After busting my butt to finish up a few blogs and vlogs last week, I remembered Kaylee telling me she was off on New Year’s Eve. If I could finish everything I needed to publish on the site and it’s YouTube channel, I was going to see if she wanted to go to park. Well, I did get everything done and when I contacted her, she already had plans. Those plans were to visit Six Flags America (SFA) from 2-8 p.m. and then head down to Kings Dominion to bring in New Year’s since they were open until 1 a.m.
I had been to Six Flags Great Adventure’s (SFGAdv) Holiday in the Park event numerous times, but this was going to be my first time attending SFA’s for theirs. There were plans to visit SFA on New Year’s Eve last year, but those ended up falling through due to a Covid scare in my family. After missing out on that and the rumor that SFA, along with several other Six Flags parks, may be discontinuing the event in 2022, I really wanted to go.
A Few Flats & Taking Flight
Since I have been to SFA too many times to count, I wanted to make sure to get some footage during what might be one of the final Holiday in the Park events. If you haven’t had the chance to watch the vlog posted to the site’s YouTube channel a few hours ago, I’ve included it above. I do a tour around the park, getting in footage of various rides, both coasters and flats. Kaylee and I also share some thoughts about the park and the rides. It’s one of my longer videos to date, so let me know what you think.
Wild One
Shortly after entering the park, Kaylee saw the person who runs Waypoint Coasters on Instagram (@Waypoint.Coasters). We ended up sticking together throughout our stay, kicking things off with a ride on a sentimental favorite, Wild One. I even wore my red Wild One shirt that I picked up during my Fright Fest visit back in October. I’m so glad to finally have merch in the park for more than Firebird.
For this first ride of two on the day, I jumped in the back for a solo ride. Kaylee and her friend rode in the front. It was a walk on and the crew wasted no time on getting us dispatched and up the lift. On the way down, I realized that although it was December 31, Wild One was going to haul since it was 60 degrees. Talk about a welcome warm spell in the region, especially after having 30 degree temperatures at SFGAdv a few weeks prior.
I won’t say my ride was rough, but it was a little more bumpy than my last few rides. I’ll chalk that up to riding in the back. Later on in the evening I got a ride in Row 3 that was a bit more tame, although still offering amazing pops of airtime.
Reindeer's Flight (Mind Eraser)
Just like many other parks in the industry, SFA had a few of their rides renamed for their winter holiday event. One of those rides was Mind Eraser, which took on the name, Reindeer’s Flight. We grabbed one ride as a group on this much-hated Vekoma SLC while it was still daylight, but I did return later for two solo rides in the back row.
As I have said a handful of times, I don’t declare Mind Eraser to be a smooth coaster by any means, but I still think it gets more hate than it deserves. Over the last few years, I have gotten enjoyable rides during every visit. Sure, my head hits the pads a time or two, but it happens a whole lot less than it does over on Firebird. Those ones hurt a lot more too.
Maybe one day SFA will get the newer trains for Mind Eraser like their sister park, Six Flags New England (SFNE), did for theirs a few years ago. I have yet to ride that coaster since the modifications, but from what I hear, it is much better. And of course, everyone raves about the Great Nor’Easter at Morey’s Pier, which was sadly closed during our June 2021 visit. That coaster, however, was also re-tracked.
French Quarter Flyers
During our time at SFA I told Kaylee I wouldn’t mind getting on a few of the park’s flat rides. After rides on Wild One and Ragin’ Cajun to begin our day, I looked over at the French Quarter Flyers to see no one in line. I had never ridden SFA’s flyers before, so I said, “Why not?”
We jumped on and waited a couple minutes while a few more guests ran over to ride. Once things got going, I was getting some pretty good snap and tilts on every rotation. These are always a fun little flat ride and I know a few other people who enjoy them as well.
Final Ride Counts
Capital Railways (1)
Firebird (1)
French Quarter Flyers (1)
Great Race (1)
Mind Eraser (3: Patrick, 1: Kaylee)
Ragin’ Cajun (1)
Voodoo Drop (1)
Wild One (2)
Some Time for Footage & Photos
When I realized how slow the park was going to be early in the day, I knew I could spare some time to walk around to shoot some content for the vlog and the Six Flags America Photo Gallery. Since I feature more than just coasters in my galleries, I wanted to fill in some of the aps, especially with several flat rides for SFA’s gallery. I was able to do just that.
As for the rest of the day, even though Christmas had been over for almost a week, it was still great getting out to SFA for Holiday in the Park. I know some enthusiasts balk at going to these parks with their limited ride line ups and the possibility of rides closing due to cold temperatures, but not me. Being able to visit parks for Halloween and Christmas events has been great. I remember parks having very limited, if any hours, before Memorial Day or after Labor Day in this region.
If this is truly the end of Holiday in the Park at SFA, I hope they can find a way to offer guests more dates when the temperatures are warmer, or more days for Fright Fest? I guess we will have to wait and see what unfolds in 2022 for SFA and those other parks rumored to be stopping Holiday in the Park. What do you think? Do you visit any parks for their winter holiday events? Which ones and what are you feelings on them? I’d love to see your thoughts.
Six Flags America Photo Gallery - December 31, 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): n/a
Kaylee
Commander
New Credit(s): n/a
