Six Flags Great Adventure Part 1: Autism Report

I know what you're thinking, "What? The Disney family went to another theme park?" Yes, we go to other theme parks! This past weekend, we took the kids to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. They've been wanting to go all summer, so when we saw the weather forecast predicted temperatures in the low 80’s with low humidity, we figured, this was the time.

After a nearly 2 hour drive, we're finally there!

This was our second time going to Great Adventure, we also went last summer.  Because of Nathan’s autism, he has a really hard time waiting in long lines.  He gets frustrated and will often have a meltdown.  Luckily, all Six Flags locations offer an Equal Access Pass or (EAP) for people with disabilities.  To get the pass, go to the “Rides Information Center” and explain what accommodations the person needs. Because we were there last year, I just gave them Nathan’s name and told the woman he was already in the system.  The EAP is valid for the person with the disability and 3 other people.

Nathan and I went to the Rides Information Center

to get his EAP

How does the EAP work?  Anyone in your party can take the pass to a ride and tell the person working there that you want a return time. For example, if it’s 1:00 and the line is 45 minutes, you can go get a drink, visit the restroom or just walk around until 1:45, then go right on the ride.  Warning: you only get a 15 minute grace period to return- if you come back after 2:00, you’re too late and can’t ride. (This is very similar to the DAS system at Walt Disney World before it went digital and became attached to your magic band, except for the 15 minute grace period, at Disney you can come back at anytime that day).

The front and back of Nathan's EAP, it tells you

where to go at each ride for your return time

Luckily despite the beautiful weather, the park wasn’t crowded at all.  Even though we had the EAP, we didn’t need to use it all.  Six Flags parks are known for their thrill rides, but Nathan and Drew are still scared of those so we stayed away.  This actually worked out great for us, while everyone else was waiting in long lines for rides like Kingda Ka, Superman and El Toro, we walked right on any ride we wanted!

As you can see, there was no line at all for

Blckbeard's Lost Treasure Train 

Drew is starting to get a little more daring and absolutely loves smaller roller coasters that don’t go upside down.  Jason and I took turns riding those with him.  He also wanted to try out some of the retro, old school rides like deja vu (it was the scrambler when I was kid), the Buccaneer pirate ship, and bumper cars.  He loved all of them- and we rode those together again and again.  Nathan is more cautious, and likes kiddie rides, like the carousel, and Air Jumbo (pretty much the same as Dumbo at Walt Disney World), but he would have been happy staying in the arcade all day.

A little afternoon nap!

He gets really tired when he’s very active, and could never survive a full day walking around a theme park. As I told you in yesterday's blog, he has a special needs stroller and loved riding around in that all day!  But he still got tired in the afternoon and needed a rest, so while Jason took Drew on the runaway train roller coaster, Nathan and I found a bench in a quiet corner to take a rest.  He actually ended up falling asleep and stayed asleep for almost 2 hours, while Jason and I took turns taking Drew on rides.

We had a fun day and enjoyed being together.  Drew had a great time riding all the “medium thrill” rides.  Nathan liked the kiddie rides, and the arcade and carnival games- just make sure to bring extra cash if you have a child who enjoys those!  But, it did make us all miss Walt Disney World and look forward to our next trip.  Even the kids mentioned the rust, dirt and chipped paint on many of the attractions, as Drew said, “You would never see that at Walt Disney World!”

Stay tuned tomorrow, when I will let you know how we made out eating gluten free at Six Flags!