A pride event that isn’t in June! Wow, thanks Six Flags! Especially since it turns out that September is a great time to go to Six Flags. Slightly cooler weather, less crowds. Discounted tickets. The water park wasn’t open, but who cares about that anyway? We want roller coasters and rainbows!
Aisha, Ian, Alex, and I spent a full day at Six Flags riding rides and indulging in park food. Opting out of the pride buffet (so we could eat all said park food instead), there wasn’t much gay-related besides a rather lackluster drag show. But there were a lot of visible queer folks out and about, and all that gay amusement comradery was nice!
One weird thing: when we entered the park, before even getting to the gates, some personnel asked us our zip codes and whether or not we were U.S. citizens. Why? Because this is Trump’s America?
Another weird thing: the park closed a whole hour earlier than advertised! Whatever, we still had plenty of time to ride just about all the rides we wanted. Which included:
Superman — probably the most famous coaster at the park, and there was no line! Probably because we ran straight there as soon as we got into the park. Morning crowds are minimal.
The Riddler Revenge — lots of upside-down action, a tad nauseating
Wicked Cyclone — unanimously our favorite ride, it was the only ride we rode twice. Though the first time, we didn’t realize it was going to be so intense, expecting just a regular wooden coaster. Surprise! Big drops, corkscrews, everything. Really fun. I nearly lost my glasses. Ian almost hurled.
The Joker 4D — Why does this ride exist? Why did we ride it? It was unnecessarily frightening.
Harley Quinn Spinsanity — just kidding, we didn’t ride this. We waited in line and then the staff announced it was shut down for maintenance. Booo hisss!
New England Skyscreamer — on our first attempt to ride this, the ride closed temporarily due to medical emergency, personnel carrying away someone in line. Perhaps from fainting? Not sure. I admit, it is pretty scary swinging way above Springfield. But also relaxing. There’s moment on these kinds of rides where you just have to say, “well, if this is how I die, at least it would be interesting.”
Houdini The Great Escape — just kidding, this one was closed too. They seemed to be prepping it for October Screamfest happenings. There was a random skeleton horse hanging out nearby. The Tomahawk nearby was also closed.
Batman The Dark Knight — lines started getting long at this point in the day, causing us to have some Very Deep Conversations in line about sexuality and attraction (we are at a pride fest after all), but the coaster itself was fun. Big upside-down turns.
Pandemonium — a long late-afternoon line, but so so fun! The cart spins while the coaster moves, and it’s not as sickening as it sounds. More fun than scary.
Cyborg Hyper Drive — Six Flags’ newest thrill ride is indoors, so you can’t quite see what you’re in for. It’s a spinning ride that’s actually pretty fun even though the room that it’s in kind of smelled like plastic.
We also saw Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. Always a plus.