For those of you who were waiting for this trip report from Sunday’s visit to Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv), I apologize for the delay. I’ve had a few things on my plate to tend to, but alas, here it is. If you’ve been keeping up with We Were Inverted on Instagram (@WeWereInverted_IG), or this blog, you know that last Sunday I visited Sesame Place in Philadelphia for the first time. When my evening plans in the area fell through, it ultimately led me to SFGAdv from 3-8 p.m. The park was doing a Lil’ Devil Coaster pin giveaway for members that day, so I really wanted to go. I also managed to pick up a new Jersey Devil Coaster pin in one of the park’s gift shops. Both can now be found on the Pin Collection page. Be sure to check them out.
In my five hours at the park I managed to get in 31 rides on five different coasters. I did all that while stopping for some photos, dinner at the Jersey Devil BBQ, and browsing a few shops. I can only imagine how many more rides I could have done if I had spent the entire day at the park and didn’t take multiple breaks.
A Bizzaro Choice of Re-Theming
One of the things I was wanted to check out when I arrived was the green and orange paint sampling on Bizarro. I’ve seen a few people posting shots of this section of track on social media, but I wanted to see it for myself. To be 100 percent honest, I hate this.
Rumor has it the ride will be getting a rename and retheme to Riddler. It’s just what Six Flags does. Before we know it, there will be a dozen Riddler themed coasters throughout the chain. I truly wish they’d just go back to Medusa. Heck, enough of Medusa is showing through the blue Bizarro paint right now anyhow. Check out the photo of the lift hill in the gallery below.
Not only do I hate this Riddler naming/theming due it it being unoriginal, but I hate it because Six Flags is known for not selling roller coaster merchandise for their DC-branded coasters. Sure, they’ll sell generic DC Riddler shirts. Some might even have a Six Flags logo on them, but it’s rare for them to have one with coaster track or imagery or even the ride’s name. If you’re lucky enough to find it, once that initial batch of merch sells out, you’ll never see it again.
A stop in the park’s gift shops will back up this claim too. The only coasters you see shirt, pins, and magnets for are: Nitro, Kingda Ka, El Toro, Jersey Devil Coaster, and Lil’ Devil Coaster. Notice the trend? No DC-themed coasters. No Superman Ultimate Flight, no Bizarro, no Green Lantern, Batman the Ride, Dark Knight, or Harley Quinn Crazy Train. There are a few Joker shirts, but they’re the same ones the park put out when the ride debuted. I feel like no one buys them and they’re just the left overs.
Okay, stepping off my soap box and moving on…
31 Rides w/ 1 New Credit (Sorta)
Had you told me that I’d get in over 30 rides in just five hours walking into SFGAdv, I would have laughed at you. My intentions for the visit were to grab my pin, which I did. Shoot a couple photos of Bizarro, which I did. From there, I wanted a ride on Lil’ Devil Coaster for the credit and then whatever else I could get in, I would. There was no plan for the night, but the way it unfolded made for one memorable visit.
Jersey Devil Coaster
Until Sunday my only rides on Jersey Devil Coaster came on the Member Preview Day, which I wrote about in the blog, “Jersey Devil Coaster – Preview Day Thoughts.” I wasn’t blown away by the coaster then, but I knew that with all the issues going on that day, I didn’t get to ride it at its best. With the short lines on Sunday, I intended to get a bunch of rides to give it a fair shake. I ended up getting in 13 rides and now I can make a better assessment of the ride.
- The Good: The coaster felt faster. I was able to ride in the front once and back five times (including a Zen ride), with the rest of my rides scattered throughout the train earlier in the evening. The whip in the back is amazing, but the hangtime was awesome in every seat. The front row really surprised me too. It had a bit of attitude. A couple of the elements up front flung me around and even made my arms feel heavy as I tried to hold them up more than they did in the back.
- The Bad: Every little bump, seem, or imperfection in the trackwork is felt on this ride. It’s not uncomfortable, but compared to the other Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) coasters I’ve ridden, it’s not that glossy smooth feeling. The worst of this comes at the base of the drop prior to the first hangtime element. It feels like a mini-pothole. No, we’re not talking TMNT Shellraiser levels of pothole here, but there is certainly a larger-sized bumpy moment. I hope that doesn’t become worse as time goes on.
- The Stupid: Not coaster related at all. Once again, SFGAdv, can you please get your crap straight with your loose articles policies? If you DON’T WANT WALLETS on the ride, then put the word “WALLETS” on your sign. You know the one that that says you can’t have phones or keys on the ride. After seeing the sign, I put my phone, keys, and pins in the locker. Entering the line, I was made to go back and put my wallet in the locker too, which wasn’t the case on Member Preview Day. So yeah, I wasted a locker purchase. Furthermore, I think the no wallets rule is stupid because if I get stuck in line for a ride and go over my time, how do I pay to re-open the locker? Even worse, if something happened to me in line or on ride, you’d have no idea who I am or who to contact. I am all for safety and hate people who pull phones on rides and such. Still, the fact I can’t have my wallet, in zippered pocket no less, for those reasons is ridiculous. Meanwhile, people wearing ballcaps were allowed to enter the queue and even ride wearing them. What sense does that make?
Lil' Devil Coaster
When I began my day at Sesame Place, I knew I’d be ending the night with two new credits with Vapor Trail and Oscar’s Wacky Taxi. By visiting SFGAdv, it gave my first chance to ride Lil’ Devil coaster for the first time. Well, kinda… For 20 years this coaster operated at the park under the name, Road Runner Railway. The first time I recall riding the coaster was in 2010. It was removed in 2019 to make way for Jersey Devil Coaster.
Throughout 2020 the blue track from Road Runner laid in the lot not too far away from Nitro’s lift hill. Then, earlier this year, some of that track had been repainted to orange. That’s when I knew they were going to reinstall it. I didn’t know they’d give it the name Lil’ Devil Coaster, however, so that was kind of neat. At least it wasn’t given a DC Comics name too.
After hitting up some of the other coasters at the park and eating dinner, I went over to LIl’ Devil to claim my credit. It’s technically a relocation and even the Rollercoaster Database (RCDB) lists it separately with Road Runner being under defunct. Sure, it lists it as a relocation when you pull up both coaster’s pages, so yeah kind of a cheap credit. I can be cheap though!
I took the back row on my one ride. I don’t know if I was with a bunch of other coaster nerds or not, but our train was mostly adults. One guy was even too big to ride, which I could see because the lap bar barely shut on me. I’m not a big of a person either. And guess what? All of us adults managed to valley the coaster coming into the station to finish. My cart was left out on the course with the rest of the train in the station. I was leaning to the right due to the track’s banking, so that was a little awkward.
The lone ride operator tried her hardest to get the train to return to the station. She hit a couple of buttons, but they didn’t work. She then tried to push the train forward by hand. It wouldn’t budge. After trying both measures twice, the big guy who couldn’t fit on the ride walked out onto the platform and pushed the train himself. He was able to get it into its proper place and we could unload the train. And with that, my credit on Lil’ Devil Coaster was claimed.
Nitro
Just like with last year’s December visits, I was able to nab 10 rides in a row on Nitro. And just like those visits, I added in two more rides before the park closed to end the day at 12.
What more can I say about this ride? I love the airtime, especially in the ninth row. The majority of my rides came in row nine, although my 11th ride did take place in the front. No one was waiting for it, so I said, “Why not?” Like Jersey Devil Coaster and Batman the Ride, once it got dark and the park cleared out, the staff was nice enough to let us re-ride unless someone came up to ride your row. If that happened, you could either switch rows or walk back around if you had a row preference. Thankfully not many people sought the back and when they did, it was usually just another person or two so I was able to stay in the row and ride with them.
Final Ride Counts
Batman the Ride (4)
Bizarro (1)
Jersey Devil Coaster (13)
Lil’ Devil Coaster (1)
Nitro (12)
I Felt it in My Legs Walking Out
After riding Jersey Devil Coaster 13 times, I certainly felt it in my legs walking back out to my car. You know what though? I have no complaints. It comes with the territory and I’d do it all over again if I knew I could go up on a day like Sunday with small crowds and kind ride ops. Part of me does wish I jumped on some of the other coasters, but when you go to a park as many times as I’ve gone to SFGAdv, you don’t feel like you’re missing out. I’ll grab some rides on the others before the end of the year, I’m sure. The others like Kingda Ka and El Toro (which is still closed anyhow), I’ll look forward to riding in 2022.
Six Flags Great Adventure Photo Gallery - November 7, 2021
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or 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): Lil' Devil Coaster
