Honors Six Flags Trip

On Saturday October 1, 2011, the students of the Pforzheimer Honors College, led by Professor Christopher Walther were lucky enough to share in the “thrill” of going to the very unique, Six Flags Great Adventure theme park. We woke up early on Saturday morning for the bus, which departed at 8:30AM and began our two-hour drive.  I quickly remembered how worthwhile the trip was, and encouraged first-time event goers of that fact.  The students filled every seat on the bus. When we arrived, the students eagerly departed from the bus to join their classmates and make their way to their favorite park rides and attractions.

The group I enjoyed the park with included Mike Castaldo, Ryan O’Loughlin, Jimmy Geraghty, and Jeff Guillen, and we decided to create a strategic route for the day and go through the rides in terms of convenience and location.  First, we headed over to the Batman ride, then Nitro just next to it.  We headed over to El Toro, the third tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, standing at 188 feet tall and traveling at 70mph.  We went back over to Batman, then Skull Mountain right around the corner.  We made our way back across the park to Houdini’s Great Escape attraction and wound up riding Bizarro and El Toro again.  Finally, we got to experience the Green Lantern, Six Flag’s newest ride, a stand-up roller coaster in its first season.  After a traditional lunch at Johnny Rocket’s, we went back to each of our favorite rides multiple times. To close out our day, the Pace     Pleasantville group convened at 5:00PM to head back to campus.

As always, the Honors College trip to Six Flags  certainly did not disappoint.  The trip was more than enjoyable, despite the misfortune of missing out on favorite rides such as Kingda Ka and the Great American Scream Machine. Not only was it a beautiful day, as the rain conveniently started during our ride back, but my group did not wait in a line for longer than a half-hour.  In addition, we got to enjoy the park for less than half of the cost of a regularly-priced ticket, with free transportation. I can confidently say that each member of the Honors College is grateful for the exclusive opportunity to share in such a Great Adventure.