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 Review of The Comet @ The Great Escape
2 Rating Posted by: coaster05 on 8/21/2007 10:09:00 PM
My second favorite wood coaster on my trip coming in behind El Toro. APPEARANCE-9 Looks good but not great. A little bit of paint and just some general touches would do it for me. CAPACITY-9 Ran very well for a SF. They had two trains on a weekday and loaded pretty quick. RIDE QUALITY-10 Delivered an amazing ride in 3 different seats. Once I got stapled but even that was still fun. Just the right amount of roughness and some good air. FUN-10 I didnt expect much but this ride just gave me eveything I look for in a fun coaster. Great laughs and good memories. RERIDE-10 It is good enough to bring me back, course that was not hard as I love this park. Definately the only coaster that is really worth the reride. OVERALL-48 AVG-9.6. Definately a 10 in my book and in my top 15 wood coasters. Amazing.
 

Review Comments

ginzo on 8/22/2007 1:12:46 AM said:
I read somewhere that Great Escape is Shapiros favorite Six Flags park. Is it that nice?

Comet definitely intrigues me. It has the ghost of the Crystal Beach Cyclone in it, as some its wood and steel was used in the Crystal Beach Comet, which was then moved to Great Escape. Unfortunately, I probably wont get to ride this puppy for quite some time.
coaster05 on 8/22/2007 6:25:02 AM said:
I was very surprised. It has a good family feel to it, and some very quirky attractions that you dont see in corporate parks.
Canobie Coaster on 8/22/2007 7:21:30 AM said:
From the sound of things the park still has its special touch like it had 7 years ago when I went before it became a Six Flags park. As for the Comet, glad its still running like it did when I rode it. Does Six Flags still run two trains on the Comet? They only run one train on their wooden coasters at Six Flags New England.
hrrytraver on 8/22/2007 8:27:18 AM said:
i went to this place about 18 years ago. it was very kitschy and wierd, but as you say, pretty interesting.

this ride doesnt get many boisterous reviews. im kinda glad youre so pumped on it. i should try this thing and the whole place again sooner or later.

coaster05 on 8/22/2007 1:31:38 PM said:
That was my only visit so I am sure it is not nearly as old school as it was, but compared to most corporate parks it definately had a unique feel. It ran 2 trains when I was there. The one train ops at SFNE were very annoying.
ginzo on 8/22/2007 6:14:17 PM said:
Yeah, one train ops can be a real bummer when they turn what should be a no wait situation to a 15 minute wait.
Got_it on 8/22/2007 11:21:51 PM said:
Cyclone runs two trains for the most part. Thunder Bolt doesnt, but if they would put fin or mag breaks then they would probably be more likely to run them both.
Timberman on 8/23/2007 12:55:24 AM said:
Glad to hear this is still running well after the big reprofiling flap a couple of years ago. I havent ridden it since the changes were made, but I remember it, as you note here, as just an all-around fun ride. We rode it over and over again, and it never got boring and never caused any undue punishment. While not quite in the same league as Pheonix, its at least in the same genre as an excellent, well-balanced, mid-sized ride.


I also recall the Great Escape having an above-average Boomerang.

Canobie Coaster on 8/23/2007 7:26:35 AM said:
I never rode the Boomerang, but the Screamin Demon was a little smoother than Canobies Corkscrew.

Anyways, I think I rode the Comet before it was changed. When did they change the ride?
mrceagle on 8/23/2007 2:57:37 PM said:
I woudl hope it runs Little better Being its something like 6 years younger then The Corkscrew. The boomerang is one of the better ones I have been on and easily the most prominently displayed model I have seen. Its a nice park, the locals are not happy with SFIs Changes and The extreme price increases. But it still holds allot of charm.
coaster05 on 8/23/2007 5:51:10 PM said:
Extreme price increases? Please tell me it is more then the 5 dollar parking increase. I have no idea what the park costs due to the pass, but if you were a local why wouldnt you buy tghe season pass? BTW it would have to be better then Canobie corkscrew, that ride sucks, no offense.
mrceagle on 8/23/2007 6:46:51 PM said:
I in no way argued That Canobie Corkscrew was better. in fact i said it should be better. Try a $10 dollar parking charge up from Free. Not to mention if you dont park in the Higher priced preferred parking area you end up quite far from the Bridge to get across the street. Admission is now $40 dollars. This is on top of one of the shortest operating schedules and least operating hours of the chain parks. go on anything but a Saturday and you will find a 10-8 operating day.
ginzo on 8/23/2007 7:46:43 PM said:
$40 does seem steep for a park this size. But Six Flags season passes are the best theme park gate deal in the industry. I appreciate how they scan at the gate no matter what park you hit, unlike CF. Ahem.
coaster05 on 8/23/2007 8:08:18 PM said:
so the park is open for ten hours along with the parking fee that works out to 5.00 an hour. I definately had 5.00 an hour worth of fun. Plus who ever pays full price. The seems like a fair amount for parks in that area of the country.
mrceagle on 8/23/2007 10:41:39 PM said:
You hit NY and New England those charges make it one of the Highest priced parks in the area. but I actually like TGE and hit it more often then SFNE. But the locals have been speaking up about The changes and the charges often to news comments.
coaster05 on 8/24/2007 6:11:44 AM said:
I have done every amusement park in your area. Comparing the price to Compounce, canobie, Funtown, the other SF parks TGE seems about right. Again why wouldnt the locals buy a season pass.
mrceagle on 8/24/2007 12:22:10 PM said:
Some of them Do but the price increases are merely the icing on a very big corporate take over cake. the Comments posted Complained about the stariotypical cooperate atmosphere that has taken over the park. The food quality going down while cost of that food has gone up. The removal of much of the old park to add Loony toons characters and other franchise elements. While Rabbit season is Fun the cut outs arent as Nice as the original 3D animals that found there home in that walk through. People Wish they woudl have kept woods original themed as Simple added rides that Supported those themes. Many of the responses Complain about the park loosing its Unique quality. They feel the park was a gift from wood to the People of the region and SFI has Turned it into a circus. the number of attractions down and quality of the rides are also a complaint.
coaster05 on 8/24/2007 1:38:52 PM said:
So if it was a gift how did it end up for sale. I am sure it is much more corporate then it was before, but I feel that it was a great value for the price. The jungleland or whatever the Bugs area was before also sounds cool, however Bugs is still very unique to a corporate park. The food I had there was very goo and the service I got was also very good. To me it seems like a nice park that lots of other areas of the country would be glad to have.
mrceagle on 8/24/2007 4:59:14 PM said:
i agree. your shooting the messenger. I find TGE more worth my time then many SFI parks because of attractions like Rabbit season. but the locals dont seem very happy with a lot of the changes. i used the word gift because i have seen it Many times from many people. i dont really get it either.
coaster05 on 8/24/2007 5:27:16 PM said:
Okay I got you thanks.
bumprnugit on 10/6/2007 11:59:52 PM said:
J-F-C, how did this thread divert from the ride? Anyhow, I rode the Comet today, and it ran very well. The track is starting to show its age since its mostly 13 years old. The one small re-tracked section (after the first turn-around) has a very Dinn/CCI feel to it and stands out slightly from the rest of the ride, but only a seasoned Comet rider would notice it. Contrary to an earlier review, there are NO block or trim brakes on this ride, nor were there ever.
Also, the ride ops did not "staple" me into the seat; they only provided a gentle push down against my purposely distended belly. Granted I am certainly more fit the 95% of most park patrons, but I did have ample room to enjoy the airtime this ride offers.
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