Our Six Flags Day

The day was Monday and the time was 6:30 AM. The alarm went off, telling us the most extreme day of our lives had just begun. We got ready, packed some snacks, and sat around for a while because we had gotten up too early. Catie double-checked her notes consisting of bus routes, metro-rail stops, and information on all the rides. We hit the street shortly after eight, caught a bus to the Foggy Bottom Metro, boarded the blue line, and took it all the way to the last stop, Largo Station, which took about thirty minutes by itself. From there, we boarded another bus, being half-filled with young people in extremely bright neon shirts--Six Flags workers. Another thirty minutes later, by the time we had arrived at the park, our bus was almost completely filled with workers. We walked to the park, bought our tickets, and waited at the gate for 45 minutes until they opened. We were the very first people in line! The day was beautiful, the park was not crowded, and we seriously waited in a line twice the entire day. One time was for a family ride for which we waited 10 minutes. The other was a coaster that had been closed all day but had been finally opened by the late afternoon, for which we waited 15 minutes. I cannot stress this enough: Every ride we wanted to go on, we walked up and hopped in!

The first ride of our adventure was The Batwing.

 We were the first to ride and chose to be near the front. I don't think that it is entirely clear by the picture, but the real genius of this ride is found in the seating. While getting onto the ride, you are at a forty five degree angle with the ground. You get prepared for the ride, strap in, and then they rotate your seat so that you are parallel to the ground with your head facing the sky. The ride then begins as you are traveling backwards up the starting ramp, able to see little but the blue sky and few clouds above. You then begin to drop backwards while simultaneously rotating so that your entire body is now facing the ground--as if you were flying through the sky. With all of the twists, turns, and flips taken while in this position, this ride is sure to give you the rush you've been craving.

The Superman: Ride of Steel is just about my ideal coaster. Soaring 20 stories high and hitting top speeds of 75 mph, this ride packs a real punch! Although no loops flipping you upside down can be found, this ride doesn't need any. It relies solely on height, speed, and the great feelings of free-fall to deliver its thrills. I must also add that upon immediately returning from our first ride on this coaster, we changed seats to be closer to the front and rode it again--something our heads did not easily forgive us for.

The Joker's Jinx begins with excitement, taking you from 0-60 mph in just 3 seconds! This compact ride full of blind twists, turns, and loops is sure to make your head spin in a state of confusion. About midway through the ride, it slows down considerably and lags a little on the excite-o-meter, however, the first half of the ride more than makes up for it. This ride will jinx you for sure!

The Mind Eraser represents one of my favorite styles--foot dangling sensational seating! With inverted loops and multiple corkscrews that never seem to stop, this ride will blow your mind. Once you start, there's no reprieve until the end, when you're shaking your head saying, "What in the world just happened?" This is a quality ride that will surely bring satisfaction to all who ride it.

ROAR is a properly named coaster. This wooden throwback screams at you as you ride it. Catie and I got in the seats, which were surprisingly padded and comfortable. We, however were not so pleasantly surprised when we quickly found out why. Although this coaster has some ten story drop-offs and blind turns, they go unnoticed due to the fact that you've passed out from the extreme jerking and obnoxiously loud rails and shaking wood. This coaster will throw you around all over the place--and not the good kind at that!

The Wild One is a pretty good ride featuring a 90 degree spiral helix and 45 mph speeds. Another one of the throwback wooden coasters, this one is sure to shake you around a bit. A little more fun and a little less jerky than ROAR, this one still leaves you needing to make an appointment with your chiropractor.

The Tower of Doom is a high speed 140 ft free fall straight up, straight down. If you're looking to feel your stomach in your throat, this is the ride for you! Catie and I were pleasantly surprised by this thrill!

 We road many other rides and had an awesome time. We were even fortunate enough to see a Chinese Acrobat Show and a production put on by the Six Flags stunt team.

Our trip was amazing and we enjoyed living the free and good life before our summer comes to an end!
We both highly recommend making a trip if anyone gets the chance!

Blake