Saturday, June 28, 2008
Jackson, NJ
Schedule
Participants
Dave (12th), Marc (12th), Span (), Eugene (), Brian ()
Introduction
A life-changing day for Marc in the months leading up to the 12th Annual May Birthday Bash Bonanza caused this year's event to be much different than any MBBB before it. Marc had gotten married in April and a few weeks prior had enjoyed his bachelor party (which included many of us MBBB participants). Originally, we had planned to go to Six Flags Adventure, however the weather forecast for that weekend was particularly foreboding and so a last minute change to Philadelphia was made. We went indoor rock climbing and bowling and played pool and laser tag.
Because we had done such a large day of events just two months before MBBB12, after a lot of discussion, we made the decision to pursue a more low-key trip that wouldn't require a full weekend commitment (or a whole lot planning for that matter). Rather, we aimed to find a location that we could all drive to and from in a single day and which also had enough entertainment to busy us for the whole day. Though Atlantic City was mentioned as a possibility, Six Flags quickly became the location of choice. It harkened back to the first ever MBBB, when the original crew trekked to Great Adventure the morning after MBBB1.
David purchased six tickets for those of us that would be attending, but another shake up to the day wasn't far behind. The morning of MBBB12 arrived and Mehr was calling us with bad news. His water boiler (ask to confirm) had busted and he had no choice but to bail at the very last moment. Compounding the issue was the fact that David soon discovered that the tickets he had purchased were non-refundable. Though a few solutions to this problem were considered, Mehr quickly dispensed with them and reimbursed David and saved the rest of us from any additional thought on the matter.
Breakfast
(Not sure what we did for breakfast. Does anyone remember?)
Road Trip to the Park
Though we were rather disappointed that Mehr wouldn't be joining us, we knew that we were still in for a great day and so Eugene launched the car from Bellmore and towards Jackson, NJ. There was a little drama on the way. As we approached a toll booth which had a $10 fee, Marc went to his wallet and handed Eugene a twenty. Eugene quickly handed the bill to the clerk without looking at it and started driving forward. By the time Marc was able to tell him that he should have gotten change, it was too late. Eugene tried to brake, but he was already past the barrier.
Regardless, the trip to Six Flags did have plenty of perks. As always, we had a lot to talk about including movies and TV shows. We also had a laugh that gives you a little insight as to how horrible the gas prices were back then. We filled up the tank when we hit New Jersey to the tune of around $4.10 a gallon. We all agreed that THAT was a GREAT price!
(Does anyone remember if we talked about anything interesting on the way there? Did we play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?)
Arrival at the Park
Every time you visit an amusement park, you always want to make sure that you remember where you parked. It can be pretty difficult, and after we met up with Span (who traveled from Delaware on his own), we referenced a few of our favorite TV shows which have had great perspective on parking lots/garages. For example, there's this Simpsons episode where they go to Itchy and Scratchy Land and there are only two lots for the entire amusement park: the Itchy lot and the Scratchy lot. "Now remember kids, we're in the Itchy lot." Also, we talked about that wonderful episode of Seinfeld titled The Parking Garage where Jerry says:
"The problem with the mall garage is that everything looks the same. They try to differentiate between levels. They put up different colors, different numbers, different letters. What they need to do is name the levels, like, 'Your mother's a whore.' You would remember that."
One other thing we immediately noticed when we arrived was just how hot. Itching to escape the confines of the boiling asphalt, we moved towards the entrance as David distributed the tickets. Upon entering the park, Span wisely paid for a locker which allowed us to put some of our valuables away.
(Did we have trouble with the locker at all?)
Movietown
(Did we do Batman: the Ride first as is the Struck brother tradition?)
Eager to finally ride some roller coasters after a long morning, we immediately headed towards Movietown which had a number of coasters based on DC comic book hero, Batman. We got into line for Nitro, a pure up and down coaster with no gimmicks or themes. We moved relatively quickly and soon found ourselves ascending to our doom, tick by tick. During the wait in line, David and Marc had pledged to hold their arms up the entire ride and not hold the restraint. This included during the first drop which measures 215 feet and is angled at 68 degrees. As we approached the top, David attempted to renege on the deal, but Marc insisted. When they finally reached the bottom, David gave Marc a high five. The rest of the track was equally thrilling with numerous moments of weightlessness as we hit the peaks of the coaster at breakneck speed.
A stone's throw away was the Dark Night Coaster, a brand new ride which had launched that year in conjunction with the highly anticipated movie sequel to Batman Begins. The wait was long and there was even video material featuring Aaron Eckhart giving a speech as Harvey Dent that entertained us as we slowly inched along the snaked path. All signs pointed to the ride of a lifetime. However, as we were approaching the front of the line, we saw some guys leaving the ride who were giving it two big thumbs down and telling us to not waste our time. As we had already waited in line for over 30 minutes, we decided to stick with it but soon discovered that those guys had been all too correct.
Lunch
After a few coasters had been tamed, we decided it was a perfect time to take a break and eat some lunch. We headed back towards the center of the park and entered an area called the Boardwalk. We were greeted with a number of dining choices and ended up splitting up with David and Marc heading to Liberty Square Pizza while Eugene, Brian, and Span went to Nathan's Hot Dogs (?). Though it felt like a long wait for David and Marc, we soon discovered that the wait was even longer at Nathan's as Brian (?) was still waiting in line when we arrived. We didn't mind, though, because the temperature was still sweltering outside and the restaurant had a number of air conditioners on maximum. Everyone pigged out though some of us were unable to finish our generous meals.
Superman: Ultimate Flight
Not too far from the restaurant was Superman: Ultimate Flight. Marc recalled how he hadn't been thrilled with the ride the first time he rode it but that the inside loop had felt crazy good the second time around. Waiting on the line was pretty funny; because it was so hot, the staff was running sprinklers all during the day. A few unlucky souls got hosed on their backs when they weren't paying attention. Having noticed this, we made sure to stand back at each corner until we had enough room to move out of the sprinklers' range. Another ridiculous moment occurred when someone apparently lost some money while riding the coaster. A dollar bill (it might have been $5, $10, or $20, we don't know) fluttered to the ground and landed in the fenced off and restricted area. Someone else in line and right near us actually creeped under the fence to get the money; we all thought he was pretty stupid to do something so dangerous just for a few bucks.
El Toro and Medusa
After another great, though unconventional, roller coaster ride in Superman, we headed for El Toro, another "pure" roller coaster in the vein of Nitro. Eugene was even daring enough to use his camera to videotape the entire ride while ON THE RIDE. You can view that insanity in our videos section. This was followed by Medusa which shook us up with its many twists and turns.
Kingda Ka
One monumental coaster stood in our way. Measuring in at over 400 feet tall and as fast as 130 mph, Kingda Ka awaited. The problem was that most of us weren't feeling up to it thanks to the large number of rides and our overly greasy lunch items. David and Eugene decided to take up the challenge and promised they would abandon the line if it ventured too long. The rest of us took the long-awaited opportunity to actually sit (or, is some cases, lie) down and rest. After about 15 minutes, we got up to walk and discovered the Temple of the Tiger exhibit just a few minutes away. We marveled as he stretched his (very large) body against a wooden post before finally perching himself on top of a rock.
(Did Span take any photos of tiger on this phone? Maybe they confirm the description above.)
Meanwhile, David and Eugene breezed through the Kingda Ka line and ... (David needs to fill this in)
With the day of coastering done, we headed towards the exit, but not before stopping to check out the fudge selection. Alas, no pumpkin fudge was to be found. (this might have been another trip)
Dinner
We finally left the park after sunset and went to search for a restaurant to eat at. Brian had researched a number of eateries prior to the trip but we soon found ourselves a little lost and unable to make a decision. David called brother Eric for some assistance as we waited in a gas station parking lot, but our hunger pangs could not go unnoticed (Span, in particular, was insistent). We glanced an Italian restaurant named Gian Marco's Restaurant & Pizza across the street and decided that it was better than spending more time trying to find somewhere else to go.
As we sat down at our table, our skepticism immediately grew. Paper plates and plasticware? Undeterred, we each made our selections from the menu and held out hope. The food ended up being quite delicious and we had a great time talking about the day's events. A surreal moment then occurred as one of the waitresses mentioned to us that a person had been decapitated at a different Six Flags theme park just that day by going into the restricted zone of a roller coaster.
After dinner, we armed ourselves with doggy bags, said goodbye to Span, and sped back to where the day had begun for all of us.