Random Thoughts Thursday – An Adventure

Last weekend (or was it the weekend before last), the hubby and I took trip to Jersey and visited Six Flags – Great Adventure.

Random: Does anyone know of an interracial camera app/filter? Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to get picture where I’m not the color of night and he is not alabaster.

I will admit that I was a little worried that going to an amusement park during a pandemic would not be the best idea. Since tickets were pretty cheap, I figured we could check it out and if we felt uncomfortable then we could leave. Actually, it would not have been a wasted trip because we stopped in Crawford, NJ for a couple of hours to visit one of my good friends from graduate school before heading to the park.

Upon entering the park at 5 pm, there was a general eerie feeling of isolation. Maybe the eeriness was due to all of the decorations for Six Flags’ Fright Night. But, also, the park was pretty empty. As most know, I do not like waiting in long lines for anything so the plan was to buy a couple of Flash Passes. We decided to test our luck and see how long waiting times were for the rides. For the first ride, I think we waited in line for about 10 minutes. Looking back, I’m so glad that I did not purchase the Flash Passes with our online reservation and parking pass.

For the most part, I thought the park did a decent job with maintaining social distancing. All the rides had an empty row between riders and social distancing was enforced on the platforms. You were kind of on your own if the line extended beyond the platform, which was the case later on in the evening. The website mentioned that rides would be cleaned periodically throughout the day, but I did not see that. Maybe they were cleaning the rides when we were on other rides. Oh Well.

The annoying part, it seems like the park did not have super defined rules with keeping items in your pockets. I was under the assumption (from previous amusement park visits) that one could keep crap in his/her pocket if they were in the back pocket. If you did not want to keep items in your pocket, then you could leave them in a cubby next to the ride. So yeah. That was not the case at Six Flags because you had to store the items in a rented locker. Ok, I understand that, but for many rides folks clearly had items (e.g. phones) in their pockets. I guess it’s one of those things where it’s ok to do something as long as you are not caught. Since my phone was locked away in a locker, I could not take too many pictures.

My top 5 rides in no particular order:

The Joker:

No ride details on the app.

I think The Joker is a favorite ride because it’s pretty much the first ride you hit after entering learning about the intense pocket regulations.

El Toro

Top Speed: 70 mph; Elevation: 176 ft; Duration: 2:05; Track Length: 4400 ft

The name of this ride fits perfectly because you definitely feel as if you are riding a damn bull with all of the bumps and near hairpin turns. Although there are no crazy loops in this one, El Toro holds a special place in my heart.

Kingda Ka

Top Speed: 128 mph; Elevation: 456 ft; Duration: 0:50; Track Length: 3118 ft

Six Flags claims this is the word’s tallest roller coster. I gotta double check this fact. It was the tallest rollercoaster back when I visited in 2005/2006. I’m sure that in 14/15 years, another park has claimed this title.

Ok, I get that super sonic rollercoaster would excite many thrill seekers, but for me, it’s just alright. I mean there is not much to the attraction besides launching you up 400+ feet. Basically, you go up then come down. I mean, you spend more time on the track waiting to be launched. Before you even know it, the ride is over.

Bizzaro

Top Speed: 61 mph (it sure felt faster); Elevation: 142 ft; Duration: 4:55; Track Length: 3985 ft

I gotta say this was my favorite ride for the day. I think riding at night is what I enjoyed most about this ride. Towards the end of the ride, you pass through two large flame torches where you can actually feel the heat from the fire.

Superman

Top Speed: 60 mph; Elevation: 108 ft; Duration: 2:25; Track Length: 2789 ft

Riding this roller coster in a face-down and head-first position really makes you feel like Superman. Unfortunately during trip, we only rode it one time. At the beginning of our trip the wait was like 20 minutes, but towards the end of the night, the wait was around 60 minutes. I guess it’s also a very popular ride at night.

Overall, I gotta say it was a decent day. Since my wallet (along with my phone and other crap) was in a locker for most of the trip, I did not have too many opportunities to play any games and win crappy stuffed animals or buy a shot glass. Maybe that’s a good thing because we already have too much crap in the apartment any way.

I did accomplish my general amusement park goal of having a funnel cake and ice cream. What’s a day at an amusement park without a funnel cake? Since time was a bit tight (the park was open from 5 to 10 pm), I had to combine my two treats.

A funnel cake with ice cream

Of course beer and smokes are needed for a day of fun. Because one needs a can of patience juice. 😉

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Why do the smoking areas always have to be in the random outskirts?

Random takeaways

Tallest Rollercoaster

Ok so I Googled “world’s tallest rollercoaster”, and Kingda Ka is still the world’s tallest. I’m actually kind of surprised that another park has not taken this title in over a decade! That said, Orlando’s Skyscraper roller coster will soon take Kingda Ka’s title.

Going to amusements when you are 35+

It is me or do you feel an impending sense of doom when riding rollercoaster once you pass 30 years of age? As we were going up the highest points of the rides, I was questioning myself about having all of my affairs in order before plummeting down the track. I never had those thoughts when was in my 20’s. I guess you feel like you have more to lose at an older age. One of my friends told me that when they travel by air, they try to travel separately. That way if something happens, there will be one parent around to take care of the kids. Oh well, I guess that’s just life.