The Jersey Devil Coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure opened this past weekend as the
world’s tallest, fastest, and longest single rail coaster.
This Rocky Mountain Construction creation is a larger evolution of the original Raptors,
but is it superior?
Find out in this review of Jersey Devil Coaster.
Back in 2015 when RMC unveiled the Raptor model, they probably never imagined this model
ending up at a park as large as Great Adventure.
At the 2015 IAAPA tradeshow, Rocky Mountain Construction unveiled two single rail coasters.
The Raptor was the smaller, more budget friendly option.
This coaster would have one of the narrowest track gauges in the world, featuring one-across
seating.
RMC envisioned this product going to small parks, pressed for both budget and space.
However, the original two Raptors went to two sizable chain parks in Six Flags Fiesta
Texas and California’s Great America.
The T-Rex was the larger option, envisioned for larger parks.
Utilizing the same building principles as the Raptor, RMC believed this coaster would
be an economical way to build a large scale coaster.
But RMC has shelved the T-Rex track at this time.
The rumor is that it was not economically viable based on the expressed interest of
parks.
Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster was the first RMC Raptor to open in May 2018.
Many, including myself, praised this coaster for its violent airtime and relentless pacing.
The prototype did have minor issues and poor capacity, but Wonder Woman was a crowd pleaser
and Six Flags was satisfied with their purchase.
Enthusiasts began speculating which park would receive a Raptor next.
Popular candidates were Six Flags America and Six Flags St. Louis since they were two
of the less busy Six Flags parks and could handle the capacity.
But in 2019, Six Flags announced they would be adding a Raptor to their second most attended
park in Six Flags Great Adventure.
It seemed like an odd decision, but RMC further improved the ride’s capacity and the ride
type fit at the park.
For one, there were no single rail coasters in the northeast.
Two, Great Adventure was one of the few large parks in the chain to not have an RMC.
Six Flags has had a fruitful relationship with Rocky Mountain Construction over the
past decade.
Six Flags has been RMC’s number one customer.
Not only did Six Flags purchase the prototype Raptor, but they also purchased one of their
wood coasters and several steel I-Box coasters.
As one Six Flags park after another received an RMC creation over the past decade, the
only coaster that went to Great Adventure was Joker, a S&S free spin clone.
But in August 2019, it was announced that Great Adventure would finally receive their
RMC in Jersey Devil.
The coaster was originally supposed to open in 2020, but the ride was delayed until 2021
as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
But over the past 2 years, hype grew for the attraction.
On paper, the layout looked incredible.
Jersey Devil would stand 130 feet or 40 meters tall, feature roughly 50% more track than
the original Raptors, and combine 3 inversions with a series of airtime hills.
What more could a coaster enthusiast want?
And as the bright orange track was assembled, enthusiasts drooled over the profiling.
The ride was an extremely narrow mess of elements.
And the ride received its own area, further showcasing the attraction.
Assuming the ride ran as fast as the original Raptors, Jersey Devil looked to be an airtime
machine.
But you know what they say if you assume?
As testing began, enthusiasts brought up the p word- pacing.
While the original Raptors seemed to move through their layouts unnaturally fast, Jersey
Devil crawled.
The ride valleyed on one of its test cycles and the ride still moves glacially slow on
early morning tests without any riders.
However, Great Adventure seemed to trade pacing for capacity.
The original Raptors had 8 car trains.
Jersey Devil has 12 car trains.
RMCs are known for tight, aggressive elements, but they needed to elongate their elements
to compensate for Jersey Devil’s longer train.
And these long trains cause each seat to experience each element differently.
I’m struggling to think of a ride where each element varies as significantly as Jersey
Devil seat to seat.
Jersey Devil also features a mid-course brake run that does slow the train.
However, this brake allows the coaster to operate with a whopping 4 trains.
This combined with the 50% longer trains gives Jersey Devil a theoretical hourly capacity
approaching 1000 riders per hour, which is a major improvement over the 600 riders per
hour that Wonder Woman can handle.
And the continuous load platform makes it likely that Jersey Devil will come closer
to its theoretical capacity than some of the park’s other rides.
That being said, I do expect Jersey Devil to have one of the longest lines at Great
Adventure not only in 2021 but going forward.
If you want to avoid a sizable wait, I would advise heading to the attraction first thing.
Because it’s located in the very back corner of the park on the site of a former kids area,
it should be possible to get a few rides on Jersey Devil before most people make it back
there.
In its first few days of operation, Jersey Devil has opened late due to some mechanical
issues related to the chain lift.
I suspect these issues will be resolved in the long run, but just keep this in mind if
you’re visiting in the near future.
The downside of riding Jersey Devil first thing is that it will be running at its slowest.
I noticed it needed at least an hour or two to warm up on my visit.
If you ride Jersey Devil first thing, I do recommend coming back later in the day once
it has fully warmed up so you can experience it at its fullest potential.
Like several of Great Adventure’s most extreme attractions, Jersey Devil has a strict no
loose article policy.
Security guards and ride operators were aggressively enforcing this, asking guests to pat down
and sometimes turn their pockets inside out.
If the staff catches you with a loose article, they will kick you out of line.
I’m not a fan of the policy since I always have zippered pockets, but I follow the park’s
rules.
This means you will most likely need to purchase a locker to store your belongings unless you
came to the park with nothing but the clothes on your back.
Lockers cost $1 for 2 hours.
But the biggest issue is finding an open locker.
Jersey Devil only has a small bank of lockers in its area that quickly filled up.
As a result, the banks of lockers by Congo Rapids and Nitro were depleted as well.
For several of my rides, I had to purchase a locker over by Skull Mountain to store my
items.
It was a nuisance, but it was worth it for Jersey Devil.
Jersey Devil has a long queue line and I shudder to think what this ride’s wait time would
be if it were filled.
Thankfully most of the ride’s queue is housed under a wooded pavilion and shaded.
Only the final stretch on the approach to the station is out in the sun.
The queue offers some great views of Jersey Devil and features a few signs covering the
myth of the Jersey Devil.
The Jersey Devil is a mythological creature that is said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of
New Jersey.
The creature looks like a demonic goat with wings.
And that matches the appearance of the former El Diablo statue that was repurposed for this
coaster’s queue line.
The trains feature an intimidating devil head that looks more reminiscent of Darth Maul
than the Jersey Devil, but they look super cool nonetheless.
I specially like how the trains are designed such that it looks like the devil is eating
the track.
At the end of the queue line, an operator will assign you a row.
The operators load the train front to back.
On the day I visited, most operators were not taking seat requests.
So if you wanted a specific row, you would have to count the amount of people ahead of
you and let people pass you.
From what I saw, the staff had no issue with this as long as you didn’t slow down their
loading process.
And if you’re a single rider, you are in luck.
The long term plan is for Jersey Devil to have a single rider line.
And currently, the staff just calls for single riders in the station.
Since the back is the final row to be filled, single riders can often get this row.
And it’s easily the best seat on the ride for reasons I’ll get into.
In short, the back had the most extreme airtime.
The restraints are similar to the original Raptors.
Riders still need to straddle the track since the floor of the trains have a hump on them.
It’s definitely awkward to sit spread eagle like that on a coaster.
Then the ride has ratcheting over-the-shoulder restraints.
The lap bar component will likely be snug with your thighs and then you have these stretchy
straps over your shoulders.
These straps seemed to have more give than the original raptors and as a result, were
more comfortable.
The crew was doing a pretty good job keeping the trains moving, but there was a delay on
the dispatch.
The trains reached the end of the platform when the train ahead of them navigated the
zero-G stall; however, the operators seemed like they needed to wait until the train finished
the zero-G roll.
Otherwise, a train may have to stop on the course.
Jersey Devil begins with a relatively quick lift that is loud.
It’s similar to the lift on Steel Vengeance and Twisted Timbers for noise.
The deafening chatter drowns out all other noise in the queue line and area.
At the top, you are greeted with a beautiful view of the Jersey woods and Prospertown Lake
and then you are thrown down the 87 degree first drop, but it sure does feel vertical.
In the front, you hang over the drop for a good long while since you have to wait for
all the other rows.
And then you get some float on the way down.
Towards the middle, you get some good ejector airtime, about on par with the back row on
the first drop of most RMCs.
But the drop is truly special in the back row.
This is one of the best drops in the world in that row.
The super long trains cause the back to get violently flung over the crest and you are
then yanked to the ground.
You get some insane and sustained ejector airtime.
I honestly prefer this drop to El Toro’s or the original Raptors.
The airtime feels even more extreme.
And that airtime is juxtaposed by the strong positive Gs on the valley.
The valley is very compact and I started to greyout into the ascent of the next element-
the dive loop.
Like the original Raptors, you don’t start to invert until after you reach the apex of
the inversion.
This causes the front to get a good pop of airtime on the ascent.
The middle gets decent floater throughout the entirety of the element.
While the back only gets airtime on the descent, but it’s a violent pop of ejector airtime.
And along with this airtime, everyone is snapped to the side on the descent as you dive 180
degrees back down to the ground.
The element is most extreme in the back since the strong laterals are paired with the powerful
pop of airtime.
In the back, this dive loop feels like the dive loop on the original raptors.
In the other rows, the element feels tamer since it’s more drawn out.
After another forceful valley, Jersey Devil glides over a giant camelback.
This is the most sustained airtime moment on the ride, as the airtime is held for roughly
3 seconds.
But the power varies by your row.
Those up front get weak ejector airtime.
Those in the middle get floater airtime.
Those in the back get some powerful ejector airtime.
That’s followed by the zero-G stall.
The element has really weak hangtime up front, but it’s significantly better if you’re
in the back half of the train.
Because you’re slowly dragged through the element, you completely levitate out of your
seat for several seconds.
It’s probably one of the best elements in the world for sustained hangtime.
And if you’re in the back row, you are aggressively snapped back up right as you’re pulled through
the end of the element.
The pullout has an incredible headchopper with the mid-course brake run and then you
shoot up into a turnaround.
The entrance has a diagonal pop of airtime up front.
In the other rows, you just get some weak lift.
The turnaround is one of the elements that is most impacted by how the ride is running.
The turn feels awkwardly slow when the ride isn’t warmed up.
But when the ride is warmed up, the turn feels more fluid.
The drop off the turnaround has a decent pop of airtime towards the middle but a stronger
ejector pop towards the back.
Then comes the third and final inversion, the zero-G roll, which feels very similar
to the stall.
It rides identically in the front and middle.
But in the back, the sustained hangtime turns into inverted airtime as you progress through
the element.
This ended up being my favorite inversion on the ride.
Jersey Devil then shoots up into the mid-course brake run, which gives front row riders a
good pop of airtime.
I figured this brake wouldn’t hit the train very hard, but it slows the train down considerably.
And if one of the three trains ahead of you stop for any reason, you will come to a dead
stop on the mid-course.
I saw this a few times in my visit, but I never personally experienced this.
The second half feels considerably tamer than the first half and it just doesn’t have
the classic RMC intensity.
You just don’t take the elements with much speed.
And when you stop completely on the mid-course, the train looks like it’s about to valley.
The drop off the mid-course gives some really weak floater in the middle and a decent pop
of airtime in the back.
The train then cruises around an overbanked turn.
The element doesn’t offer much in terms of positive Gs since it feels rather slow,
but it does offer a sustained headchopper as you wrap around a support.
That’s followed by back-to-back off-axis bunny hills.
Both have some sweet headchoppers with supports, but these are probably the weakest airtime
hills RMC has ever made.
The front gets really meek pops of airtime.
The middle shockingly gets no airtime.
And the back gets a pinch of floater airtime.
The following speed hill is an improvement though.
It offers a decent pop of airtime in the front and back, but only weak floater towards the
middle of the train.
Jersey Devil then lumbers into the brake run.
Front row riders get one last weak pop of airtime, which ends the 3000 foot or 914 meter
long coaster.
So how’s the pacing?
The original Raptors absolutely haul through the layout.
It feels like that ride is pulling you through each element and your body is constantly playing
catch up.
Jersey Devil feels considerably slower as you linger on each element due to the length
of the trains.
This is an issue in the front and middle since not every element is a home run, but in the
back, I thought the pacing was great in the first half since every element either offered
crazy ejector airtime or oodles of hangtime.
However, the second half left me wanting more.
It reminded me of the finale on New Texas Giant where the elements just don’t have
the same bite and power of the other RMCs.
In terms of smoothness, Jersey Devil was about as smooth as a coaster can be.
The only potential comfort issue is the aforementioned awkward riding position.
Before giving my final score, I want to note that all of my rides took place in broad daylight.
One of the aspects I’m most looking forward to on a return trip is getting some night
rides on Jersey Devil.
Since Jersey Devil borders a lake and woods, there will be very little light along its
course at night.
That should give this coaster a creepy atmosphere that ties into its theme.
So what would I rate Jersey Devil?
I would give this coaster an 8 out of 10.
My back row rides probably would have warranted a 9 because of how strong the airtime and
hangtime is in the first half.
Some of those elements- particularly the first drop and inversions- left me in awe how good
they were.
However, you cannot always guarantee that you will get this seat and the other rows
are a downgrade.
While rides in the front and middle are fun, the forces are considerably less extreme and
not on par with the other RMCs.
I think Jersey Devil in the very back is almost as good as El Toro, but both El Toro and even
Nitro crush it in any other row.
Similarly, I think Jersey Devil is about as good as the original raptors in the back row,
but not nearly as good in any other row.
Long story short, thrill seekers should try their best to get the back row.
That’s the row that has the trademark RMC craziness.
So those are my thoughts on the Jersey Devil Coaster, the newest ride at Six Flags Great
Adventure.
Have you ridden this coaster?
How do you think it compares to RMCs other coasters?
I would love to hear your thoughts about Jersey Devil down in the comments.
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