It’s been three months since I last rode a roller coaster. Those three months have felt like six. I’m sure other enthusiasts feel my pain. Thankfully, however, the wait ended with a trip to Six Flags America (SFA) yesterday. This trip marks my first meet up with Chance, from the YouTube channel, Cheapthusiast. You may remember Chance from the first installment of the Coaster Collectibles series, “Coaster Collectibles – Chance Knight: Magnets.”
Our meet up has been months in the making. Originally, we planned to meet up at Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) last summer. The forecast that day, however, was calling for heavy rain. I didn’t want to chance, no pun intended, losing money on the gas and tolls if the park closed early. I told them I’d catch up with them another day and that day finally came.
Fast forward back to present day. I met up with Chance, Aaron, and Matt around noon yesterday. We introduced ourselves to one another out in the parking lot before making our way into the park. And guess what Chance suggested we do first?
Mind Eraser - Mind You, Not the Worst Ride of the Day
1 Ride
The day before our trip, I made a post on Coaster Appreciation Society (CAS) challenging Chance to a Mind Eraser Marathon. I wasn’t being serious, but had he wanted to go for it, I was ready! If we were going to do it though, I figured it would come later in the day so we could ride everything else first. Chance, however, decided to head to Mind Eraser first. Aaron gave him that look like, “Really?” Matt, who was visiting the park for the first time, was game for anything.
Did we do the marathon? No. We rode it once and moved on. Still, it wasn’t our worst ride of the day. I don’t think Mind Eraser is as bad as its reputation. Chance agreed. Would I still love to see the new trains put on the ride? You bet!
Roar - Not so Sore on this Day
1 Ride
Okay, Roar has become the butt of my jokes the last few years. I now call it “Sore,” instead of Roar. I wish it wasn’t the case, but sadly it just is. The last time I rode Roar and didn’t feel rattled beyond belief was back in 2019 with Elaina. Since then, I’m one and done, if I even do the one, each visit.
I offered a couple suggestions in my blog, “Six Flags America Wish List – One Local Enthusiast’s Hopes,” about what I would like to see done to this ride. I still stand by them. Chance, who said the ride felt better than last year, still wants to see Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) come out and revamp the ride. He said as much in his July 2020 video, “Six Flags America and EVERYTHING is Running.“
Joker's Jinx - Sam's Certainly Jealous
2 Rides
Poor Sam. This was the ride she missed out on during the second Summer of Sam blog last year. Her fear got the best of her and she ended up getting off the ride before the ride ops came around to secure her. Of course, once she began to overcome those fears, Joker’s Jinx was down for all of her following 2020 visits. Sam has been wanting to ride this so bad too. I made sure to send her a photo after our first ride yesterday. Yeah, I was rubbing it in, but I was also getting her excited to visit the park again this year. It’s her last remaining needed credit at the park.
We rode Joker’s Jinx twice, with the second being my favorite. It was our last ride of the day and we jumped in the last two rows. You could certainly feel the extra whip being pulled through that spaghetti bowl of track. I’ve always enjoyed this ride and know Sam will too. I’m going to suggest she try it in the back too.
Superman Ride of Steel - Faster Throughout the Day
5 Rides
Early in the day, Chance mentioned wanting to ride Superman Ride of Steel at least five times. I said I was game and figured it would be easy for us to do. All the lines were short when we arrived. Superman, like Mind Eraser, Roar, and Joker’s Jinx, were all walk ons. As Greg would say, “I love to see it.”
Throughout the day, we rode Superman exactly five times, getting the blue train on four of the five rides. The blue train looked to have a fresh coat of paint and brand new seat belts. It also felt like it was running slow. The airtime wasn’t as intense, even in the back row.
Later in the day, we’d get our first ride on the red train, on ride number four. This train didn’t have the new seat belts or look to have fresh paint. It did, however, feel like it was hauling. We figured it was running faster than the blue one, but then changed our minds when we did our fifth and final ride. We got the blue train yet again, but It felt every bit as fast as the ride we had just experienced. I guess they just had to warm up? It wasn’t until the fourth and fifth rides that the ride felt like it normally does.
Wild One - First Wait of the Day
1 Ride
After experiencing walk ons all day, Wild One gave us our first line. It was no more than 10-15 minutes, though. Before we knew it, we were in line, waiting for the last two rows. I jumped in the back seat with Matt. Chance and Aaron got the non-wheel seat in front of us. It’s been a while since I had a non-wheel seat on Wild One. Last year they had them all closed for social distancing.
While waiting in line, we noticed some new wood on Wild One, just like we did with Roar. The portion of track prior to the helix finale looked to have been re-tracked. That section was very bumpy over the last couple of years. Sadly, that re-tracking doesn’t feel like changed a thing. It was still overly bumpy, at least in the back row.
Ragin' Cajun - Almost the Longest Wait of the Day
1 Ride
Okay, the Wild One line was nothing compared to Ragin’ Cajun – or as Chance calls it, Mardi Gras. It’s an inside joke, you’ll have to ask him. Anyhow, we waited about 40 minutes for this ride. It’s obviously a slow moving, family-sized coaster that attracts a lot of people. We also ended up waiting through a cleaning cycle.
When it came time to board, we were told the ride only allows for three adults per car. All four of us could not ride together, which we were really hoping to do. I rode with Matt and we spun so much during the last half of the ride. I think Matt was shocked by just how much we experienced. I always tell people, be ready for some wild spinning when getting on Ragin’ Cajun.
Firebird - Rather Ride Mind Eraser
1 Ride
As Chris D. has said many times, Firebird is one pretty coaster to photograph and look at. Other than that, it’s quickly becoming my least favorite coaster in the park. Yes, even worse than Roar. I experience much less head banging on Mind Eraser. When I told that to a ride op on Mind Eraser earlier in the day, he agreed. He told me he thinks Firebird is indeed rougher and said Mind Eraser is the better ride. As of late, I tend to agree.
Chance and I spent a good amount of time filming this ride. Maybe we were both trying to avoid the pending doom that awaited us up those stairs. Eventually, we had to make the walk though. We had to get our heads rattled – and in the front row no less.
One good thing did come from this ride, well, two actually. First, Chance was able to get himself a new magnet, a sliding one that is identical to pin I have in my Pin Collection. The second, you’ll have to visit the We Were Inverted Instagram account (@WeWereInverted_IG) and read the post about Firebird’s re-tracking. That’s all I’m saying. Moving on.
Batwing - The Longest Wait of the Day... We Did it for Matt
1 Ride
After trying earlier in the day, following our first two rides on Superman, we decided to give Batman a try. It was running. Then it wasn’t. You know, just another day that ends with “Y” at SFA for Batwing. A park employee herded us, along with other people, back to the Superman gift shop before roping off that looooooooong walkway. We had made it half way down, so it wasn’t as bad as the other 257 walks I’ve done all the way to the station just to find it closed.
Later on, we went back to ride and were met with a line that was just over an hour long. Well, it was over an hour long to get to the chain at the ride station. When we got to the chain, the ride broke again. We waited another 20-30 minutes once there, getting a group of girls to take the photo above of our dismay. It certainly does look like an album cover, doesn’t it?
If you’re wonder why we waited, it’s because we did it for Matt! He was looking forward to riding Batwing all day. I joked that it will be his favorite ride at the park. Chance and Aaron laughed and said, “No way.”
Guess what? The ride finally opened and it’s Matt’s favorite ride at SFA.
Meeting Up Again - April 11 at Hersheypark
A few weeks ago, Sam asked me if I was interested in going to Hersheypark on Sunday, April 11. I said sure and told her I was going to invite Chance. Long story short, it looks like we’re going to have another We Were Inverted and Cheapthusiast meet up. This time I’ll have Sam and Renee with me too. If you’re free and will be in the Hershey area on that day, hit us up and ride some coasters with us.
You can be my wingman anytime! (Top Gun, 1986)
Patrick
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
