Great interview! I really liked the book analogy with it being slammed shut and thrown off the bed when perhaps it would have been better to close and place it down gently.
The park's skyline did become depressing. Enthusiasm seemed deflated. That's not to say the park was unenjoyable, but the 2025 season certainly had its hiccups.
It's very encouraging that Ryan mentioned live entertainment, which was severely lacking for a lot of the season. Up until August, there was one midway show - the performers were good and energetic, but having a single 15-20 minute segment as the pretty much the sole entertainment prior to August was less than ideal. Losing the Brad Ross Magic residency to Knott's is still something I gripe about to anyone who will listen. After that, Heroes And Villains Fest was such a breath of fresh air. Not only was it damn good, but it brought some big time entertainment that the park sorely needed. I remember talk during the ACE event about how surprisingly positive the reception to that was. Good! Guests were starving for shows and I'm glad they made it known.
Speaking of starving, it was demoralizing that the boardwalk eateries were almost always (or, in the case of Kickin Chicken, actually always) closed. With KC being the closest eatery to the new ride site, I'll cut them a little slack and hope some ideas were being tossed around for its future.
2025 is also the first time I can ever remember saying "I'm not having fun" while inside the gates of Great Adventure. This phrase was uttered on two separate occasions: once during the opening day drink refill debacle, and again on a very crowded day when Flash was held up by an individual who brought their phone on the ride (despite the FREE lockers). This person was permitted to use the exit ramp, get a locker ticket, store the phone, and then get back onto the train while the dispatch was paused and those in line looked helplessly on.
The other 90+% of my visits were plenty enjoyable, though, so that's not a bad ratio. There were desolate spaces in which purged rides once operated, but there were some beautification efforts too (the Rolling Thunder track piece refurb, and of course, The Shed perhaps being chief among them). The park is still nice to visit overall.
I firmly believe this past year was the bottoming out of modern Great Adventure. The options for upward trajectory are numerous. For the most part, there's a very clean slate they can work with here.
Executive chef Jeremy did an excellent job in his first year. I'm a simple person who can live off of chicken tenders without complaint, but the added menu choices (higher quality meats, hand breaded chicken, and more expansive side selections) were very much welcome. A coconut shrimp dish at the revamped Caribbean Grill location was particularly delicious and quickly became my go-to.
The one-two punch of a mammoth coaster addition and a fully retracked El Toro the season after next should be the start of a nice resurgence for this park.
The park's skyline did become depressing. Enthusiasm seemed deflated. That's not to say the park was unenjoyable, but the 2025 season certainly had its hiccups.
It's very encouraging that Ryan mentioned live entertainment, which was severely lacking for a lot of the season. Up until August, there was one midway show - the performers were good and energetic, but having a single 15-20 minute segment as the pretty much the sole entertainment prior to August was less than ideal. Losing the Brad Ross Magic residency to Knott's is still something I gripe about to anyone who will listen. After that, Heroes And Villains Fest was such a breath of fresh air. Not only was it damn good, but it brought some big time entertainment that the park sorely needed. I remember talk during the ACE event about how surprisingly positive the reception to that was. Good! Guests were starving for shows and I'm glad they made it known.
Speaking of starving, it was demoralizing that the boardwalk eateries were almost always (or, in the case of Kickin Chicken, actually always) closed. With KC being the closest eatery to the new ride site, I'll cut them a little slack and hope some ideas were being tossed around for its future.
2025 is also the first time I can ever remember saying "I'm not having fun" while inside the gates of Great Adventure. This phrase was uttered on two separate occasions: once during the opening day drink refill debacle, and again on a very crowded day when Flash was held up by an individual who brought their phone on the ride (despite the FREE lockers). This person was permitted to use the exit ramp, get a locker ticket, store the phone, and then get back onto the train while the dispatch was paused and those in line looked helplessly on.
The other 90+% of my visits were plenty enjoyable, though, so that's not a bad ratio. There were desolate spaces in which purged rides once operated, but there were some beautification efforts too (the Rolling Thunder track piece refurb, and of course, The Shed perhaps being chief among them). The park is still nice to visit overall.
I firmly believe this past year was the bottoming out of modern Great Adventure. The options for upward trajectory are numerous. For the most part, there's a very clean slate they can work with here.
Executive chef Jeremy did an excellent job in his first year. I'm a simple person who can live off of chicken tenders without complaint, but the added menu choices (higher quality meats, hand breaded chicken, and more expansive side selections) were very much welcome. A coconut shrimp dish at the revamped Caribbean Grill location was particularly delicious and quickly became my go-to.
The one-two punch of a mammoth coaster addition and a fully retracked El Toro the season after next should be the start of a nice resurgence for this park.
