Tis the Season of the Breakdown: Holiday in the Park Review for 12/20/2020

    Hello everyone and welcome to my second Six Flags Great Adventure Holiday in the Park review! Since I went into a bunch of detail on what is going on in the park itself last time, this review is going to be shorter and mainly focus on the things I saw and experienced rather than trying to hit every piece of Holiday in the Park. Since the last time I was in the park not much has really changed at all, but there was still a good amount going on, a few new merchandise items, and a surprise as well. The weather was mostly cloudy and in the mid to lower 30s. Last week a significant snowstorm dropped I'm told at least six inches on the park, so there was still a good amount of snow pretty much everywhere. It had rained on and off in the morning which I think led to crowds being even smaller than they were originally going to be. I was with three friends when I went this time around too!

Another great adventure begins

     The parking lot was a tad confusing. Between the snow and ice around as well as signage and cones for the drive-thru experience, it was a little confusing both getting in and out of the lot. As expected there was virtually nobody there when I got to the park. We parked in preferred parking thanks to the covid upgrade from Platinum to Diamond membership and the lot was pretty much empty. We arrived a little after 3:00pm and could have parked in the row right after the handicapped spots. That late in the day, even for Holiday in the Park, those spots are usually filled. Getting into the park was a breeze. That new security system they have really gets you into the park fast. One of members of the group had to go through a second screening though which is basically the old way of going through security where you remove everything from your pockets as well as your belt. I'm not really sure what triggered the need for the second screening, but either way it was a quick process. 

    To my recollection this was the first time I visited Six Flags with significant snow on the ground. I've gone before when there has been light snow, but I cannot recall ever being there with several inches still on the ground and areas of walkway still covered in snow and ice. The snow really puts a pretty touch on Holiday in the Park. Seeing the snow everywhere with all the lights and music was almost like finding a missing piece of a puzzle. It just felt like the whole package was there. Well, visually at least. The cold weather was not being kind to the rides it seems. 

Some pro snow removal right here

    When we first arrived Green Lantern and Nitro were both broken down. Justice League: Battle for Metropolis also was broken down for a while during our visit. As we were leaving, Superman: Ultimate Flight was broken down. During dinner the Sky Screamer broke down as riders were suspended in the air for a bit. Buccaneer and Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth also closed down for a bit. It never really seemed like more than one or two rides were broken down at a time though so I never really felt like too much was closed at once. Surprisingly I didn't see the Sky Ride stop once. Usually that's good for one or two stoppages per visit. The only ride that was not operating that was last time was the Parachute Training Center: Edwards AFB

Gotham City Gift Shop with The Dark Knight behind it

    The ride troubles didn't seem to end with just breakdowns though. Three operating rides that I rode seemed to be just limping along. The Dark Knight had virtually no effects working. Due to covid-19 the normal preshow is not running so guests just walk straight to the trains. When I rode the ride over the summer all the internal effects were still operating. This time around though, the ride was actually darker than Skull Mountain. To be honest though it was a really interesting experience. I've ridden the ride so many times I knew what to expect, but there was something thrilling about riding a cat and mouse coaster in the dark. Skull Mountain had no music playing, no strobe effects, and it felt like the ride slowed an unusual amount towards the end. I've never seen the track lit up so I don't know if there is an area or breaks I've never noticed or if the ride really just doesn't like the cold that much. 

Get your picture with Hurricane Harbor Santa! Also, Nitro and Batman in the back.

    Justice League: Battle for Metropolis was having significant issues even after it reopened. The ride vehicles were stopping to the right of the center of the screens, this made shooting targets on the far left of the screens nearly impossible. The Joker animatronic was completely lifeless. I've been on it before where he doesn't move, but his ATV still shot gas and he still talked. Here nothing happened and the canisters of gas that would normally give points for shooting them gave none. The fog screen was also not working which is not unusual. The on ride photo was working, but due to the cars not stopping in their normal position the pictures weren't really of anything at all. Another broken effect is the rack of oil cans falling towards you. The strobe effect was working, but the rack remained stationary. I'm not sure if they rushed getting it back open when it broke down or what, but that was one of the worst experiences I've had on that ride. It's crazy to type that considering the last time I went on it just a few weeks ago, the ride felt new. 

    The last ride note that is a complete shock to me was that Cyborg: Cyber Spin was open! It was seen testing during the drive-thru this past week and was open Saturday as well. That said it broke down multiple times then and tonight as we were walking by it we saw it take that all too familiar position up in the air as well. At this point, why even bother opening it? It's been literally plagued with technical issues since the day it opened. I still am not convinced that it will be there next season, but given the current state of the company due to covid, it could still be there not operating for another season. Still though, Cyborg: Cyber Spin looks pretty good lit up during Holiday in the Park. 

It is alive!!!!

It is broken!!!!

    We went into the mirror maze. Admission was $4 per person ($5 for non members) and overall I'd say it was worth it. I can see how as a Fright Fest attraction that a haunted mirror maze could totally be terrifying now. We were given gloves to wear as we went through which was nice considering you basically have to feel your way through the maze. There are a bunch of little scenes behind glass throughout the maze. There's a Christmas tree, elves making toys, a dinner table, and other small scenes of the holidays. It was a short experience as well navigated the maze in just a few minutes, but it was certainly worth $4 to $5 dollars to do one time. As with any maze if you do it more than that I feel the path becomes more clear and therefore the attraction becomes less interesting. 

Guess Santa changed his mind on a few of these presents?

    As far as new merchandise goes, it looks like Six Flags finally got around to putting out their Holiday in the Park merchandise. Six Flags Universe in particular had a nice variety of holiday shirts, sweatshirts, masks, hats, and gloves. Of course they still had a bunch of leftover pumpkin masks as well from Hallowfest and picture frames from this year's non-existent Fright Fest. While not new, they certainly restocked their selection of Nanocoasters. These little mini coaster models look so cool. Currently El' Toro, Kingda Ka, The Jersey Devil, and Nitro are available in the park. I'm really tempted to pick one of them up, but finding the time to put one together would be the real challenge. Other than that, still no knew ride merchandise to speak of other than some new El' Toro T-shirts that I didn't see last time and some new Jersey Devil cups too. 

Not Main Street looks great with snow!

    Due to the weather, there was very limited street performers. Due to the ice and snow still on the ground, pretty much the only entertainment on the streets were the meet and greet characters, jugglers, a guy doing some cool yo-yo tricks, and the guy who last time was doing stunts with the massive ring. This time he was just walking around though. We ate at the newly renovated Johnny Rockets. This place is now set up massively better than it was previously. It was clean, spacious, and didn't look like it was falling apart. Dare I say it was nice enough that with a little more work it could pass as the nicest food place in the park? Nah, it still doesn't beat Best of the West in terms of theming and atmosphere. The food itself was alright. The burgers there I still think are the best in the park, though the bun was in that weird zone between good and stale. 

Johnny Rockets lookin good after the remodel

    The only other notable thing from this visit was just how miserable much of the staff seemed to be. I understand it's cold, it's wet, it's Six Flags, but seriously. The "elves" at the mirror maze couldn't be bothered, ride operators had zero energy (which surprisingly is strange), and the supervisor at Johnny Rockets was noted by the whole group to seemingly hate life. I do have to give a shoutout to the girl (totally missed her name) working at Sugar Shack next to the GA Cafe, she was super friendly and you could tell she was actually smiling under her mask. The street performers and characters though were all very personable as always though, just seemed like for whatever reason the other staff of the evening just would rather stare at a wall than be where they were. Speaking of staff... Outside of the security checkpoint is there security in the park still? I'm curious to know as I saw zero security in the park, but perhaps with the park being as dead as it was, there was no need?

While still simple...

The Joy to the World section...

Looks beautiful with snow!!!

    Anyway, I give this trip to Six Flags Great Adventure Holiday in the Park a solid B+. The snow made the park look gorgeous. All of the lights were only enhanced by snow being on the ground to give the park that perfect holiday feel. The selection of rides is the same as it was last time, but it was kind of a coin flip as to whether or not the ride you'd want to go on would actually be open at the time you arrived. For the coasters I'd assume some of the technical difficulties can be contributed to the cold weather conditions. I do have to give credit where it is due though, the Six Flags app actually kept up with the breakdowns and reopening's of the rides. Not having shows was further amplified by the absence of the usual street performers. There really isn't anything the park can do about the weather so between the snow, ice, rain from earlier in the day, I wasn't really surprised.  All in all this was still a great trip to Six Flags Great Adventure Holiday in the Park! Stay tuned for a future blog on a Six Flags Great Adventure 2020 Season in Review and as always stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!

    

Six Flags Great Adventure Holiday in the Park 11/27 Review

    Hello everyone and welcome to my first review blog in quite some time! Yesterday was my first visit to Six Flags Great Adventure since July 18th, 2020. To be honest that is probably the longest I have gone without visiting the park in a solid six to seven years. I did not visit during Hollowfest due to the issues that were going on in the park at the time (will touch on them later in this blog). The main goal of this trip was to see the lights so I did not go on as many rides as I normally would. I will also be comparing this trip a little to my last as I'm not really sure if I've ever had two polar opposite experiences back to back like I experienced with these past two trips. If you are just interested in the safety procedures and what's new feel free to scroll down to those sections! They are marked in bold! 

The big Holiday in the Park sign over the security checkpoint

    Not much has really changed in getting into the park. Reservations still need to be done ahead of time and it does not appear that you can just walk up to the gate and buy same day tickets (which makes sense cause would still need a reservation). There was nobody in the security line and the parking lot was largely empty. I decided last minute to go so I was not able to reserve preferred parking, but there was literally no need for it as I was able to park about two rows back from the barrier. The preferred parking lot itself was basically empty with only the front area being filled. I got to the park around 3:30pm, so there was still some daylight to work with and the crowd definitely grew as it got darker, but never got to a point where I would even say it was moderately busy. 

Kingda Ka and El Toro resting for the year

Not a bad parking situation at all

    The security checkpoint is still the same as it was during the summer, except now there is extra signage about unruly behavior and marijuana consumption in the park. Just like in the summer you walk through the temp scan and then ultimately a contactless security scan. Security guards are standing by in case the scanner picks up something, but the days of emptying your pockets, taking belts off, etc. still have not returned. Honestly the new system is a ton easier. I'm not sure how effective it is compared to the bag scanners they got a couple years back. Those things had to have cost a pretty penny so I'm not sure what the future of security scans in the park is going to be.

    The main street (haha) area of the park is all done up for the holidays with wreaths and lights on the building windows as well as some fake snow falling throughout the area. The fountain is once again replaced by a massive tree that will occasionally put on a light show. I'm surprised they still have the show as it tends to draw a bit of a crowd to the tree. Since it wasn't busy it wasn't really a problem, but as far as social distancing goes, I can see it being harder if Holiday in the Park gets busier since that area of the park already tends to get congested quickly. To my surprise, while there were no true shows, there was a good number of characters and street performers. In the main street area there was a stilt walking nutcracker and a toy soldier juggling some bowling pins. I have to say, the masks they had actually fit their costumes pretty naturally. Over by Big Wheel the Snow Queen was meeting and greeting guests, but she was on a stanchioned off  stage as opposed to being on the ground with kids running up to her. Kids were still able to go up to the stanchions for pictures with her though, so that was really nice to see. The same thing can be said for the Evergreen Princess over by Batman: The Ride, Jack Frost in the Boardwalk area, and the Peppermint Princess in front of Houdini's Great Escape.

Six Flags Universe is open selling mostly the same stuff as before

One of the many street performers, the juggling toy soldier

The centerpiece of the park, the electric tree

    Santa's Workshop, which is located behind Big Wheel, is closed with signage stating Santa and Mrs. Claus are now located in the new Jolly Jamboree section. I'm sure this was done to give them an outdoor meet and greet as opposed to an indoor. It's still so strange to me that Santa's Workshop exists in the park all year round, but I guess I really can't expect Six Flags to paint the building twice a year when it was only being used for the meet and greet. Speaking of things moving. The Coke Freestyle building has been converted into a candy apple store. I believe that happened towards the start of fall when those treats became more popular. As has been the case all season, there are no Coke Freestyle machines in the park. Drinks for the refillable cups are still being given to guests in a paper cup to pour into their cups as opposed to the staff just filling them. Otherwise, most of the usual dining locations and stores were open. The snack stands by Nitro, restaurants in the Boardwalk Area, and the Fill the Thrill stands were closed. 

The Snow Queen meeting and greeting guests. now with mask!

The Poinsettia Tree minus the Poinsettia Princess

I swear they have no idea what they actually want this place to be

    One of the biggest changes to the park is that it is now cashless! None of the shops or restaurants will accept cash. There are a few cash converter machines that will convert your cash to a card you can use in the park. Personally I didn't seek out one of those machines since I use card normally in the park anyway, but I've heard many a complaint this season about that. There is signage around, but with that big of a change and considering that people of all ages visit the park, I think there should be some more, especially in front of shops and restaurants. I'm sure it's incredibly frustrating to wait to order food just to find out you cant because you have cash. Also, they certainly need to bump up the number of converter machines. Perhaps in the future the indoor restaurants will be able to house them. Speaking of indoor restaurants. Yum Yum Cafe has indoor dining. I ate outside and just got chicken tenders (a very safe go to in the park), but it was nice that people have the choice. Not all tables are accessible though and sitting at counters is off limits so they are definitely following the 25% capacity that the state has ordered.

Sorry for the blurry picture! 

    As I mentioned earlier I got on two rides this visit. Batman: The Ride was first up and as always it was nothing short of a rush. That ride leaves me feeling dizzy every time I get off of it from those two corkscrews at the end. Strangely though it was not as rough as I remember it being. Granted it's been a while since I rode it, but it really didn't beat me up at all. I don't know if that has to do with the colder weather or not, but it was a really good ride. The queue though could use some love at this point. It used to be a really nice queue with a fountain and music from Batman playing once you entered into the building. Nowadays the fountain sits dry, there is no music until you are boarding the train despite speakers still being in the building, grass is growing through the stone, and the extended queue just looks abandoned. I understand the days of the ride being one of the more popular in the park have long since passed, but still, give the queue a little love Six Flags. The other ride was Justice League: Battle for Metropolis. At one point it seemed that due to covid this ride was not going to open this year, but with guidelines changing, and every other theme park being able to figure out how to open this style of ride, the ride opened. The queue is almost exclusively outdoors now though with I'd say five, maybe six parties being inside the Hall of Justice at a time. The ride remains my favorite in the park and I still argue it is totally out of place compared to all the others. My good friends who live down in Florida say that it's nearly Universal Studios quality, so take that for what it's worth. I haven't ridden it since Holiday in the Park last year, so my score was back down under 300,000 which is a far cry from my 418,000+ high score. All features in the ride were working though and honestly it felt like a new ride again. Even the fog screen which hardly ever worked was working beautifully so kudos Six Flags on that.

At least Houdini's Great Escape is being used for something this year

Larger than life ornament in the Boardwalk Area

Tunnel of lights along the lakefront

What's New

    The only other ride I was going to hop onto was Skull Mountain, but even with social distancing, the wait was easily approaching 45 minutes, which to me is totally not worth it for that ride. As for what is new at Holiday in the Park this year, the term small and cozy is the best way I can describe it. Since there were no shows, there were traveling acts. I mentioned earlier about the toy soliders and nut cracker, but there was more, more impressive acts. One gave major Unleashed vibes just outside of the Showcase Theater by Cyborg Cyber Spin as it was a guy in what I'm assuming is supposed to be a light up snowman costume doing all kinds of stunts inside what equates to a giant ring. There was an act in Unleashed a couple years ago at Fright Fest that was very similar, but with two people. There was also a traveling trio of elves that did all kinds of breakdancing and stunts to remixes of holiday favorites. I saw them both outside of the Showcase Theater and over by the Joy to the World lakefront area next to the Arcade. 

    As far as new areas, there are two. The Jolly Jamboree is where Santa and Mrs. Claus now reside. That said I believe there is an extra charge to meet them. The area is really cozy with a bunch of rentable fire pits and chairs surrounding them. I believe if you rent a pit (45 minute time limit) you also get smores kits, so it does give you a pretty cozy experience if you are looking for a more private smores making experience. There are still smores stations throughout the park, but you will be sharing those fires with people not in your party for sure. There is also a holiday feast in the Jolly Jamboree. I'm not sure of the details on it, but I've heard it's actually pretty good. The Jolly Jamboree is actually located in the catering area! This is the first time I can remember setting foot in that area since my 5th grade band trip.

Confirmed, rentals are for 45 minutes

The Holiday in the Park chair has been relocated to Jolly Jamboree

Just a cool looking walkway at Jolly Jamboree

    I could be wrong on this, but I do not remember the kiddie rides by Skull Mountain being open in previous Holday in the Park events. While there isn't a ton of decorations there, the bridge gives some incredible looks at The Jersey Devil Coaster construction. Man that thing is going to be a monster once it is all build and rolling. Speaking of kiddie rides, I don't think it hit me how many they took out for Jersey Devil until this trip. With Six Flags needing to dial things back due to covid, my honest hope for the 2022 season would be them sprinkling kiddie rides or more family rides around the park. Even if they were temporary for a couple seasons, I think it would help because the number of rides for younger kids certainly just took a real kick in the gut. 

These three elves were a ton of fun to watch

    I did see some different food options from past seasons. While I didn't try any of them I cannot recall seeing buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese at Metro Grill and I know there was not a smokehouse selling sausage kabobs between Nitro and Batman: The Ride. I didn't pop into Granny's to see if they had the jerk chicken sandwich again, but Yum Yum Cafe just had their standard menu. There is a new stainless steel refillable mug though that is good for this season and next. Apparently it is for both hot and cold beverages, but I cant see myself carrying it around the park since it doesn't have a handle and I didn't see any koozies for them that you can put around your neck like the sport bottles. Still though they did look really cool. There was a surprisingly limited amount of Holiday in the Park merchandise. Honestly I'm pretty sure I saw more Six Flags Halloween merchandise still out than Holiday in the Park despite Holiday in the Park going on for a couple weeks now. What I did see in the games, but not in stores was pillows for the different rides!!!! If you read here frequently you know I've been begging for Six Flags to put out merchandise for their rides (especially the less popular and older). I couldn't help but be excited seeing pillows for Skull Mountain and Runaway Mine Train alongside ones for Safari Off Road Adventure and Kingda Ka. I really hope that is a sign of things to come, but for now that was the only place I saw anything like that outside of the usual merchandise for El Toro, Kinga Ka, Zumanjaro, Nitro, and Jersey Devil surprisingly. Even in the newly reopened Six Flags Universe, ride merchandise was hard to come by.

Six Flags Universe looks nice at night, still looks like Bugs Bunny though

Tons of Six Flags shirts and other random graphic shirts

There once was a tree and semi wall of Hannah Barbara plushies here

More Runaway Mine Train mech please

DC mugs and Tervis for sale

More Skull Mountain merch please

Safety

     It's still strange to me that I need to put a safety section in these blogs. Compared to last trip I felt 100% safer. Just about everybody was following the social distancing rules, wearing masks, and acting appropriately. Through the summer and especially during Hollowfest, I saw so many videos and pictures of the place looking more like a fight club than anything else. I watched one video of a fight somehow happening in the staff only area of Batman: The Ride. While that guy was recording a fight broke out near him on Nitro's station platform. I've seen a video of a group of people jumping over the railings onto the bumper cars and basically brawling on the bumper cars. The signage around the park about zero tolerance for marijuana and unruly behavior is not there for no reason. I'm in quite a few Great Adventure social media groups and many people have reported the place frequently smelt like weed and there was nowhere near enough security to handle all the problems. This is why I have not gone back to the park since July. The last time I was there I gave the visit a C and stated that a lot of the safety protocols seemed to have gone out the window. 

These signs were not at the park last time I visited. Due to a spike of drug use and violence in the park, it became a wild summer and Hallowfest. Not the case so far with Holiday in the Park

    I am so, so happy to say that that was not the case on this visit. People were respectful, distanced appropriately, and even in the maskless areas, people were being smart. The crowd was completely different. I know I cannot compare the day after Thanksgiving to any day in July, but I can confirm that there was no need for state troopers on horseback patrolling the park as there was during Hollowfest and there was no need for a checkpoint at the exit where dozens of arrests and tickets were issued for all kinds of problems. If you were waiting for a safe time to go, I'd say now is the time. I don't know how things will proceed as we get closer to the holidays, but if my trip was any indication, now is the time for families to go and enjoy the park with little fear.

Wrap Up

    So what do I give this trip to Six Flags Great Adventure Holiday in the Park? I give it a massive A+. The park looks beautiful as it always does during Holiday in the Park. The returning areas and themes still look great and you can still tell that Six Flags actually puts effort into it. The shows may be gone this year and I didn't see anyone singing, but the traveling acts certainly help to keep the spirit of the season alive. The food is your standard Six Flags stuff, but there is still a sprinkling of exclusive holiday treats and meals to try out. There are at least thirty rides open, but as  is always the case during Holiday in the Park, El Toro, Kingda Ka, Bizarro, Tango, Runaway Mine Train, and Zumanjaro Drop of Doom are all closed. Cyborg Cyber Spin was also closed as it has been all season, but apparently it was seen testing a little bit last week. Still not convinced it's going to be here for long though. So, do yourself a favor and head on out to Holiday in the Park. It was a great experience and I will be doing my best to get out there again! In fact, there was one final surprise on this visit. As I walked out of the park Superman Ultimate Flight was broken down. Truly a sign of the crowd, Let it Go from Disney's Frozen was playing in the station. As loud as the music was you could hear what had to be everyone at the station singing along. One staff member could even be seen doing some of Elsa's hand motions. It was really heartwarming to see during a ride breakdown. As always, thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon!

Motionless and unlit, Cyborg Cyber Spin's future remains up in the air

Just not quite as high as Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth

So long from Holiday in the Park!