I expended a day at socially distant 6 Flags — and it felt very safe

As the rollercoaster bit by bit produced its 230-foot ascent on Friday afternoon, I didn’t just experience psyched and a little nervous. I felt on your own.

This was Nitro, one particular of Six Flags Excellent Adventure’s crown jewel coasters. It is 19 yrs previous and continue to amid the park’s most well-liked rides, and I experienced waited an hour to trip it. Still the rows to my front and back again, as very well as the seats up coming to me, were being empty. So I never know if any individual listened to me scream as we strike 80 miles for every hour, and not just since I was putting on a mask.

Welcome to socially distanced Six Flags.

New Jersey’s most significant topic park opened its gates on Friday, a few months later than normal due to the coronavirus pandemic, with a great number of security precautions in spot. And although individuals new protocols built for a a bit slower encounter at situations, it felt about as safe and sound as a significant outside topic park can throughout a global pandemic.

The rollercoasters are not the only detail partially filled. The total park’s ability is at present capped at 25% — each guest requirements to make a reservation to get entry and time slots are assigned to manage the quantity of men and women arriving at any supplied time. That share will probably be upped to 50% eventually, but Six Flags wished to just take the opening months sluggish — Friday was a preview working day for members, season move-holders and media, whilst Saturday marks opening day for the standard public.

Thrill-seekers walk by way of a tent on their way into the park where by their temperature is taken without the need of even needing to split stride. Six Flags staff users check out a monitor to see a green box show up on anybody with a regular temperature, when a purple box implies a potential fever.

Guests then go onto a get in touch with-free of charge stability look at tent that also lets them to hold walking as they (and their baggage) are screened. It was so speedy that stability guards had to convey to individuals to retain transferring. This is the kind of technological know-how we could have applied even in advance of COVID strike. Here’s hoping it gets implemented at sporting events and concert events about the state.

Hand sanitizer stations dot the park, providing visitors the chance to clean up their hands during the working day. There’s even a “clean team” of workers users committed to sanitizing the park, patrolling the grounds to maintain matters clean as probable.

But the point that felt safest about the park to me was the presence of masks. They are essential at all periods though on the grounds — yep, even on rides — with signage all in excess of reminding visitors to mask up. Not sporting 1? A employees member will remind you. I observed hundreds of folks on Friday and I do not believe a single a person was devoid of a mask — and only a handful of people experienced their masks down in inappropriate positions.

I was hoping minimal potential would indicate confined traces, but that is not quite the case. The social distancing steps enacted for the queues involve markers each 6 feet to present persons in which to stand as very well as skipped rows, and persons appeared to be subsequent the principles! That means the traces may perhaps appear more time than they in fact are. But the confined potential for the coasters also implies the line moves slower than normal.

Good Adventure goes as considerably as to intermittently spray down automobiles and run them on the monitor absolutely devoid of riders to sanitize them. Tremendous-Person: Top Flight appeared to be managing only a person auto as I waited on line, and factors have been so slow that I at some point gave up and went to an additional ride. But if which is the cost of security, I’m eager to pay out it.

There is no indoor dining at the park, but picnic tables are obtainable for sitting, topped with social distance reminders.

Meals lines were being also extensive (as to be predicted) but Six Flags has launched cellular purchasing through the park’s app. It didn’t go effortlessly for me — the app explained my buy was however “being prepared” 10 minutes right after it reported it would be prepared. When I went in to verify on it, a personnel member swiftly well prepared my buy and apologized. A bit irritating, but chalk it up to initially working day kinks in the process. Even now better than ready on a very long line.

For the most aspect folks appeared to be pursuing the suggestions. Even though there had been a good deal of men and women at the park, it by no means felt overly crowded or claustrophobic like some of the outdoor bar scenes 25 miles east in Belmar. Terrific Adventure’s sprawling campus is major and spaced out more than enough to really feel secure.

I was skeptical that Wonderful Adventure could pull this off, and it stays to be seen how this will go when potential restrictions are improved. But the lengths the park is going to in the name of protection are outstanding, and I under no circumstances felt unsafe. The good thing is the scariest expertise of the day was the drop on Nitro.

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Jeremy Schneider might be achieved at [email protected]. Convey to us your coronavirus story or send out a idea in this article.