[Madison]

First, a note of history -- Six Flags Great Adventure's Lightnin' Loops was not relocated to Six Flags Astroworld. One half of Lightnin' Loops is in storage besides Six Flags America's Superman: Ride of Steel while the other was relocated to Frontier City in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Greezed Lightnin', which is probably easily confused with Lightnin' Loops, was manufactured in 1978 specifically for Astroworld. They're two different animals.

With that said, I've had the good fortune to visit every Six Flags park on the east coast, and then some --

Six Flags America
Six Flags Astroworld
Six Flags Darien Lake
Six Flags Great Adventure
Six Flags New England
Six Flags over Georgia
Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (near Cleveland, Ohio)


Astroworld, was by far, the worst among them. I wasn't expecting anything better, but it's definitely not a park that's in the same league as most other Six Flags parks; particularly the companies five flagship parks - Six Flags over Texas, Six Flags Over Georgia, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

None of the rides are particularly spectacular, while some are just awful. They certainly don't compare to rides that are available at many other parks around the country, either in their uniqueness or in their performance. I'm usually pretty ease to please, too, as I like to have a good time at whichever park I'm visiting.

Above all else, though, I found that I didn't feel welcomed when I was in the park on Friday night. The employees of the park were surly, slow, and rude. They didn't want to be there, it seemed, and that really showed in how they treated us as guests. When I go to a park, for a special event or as a paying member of the general public, the last thing I expect is to be made to feel like I was a burden on the park.

I guess the highlight of the trip was Greased Lightnin' where I'm concerned. I love Schwarzkopf shuttle loopers a lot, and it was nice to get a shot at riding another one after Six Flags over Georgia's Viper. They're a dying breed.