Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 7/11/2005 7:08:37 PM
Dear Diary,
Oh. My. God. 7:00 a.m. is just an ungodly hour after one week on the road. And it doesn't help that my room at the Fairfield Inn is positioned right against the ice machine, which fills and empties and crunches and bangs every 5 minutes whether being used or not. Consquently I got no sleep at all last night, and today I am feeling the urge to rip the head off of the first person who speaks to me.
So, I started out on the turnpike actually doing the speed limit. After about 5 minutes I realized that it was much safer to drive at 85 miles an hour. 2 drivers almost slammed into the back of my car! I was scared. My dodge neon rental car was a death trap! I made great time, the traffic was relatively light, and I was enjoying myself. So, I got off, and pulled up to a stop light, right next to the guy who almost killed me. He gave me the bird and did an lim launch to about 60 in a second! On the way to gadv I noticed a few signs for kingda ka. I pulled in and paid 9 bucks for parking. (that's what I think it was at least) I headed up to the entrance. It was 9:45, so I looked at kingda ka looming over the rest of the park, and the angry customers yelling about kingda ka. There was 1 man in particular who looked really upset. The customer service rep said that the ride was having a problem launching. The guy then shouted, "Why don't you fix it then!" So, I checked out the ride listings and saw that chiller and kk would be closed for the day. No real surprises there! I then headed to the entrance.
It was 9:57 when they opened up the gates but we had to watch the looney toons do a dance do six flags' theme song. Once the gates opened I ran to nitro. Well, I waited 10 minutes for the front seat. Nitro is fantastic. I like the weird turns and the more challenging lines of the track. The airtime on it is fantastic, and rivals only apollo for airtime. Surprisingly, the queue time throughout the whole day was very short. The longest I waited was 30 minutes. They had 2 trains running and they weren't stacking them either! If they had added another train there wouldn't have been a wait at all. Another thing about this ride that I loved was how smooth it was. This is what every coaster should be like. Silky smooth and a pleasure to ride.
After nitro I rode Batman the ride and waited about 20 minutes for the 4th row. Batman was good, and seemed a bit smoother then last time. Maybe the new paint job helped.
After that I headed to skull mountain. I LOVED the design of this thing. The waterfall through the skull is just so cool. If I were a kid I would enter this ride very afraid, and come out a coaster enthusiast in the making. I rode in the back and enjoyed myself. The first drop was good and the rest of the ride was fun and even had some airtime. This ride would have been horrible if it didn't take place in complete darkness.
After that I took the skyway over to medusa!! Medusa was good, however it seems to be aging poorly. I still liked medusa though. I waited 35 minutes for the 3rd row. Out of three of the four floorless versions I've ridden, I think I like this Medusa best. It has some of the intensity of the one in SFWOA, but I like the cobra roll better than Marine World's Sea Serpent element. I'm confused, I really liked it but I can't get my feelings out. I had fun on medusa and took a ride on the mine train. I loved this area of the park. It had a BIG feeling to it, much like the good old west. And the Mine Train at Great Adventure is awesome! It is second only to my namesake, SFOT's Runaway Mine Train. As we entered the helix our train inadvertently chased a mallard, which skimmed along the lake and flew *inches* in front of our train for the longest time!
I walked over to Viper, which was closed, just to see what it looked it like. Well, all I saw was some footers and a few bits of metal. Rust in peace viper!
After that I walked around the golden kingdom, looking at the animals and staring at kk.
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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7/11/2005 8:05:34 PM
Nice to hear someone giving props to the ride ops at GAdv. Everyone seems to put them down and only remember the bad experiances, but the ops are actually very friendly and efficant, and have been getting better for the last few years.
Glad you had a great day. Which side of RT did you ride? Was it racing?
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My Track Record
Penncoasters.com
Coaster Events Page Updated 6/16/05
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skierman
Posts: 2328
Registered: 4/8/2004
Rank: Snow Rider
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7/11/2005 9:56:20 PM
Im guessing he rode the right side... Since thats the side thats mainly open.
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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7/11/2005 10:10:39 PM
When was your last visit to the park? Actually, they have been running both sides this year, and racing very often. The right side is not running nearly as well as the left side though, which after the winter retracking has been just plain awesome. That is why I was wondering which side he rode.
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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7/11/2005 11:28:52 PM
Both sides of rt were open. They only ran one train one each track, but since both sides were running the wait was short...
The ride ops tried to race it but the right side always left a few seconds earlier then the left. So right always won. 
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Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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7/12/2005 10:55:01 AM
I love the ride ops at Great Adventure. Going to Dorney makes me miss them. They ad an element of fun to the experience of the day there in Jackson.
I find it funny that you left happy, but were sick and headbanged out of your mind 
I find it interesting that the monkeys were out and running about. I thought they were caged in a couple years ago?
Medusa does seem to be aging. It is really sad.
Nice report.
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coasterSS
Posts: 3249
Registered: 10/1/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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7/12/2005 11:09:56 AM
Great Trip Report Scott, can't wait to see your others!!
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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7/14/2005 9:09:33 PM
Quote:
I find it funny that you left happy, but were sick and headbanged out of your mind |
Well, maybe I didn't leave happy. I didn't feel very well, but I had a great day. That made up for it.
Quote:
I find it interesting that the monkeys were out and running about. I thought they were caged in a couple years ago?
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I was surprised too. I had asked at the front of the theme park and they said they were caged in. When I saw the monkeys running around, I asked a worker what they were doing. He said that the park will let the monkeys out every so often for a bit more excersise. I felt extremely lucky. He said that they did it today because the crowds were very light. I'm lucky.  He also said it was a huge hastle to get the monkeys back in their cage!
Message updated 7/14/2005 9:10:19 PM by Scott
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