Weezie Rides Again

Finally!  After more than a year without riding a roller coaster, and after a summer in which I was told not to ride roller coasters, Weezie finally got her fix yesterday!  September 24th was a date I'd had on my calendar for a long time and though it was a little disappointing (read on), I did get to ride, and with some of the coolest people I know, too.   

Last night was Great Adventure's Annual Out in the Park event, something that my friends and I have been going to for years now.  I figured that since this particular date was so late in the season and more than two months after my back issues, it'd be the perfect time to go, and it kinda was.  The weather was crisp and very autumn-like and all of the rides were running.

The Great El Toro!

Our first ride is one of my favorites..El Toro.  It was around 5 p.m. when we got to the park, and the place was packed.  Almost an hour and a half wait to ride this one, but once we were in that seat, it was definitely worth it.  Take a quick ride...  

At the end of that exhilarating ride, we all came off laughing at our pal Sonny, who had never ridden El Toro and was screaming the whole way.  We stopped at the picture booth to check out how silly we all looked and a gem was found:

Yup, that's Sonny on the left (my other pal Sean is on the right!).  You can imagine from the look on her face just how hard we were laughing, and it continued the whole night through.  We giggled and fooled around and chatted amiably for the next six-plus hours as we rode Nitro, Bizarro, and the all-new Joker (Loved!).  Wait, that's only four rides altogether.  Well, no, there were two rides on Nitro.  Well...

Out At Night: A Rant

I mentioned earlier in the post to read on, and this is where a little rant comes in.  I'd said that my friends and I have been going to this event for a few years now, not every year, but mostly.  The event, Out At Night, is supposed to be a night for LGBT's to enjoy some rip-roaring, our-kind-of fun in the park.  There used to be a dance party, beer and drink gardens, dancing, and best of all, short lines.  Well, no more.  Like everything else good, (see A Pitiful Night on the Sea Tea), this event has morphed into something altogether different than it used to be, and is no longer worth it.

I don't blame the organizers for what it was like at Great Adventure yesterday.  I place blame on Six Flags and good old fashioned capitalistic greed.  You see, in recent years, the Halloween-themed days at the park, dubbed Fright Fest at Six Flags' parks, has become a huge draw, and to seemingly capitalize on its popularity, SFGA had been running theirs a week already.  Where we used to have the park to ourselves, that is no longer the case.   

Yes, that first ride on El Toro ate up almost two hours of our evening, and so did lines for the other rides.  Kingda Ka was an hour and forty-five minute wait...not worth sucking up another two hours.  For the first time in recent memory, we had to pick and choose which coasters to ride, given the time we had at the park, which is a darned shame.  There were people everywhere, and though there were LGBT's in the crowd, there were far more of everybody else.  I'm done with Out At Night!  

It's too bad that Six Flags seems to have chosen the almighty dollar over goodwill.  I always waited till this event to visit this, my home park, and now I'll have to choose an alternative.  Despite the huge crowds, long lines and few rides, it really was a fun night of riding and the only pain I had in my back was from standing so long.  Luckily I had good people to share the experience with, and I guess we'll just have to find another day to go next year...maybe a Monday!

Washout at Six Flags

Fairgrounds:Outatthepark

Last night was the 12th Annual Fairgrounds Out at Night event at Great Adventure and probably the 8th or 9th time I've gone.  Unfortunately, after a week of sunshine and warm temperatures, a cold front was passing through and the night ended up being a washout.

I should've known the night wasn't going to be the same from the get go, as only four of us ended up making it as opposed to the group of six we had last year.  At one point, we'd had up to ten going, but our number was whittled down to just us as the others had to decline for one reason or another.  Of course, the night wasn't completely bad, Rich, Gary, Sean and I did enjoy our time together, but getting to take only three rides during the whole excursion was kind of a bummer!

      

When we first arrived at the park, around 6ish, things were looking alright.  One rainstorm had already passed and though the rides were still closed due to lightning in the area, it looked as if things were going to clear up, which they eventually did.  After waiting out the delay, we headed towards El Toro to get our first ride of the night, but it was only open to another private group until 8:30.  We did the next best thing and headed over to Bizarro.  

negative-g

Bizarro is a ride towards the back of the park that is very underrated.  It was once called Medusa, but after a paint makeover and some special effects done a few years back, this floorless coaster definitely packs a punch, with seven inversions and plenty of G's.  Surprisingly, they were running three trains and the line for the ride was virtually non-existent and we actually got to make two circuits continuously.  It appeared as if our night was going to be great after all.  

   

By the time we'd finished our rides on Bizarro, it was still only 8 o'clock, so we grabbed some food before heading towards El Toro once again. For anyone out there who's never been to Great Adventure, but always wanted to go, this is one great, great ride! Our wait for the wooden monster was short (which is why we visit the park on this particular night every year!) and off we went on one of the wildest one minute, forty-two seconds one could ever take. From the quick ascension up the 181 foot lift hill and the terrifying 176 foot drop almost straight down, this wild bull takes riders fast and furious through some major hills, twists and hairpin turns, and leaves you screaming all the way. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to us, it would be the last ride of the evening.

We headed towards our next target, the king of all coasters, Kingda Ka.  For some strange reason, the park closed off the formerly easy passageway between the two coasters and a long trek had to be made to get from one to the other.  Upon our approach, we could see that the 456 foot tall metal monster wasn't running.  Not one human body stood upon the ride platform.  

The boys moved on while I took a cigarette break, expecting them to come back, but by the time I was finished, they were nowhere to be found.  They had headed beyond the line queue for Ka and on to the park's newest ride, Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, a 415 foot drop ride nestled within the structure of the record-breaking coaster.  I had already decided I was not doing that anyway, so I didn't mind, but Rich had set his sights on that from the moment we'd discussed this year's outing.  Turns out he was the only one to take the plunge as both Gary and Sean decided to decline the terrifying drop (I totally understand!).  

In the meantime, I had noticed ride operators sending test runs of Kingda Ka and a small line had begun to form.  I immediately texted my pals, who were still waiting on line, and got on this one...just in case.  It was all good as within five minutes of my pal's rejoining me, a park worker announced that the king was about to open.  Hoo-rah!  But that's where the night ended...

We were quickly ushered through the long queue for the ride and stood in line for the most terrifying of rides.  I was excited!  Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.  After sending just three coasters along the circuit, the sky lit up in a big flash.  Lightning!  We were just two trains away from riding.  An operator got on the speakers to say that the ride would be closing and that we could choose to stay if we wanted in case they were to open again. Right!

We decided that by the time lightning left the area, it'd be close to closing time, so we started to head out.  That's when the skies opened up.  We were soaked and freezing by the time we even got to the front of the queue line it was raining so hard.  We ended up staying under the locker area for almost a half an hour as the rain came pouring down.  Once it had slowed to a drizzle and eventually stopped altogether, we decided to not leave just yet (it was already past 11 o'clock) and try our luck riding Nitro, a personal favorite.  

We headed across the park towards the Gotham section where Batman and Nitro stood dark and silent.  A giant lake created by the rains separated all from the entrance to the coaster, which did not seem to have any life going on.  Now it was time to head home.  This was, I think, the first time ever that a visit to an amusement park was completely washed out in this way.  Though it was nice being with my friends, we had some great laughs during the evening, not to mention plenty of eye candy, it was a bummer to think that all we got to ride were two coasters.  Not a great way to end the riding season!