SFNE & Carowinds Trip Reports - Part 1

It's been a while since I posted a trip report here....last I checked it was back in Sept 2014 for my first visit to SFGrAdv. Anyway, my partner Mike and I just got back from a great two-part, 10 day summer vacation to Massachusetts and Charlotte, NC. Of course we had to eek out a day each for first time visits to SFNE and Carowinds with our Six Flags and Cedar Fair season passes :).

It's always exciting to visit new parks and to ride coasters that rank high on coaster nirvana for any enthusiast (we're talking Superman The Ride, Wicked Cyclone, Intimidator and of course Fury 325!)

Starting with our visit to Six Flags. We arrived in Springfield last Sunday afternoon (after a nice 4 day visit on the Cape). The plan was to hit the park first thing Monday morning (7-17) and blitz the coasters with our pre-purchased Gold Flash Pass and we did. Driving up to the park and on the left Wicked Cyclone and Superman revealed themselves. We opted for the VIP parking and as we're walking to the park, I was struck by how many coasters this park has...even better! So here's the lowdown:

First up - Superman! I have had so much anticipation to ride this. Although I've ridden both Intamin giga's (Millie and I305), I've never ridden an Intamin hyper and I'm completely stoked. I was trying to explain to Mike (who's smitten with B&M hypers and floorless coasters), that this was going to be a completely different experience. Of course we head to the back car as I'm wanting to experience this ride all out. We're climbing and and it's awesome, the park is to the right and the river is to the left....we're about to go over the first drop and then...IT'S SUMMERTIME!!! that's what I'm talking about! You all know who've ridden this...this ride is insane/incredible and long! It lived up to every expectation I had of it and more! It knocked both of our socks off! When we got off, I asked Mike...so? He got it...it was a completely different experience then his fave Apollo's Chariot and he loved it.

As mentioned earlier, we used our Gold Pass to blitz the coasters and rode all of them with the exception of the Vekoma SLC & boomerangs, Goliath, Mind Eraser and I think it's Flashback (sorry but I just had no desire to get a Vekoma migraine x3 even if it was at the expense of additional coaster credits.) But aside from that, Six Flags NE has a great variety of coasters. Notable mentions:

Thunderbolt - Great classic woodie - I learned after chatting with the friendly Flash Pass ride attendant, it was built for the 1939 Worlds Fair and then moved to the park after that, when it was Riverside.

Cat Woman's Whip - I've only ever been on one other Zierer coaster, the larger custom version at Knott's Berry Farm, Jaguar! These coasters are fun family rides definitely worthy of a coaster credit.

Joker - New for 2017, its of course the new S&S free spin coasters. It's my first one. We sat in what I guess could be called the front seats and are the first to go over the top facing forward. All I can say, this ride was pretty insane. I actually screamed at one point and not because I was exhilarated, but because I actually SCREAMED! It was at the point when it flips over the first turn to the 2nd level and it felt like you were being thrown out of the car, like the Zipper but with no security of the cage door in front of you and a lot higher! The ride is also so much more comfortable than the Intamin Zac Spin. I rode it once at SFMM and I'll never ride it again. I would definitely ride an S&S version again...and did I hear they are making a larger version of this?!?

Batman Dark Knight - This is notable but not for the right reason. We opted for the front car on this one. I could just tell by looking at this ride that parts of it were going to be rough. The footprint was much smaller than other floorless coasters and there was no time in between the elements (much like the Batman clone inverts). I was right. After the first drop and loop, I couldn't wait for this ride to be over...it was rough and it felt very "cloney".

And last but not least, Wicked Cyclone! Wow!
This is only my 2nd RMC. I've only ridden Joker in one of my home parks Six Flags Discovery Kingdom...so I can only compare it to that. All I can say is that, this ride is 10x more intense than the SFDK Joker....scratch that...this ride is just down right intense. It's smooth, but it's also just not right! And I mean that in a good way! It's amazing how different the two rides are and they are fairly similar in terms of height and length and footprint. SFDK Joker is "smooth and fun" while it's east coast counterpart in Wicked Cyclone is insane and intense. Loads of ejector airtime; the inversions are sick, with the last one being this heart-line roll in slow-motion. And it feels like the ride just keeps going and going...enough said! If you can, come and ride this ride as soon as you are able! After getting off this ride and seeing the latest pics of the Mean Streak conversion, I can only imagine what that experience is going to be like...actually, I can't even imaging what that is going to be like! Our little SFDK Joker is like a training bra! LOL!

Lastly, SFNE is a great park with great coasters. Also, it's the best run Six Flags park I've ever been to. The ride ops were super efficient, every employee was extremely nice and the visiting public was actually a well-behaved visiting public! It was all very refreshing. And I also now had a new favorite steel coaster/hyper (which I rode twice & yes, I enjoyed Superman better than "Millie" and I305...but then again, I haven't been to Carowinds...yet....)

More to come!

* This post was modified at 7/23/17 2:36:53 AM *