Six Flags Great Adventure - December 17, 2022

After an illustrious 2022 which saw me conquer my fear of roller coasters and ride everything I possibly could, my wife and I had to use our 2022 Gold Passes one last time before they expired. Our last trip to Great Adventure was on a Saturday during Fright Fest and it was possibly the worst amusement park trip I'd ever been on - gigantic rowdy crowds, rides closed throughout the day, and a general sense of the park just being run down and poorly maintained. I wasn't expecting a much better experience for Holiday in the Park, but figured we had to get the most out of these passes before Selim pries them from our cold dead hands.

Normally I'd start my trip report with rides and move onto the park experience, but the park experience is what really surprised me about HitP, so I'll start there.

• Atmosphere - The Christmas decorations, lights, shows, events, etc were all really nicely done IMO. Not Disney or Universal levels of luxurious, but a nice touch. The increased lighting in the park was GREAT btw. I wish Great Adventure was always this brightly lit at night. It's what separates a fun, jovial amusement park atmosphere (a la Hersheypark) from a more intimidating, chaotic one (typical SFGAdv summer night/Fright Fest).
• Food - The food options seem to be improving quite a bit. A little too expensive across the park. They're charging $5 per s'more... That's $5 for two pieces of graham cracker, a piece of chocolate, and a marshmallow that you roast and assemble yourself. The s'more stations were very popular throughout the day though.
• Ops - Staff in general was a mixed bag. Some were way nicer and happier than the usual, while others were donning the typical trademark Six Flags Thousand Yard Stare.
• Low Crowds - Crowd levels were very light throughout the day, increasing into the night, but it seems most people there were families looking to see the lights, shows, or go on some of the flat rides. Coaster lines were virtually nonexistent all day, with almost all of our rides being walk-ons.
• Not Far from Excellence - A fresh coat of paint, some planters, and some mild TLC would really elevate the park experience here. As it is, the Six Flags jank is still too apparent, especially from the Ferris Wheel and the Skyway. The ride lineup is first rate, and allegedly improving with the addition of a B&M giga in 2024. The theming and maintenance around the Jersey Devil and Medusa areas are great. The rest of the park could be just like it. The other SF parks I've seen this year (SFA and SFNE) are nicer in appearance, but they have less to offer in terms of rides.

It's all down to the theming and crowd levels. This is closer to what I think a possible "premiumized" Six Flags experience could look like but it's still not there. And we haven't renewed passes for next year, because the main selling points for the $80 2022 Gold Pass were all-parks admission and free parking. I couldn't care less about the side discounts or cabana rentals or whatever. Just let me in the parks!

Now onto the coasters, in order:

• Batman: The Ride - One of seven cloned B&M inverts found at different Six Flags parks. We rode this twice, once from the third row and once in the very back. From the third row, it's a good ride with tight inversions and a cool first drop. From the back, this thing desperately tries to whip you off through each twist and corkscrew. The two loops are great too. B&M inverts are such solid rides! Jersey Devil and Nitro were closed at this point (Nitro for a couple of hours and Jersey Devil until around 6pm) so we hit the indoor coasters next.
• The Dark Knight Coaster - The standard Wild Mouse layout, but in the dark with Batman theming. A walk-on. Fine if the wait isn't too long.
• Skull Mountain - Indoor Intamin with an iconic exterior. The ride is very boring towards the front of the train, but there is great ejector airtime and laterals from the back of the train. Go for the back car!
• Superman: Ultimate Flight - With Nitro, JDC, and now Joker temporarily closed, we made our way to the far side of the park to hit Superman. This B&M flyer is a decent ride with an unnerving hanging sensation, but the pretzel loop is the signature element here. This gets a ton of riders, I think because of the unique flying aspect and because it's adjacent to the parking lot. You almost have to walk by it on the way in.
• Nitro - Finally opened for the day, and we walked right onto the back row. This thing is an airtime MONSTER from the back row and I loved every second of it. You get whipped over the first drop, and after that you get great flojector on every hill. The big camelbacks are great, but the bunny hills at the end are really impressive too. This is supposed to be getting a repaint and rumored retheme to Goliath. A shame, because the current blue/yellow/purple color scheme is awesome.
• The Joker - The same S&S Freespin found at SFGAm, SFOT, and SFNE. A good ride but barely a coaster in the ride experience. More of an intense flat. That being said, it was a total walk-on last night, and almost any ride is worth it if you don't have to wait. During peak season, this ride often sports 90 minute waits. One distinction on the SFGAdv version compared to SFNE: SFGAdv's cars start swinging wildly halfway up the lift, while SFNE's don't start spinning until you get off the lift.
• Jersey Devil Coaster - As we made our way back to Nitro and figured we'd be wrapping up the day with another ride on that and Batman, we heard the lift hill to Jersey Devil pop on and a train going over the lift. We got in line with about 15 other people and waited 15-20 minutes for them to finally open the ride. I hit this one twice, once from mid-train and once from the front. Because of its unique continuous-loading train through the station, it's almost impossible to get your desired car on this ride (for me that'd be the backseat). This rode a lot better last night than it did during Fright Fest, when it was rather rattley and underwhelming. Last night felt fast, quick, and smooth, with a great sense of speed, and fantastic hangtime and airtime moments. Between this and Wicked Cyclone, though, I prefer Wicked Cyclone.
• Medusa, Kingda Ka, Runaway Mine Train - B&M floorless, Intamin strata, and Arrow mine train that are closed for the season in a section of the park that is completely blocked off. I understand not being able to run Ka in the cold, but Medusa and Mine Train are great rides that I missed.
• Green Lantern - B&M standup that abruptly closed for the season a few weeks ago. Nobody seems to have any idea why, and I didn't ask about it yesterday. Still have not had the opportunity to ride this one, but my wife has described it as crotch punishment.
• El Toro - Intamin prefab woodie that has now become infamous for maintenance issues and maiming riders, not unlike Son of Beast. From the Skyway, you can see the work being done on this. There are several sections of fresh track laid down and other sections of the ride that are currently without track (most obviously the bottom of the first drop). I hope that Six Flags is doing this the right way, because another bandaid fix isn't going to cut it. If Six Flags really wants to keep El Toro alive, it might need the Colossos treatment. Or maybe 208 ReTraK?

And some flats:

• Carousel - Well decorated for Christmas. Nice antique Carousel that would be weclome in any park.
• Tea Cups - The same Zamperla Tea Cups you find anywhere, but mildly decorated for Christmas with a gingerbread man theme.
• SkyScreamer - I don't do this one, but my wife said the cold temperatures made it pretty unpleasant.
• Swashbuckler - A vintage roundup/spinner ride with AWESOME old-school carnival lights at night. I wish the whole park could look like this in the dark!
• Skyway - Operating as a round-trip ride with the far section of the park closed. At night, a good opportunity to see all the lights and rides. During the day, the best view of El Toro from the sky.
• Parachute Training Center - Unique, gentle Intamin parachute ride that drops 23 stories. Fun little thing, and I don't think there's many of these left. An iconic part of the Great Adventure skyline.
• Ferris Wheel - Big beauty of a Ferris Wheel that gives a nice view of the main drag of the park.

So I may not be renewing my Six Flags pass for 2023. But Holiday in the Park was a really nice way to end the year, and perhaps the only time I've left a Six Flags park this year not feeling some level of frustrated by crowd levels or unexpected ride closures. I'd be willing to come back during early season (April/May weekday) or for Holiday in the Park, but I'd rather do anything else than come back for Fright Fest or a summer weekend.

TL;DR:

• A coaster lineup that can hang with almost any other amusement park in the country.
• A decent collection of flats, though SFGAdv used to be better in this respect (in my lifetime I recall the removal of a Chance Trabant, Chance Chaos, old-fashioned Rotor, HUSS Breakdance, Shoot the Chutes, another flume ride, Schwarzkopf Enterprise, first-gen Intamin freefall, Wave Swinger, looping pirate ship, music express, and looping Fireball ride, without any real good equivalents replacing them).
• I often think about the "peak" of Great Adventure, as a park that has undergone several identity changes since its establishment in 1974. To me, the peak is 2006-2007, with many of its old flats still intact, but with Kingda Ka, El Toro, Nitro, Medusa, Batman, Superman, Skull Mountain, Mine Train, the Chiller, Great American Scream Machine, and Rolling Thunder ALL coexisting in the same park. Rolling Thunder never got a real replacement, a classic Arrow Looper GASM got replaced by the maligned Green Lantern, and the poorly executed thrill ride Chiller was replaced with a Wild Mouse.
• The park is in need of some beautification and cleaning. The Holiday in the Park event theming is almost enough, to be honest. And I'll always go for prettier ride lights.
• 2022 was a massive year for me. I finally gained my sea legs. I went on all the coasters I've ever been afraid of and then some. And now I'm planning vacations around riding more. I went from white knuckling a 70 foot vintage woodie in July to marathoning hypers and chomping at the bit for another shot at Kingda Ka. I am immensely proud of myself for getting over this year and so happy I discovered a new interest. I'm just sad that it only just happened in my late 20s.
• Big plans for next year: A few trips to Hershey, a potential Cedar Point/Kings Island/Kennywood/Knoebels megatrip, a potential Carowinds/BGW/Kings Dominion megatrip, and maybe a visit to SFGAdv during a slow month.