the way. Faster and faster you go, through the spiral, you are now dizzy but you don't care-and down some more. You get down to the bottom and feel a lot of g's on you. Suddenly, you are shot up again, but not at such an extreme angle. And yes, you do get some airtime on the hill (at least for me). You are then stopped by the brakes, ending your quest on a great roller coaster.
Kingda Ka-9.5/10 -- The breakdown at the beginning wasn't too fun, but the rest was just awesome.

Next, I headed over to the ride which I knew had a horrendous capacity level, Superman Ultimate Flight. They are *still* installing the canopies over the queue. It had a 45 minute wait for it, and it was nice to see KINGDA KA launching all throughout the wait. Nice ride, but I especially liked the pretzel loop.
Superman-Ultimate Flight: 9/10

After that, I headed to the all-to-famous coaster, Nitro. I was waiting in line, near the steps to the station, when they say there will be a momentary delay. I see the track coming over, and they take a train out of the storage shed. I wait to see another train going in the storage shed, but it never happened. Three train operation! Woohoo! After around a 40 minute wait, I get on, and Nitro gives an awesome ride. Positive G's, airtime, it just had everything you could possibly want. The cars are also uniquely excellent, too, being "floorless" (so to speak) and sideless.
Nitro: 10/10 Yes, I liked Nitro better than Kingda Ka, but not by much

After that it started to rain, so I got in line for the next door indoor coaster, Skull Mountain. Turns out when I got in, they told us that one of the cars wouldn't be boarded, and they started to clean up one of the seats. How do you puke on Skull Mountain? Anyway, that cut capacity in half, but thankfully they were running two trains. They started boarding that train after a few more times around, and I got on after a 30 minute wait. There wasn't anything too special here, just a good small coaster, but not too exciting.
Skull Mountain: 6.5/10

After that, I ate a way too overpriced lunch, and headed over to Medusa. Nothing wrong here. A 15 minute wait. The course here is great. I just happen to like the zero-g roll the best. Great ride on Medusa, although the ride ops were a little bit slow.
Medusa: 8.5/10

After that, I walked a looong way to get to Rolling Thunder because the bridge right next to Viper was closed off. It was racing, but it was only running two trains, or one per side. The ride ops were especially slow, but funny. After a 55 minute wait, I got on the blue train. There was a ton of people on the blue side than yellow. They ought to find a way to balance it more. Anyway, RT seemed a bit rough, but overall it was a fun ride. I was looking forward to seeing Kingda Ka launch on RT, but it seemed it had broken down earlier. By the way, I lost.
Rolling Thunder: 7/10

Next, on my way to the other side of the park, I stopped by the walk on Great American Scream Machine. The only fun part here was the drop. The rest hurt my ears a lot. This was head banging at its worst.
Great American Scream Machine: 4/10 -- 1 for the drop

After that, I walked over to the other side of the park, to Chiller, of course only operating the Robin side. A 40 minute wait. The ride op here was good. "Hey guys, can you do me a favor? Scream. (Launch)" Robin was exciting, especially going backwards. Good ride.
Robin-Chiller: 8/10

I decided to call it a day after a ride on Batman: the Ride. Nothing too special here, a 35 minute wait, for a good, forceful coaster. Dispatching was a little slow, but not out of hand. It gave a nice ride, and the entire ride was nice, especially seeing the girl next to me scared out of her wits the entire ride.
Batman the Ride: 8/10

Overall, it was a nice day. I left at around 5:15, and got 9 coasters in around 7 hours and 45 minutes. I would have had an extra hour if Kingda Ka didn't break down, but hey, that's what a new ride does. It sure was worth it, though. It seemed like KINGDA KA was down from around noon on.

The "stupid GP quote of the day"... while waiting in line for Chiller, someone was describing Stuntman's Freefall to someone else... "It drops you from like Nitro's height straight down." Wow. Just wow. I wonder if people can tell the difference between 130 and 230.

I think the rain scared some people off, which was good, but it only rained for about a 20 minute period around noon. I am hoping to get back there very soon and take another good ride on Kingda Ka, and maybe another one after that (within the same hour...yeah, right!).

P.S. Kingda Ka's train names:
Schoolbus Badunkadunk - Orange
CP Beat It - Teal
Blueberry Muffin - Dark Blue
Gak - Green

Impress all of your friends!

Edited and Posted by Steven