WFChris

I personally do not remember what kind of gas it was, but another 'odd' gas station that used to exist was the one at Dodger Stadium. That one was also a 76 station and if my memory serves me correctly, it was somewhat discounted so it always had a huge line. Maybe the one out at the park was also a 76 station. I am not surprised though, when the park opened, park goers from Los Angeles had a long drive through a whole lot of nothing to get there.

Did anyone else giggle at 'perks' after reading the last part?

^^Isn't SCBB more of a chairlift attraction? I know its kind of the same, but the main difference between that and the gondolas found at SFMM and DLR is that the cars detached from these attractions in the station, where the chairs do not.

^It was a media shoot. The ride will not be open specifically on the day you visit with your father.

I have friends here in Los Angeles that were here for the Chino quake a couple of years ago that think they have been through an earthquake.

My school decided it would be a good idea to go to Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom the year I graduated, and only that year based on the success that it was

Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but if you have not had a fried chicken and waffle sandwich at Bruxie, you haven't lived. It's in Orange.

By all means, you should go! They ARE a great deal of fun, there is always LOTS of free food available, and you get to ride the coaster a lot. Just remember when you are talking to the media, you have to be a robot and say something like 'This ride was awesome!' or 'It was really fun!' or anything else an excited ten year old would say.

^I won't go to a theme park in the ON-season if I couldn't afford the flash pass in the first place. The price of it is just kind of part of the price of admission to me now. Robb has explained before, if you compare it to going to the movies, its around $10 for tickets and another $10-15 on food. So ONE PERSON is now paying $25 for an hour and a half of entertainment. At a theme park, you get an entire DAY of entertainment, so it is only fair that it should cost more than the movies. Most enthusiasts never pay full price to get into a park, if they are even paying at all because they have season passes. Is it not worth it to pay an extra $50ish per person to be entertained ALL DAY and NOT wait in line doing so? Seems like a STEAL to me!

Thanks for backing me up on that one, Elissa. The tapings were basically the reason I joined ACE and if they were not going to invite me to those then I really had no business sending them 55 dollars a year or whatever it was. It was for Deja Vu at around 5:30AM, and I had just ridden in the same train as the anchor. We all got stuck on the first tower, and when she got off to interview people, she prefaced it by asking 'Were you scared or woozy when we were up there? Trying not to sound negative (ace tisk tisk), I said something to the effect of 'It was really exciting, and for moment I thought I might feel sick but I didn't and it turned out to be a great ride!' Well, when it aired they just put 'I thought I might feel sick!' and cut it. Oh well, it was fun.

^^As I recall, SFMM USUALLY uses ACE for opening day live taping. I went to Goliath, X, and Deja Vu's tapings, all through ACE. Fox 11 edited my comments to sound inaccurately negative and I stopped getting invited, so I quit ace!

Volunteered for an early morning video shoot on Perilous Plunge at KBF. How was I supposed to know it was going to be 55 and foggy? We literally couldn't leave the boat for 5 circuits, with like a 15 minute break in between each for donuts and warmth.

What a fantastic story and group of pictures. I cannot wait to read more from you in the future!

^ I love the bit about roaming cats liking sand. wtf? Oh, and their definition of a family is kind of scary/traditional. I wonder if they give gay parents any trouble for it not being a 'mother' and a 'father.'

Lets see.... Psyclone - SFMM Flashback - SFMM Drachen Fire - BGW Big Bad Wolf - BGW Windjammer - KBF High Roller - Stratosphere Pyton - BGT Son Of Beast - PKI Thats actually more than I thought I had! I am not the biggest coaster-traveler on the planet.

I just HAD to check out that campground's website, they have a laundry list of real nit-picky rules!!! http://gentilescampground.com/rules For $35 a day, and the weird '3 hours for $5 and you cant go in the pool!' for visitors rule, this is a very very strange place. And leave your gangster dog at home!

Are you and your friends into what either of those parks offer? Are you trying to stay close to Los Angeles? Universal is a good place to visit if you want to go somewhere for your vacation. Disney is of course a destination in itself, but it comes with a price and hordes of people. I would honestly say a non enthusiast group of 30 year olds would appreciate Universal Studios more than Disney. While we all love our Disney parks, the idea of being around thousands of strollers and children and all that is NOT what 'normal' people look for in a vacation.

Still boarded up and still vacant (as of my last visit on February 20). I'm guessing that area will be used for a small attraction or game of some sort, or a station for something in the future. Who knows? We'll see. Eric The dippin dot's guy mentioned a Tilt-A-Whirl.

Thanks for posting this photo TR! For any Los Angeles residents that are not aware, once a month you can find all of the food trucks in one place at the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. There are at least 100 different food trucks there and its a crazy weird BUSY environment. It happens once a month on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Here is a link: http://www.downtownartwalk.com/ This TR made me as hungry as everybody else here so I thought I might share a way to try it (in an entirely different environment) in the near future!

^That's kind of what I figured after I posted. Thanks Larry!

Hey Robb, I absolutely LOVE the new park index. Such a step in the right direction!!! Many review sites add the option to rate whether or not a review was helpful to you, and sorts the reviews by the helpful rating. I did not see this anywhere, you may still be working on it. I am aware that you told people not to post reviews, but of course some have already. I would love to see this blow up into a collection of well composed reviews that works as a reliable resource for others. Now I don't know if the current reviews there are intentionally short and to the point, and if they are I apologize for this post. But I read a whole bunch of "Most awesomeness Park ever Best Rise Tower of Terror II and Giant Drop and All the Big 6 Thrill Rides " (actual copy + paste comment). Being able to say 'This review was not helpful' would be a great tool on the long term to separate those who actually put some time and thought into their review instead of just trying to boost its rating. I am a member of another site (not park related, don't worry!), and there are two places that constantly compete for "1st place" on the site, and the result has been a bunch of crappy reviews, both positive and negative, that are ultimately there just so somebody can boost or knock down a rating. I can see this happening with, oh I don't know, SFMM and CP, or MK and DLA. Anyway If you are working on that sector of the site, and these reviews are actually supposed to be short and not-thorough for beta purposes then I apologize. But if you have not thought of the idea, well there it is!

Yeah, advertising a 360 degree loop then seeing a picture of a simple flat twist was kind of a let down to me as well, considering the looping coasters have such a strong following right now. Its great to see the park getting some love, though! I have not been there since they opened 'The Shark' a bajillion years ago.

I am LOVING these trip reports! Sad that were getting toward the end

I agree that the Aeroplane Coaster looks awesome. With all this awesome new wooden coaster technology we are seeing these days, it would be great to see somebody attempt to re-create some of these WILD looking coasters like the Aeroplane or the Crystal Beach Cyclone. Or, at least something that looks just as visually effed up

^Pretty much the entire internet coaster community? Nonetheless I think its best to stay on topic here, you know, the wooden coaster with steel re-tracking called Texas Giant.