Last weekend, Six Flags Great Adventure hosted the park’s annual Thrill-A-Thon event, and what an amazing event it was.
Upon entering the park, we received passes that included access to Exclusive Ride Times (ERT) on Nitro, Jersey Devil Coaster, Medusa, Runaway Mine Train and the Log Flume, as well as two buffet meals, raffle vouchers and behind-the-scenes tours of Houdini’s Great Escape and Medusa, as well as credit for their boardwalk games. Take a look at the full itinerary for the day below:
We started off our day with ERT on Nitro and Jersey Devil Coaster, both having minimal wait times that offered easy access for re-rides.
Nitro was running as smooth as ever at the beginning of the day, lending itself to some great floater airtime and an intense helix before the mid-course brake run.
Next, we made our way over to Jersey Devil Coaster for the back half of the ERT, which seemed to be running much faster than it was last season, providing pockets of airtime on the bunny hills towards the end of the ride, which was virtually nonexistent a year ago. A shoutout goes to Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) and Great Adventure for allowing this ride to see its full potential.
After rides on The Dark Knight Coaster and Justice League: Battle for Metropolis (now in 2D), we made our way over to the catering pavilion for a fantastic buffet lunch featuring BBQ offerings such as pulled pork, mac and cheese, and bacon-wrapped pork kabobs. During lunch, the park featured a raffle that included pieces of Kingda Ka cable, Jersey Devil Coaster chain-lift holders, a vintage hat with the rainbow park logo and signage from the Wild Safari.
Following lunch, we embarked on a behind-the-scenes tour of Houdini’s Great Escape and Medusa, which was an incredible experience for vantage points that are unavailable to the general public.
We started our tour in the depths of Houdini, one of three Vekoma Madhouses in the world. From the basement, we were able to view the hydraulic system of the ride, as well as the outer system that makes the room seem as if it’s rotating around you. This was such an awesome experience to see the inner workings of a ride that often leaves guests wondering, “what just happened?” To view a video of the ride in action, please check out our Twitter post below:
Live from Thrill-A-Thon, it’s BTS of Houdini’s Great Escape! @SFGrAdventure pic.twitter.com/cYaTrEHrWY
— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) August 27, 2022
Next up was our backstage tour of Medusa (known as Bizarro from 2009-2021), the original Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) floorless roller coaster. Park management noted that they reverted the ride back to its original theme due to the guest demand and nostalgia factor, as they resonated with the Medusa name and story rather than Bizarro, an obscure character from Superman comics.
Entering the attraction under the massive cobra roll, we made our way through a gate that offered incredible vantage points of the ride that wrapped around the interlocking corkscrews and the area around the first drop.
The trains whizzed past us as our tour guide gave an in-depth overview of the attraction, noting the redesign process.
We were also guided to the storage room which housed inactive trains of the ride.
After the tours, we took a ride on the log flume to cool off and then proceeded back to the catering pavilion for a Mexican-style buffet, with the addition of a Q&A session with park management and another raffle contest.
During the Q&A, the audience avoided asking questions about the recent El Toro incident out of respect for the team, revealing no further information about the future of the attraction.
We rounded out the day with rides on the Skyway, Parachutes, and Superman: Ultimate Flight before heading to the back of the park for nighttime ERT on Medusa, Runaway Mine Train, and the log flume. Medusa was running fantastic at night, seemingly offering a smoother and faster experience than Bizarro provided last season.
We would like to thank Six Flags Great Adventure for hosting us for a terrific Thrill-A-Thon 2022 and can’t wait for the event next year!
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