Three Free Hours in New Jersey = A Trip to Six Flags Great Adventure

One of my favorite perks of having a Six Flags season pass is that even the basic level of pass gets free access to every Six Flags park in the world after you’ve had the pass processed, and gold passes throw in free parking at every Six Flags.  So when my day job sent me to New Jersey last week, I viewed it as an opportunity to take advantage of this perk and spend an evening after work at Six Flags Great Adventure, conveniently about 20 minutes from where I was staying.

Great Adventure is the largest Six Flags park when you factor in the Animal safari and is home to 12 roller coasters, including several record setting and highly ranked rides.  I was lucky enough to visit once before a couple of years ago, which made me particularly excited to get a chance for a quick visit because it’s home to my (and many others’) favorite wooden coaster, El Toro, and Nitro, one of the best steel hyper coasters in the world.  Thanks to the ability to get into the park for free, it my mind it was well worth it spend an evening there just to ride those two.

Great Adventure!

Great Adventure (specifically Kingda Ka and El Toro)!

The downside of planning for three hours at Great Adventure is that the park is enormous, and Nitro and El Toro are on opposite sides, so going back and forth across it takes awhile.  The second downside is trying to figure out what else to ride, if anything.  Kingda Ka, the tallest and second-fastest coaster in the world, is the obvious choice, but when I rode it in the past I wasn’t a huge fan, I actually felt like Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point gave a better experience (not sure exactly why), so wanted to think of a third.  I decided that question didn’t have to be decided yet, though, and started with Nitro.

Nitro, weaving through the New Jersey woodlands (courtesy "Nitro coaster" by Dusso Janladde - Own work. Licensed via Wikimedia Commons)

Nitro, weaving through the New Jersey woodlands (courtesy “Nitro coaster” by Dusso Janladde, licensed via Wikimedia Commons)

The B&M hyper coaster is one of the best, as it speeds through the forest of central/southern New Jersey.  It’s one of those rides that from the top it feels like you should be able to see across the whole state, and is particularly beautiful at dusk looking over the vast New Jersey woodlands.  I decided to wait for the front row because, well, why not, I only planned to ride it once anyway (and the whole line wasn’t too bad).  It’s an awesome feeling with your feet free to stick forward and the wind rushing around you, particularly in the first drop, speeding up to 80 mph.  The layout itself isn’t anything super exciting, a more or less traditional out and back with a few turns and a helix, but it has tons of giant airtime hills and the “Hammerhead” U-turn is a fun element at the end.  It’s easy to tell why Nitro ranks so highly on most steel coaster lists.

I'm not sure why I would ride El Diablo when El Toro is across the walkway from it, but there were people in line...

I’m not sure why I would ride El Diablo when El Toro is across the walkway from it, but there were people in line for it…

Following Nitro, I made my way across the park for my favorite ride, the aforementioned El Toro.  On the way I saw the new Super Loop at Great Adventure, El Diablo.  I found it a little amusing that there were ads for the new ride all around the front of the park, seeing as the park has so many large, awesome thrill rides to offer.  But hey, new is new I guess.  The line for El Toro was similarly only about 30 minutes, and upon riding it reaffirmed itself as my favorite wooden coaster without question.

So what makes it so great?  Well, the first answer is right out of the gate.  It’s become clear to me that any coaster with a cable lift clearly gets some bonus, since Millennium Force is pretty much my favorite roller coaster and the only other cable lift ride I’ve been on. I also love the fact that you can’t really see the first drop from the line, with the descent almost completely hidden.  I remember the first time riding being totally unprepared for how steep (and fast) it is, particularly after the rapid ascent up the hill.  The layout is filled with head choppers, and the air time is amazing.  The hill right before a ground level series of zig zags in particular lifts riders out of their seats and keeps them floating, some of the best air time on any coaster I’ve ridden.  It also has one of the key features of any great coaster, the feeling that it never slows down through the ride.  There’s no drop off in the feeling of excitement as it whips through the course.

El Toro with Kingda Ka in the background

El Toro with Kingda Ka in the background.  See how the first drops steepness is so hidden?

So, of course, after riding once, I did what ever coaster lover at a park (especially a Six Flags park) should do.  I waited until most of the platform had exited and could see clearly there were several empty single seats, asked the operator if I could ride again in one of the empties, and, after a pleasant “yeah, definitely” from the ride ops, went on it again.  I can confirm it is still excellent on the second of back to back rides.

To give myself a little break, I walked out to the very edge of the park where Bizzaro, a B&M floorless formerly known as Medusa that was updated with special effects in 2009.  The coaster is really out by itself on the edge of the park (it felt like it was even further than where I had parked my car), so maybe wasn’t the best idea for a short trip, but I figured the line wouldn’t be long.  And it wasn’t, but the ride ops seemed oddly slow.  In addition, I learned (while riding) that the fire special effects normally operating weren’t on!  I don’t know if that’s a permanent thing, but I definitely wasn’t the only patron disappointed by the lack of fire (so it’s either a very recent or temporary change).  It’s a decent coaster, and I generally like B&M floorless rides, but I think Medusa at my home park (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom) is a better version, so in retrospect I probably should have headed to something else.

With a little more time before (maybe 30 minutes), I decided I may as well cap my brief East Coast visit with a couple more rides on El Toro.  Once again I was able to ride back-to-back; seriously, if you’re at a park by yourself, or see multiple empties, ask if you can ride again, the ride operators are usually happy to let you.  I figure four rides on my favorite wooden coaster, plus a solid floorless and one of my favorite hyper coasters made it well worth the drive from where I was staying.

The Super Loop does add some nice color to the area near El Toro.

The Super Loop does add some nice color to the area near El Toro.

The important take away from this experience is that if you ever find yourself somewhere new, see if there’s a nearby amusement park.  It’s an excellent way to kill a few hours on a free evening, especially if you have a season pass for another member of the park family.  All Six Flags passes get you access to all Six Flags parks, and Cedar Fair platinum pass holders get access to all Cedar Fair parks.  The other important take away is that if you ever find yourself in New Jersey, you should stop by to get a ride on El Toro and Nitro, even if you don’t have time for more (although I do think I need to get back there for at least a full day or two in the park).

Have you ever found yourself near a park you’d never been to (or been to rarely) and stopped by for just a few hours?  Let us know in the comments if you had as good an experience as I did.  Or feel free to comment on your agreement with my feelings towards El Toro.

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