I'm going on a trip with my band, which includes a trip to SFGA, but only about half a day. It's a saturday in late April. So, is it possible to do the whole park? What are the must-dos? I know Kingda Ka is amazing, but if the line is too long, might it be better to go for quantity over quality? Thanks for your help!
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I'm kinda the sites resident Great Adventure fanboy.
Here's how I rank the major coasters:
1. El Toro. My personal favorite wooden coaster and my #2 favorite coaster... ever.
2. Kingda Ka. It's tall, it's fast, it's a rush.
3. Bizzaro. It's a really great floorless coaster that never has a line!
4. Batman (inverted coaster) and Green Lantern (stand-up coaster). I both really love these rides but don't put them over the other coasters on my list.
5. Nitro. It was a really good coaster that doesn't run very well at all anymore. Lines move very fast with 3-train operation.
I think I'm the only person who doesn't like El Toro
With such a limited timeframe, I would highly suggest picking one side of the park to visit. You're going to burn so much time trying to walk from one end of the park to the other that you could conceivably fit in another ride or two in the time it would take to walk from El Toro to Nitro.
Personally, I would recommend going to the left (east) when entering the park. If you get there at or before rope drop, I would go straight to Kingda Ka to see if it's running, because that's the only chance you're going to get on that coaster if you want to ride anything else during your half day. After that, I'd walk down to Zumanjaro (single rider), El Toro, Bizarro, and then walk back towards the entrance to ride Green Lantern, Superman, Edward's AFB Jump Tower, and Houdini's Great Escape. Depending upon time, you might even be able to squeeze in a ride on Joker before you need to leave. On a Saturday, that should probably fill at least 4-6 hours of time. I think the rides on the east side of the park are superior to the west. Also, if you're visiting in late April, I would assume that Justice League probably won't be open yet, so that's one less quality attraction on the west side.
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No, it isn't possible to do the whole park in a half-day (even with Flash Pass), so don't try to do it or you may not enjoy your day. I recommend looking at all the park's rides and picking five or so that are high priority, then focusing primarily on those and what is nearby. Try to avoid doubling back as much as you can, as SFGAdv is huge.
For coasters, I would prioritize them as follows:
1. El Toro: Even if this is the only ride you do at the park, DO NOT MISS THIS RIDE! Out of the 365 coasters I've ridden, I rank it as #1 and there really isn't anything else like it in the entire country.
2. Nitro: Yes, there are B&M Hypers elsewhere, but this is the best of them (at least in my opinion). If you have one at your local park(s) and the line is excessive (45+ minutes), you can skip this, but otherwise I'd highly recommend riding it.
3. Kingda Ka: It's not the greatest ride out there, but it is the world's tallest coaster and is definitely worth riding for that reason alone. Note that capacity is dreadful on this ride (mainly due to Zumanjaro) and it is prone to downtime, so if you are at the park for opening go here first thing in the morning. If you will not be at the park at opening, I recommend doing Nitro and El Toro first to make sure you get those in.
4. B&Ms: SFGAdv has an Invert (Batman), Floorless (Bizarro), Stand-Up (Green Lantern), and Flyer (Superman). If any of those four are types you have not experienced before, prioritize those rides. After that, I'd rank them as Bizarro, Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman in order of priority (flip Batman and Green Lantern if you're ridden a Batman clone elsewhere).
With the possible exception of Joker (which wasn't there when I last visited), I'd recommend skipping the other coasters. Dark Knight, Runaway Mine Train, and Skull Mountain are decent, but when you've only got a half day they aren't a priority.
As for non-coaster rides, I recommend trying to ride Houdini, Justice League, and either Parachute Training Center or Zumanjaro. You can also use the Skyway for transportation if convenient. With only a half day, none of the other non-coaster rides are worth the time investment (especially the Safari Off-Road Adventure). Also, do not skip any of the top three coasters for any non-coaster ride.
I hope that helps. I have no idea what the crowds will be like in April so I can't give you a good touring strategy, but expect it to be busy and hope that is isn't.