Thoughts on Great Adventure

[Oldiesmann]

After two days at Great Adventure, I wanted to post my thoughts on the park. It was my first visit to any Six Flags branded park, so I didn't know what to expect.

It's a really odd park. Once you turn into the park it's a good 5 minute drive winding around the huge property before you get to the parking tolls. The water park is completely separate, to the point where you turn off for that before you get to the parking tolls for the regular park (they have a free shuttle to get you between parks, but you have to leave the main park and walk a bit to get to the stop).

The good thing is it's a nice clean park and, for the most part, very well run. They have an impressive collection of coasters (S&S 4D free spin, indoor Mack wild mouse, 5 B&Ms (hyper, standup, floorless, inverted and flying), the two famous ones (El Toro and Kingda Ka), an indoor dark ride/coaster combo (Skull Mountain), a kids coaster and a 50-year-old Arrow runaway mine train). It also has a nice selection of flat rides (carousel, bumper cars, swinging ship, etc). Staff was friendly, security was around the few rides where absolutely no loose articles are permitted to help enforce the policy, etc. Security at the entrance was excellent as well - they have metal detectors similar to the tall open ones KI has, but someone is monitoring them and you might get sent to secondary screening. If you do, you put your phone, keys, wallet and bags in a tray, and everything is sent through an airport style x-ray screener.

However, the layout of the park is just odd, and it seems at times they couldn't decide what to do with it - there's a Boardwalk section with games, boardwalk-style buildings, a frontier area, a couple of DC themed areas (Metropolis, which is where the two new rides will be, plus another area with two Batman themed rides), two restaurants that look like they're straight out of a fairy tale (and both the carousel and bumper car buildings match), then random rides scattered about. There are two kids areas, which seemed nice. The swinging ship in particular confused me. It's the same model as Viking Fury, but the ride cycle is so short it's barely enjoyable (ride lasts 90 seconds at most). Then there are the SBNO rides. They're working on renovating some classic rides for the 50th anniversary this year, but none of them were ready yet (though it appears the giant wheel will be open soon - a sign nearby says they're waiting on the state to finish certifying it). There was no sign of any progress at the sky ride or log flume, nor at the site of the new coaster and flat ride which are still being advertised as "opening in summer 2024". Twister, their HUSS Top Spin, was SBNO both days, with no sign explaining why (though I wouldn't have been able to ride it anyway as a sign at the ride says they don't allow sandals or any other open toed shoes). Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth (similar to Delirium) is closed for manufacturer required maintenance. Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom is closed for the same reason and so they can get the state to certify it again. There's also a large empty structure near El Toro that appears to have been a stadium of some sort at one time.

The prices seemed to be on par with typical amusement park prices, though there's that famous "surcharge" they add on to every purchase ($1.30 to combat rising costs supposedly).

Overall I had a great time (not a bad coaster in the park - I'd even venture to say that Batman: The Ride is better than Banshee), but it just seemed a bit neglected, and navigating the park was challenging at times (the navigation feature in the app is all but useless). I didn't venture over to Hurricane Harbor or do the safari (it was closed today and I was focused on getting coaster credits yesterday, especially after a storm rolled through and shut down rides for a good hour due to lightning in the area after the storm passed), so I can't comment on that part. The park could be a lot better if Six Flags put more effort into it. I was particularly surprised that the new rides for 2024 weren't even open yet (and they still have a construction fence around them).