Six Flags New England: The Good, The Bad and The Meh

Six Flags New England, the “Thrill Capital of New England,” on a not-quite-summer day seemed like it would be a treat, given how most of the general public haven’t found their way to the parks yet. I knew what I was getting myself into having visited this park a number of years ago.

In my eyes, Six Flags New England stood in middle ground in the company’s regional parks, between Six Flags Great Adventure and Great Escape. I entered the gates beneath the Faneuil Hall-inspired entrance and started my day inside a fairly quiet park.

My first impression after entering the gate was that the park looked great. The midway was pleasant with small food stands and shops with Scream towering over in the background. What really caught my eye was the building inspired by Cape Cod fishing towns in the North End section of the park.

I could see that Six Flags wanted to highlight the unique architecture of New England. The rest of the park’s theme? It might as well be called Six Flags DC Universe. I’ll get back to that later.

My first ride of the day was a new-for-me coaster credit, Rocky Mountain Construction’s (RMC) Wicked Cyclone, and it was wicked awesome. This crazy coaster packed an unbelievable number of elements into such a small footprint. The lateral ejector airtime I experienced on my multiple rides in the last car was unlike that of any other coaster I’ve ridden. This was such a fun and thrilling ride that it kept me rushing back for more.

I can’t say I liked Wicked Cyclone more than Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion, the only other RMC wood/steel hybrid coaster I’ve ridden, but it was still an amazing ride nonetheless.

I wanted to love Superman: The Ride just as much as I did when it was rethemed as Bizarro almost a decade ago. I heard that this Intamin hyper coaster was given new wheels after hearing some non-raving reviews from its cycles in the past few seasons, but honestly, it seemed a bit rough to me.

What I remembered as an airtime machine with a unique, sectioned layout, turned out to be a thigh-crusher of a ride. I gave it two rides and ultimately had enough while yearning for the way it ran back in the day. Maybe I just went on a bad day. Or is that just wishful thinking? I really hope the park can improve the coaster to keep it running like it did.

This is the part of Six Flags New England that I knew was inevitable – the drop-off in coaster quality after Wicked Cyclone and Superman. Between Batman: The Dark Knight, The Joker, Pandemonium, Thunderbolt, Flashback and The Riddler Revenge, this park is really missing another top-tier coaster or two.

Even though having mediocre coasters is still better than having no coasters, the selection of coasters at Six Flags Great Adventure — only a few hours away — is exceptionally superior to this lackluster collection.

On the bright side, what Six Flags New England lacks in coaster quality, they make up for in their flat ride package.

New England SkyScreamer, Supergirl Sky Flyer and Harley Quinn Spinsanity (pictured above) are some of the best flat rides I’ve ever ridden.

In particular, SkyScreamer offers views of the park and river that are just incredible.

Some of my biggest complaints of the day were due to painfully slow ride operations and the lack of open food options. Some rides that had short lines and were running two trains somehow took over 30 minutes from the time I entered the queue until I exited the ride platform. Thanks to a secluded Macho Nacho location by Batman, I was able to find a food stand that had a short line, but I can’t say the same for other options in the park. With so many other food locations closed, guests were forced to swarm the remaining open spots, making waiting in line a pain and taking a big chunk out of ride time.

Overall, I had a really pleasant day at Six Flags New England and was impressed by Wicked Cyclone and the park’s selection of flat rides, but I will not be returning for at least a few years until they add another high-caliber attraction. This park deserves better and has the potential to be a top-tier Six Flags park. But the park needs better, higher-quality coasters.

What are your thoughts on Six Flags New England? Let us know in the comments section below.

About the Author:

Evan Scharf is a young professional in the digital marketing industry. He formerly worked at his home park, Six Flags Great Adventure, as a Public Relations and Social Media Intern, where he contributed to the opening of the Jersey Devil Coaster. Evan’s passion aligns within roller coasters and theme parks, having ridden over 150 roller coasters and has visited many different theme parks around the country. He regularly keeps up with the latest news and rumors in the industry and is always excited to see what’s new at each of the parks he visits.