Late last year I renewed our season passes online for Six Flags New England. I wasn't particularly thrilled about it. The company's new CEO had changed the standard Six Flags practice of allowing current passholders to renew for a nominal fee (usually about $50). Since the passes were good at any Six Flags park and included parking, it was a decent value. But the new CEO wanted to turn Six Flags into a "premium" brand. So the cost of a season pass shot up to $99 -- and was good only at the park where you bought it. If you wanted a pass good at any Six Flags park, that was a whopping $280. Then there was the problem of the park being cashless, and yet having all contactless payment systems within the park deactivated so that you had to use a credit card or purchase a special Six Flags cash card. In my view, that just made for a painful (not "premium") experience. I guess other people felt the same, because near the end of last year I received an email from the park stating that I could get a season pass renewal for just $59. It was still good only at Six Flags New England, but it did include parking (normally $25) so I figured even if we visited just once, it would be worth it. It turned out that Karen had no interest in visiting the park. It had nothing to offer her. All but one of the relaxing rides had been removed in favor of teen thrill rides. There was no shade. And the food was mediocre at best. But my friend Dave was interested in going. So on a bright sunny and mild Wednesday morning, we headed over to the park. My intention was to give Karen's season pass to him, but I wasn't sure if that could be done since it was tied to her name. We arrived at about 10:00, and there were a handful of cars in the vast parking lot. We were able to drive right up to the barriers next to the "preferred" parking section. A tram was waiting at the nearby stop. The park had once again cut down on the number of passengers cars; there was now just one being pulled by a diesel pickup truck. There was no one in line waiting for it. We climbed aboard and were pulled over to the pedestrian bridge spanning the highway, diesel fumes wafting in our faces. The long staircase up to the bridge still had the graphic strips that formed an advertisement for M&M candies, but quite a lot of the graphics were either missing or worn out. We climbed the stairs and crossed over the bridge, then made our way down the long stairway on the other side. Once again, there was a different arrangement in the entrance plaza. It seemed like it changed every season. Instead of heading left for our season passes, we had to head to a separate building to our right. I didn't see anything specifying season pass processing, so I headed over to the Guest Relations window. No one was in line. In fact, hardly anyone was in the plaza. I was able to get my pass processed quickly. As I expected, my name was attached to the pass. When I gave the attendant the other pass, she looked quizzically at Dave and asked, "Karen?" I explained that my wife didn't want the pass this year and she asked me if I wanted to turn it over to Dave. I did, and she said that was no problem. After Dave gave her his particulars, he had his very own season pass (with parking) for the rest of the season. From there we walked toward the entrance, past the row of ticket booths (none of which were open). An attendant at the entrance gates scanned our passes with his phone and asked us to pose for a photo, which would then be tied to our passes. And with that, we were in the park. We walked down Main Street, which looked abandoned. All the store fronts were closed. We got to the the bottom of the hill, and all egresses were roped off, with security guards standing next to them. By then it was about 10:30. The rest of the park wouldn't open until 11:00. So we stood around chatting. We debated what to do first: head to Wicked Cyclone at the north end, Superman at the east end or Thunderbolt, which was in front of us. We settled on Thunderbolt, since the line for that always moved the slowest. Within 20 minutes, that area of the park was filled with people. Curiously, all of the shops remained closed. I would have thought, since people were trapped there, that it would have meant some easy sales, especially for drinks or snacks. When the ropes finally were removed, we followed the mass of people toward the entrance to Thunderbolt, the park's venerable wood coaster. As they tended to do, the teens bolted off, sprinting toward the queue line, jumping the railings and running up the entrance ramp. By the time Dave and I got there, two trainloads of guests were already queued up. Since we couldn't choose which seat we wanted, it was a crap shoot as to where we'd end up. So I told Dave if we were stuck in the back, I'd have to walk over to the exit gate without riding. The loading process was painfully slow, and the park had only one train. The ride operator would scream into the microphone, "DO NOT PULL DOWN YOUR LAP BARS! I REPEAT -- DO NOT PULL DOWN YOUR LAP BARS!" The attendants didn't seem to be in any hurry to check the restraints. When we finally entered the loading area, we were at the middle seat of the second-to-last car. That was fine with me; as long as we weren't sitting in a back seat. After the long safety check, we rolled out of the station along the track that, when I was young, used to be in a dark tunnel. The chain slowly pulled us up to the lift where we turned 180 degrees and plunged down the first drop. Because we were near the middle of the train, the forces were mostly neutralized. There weren't many positive Gs and there wasn't much airtime. But thankfully it also wasn't painful. We rolled into the brake run (which surprisingly was still using the original skid brakes) and then walked up the long ramp toward the exit. From there we decided to head down into the DC Comics area to ride Superman, one of the greatest coasters ever built. There still weren't very many people in the park. Even though this coaster was a guest magnet, at that early hour I didn't think we'd encounter much of a line. The ride was still testing as we approached, with the trains being sent around empty. As we walked down the winding ramp, Dave noticed quite a few trees that had been cut down. The ride entrance was quiet, with hardly any people around. The clever queue line maze in the shape of Superman's "S" had rarely been used since the ride's opening years, when the bushes planted throughout were about a foot tall. Now the bushes had filled out, essentially forming a hedge maze. The queue line area abutting the station was only partially open, so what appeared at first to be a long line moved fairly quickly. We were soon in the station, in line for the front seat. I noticed that the park had already turned on the infrared heaters below the station track in order to keep the wheel grease warm, a practice that normally happened later in the autumn. The ride operator announced his spiel at top volume and top speed, making it mostly unintelligible. Dave wondered why they didn't have the spiel pre-recorded, as was the practice at most other parks. It took about a half-hour to get to the front of the line. The main hold-up was the seemingly endless stream of "Fast Lane" guests cutting the line and taking the front seat each time. I still found it surprising that so many people were willing to pay the extra $120 charge for that priviledge. Finally we were seated in the front, and dispatched up the lift. I was in the left seat, and going up the lift felt really precarious because on that side there was no visible coaster structure, just a drop straight down 200 feet. Since the air was cool, I was glad that the mist in the tunnels had been turned off. We screamed down the steep first drop, into the underground tunnel and then up into the first massive airtime hill. When the coaster first opened, the following overbanked turnaround was a revelation; no other company had done that. Now it seemed as if every coaster company used it, so the novelty had worn off. But it was still an intense moment. Two ejector airtime hills followed, and then we soared up into the tall hill before the first of two intense helixes. While not as smooth as when it opened, the ride was still comfortable (especially given its intense speed). The second helix dropped us into the second tunnel and then we leapt over the bunny hops and flew back to the station. It was still a remarkably good ride. When we exited the station, the photo booth was closed, as was the path out of the ride area. All guests were now diverted directly into the gift shop. We headed south through the DC area. To the right, the Johnny Rockets restaurant was closed. Just passed it was the entrance to Arkham Asylum, the park's wild mouse coaster. So we queued up for that since hardly anyone was in line. The ride was one of the ugliest coasters I'd ever seen, just black and yellow metal dumped onto a concrete pad surrounded by black chain line fencing. I guess that passed for "theming" in the park. It didn't take very long before we were seated in our little car and sent on our way. The hairpin turns at the top of the ride produced insane lateral forces. I kept fearing the train would fly off the track, which is the whole point of a wild mouse coaster. So I guess it was effective. After that we walked over to the nearby Catwoman Whip. This was another ride that, when it opened in 2000, had small bushes placed around its layout. Those bushes had grown up into trees twenty feet tall. It added a lot of visual interest to the ride. Unfortunately, several of the trees had been cut down. Dave and I headed to the back of the train but a ride attendant stopped us and said no one was allowed in the last three cars. I found that really puzzling. The last seat on that train gave the best ride. The train was so incredibly long that you'd get yanked over each hill. So instead we sat in the fourth car from the end. The ride operator sent us off with, "Enjoy your ride. Meow." It did give an enjoyable if forceless ride. I wished that the layout was a bit longer. We hiked up the long stairs leading to the park's Kidzopolis area. To our left was the outdoor Primo's Pizzeria. To our right was the GoFresh Cafe ... which was no longer the GoFresh cafe. It had been renamed Fossil Fuel. It was closed, which I had come to expect from that concession. But the name change also brought a menu change. Gone were any healthy options. Now it was fried dough and funnel cakes. I didn't want to eat at the nearby indoor version of Primo's Pizzeria, since my meal there last year was pretty terrible. So we instead headed over to where Dave ate last year, Hot Head Burritos next door to Primo's. There was no one in line, and a lonely attendant behind the counter. I was fearing that they served only meat burritos, but was pleasantly surprised that I could build my own with whatever ingredients I wanted. So I had black beans, rice, grilled peppers and onions, lettuce and cheese. Dave got himself a Mexican bowl. I asked half-heartedly if I could pay with my phone, and to my delight the attendant said yes. Hooray! Six Flags came to their senses and re-activated contactless payments! So I paid for myself and Dave. We also got drinks, and the total came to a whopping $43. We were going to eat on the veranda, but it was swarming with yellowjackets. So we went inside Primo's Pizzeria. My burrito was impressively large and absolutely delicious. That was going to be my preferred dining location from then on. After that refreshing meal, we headed back outside and over to the park's newest attraction. At least, that's what the park was claiming. All they did was take their ancient antique car ride and re-theme it to Dino Off-Road Adventure. Even though the line was short, because the cars could seat two people maximum and often just one person went, it was a pretty long wait. The ride attendants were dressed like park rangers, which was a nice touch. But outside of some animatronic dinosaurs (some of which already were malfunctioning), there wasn't much different about it. When we finally were seated in our car, the attendant gave us the usual spiel about no stopping or bumping and then sent us on our way. There were only two notable things along the course. One was at the far south end, where there was a big T-Rex. A Six Flags worker sat there in a chair next to the giant but motionless dino. She had a wireless microphone and as we approached, she started telling us about the T-Rex. "Hello hello there! This is Dino. And when he reaches full height he'll be at least--" But as soon as we passed by, she stopped talking mid-sentence. She did that for every car that passed by. I wondered if she ever completed that sentence. The other peculiar thing was a dino that appeared to be projectile vomiting. It squirted water out of its mouth as if it has swallowed a garden hose. It looked really odd. After that we continued along toward the south end of the park. Dave took his usual spin on the Teacups. While he did that, I was going to get a milkshake at the nearby Fast Eddie's Diner. But the line was really long and didn't seem to be moving. Opposite that, I spotted Yamas!, a new Greek food concession. But it didn't have anything that interested me at that point. After Dave finished spinning himself silly, we walked to the dead end at the southern tip of the park. Dave decided to ride Batman The Dark Knight. I reminded him that he rode it last year and didn't like it. But he decided to give it another shot. So he headed off into the queue while I relaxed. He returned about a half-hour later and said it was really painful, with a lot of head-bashing. There wasn't anything else in that section that appealed to us, so we headed back toward the north end. The park was starting to get crowded, with far more people than we encountered on our visit the previous year. We were in the mood for some ice cream, so I suggested we head over to Coaster Creamery in the Crackaxle Canyon area. But when we got there, the shop was closed. In fact, not much in that area was open. The midway at the top of the hill where Houdini, Rodeo and Tomahawk were was blocked off by a tall fence with a sign stating that the area was being prepared for the park's Halloween events. The Houdini building had a "Midnight Mansion" banner tacked onto it. So we kept moving north through Crackaxle Canyon. What was formerly the covered queue line area for the Goliath rollercoaster had been repurposed into the Good Eats Cafe. But outside of some refrigerator units the place looked abandoned. Behind that, on the grassy field where Goliath's structure sat, was an odd sight: dozens of brown plastic Adirondack chairs, arranged theater-style and facing ... nothing. Ahead of us on the right was a strip of food concessions. The first, serving fish & chips, was closed. Next to that was the place we were interested in, though: ice cream. They didn't serve milkshakes there. So instead I got the "Frozen Fire", a cherry Icee mixed with vanilla soft serve. Dave got a soda. We sat at one of the nearby cafe tables and enjoyed our refreshments. Mine hit the spot. After that, since Pandemonium, the park's spinning coaster, was nearby, Dave queued up for his yearly ride on that. It had a pretty long line, so I wandered around the Looney Tunes kiddie area. The Take Six Cafe, which used to serve decent salads and pasta dinners, was now the Take Six VIP lounge. So like other parks, Six Flags went for the quick buck and got rid of one of its best restaurants (and one of only three in the entire park that were enclosed and air-conditioned), and instead made it an upcharge bar. I relaxed on a bench in the shade, watching the 400-foot-tall Sky Screamer go through its paces, lifting passengers up so high that they became specs in the sky. When Dave was finished on Pademonium we headed over to Wicked Cyclone, the best ride in the park. It had the longest line I'd seen over the past few years, mainly because we were queuing up for it later in the day. But the line moved pretty steadily. There were two teens ahead of us. They looked at us old geezers and asked, "Are you really gonna ride this?" I told them we were, in the front seat, and had ridden it many times before. Their eyes widened in amazement. I added that Dave and I had been riding coasters together for over 40 years. They couldn't quite process that. We finally arrived at the station. Thankfully the park was still allowing riders to queue up for any seat they wanted. So we headed for the front. Within a few minutes we were seated. I made sure to stick out my stomach when the ride attendants arrived to press down my lap bar. Dave wasn't so lucky and got stapled in, with the attendant knocking the wind out of him. We rolled out of the station and up the really steep lift hill. The first drop seemed to invert and sent us careening down and through the unpredictable and twisting course. I still marveled at how Rocky Mountain Construction was able to maintain much of the Cyclone's original ride layout, including the little hoop-dee-doo on the first turnaround. And yet, they made it a much more exciting, enjoyable and smooth experience. It was still running great after more than a decade. As we headed back toward the south end, Dave stopped to take a ride on the good old Eli Bridge Scrambler. If I went on that, I'd be sick for the rest of the day. But Dave had no problems with spinning rides. More power to him! After that ride, it was about 5:00, so we decided to call it a day. We headed back toward Main Street. Along the way we passed by another display advertising their Halloween event. At least this year the park seemed to have toned down the blood and gore. In the past they'd have severed body parts scattered about the midway. But this season they seemed to aim the diplays more at families. It was scary, but not revolting. And with that we headed out of the park. I was glad that Dave was able to get his own season pass, even with just a few months left on it. And I was also glad that the park seemed to be reversing a few of its mistakes from last season (i.e.: contactless payments). I was sure a lot of the closed concessions were caused by a lack of help. But that didn't seem to bother the general public; they seemed to be back. And given the number of Fast Lane users we saw, they weren't afraid to spend a lot of money. When I got home, I received an email from Six Flags letting me know that I could renew my season pass for next year, and it was priced at just $59, back to what it used to be. I wasn't going to bother until I noticed that there was another deal. If I added $40 to that purchase, I could have a "Platinum Pass" that would give me access to every Six Flags park, plus Preferred Parking, plus a 15% discount on food and merchandise. That to me seemed well worth it, so I re-upped for Karen and myself. Maybe the CEO was finally learning that the amusement business is all about keeping the guests happy. If that continued, I'd be happy to return again and again to Six Flags New England.

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