We left the hotel at about 8:45. The drive was supposed to be 30 minutes, and it was just that. We entered the parking lot around 9:15, and it was quite odd. About the first five rows of the parking lot had filled up. My parents didn't feel like waiting right away, so they sent me to the gate to see if they had opened up yet. I got there, and they weren't taking tickets yet. I got back to the car and we just went to the gate because I assumed they would start opening up soon. I was correct.
We got in the gates around 9:30 and walked to the gated off midway right in front of the carousel. We had a decent position in the crowd. The plan was of course to run to Kingda Ka first thing before the lines got horrid. They opened the gates at 10:00 and we ran to the gates of Golden Kingdom. We improved our position in the crowd even more. Five minutes later those gates opened up and in a few minutes we were in the line for Ka.
Judging by how many people were in the line I thought it was going to be about an hour wait especially since it took them 'til about 10:15 to launch the first train. We got up to the station rather quickly, the side of the station closest to the parking lot, and the first one up on that side. My dad and I filled in an empty que for a row as most of the line waited for the front seat. I had already decided to decline on waiting for the front considering the wait and it would have just made my eyes water up.
A few trains were launched and then operations stopped for some technical difficulties. About 8 minutes later trains started launching again. We got on the ride, the third to last seat I believe. So, we slowly creep to the launching area. A quick spiel is said to keep your head back and you're was off. The launch was insane but right before you hit the incline it the launch seemed to 'let go'. At the top all I could do was say "Holy S***!" and looked to my left to the park. Some airtime was had, and then you went back down. The airtime hill tightened the restraint up a good amount so I was thankful when we entered the station immediately.
I would say Kingda Ka was a very good ride but I'm not sure if it would even rank in my top ten. Considering my favorite coaster is The Beast, I love long rides and Ka is obviously just too short. The wait time was probably 20 minutes, a huge accomplishment.
Back on track for this TR, no more in depth ride reviews
. As planned we headed to the opposite side of the park to The Chiller. The Batman side was closed as expected to which I was a bit disappointed because I have never experienced an inverted top hat. The wait for Robin was about 20 minutes and the ride ops were very quick. Robin was an intense ride, especially the backwards inline twist. Robin was an average ride.
We continued down the midway to BTR. My whole family (Dad and Mom) decided to ride, even though I warned them I would be intense. We waited about 10 minutes. We rode somewhere in the middle, and it was an awesome ride, but not for my mother. After the ride my mom felt sick so she sat on a bench with my dad to recover while I went to ride Nitro.
Since I knew how B&M Speed Coasters went (Bull in particular) I rode in the backseat after a 20 minute wait for the most airtime. My lapbar was probably one notch or so away from stapling me so I was surprised when Nitro gave me some insane airtime. My feet were flying up and I put them down sometimes cos it was one of those instances were the airtime was so much I almost didn't feel safe. Bull does have a more interesting layout and the figure 8 is much more intense than the Nitro helix. But Bull's airtime pales in comparison to Nitro's. Since I have now ridden all the B&M speed coasters in America I feel like rating them: Apollo>Nitro=Bull
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Onto Skull Mountain to get some coaster cred. 15 minute wait. The train stopped about 5 times going up the first part of the lift hill. Overall, Skull Mountain is a solid ride but if you take away it being in the dark it probably would lose most of its appeal.
We ate at Wok and Roll, right next to Skull Mountain, after my ride. The food was decent, not much else to say here. Since the Sky Ride was closed we walked to the opposite side of the park to ride Medusa and Runaway Mine Train. I walked to Medusa first, to find an unfortunate 30 minute wait. I sat near the back of the train. I wouldn't say I was disappointed with Medusa but it really wasn't much. I would rather have had it be a sit down (like Kumba). BTR your feet obviously dangle, Nitro your feet can't touch the floor and so Medusa was a bit repetitive in my opinion. It was my first floorless and it was decent but nothing that would make me go crazy over a new floorless with an as unoriginal layout as Medusa has.
I walked to Runaway Mine Train to pick up some more coaster cred. 10 minute wait time. I about 5'10" and these trains were uncomfortable for even me. I didn't like this ride that much, and on top of that when the train got to the station I had a brain cramp and couldn't undo the seat belt for a good amount of time
. Anyway I went on to meet my parents.
My parents had a plan to have me ride some more rides and then go to the Jackson Outlet Mall for a couple hours then come back to the park so I could ride coasters at night (which has been hard to come by for me considering the distance I live from parks). So I decided to ride Rolling Thunder and GASM, then leave.
Rolling Thunder was probably one of the oddest experiences I have had waiting/on a roller coaster. We walk up to the station, which was full. It was almost completely silent. The ride ops were very slow and the op with the mic unethusiastically would say "...have fun on the one and only Rolling Thunder..." It sounds like I'm complaining but I actually found it all quite funny. The lap bar was a single lap bar that just came down to a certain point, and seat belt. So I was expecting major airtime. The ride was a bit rough and there was some airtime but the abrupt break run ruined some of the ride. Definitely not the best woodie I had ridden but hey, it kills Son of Beast
We walked to the Boardwalk to ride Great American Scream Machine, or to those who don't know, a clone of Shockwave. I actually have never ridden Shockwave so I was excited to finally ride the ride (or atleast a clone) of a ride that has caused so much praise and scrutiny. The ride broke down for about 15 minutes while I was in line. The total wait time was probably 30 minutes. I rode in the middle and expected some bad headbanging.
The view when you dip over the lift hill was awesome and the headbanging was minimal. I was very impressed with this ride and I cannot understand why so many people hate it (and Shockwave). GASM might be smoother (I'll leave that to someone who has ridden both to confirm) but all things aside, GASM was one of the best, maybe the best, rides at GAdv.
Left the park around 3:30 and drove over I-195 to Jackson Outlet Malls. I got some clothes...yea you don't want to hear about that. Anyway we came back around 6:00.
Upon re-entry to the park I noticed the Sky Ride was working. So I decided to go to Nitro and then ride Sky Ride to Medusa, walk to S:UF and maybe get a re-ride on GASM. The plan didn't work so well.
. When I walked up to Nitro's que it was looking like a 30-40 minute wait, so I decided to ride BTR thinking Nitro's line would shorten.
I rode BTR in the backseat after a 15 minute wait. Very intense ride. BTR just keeps getting better the more I ride it. I met up with my parents and we rode Sky Ride to the other side of the park. I checked the line on Medusa and it also had a quite long line. We walked to the Boardwalk to ride S:UF and get my cred.
S:UF was broke down when we walked into the que and plenty of people were walking out of the line. One guy said "It's stuck" which made me chuckle cos there was a train on the brake run and in the station. The wait was about 35 minutes total and by the time my dad and I rode it was dark. The pretzel loop is still good and the rest of the ride was solid. I just hate waiting on the break run for this ride.
I walked over to GASM and upon entering the que I saw the station was completely empty. I got in line for the front seat and sat down after a one train wait. When I sat down the two ride ops starting laughing at me--there was no one on the train but me. There was a lady and two girls waiting for the front seat also and the ride ops told them to be nice and ride with me. I didn't mind at first but they were a bit obnoxious. Anyway GASM was even better in the front seat at dark.
After GASM, I really wanted to ride Nitro and leave but my parents were completely spent; we left then. A great, full day at Six Flags. I was really lucky to have Ka open just a few days before I went and most of the rides were as good as I expected. Sorry in advance about any mistakes and about the length of the TR but please leave comments or questions!
. My jaw dropped when I read what you said about Bull's figure 8 being more intense than Nitros helix. Bulls figure 8 sucks to me. Its not intense AT ALL in my opinion. The MCBR really kills it now thesedays. On Nitro's helix, I almost blacked out all 11 times I went on it. It was REALLY intense. I have ridden all the US B&M speed coasters also. I rank Nitro>Chariot>Bull. Bull felt really weak yesterday (I think the trims were worse than usual) after having been on Nitro recently. I think I liked Medusa more than you did. Im 6'2" so I barely fit into Runaway Mine Trains train. The final drop was painful. in my opinion Rolling Thunder is the worse Wooden Coaster I have ever been on. And GASM being the best coaster? WOW. I would rank it behind Nitro, BTR, Chiller, Medusa, KK, and SUF. I just didnt like it alot because the roughness really hurt my shoulders. Im tall so those Arrow trains really kill my shoulders. I rode Demon in the back row of a car yesterday. OUCH. I couldnt wait to get off. Even in the front of a car the pain is still bad, but your 5'10" so I can see your love for the ride.
