The price gouging started at the gate with the $48 entrance fee (over $50 with tax). Even with Two-for-One discounts, that came to over $125 for my wife, my three sons, – 19, 14 and nearly eight years of age – and me. In the…Read More

The price gouging started at the gate with the $48 entrance fee (over $50 with tax). Even with Two-for-One discounts, that came to over $125 for my wife, my three sons, – 19, 14 and nearly eight years of age – and me. In the park a 24 ounce bottle of water cost $3, around twice the street rate in New York, and perhaps four times what it goes for at the local shopping center. A captive audience means never having to sell cheap. Fortunately we brought our own, refilling them at fountains.

Many rides didn’t work that day, some only worked sporadically, like popular roller coasters Kingda Ka and the Batman half of Batman And Robin The Chiller, sad for me as I was looking forward to getting my minimum annual adult requirement of G-force fluctuation and the other cheap (?) thrills of an unrepentant roller coaster enthusiast.

Most of the kids rides were working, but even then, two of the carousels didn’t. My big kids prefer what I think of as “gravity rides,” which generate thrills through centrifugal force. Stuntman’s Freefall, The Sky Ride, Rodeo Stampede, Taz Twister, The Twister, Space Shuttle, and others were closed. This didn’t leave them much to do.

Fortunately, they brought their Gameboys. While waiting to meet with us they sat down at a table near a food shop. Two park security people walked by and said hello, no problem. However, one of the African-American women working at the shop started hassling them, told them to move along and eventually chased them away. Ever resourceful, they found another place to sit.

As for me, we arrived early enough that my first shot at a roller coaster, Superman, had a mere 30 minute line. Long lines are a perpetual problem on the popular rides. However, I had a “Danger, Will Robinson” moment when I saw the advertisements for a device called the Q-bot, which allows a customer to pay $30 a day to go first in line, cutting through the exits of the more popular attractions. Now amusement parks should go by the rules of the playground – no cutting--especially one that has already charged you in excess of $40 a ticket to get in. However, anyone willing to double that fee (more or less) could jump to the front of the line.

I went to Kingda Ka, only to discover that it had broken down. So, I went to Batman and Robin: The Chiller, a coaster that loops, twists and then does the whole thing again in reverse – my idea of a good time. And the line outside wasn’t even very long. However, when the line got close to the actual first turnstile, it slowed down. It took about half an hour to enter the building. People made their way out through the line on a regular basis, mostly parents with children. On the switchback ramp that takes you into the actual loading zone for the ride, the line pretty much stopped. You could hear screaming, jeering, and occasionally someone getting on the loudspeaker saying things like, “If you throw things on the track, it will only slow things down more.”

About 40 minutes later, I reached the bedlam at the top of the ramp, a sea of people, as no one was minding the turnstile. I thought about who concerts and could understand why some parents would not take their children in there. I heard the language from the crowd and realized why other parents had turned around. The people with Q-Bots were queuing up in the exit. A security guard was there to protect them from the people getting off the ride. Every time the people running the ride allowed Q-Bot holders more seats than they were theoretically allowed, the entire crowd on the loading platform erupted. One woman in the line next to me was arguing with a shift manager about the fairness of the whole scene. She was still at it when I got off the ride, two-and-a-half hours after I got on line.

This particular near class riot happened because someone in the front office no doubt got the bright idea of doing what Disney and Universal do and trying to make a little extra money at it. At the Disney and Universal theme parks, you can go to a ride, put in your ticket and reserve a time to go to the front of the line. You had to be there within ten minutes of your allotted time or your pass was no good. Anyone who gets into the park can use this system. It is polite, egalitarian, fair and it works. When you add in the equation of having to pay more for the privilege, suddenly you start exploring brave, albeit stupid, new worlds of classicism.

We also took in some of the shows. The tiger show was okay when they were actually working with the cats, and even a bit of gymnastics had its moments. The stunt show also had its moments, but seemed pretty disorganized, as if half the cast were understudies. Both my youngest son and I missed the Dolphin Show when he had to go to the bathroom. The people at the gate were not going to let us back in, no matter what.

Needless to say, the line for customer service was long and didn’t have a Q-bot queue. As I got up to the window, the women in front of me told the woman in the booth that they had come all the way from Suffolk County, a three hour drive. They found the food disgusting, all the food places overrun by flies and worse, the sanitary facilities disgusting and filthy and they were, in general, disgusted.

The person at the booth next to me had not had the advantages of the coupons we had used. They spent in excess of $300 and in the six hours they had been in the park, had been able to get on one ride. They had bailed on Batman and Robin: The Chiller before they had achieved the post-turnstile class war. “I fell asleep when the line stopped moving,” said one of the men. “When I woke up, I decided it was time to leave.”

The customer service manager remarked that they hadn’t expected this kind of a crowd on a week day so late in the season, and the attendance had found them short-staffed. A pretty lame excuse.

For coming to the booth, we were giving coupons that would get us into either Great Adventure again or the adjoining water park Hurricane Harbor for $10 a person – roughly a quarter of the cost of the main park and a third the cost of the water park. They also gave us coupons for a free waffle cone each.

Two days later, we were still at the shore, it was a warmer day, but we didn’t want to go to the beach, so we decided to use the passes to Hurricane Harbor. Actually, a good time was had by all – the big boys like the slides, the little guy loved tubing and swimming in the “creek” that circumvented the park. I enjoyed the sun. The only thing that we didn’t enjoy was the fact that when we went to get our waffle cones before we left, we were denied them. Apparently, the only place in the park that served this delicacy was a concession not owned by the park. Sigh. Nothing can be perfect, not even if you pay for it.Close

1) Superman Ultimate Flight - Rating 9/10 The pretzel loop is amazing. It really feels like you’re flying. 2) The Chiller - rating 9/10 It launches you from 0-70 in 4 seconds then (depending on which track you’re on) sends you through an inversion.…Read More

1) Superman Ultimate Flight - Rating 9/10
The pretzel loop is amazing. It really feels like you’re flying.

2) The Chiller - rating 9/10
It launches you from 0-70 in 4 seconds then (depending on which track you’re on) sends you through an inversion. Next you go up a 200-foot incline, then experience the rest of the ride backwards.

3) Medusa - rating 9/10
This ride is awesome because it is floorless. This takes you 142 feet and drops you into seven inversions including a vertical loop, a dive, a barrel roll, a cobra roll, and two flat corkscrews.

4) Batman The Ride - rating 8/10
This inverted coaster is cool because you are constantly going upside down. It is 105 feet high and it has five inversions: two vertical loops, one incline twist, and two flat spins.

5) Great American Scream Machine - rating 6/10
This is an older coaster but it revolutionized coasters. It is very large and very bumpy. It is 185 feet high and has seven inversions: three vertical loops, one boomerang, and two corkscrews.

6) Rolling Thunder - rating 6/10
This ride is a classic. A wooden coaster that takes you 96 feet high and then sends you through a series of drops.

7) Viper - rating 5/10
The ride is very short and very painful. It takes you 80 feet and sends you through two bumpy inversions: one dive corkscrew and one heartline roll.

8) Skull Mountain - rating 5/10
This ride is cool because it is inside and very dark. It is only 40 feet high and has no inversions.

9) Runaway Train - rating 4/10
This ride was the first coaster at Great Adventure. It is 55 feet high and it has no inversions. Its a little on the bumpy side, but it’s a classic.

I am just going to upload a few more pictures from this theme park. I will uploaded some pictures while I was on the Sky Ride and some far shots.…Read More

I am just going to upload a few more pictures from this theme park. I will uploaded some pictures while I was on the Sky Ride and some far shots.Close