The Wednesday, June 9 visit to Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) was a last minute trip based on the park’s announcement of a members preview event for their new, Jersey Devil Coaster. While we did ride it three times, I won’t be getting into any review on the ride here. Yesterday I published the blog, “Jersey Devil – Preview Day Thoughts,” as well as a mini-vlog to the We Were Inverted YouTube page titled, “Six Flags Great Adventure – Jersey Devil Coaster: Members Preview Day.” I encourage you to check out both of those. This trip report will instead focus on some of the other rides Sam and I managed to ride during the visit.
Other Rides - The Devil Made Us Do Them
After spending the first two hours at the Jersey Devil Coaster, Sam and I decided to hit up a few other rides. Jersey Devil was experiencing lots of downtime, which led to us only getting in two rides by noon. We didn’t want to keep standing around and hoped if we left and came back later, that maybe some of those kinks would be resolved.
We didn’t go crazy with riding every coaster in the park, although with the light crowd, it would have been the perfect day to do so. You see, Sam, the evening before this trip, got her first-ever tattoo on the back of one of her calves. She had to wear long pants to cover it and she didn’t want to risk agitating it. We kept our ride selection simple with just three coasters and three non-coasters.
Nitro
Being so close to Nitro when we left Jersey Devil, it just made sense to go right to our favorite Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) hyper coaster. We walked right up onto the station and were a bit taken back. Music was playing, but it wasn’t the Mortal Kombat song. A few seconds later, however, it did indeed play. I think like three or four people began dancing when it came on too.
Since the park was running all three trains, there was literally no line. Half the train we were boarding was empty. We made our way to the back – or as the last row of a coaster seems to be called on our recent trips, the “back, back.” For the rest of you, Row 9. Sorry, we have our own stupid terms amongst some of the Flight Crew.
Since it was in the low to mid-90’s yesterday, and it was around 12:15 p.m., Nitro was already warmed up. We had some amazing airtime and the helix was pulling some massive g-forces. It was a great ride that I kind of wished we hoped back onto at least once more before the end of the day.
El Toro
The one coaster I wanted to ride the most this visit was El Toro. We had one ride on the coaster back in April when we met up with Kaylee. Prior to that, our last ride was in the summer of 2020. Needless to say, Sam was really looking forward to getting a couple more rides on El Toro. The crowds meant that it was also a walk on, which is crazy to see when our last visits had at least an hour wait or more both times.
We ended up getting two back-to-back rides on El Toro – once in the “back, back” and once in the front. Or is it the “front, front?” I’ll have to check with the crew to see if that’s a term. Anyhow, the airtime was so intense yesterday and the ending of the ride was tossing us every which way. And oh yeah, Sam was so happy that she finally got in a ride on El Toro that was not in the train wrapped in the Kia advertising.
Our original plan was to ride this a couple more times, after the Saw Mill Log Flume, but decided to see how Jersey Devil was doing instead. I think a couple more rides on Toro in yesterday’s heat might have kicked my booty. Would have been worth it though.
Houdini's Great Escape
Before riding El Toro, Sam was able to experience a ride at SFGAdv for the first time. That ride was Houdini’s Great Escape. Every time we walked past this ride over the last two years, which was closed due to Covid-19, I always told her that I couldn’t wait for it to re-open. The concept of the ride has always had her intrigued. Even Greg and Kaylee have told Sam how much fun it is during our past visits.
I wasn’t sure if the park was still going to be doing the pre-show, but it was still intact. Sadly, a few loud teenagers made it a little hard to hear some of the audio, but I think Sam managed to get the point of the story. Once we sat down and the ride began, Sam finally got to experience what we had told these last two years. She really enjoyed the experience and I’m sure we’ll be doing this again in the future – especially if it’s as hot as it was yesterday.
Saw Mill Log Flume
If you read the June 5, 2021 blog, “Knoebels – An Impulse Decision,” then you’re aware that Sam discovered a love for log flumes that day. She told me after riding Knoebel’s Giant Flume that she wanted to ride Coal Cracker at Hersheypark. Well, we haven’t gotten back to Hershey yet, but Sam was game to ride SFGAdv’s Saw Mill Log Flume yesterday. I was glad for two reasons. One, I haven’t ridden this log flume in years. And two, it was hot!
I had forgotten how long and scenic a ride the Saw Mill provides. You get great views of the lake and we also managed to get splashed a couple of times prior to the final drop. When walking off the ride, Sam commented how glad she is that she discovered how fun log flumes truly are.
Final Ride Counts
Batman the Ride (1)
El Toro (2)
Houdini’s Great Escape (1)
Jersey Devil Coaster (3)
Justice League Battle for Metropolis (1)
Nitro (1)
Saw Mill Log Flume (1)
Hot as the Devil's Fire... Calling it a Day Early
After our log flume ride, we circled back around to Jersey Devil. We managed another ride and tried for a fourth. It just wasn’t meant to be. After waiting around for about 40 minutes after some more downtime, we gave up. We had talked about skipping out of the park a little early and heading over to the Casino Pier at Seaside Heights for the evening. As we left, however, we were both feeling rather tired from the heat and quite hungry too. We decided to save the beach for another day and go get some food.
We stopped at our area favorite, GianMarco’s, for some amazing Italian food. It has become a tradition for the crew after visiting SFGAdv. It’s so close to the park too. Give them a try if you’re in the area, or after leaving the park. We think you’ll love it as much as we do.
In hindsight, it also looked like a good idea we didn’t make it to Casino Pier. It looks like they’re close to opening their new for 2021 coaster. Had we went yesterday, that credit would not have been operation as of yet. All the more reason to go back up to Jersey soon.
Six Flags Great Adventure Photo Gallery - June 9, 2021
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): Jersey Devil Coaster
Sam
Captain
New Credit(s): Jersey Devil Coaster
