biosciking

After the Hollywood Studios it was on to Disney's Animal Kingdom. This marked my third visit to this park, having previously visited during my 1998/1999 and 2002/2003 Florida trips. The park was very new in 1998 and just a few years old in 2002, so I was curious to return a decade later to see how it's developed. Much has remained the same (not a complaint, as I enjoyed the park in past years), but there has of course been one major addition since then -- Expedition Everest. The Finding Nemo Musical was also new. Has Expedition Everest beat out Kilimanjaro Safaris and Dinosaur to become the park's best ride? Does Finding Nemo have the edge over Festival of the Lion King and It's Tough to Be a Bug as the park's best show? What is the most common animal you'll find at the Animal Kingdom? (Where did that last question even come from?) All of the answers will be revealed... The park entrance. Immediately inside you arrive at the Oasis, Animal Kingdom's first themed area. Without a major attraction but instead designed as more of a "welcome" area, I'll admit that I'd never before really spent any time here. That was a mistake, as there are actually a number of quiet, peaceful, secluded paths to explore. Each features a number of animals, the most common being... ...birds! I hope you like birds, because they are everywhere in this park. How could you not like birds? They look so cool. Black swan. There are other animals to be found in the Oasis besides birds, though they're in the minority. After making your way through the Oasis you reach Discovery Island and the park's icon, the Tree of Life. It is an impressive structure. The Tree of Life is of course no ordinary tree -- there are animals carved throughout its trunk. Can you find the animal carving? Like the Oasis, the Tree of Life has multiple paths to wander in search of animals (real ones, not just carved ones!). Once again, this is the first time I'd ever spent any time on these trails, and they were quite worthwhile. What do you suppose was the most frequently encountered type of animal along the trails? Birds! In the end, though, it's the birds that dominate the area. To be fair, the Tree of Life exhibits more than just birds. Mammals are represented too, such as lemurs... ...and kangaroos. There are reptiles... ...as well as fish. (This is a pacu, by the way, not a piranha.) Everywhere you look. Let's not forget that the Tree of Life also houses It's Tough to Be a Bug. Partly because I've studied entomology and very much appreciate the inside jokes, and partly because it's just a riot from start to finish, I really love this one. It's definitely my favorite 3D show at Disney World (as well as the Disneyland Resort for that matter -- I'm so glad it was brought to DCA!). On the subject of shows, the next land over (Camp Minnie-Mickey) is home to another extremely popular show at Animal Kingdom, Festival of the Lion King. (Excluding the character meet-and-greet area, this is actually the only attraction in Camp Minnie-Mickey.) Festival of the Lion King is a high-energy production featuring plenty of song and dance (I believe every song from the movie is performed at least once), as well as lots of acrobatics. There are also large parade floats with animatronic animals flanking each of the audience cheering sections. It's no wonder this is such a guest favorite -- the show is extremely elaborate and entertaining, and, as already mentioned, presented with such high energy that you can't help kind of moving along with the music and rhythm at your seat. When Camp Minnie-Mickey gets converted to Avatarland, Festival of the Lion King will be getting a new home in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom, where it should fit in just fine. A very wise move by the park, keeping this show. Speaking of Africa, let's head over to that area of the park, where we find the truly exceptional headliner attraction Kilimanjaro Safaris. While yes, there are plenty of birds here, there's also oh so much more. It wouldn't be an African safari without elephants. Adorable baby elephant. Adorable warthog, if you happen to be the warthog's mother. (I'm kidding. Warthogs look awesome.) Though there are natural barriers that keep the safari vehicle separated from the animals, they really are unnoticeable to guests. It therefore feels like you are right there among the animals. Also like a real safari, you're not guaranteed to see everything during any one trip. The animals may be resting out of sight (or you may get lucky and have them resting in full view!). Either way, that's almost part of the fun. Kilimanjaro Safaris is definitely worth multiple rides, as you'll most certainly see something new with each visit. Hello there. There's more than just animals to be found during the safari; plants are extremely abundant as well. Though the baobab trees are replicas, they sure do look great, and they significantly add to the African savanna that the safari simulates. Where there is savanna, there are lions. The lions may be the most difficult of all the animals to spot, but it's always exciting when you do. Probably the easiest of all the animals to spot (pun intended) are the giraffes. In addition to being very abundant along the safari route... ...they're not separated by any barriers, so they're free to wander directly up to the vehicle. Let me add that I'm so glad they got rid of the poaching storyline that used to be included here. While the message was definitely important, it just seemed so forced and out of place and was such a downer. During this particular visit, the finale of the ride was under construction to make way for the new zebra habitat, which apparently didn't last either. At any rate, Kilimanjaro Safaris easily gets my vote as the best attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's approximately half an hour in duration and covers such a wide expanse of land, so you truly feel like you're far removed from the rest of the park while riding. After the safari, there are still plenty more African animals to be found by walking the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. While the animal trails through the Oasis and around the Tree of Life are more sort of diversions, Pangani Forest is a major attraction that is a must for all Animal Kingdom visitors. The hippos are very popular inhabitants. The meerkats are also guest favorites, probably because they're just so cute. Also cute (in their own unique way) are the naked mole rats. The mole rats make their home inside an educational hut located along the trail that also houses... ...reptiles... ...and amphibians. Let's not forget about the birds (this is Animal Kingdom after all!). After exiting the hut with the naked mole rats you'll enter an aviary with a variety of birds all doing their bird things. However, it's at the end of the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail that you'll encounter the attraction's real stars -- the gorillas. I was fortunate that the gorillas were not only out and about but posing for photos as well. Very impressive animals to behold, and a fine way to conclude the Exploration Trail. The final major attraction in the African section of the park is Rafiki's Planet Watch. While this one tends to have somewhat of a negative reputation, and while I'll admit that I don't remember thinking too terribly highly of it after my previous visits to the Animal Kingdom, I was very pleasantly surprised with the whole thing this time around. I don't think much has necessarily changed; I just think I didn't invest enough time to make the exhibit the worthwhile experience that it actually is during my previous trips. Conservation Station occupies the majority of Rafiki's Planet Watch. Perhaps the most entertaining thing to do in Conservation Station is Song of the Rainforest. You enter the pitch black booths and put on headphones to hear rainforest noises right next to your ears. It's very neat -- like 3D for your ears instead of your eyes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this may be the only U.S. Disney exhibit to still use this type of technology (with the Sounds Dangerous show in the Hollywood Studios having been removed, and the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show at Disneyland having reverted back to its original incarnation). The Grandmother Willow tree at the entrance to Song of the Rainforest even houses some rainforest animals. Much of Conservation Station is dedicated to rooms like this one, observable through large viewing windows. Most of the rooms are devoted to one type of animal, such as reptiles, amphibians, or invertebrates (my personal favorites). There are plenty of critters on display, as well as lots of informational material to go along with them. This room, however, is probably the most popular -- the veterinary room. I got here right at the end of the procedure, so I'm not entirely sure what was being done (perhaps just a routine check-up), but whatever it was it sure drew a large crowd of onlookers. Outside Conservation Station is the Affection Section, a nice petting farm. The animals are provided with this covered playground to roam, though today it was used as a shaded rest area rather than for play. It was VERY hot out. A few of the animals were still interested in being pet. But for the most part it was nap time! Let's not forget that Rafiki's Planet Watch is connected to the rest of Africa by the Wildlife Express Train. You have to take the train to get to the attraction as well as to get back to Africa. If I still have one issue with the entire Rafiki's Planet Watch area, it's that the Wildlife Express Train seems like such a wasted opportunity. There's simply nothing to see here. With the large expanse of land that the train covers, as well as the fact that the seats are all pointed in such a way that you'd expect to be viewing something (presumably done to keep all of the backstage areas on the other side of the train out of sight), it's a shame that the park hasn't added any animal exhibits along the route, turning the train into more of a major attraction. Moving from Africa into Asia, you'll glimpse the peaks of Animal Kingdom's newest E ticket headliner. (I know it's not actually that new anymore, but it was new for me.) Expedition Everest was undoubtedly my most highly anticipated attraction during this return trip to Walt Disney World -- a new Disney coaster that has seemed to receive unanimous praise. Did it live up to my expectations? I have to be honest and say no, it did not. I'm a little hesitant to even put this out there, but if I was to rank all of Disney's major U.S. coasters (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, California Screamin', Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest), I actually think Everest would come in last. Let me explain my position, as I have two major issues here. First, while I think the forward and backward portions of this coaster are part of what makes it so popular, the transitions from forward to backward and from backward to forward again absolutely kill the momentum of the ride. Second, so much of the ride (both forward and backwards) takes place in the dark. Now, I realize Space Mountain and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster also take place in the dark, but that's the point -- there's still plenty of theming on those rides. On Everest, it was just pure dark with absolutely nothing to look at. I don't know if this has always been the case, as I'm aware the Yeti figures have been having major technical issues lately, so is Disney just trying to hide them? Of course there's now the projected Yeti (not terribly impressive), but I honestly didn't even see the one at the end until my third (and final) ride when I was desperately looking for it in the dark. At least you get to see the Abominable Snowmen inside the Matterhorn. I'm not trying to be overly negative, as I did like parts of the coaster (such as this drop), but I guess it just couldn't live up to the hype. With such high expectations, I suppose it was inevitable that I'd come away somewhat disappointed. Kali River Rapids, on the other hand, seems to get only so-so reviews, but I actually really enjoyed it. I had been on it once before, but I didn't remember much. I thought the length of the ride was decent, the theming was very attractive (with the exception of the whole logging / deforestation part, which I know is sending an important message but just seems so odd in the middle of the ride), there was enough rapids action to keep me satisfied, the drop was much larger than I remember (and much larger than anyone seems to give it credit for), and, last but not least, it was just SO REFRESHING on a hot August day. Like Africa, Asia has a major animal exhibit, the Maharajah Jungle Trek. One of the most popular inhabitants are the bats. You'll also encounter deer along the trail. Not surprisingly there's an aviary -- with birds! They're all quite unique looking (I guess I'm not super familiar with Asian birds). The stars of Maharajah Jungle Trek, though, are the tigers. Much like Pangani Forest, this is an excellent zoological exhibit that is a must during every Animal Kingdom visit. The Asia section of the park is also home to the Flights of Wonder bird show (you knew there had to be a bird show at the Animal Kingdom, right?). Owls are featured... ...as are cranes. And no bird show would be complete without a bald eagle. (You could argue that the bald eagle is out of place in Asia, but that would be splitting hairs. Or should I say splitting feathers?) The gibbons are located in this jungle temple exhibit, which is a pretty elaborate structure. Before moving on to Dinoland U.S.A., let's check out the gibbons (not monkeys!) that can be found near the entrance to Flights of Wonder and Kali River Rapids. So elaborate, in fact, that the temple even features a dentist's office! Okay, time for the final themed area of the park, Dinoland U.S.A. The top draw here is of course Dinosaur. Dinosaur has you traveling into the past 65 million years to bring an Iguanodon back to present time. Your trip mostly involves escaping the ferocious Carnotaurus and avoiding the imminent extinction-causing asteroid. It's all very dark, loud, and frantic. Technologically Dinosaur works the same as Indiana Jones at Disneyland, and that's a good thing. While I'd rank Indy slightly higher, this one is still excellent. Indiana Jones is my favorite ride at Disneyland, and if I wasn't such a fan of Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur would be my favorite ride at Animal Kingdom. Dinoland U.S.A. is also where you'll find the park's second coaster, Primeval Whirl. It's a typical spinning mouse made somewhat unique by the (intentionally) cheesy theming and the fact that there are actually two coasters here, side-by-side and mirror images of each other. Primeval Whirl is fun enough for a minor coaster diversion. Interestingly, it has one of the most restrictive height requirements (48") in all of Disney World. Dinoland's Theater in the Wild is the venue for the Finding Nemo Musical. While Finding Nemo doesn't really fit the dinosaur theme of the land, neither did the former Jungle Book or Tarzan shows that were presented here, and this is a MUCH better production than those were. Imagine a 30-minute version of the Finding Nemo movie featuring puppets that talk and sing and you have the basic idea of how this show works. It may not sound all that terribly spectacular, but it actually kind of is. I wasn't expecting too much from Finding Nemo and was therefore almost shocked by how good it was. The staging and puppetry are extremely elaborate, and the songs are really quite great. I had thought forcing a bunch of original songs into the show to make it a musical would be totally corny, but they worked incredibly well within the story. In my opinion, this one has surpassed Festival of the Lion King to become the park's best show. The final "attraction" in Dinoland is more of a pseudo-attraction, a walking path that used to be called Cretaceous Trail but now seems to just be another walkway within the park. Most of what you'll see here are plants that were abundant during the Mesozoic era, such as cycads. There are a few animals as well, including this impressive crocodile. However, what do you think are the most common animals encountered along the Cretaceous Trail? You guessed it -- BIRDS! This totally makes sense, though, as birds are living dinosaurs. I thought I'd finish up with a few shots of the wonderful scenery throughout the park. Here's the Discovery River and its surrounding vegetation. A peaceful forest stream in Camp Minnie-Mickey. And finally the lush tropical jungles of Africa. Overall it was a great visit, and having now completed the Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom, we've finished the major Disney World parks for this 2012 trip. However, we're not entirely done with Walt Disney World. What could be next? Coming up soon...

I spent the second half of my August 2012 trip in Florida. I've been to Florida three times previously, always during the winter (Christmas and New Year's) holidays (1990/1991, 1998/1999, and 2002/2003). Visiting in the summer was therefore new to me. My plan was to spend part of the trip at Walt Disney World and part of the trip beyond Disney World, so I had to select which Disney parks to visit. I opted against the Magic Kingdom, as I figured I'd wait on it until after the new Fantasyland is completed. I also chose not to go to Epcot, since Test Track was undergoing its extensive refurbishment during the summer of 2012. That left Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom. Having been to Disney's Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios) during each of my previous Florida trips, this marked my fourth visit to the park. DHS and BGW are therefore the two parks that I've visited more times than any others outside of my home parks in So Cal, four times each. There have been several new additions to DHS since my last trip -- Toy Story, the Motors Stunt Show, American Idol, One Man's Dream, Star Tours 3-D. I know some sort of Pirates of the Caribbean attraction has opened even since this visit, but that doesn't seem like anything major to have missed. I definitely enjoyed getting back to the Studios, trying out all of the new stuff and revisiting all of the classic attractions that I so fondly remember. The park entrance leads to the Studio's main thoroughfare, Hollywood Boulevard. Photogenically waiting at the end of Hollywood Boulevard is the Chinese Theater, right? Nope, that view is now blocked by the giant Mickey sorcerer hat. While the hat is also admittedly an iconic structure for the park, it's too bad it has to sit right smack in the way of the Chinese Theater. Fortunately the theater is still photographable from beyond the Mickey hat. The Chinese Theater of course houses the Great Movie Ride. With the exception of some of the films in the montage at the end, the Great Movie Ride has remained completely unchanged since my original visit to the park (I imagine it's remained unchanged since the park first opened!). While this might make it too repetitious for regular visitors, I actually kind of like that it hasn't changed -- it brought back happy and nostalgic memories for me. Also, minus one or two scenes, most of the films represented are such classics that I can't imagine they won't be at least somewhat familiar to every generation of riders. Singin' in the Rain. Great movie. The Searchers. Definitely John Wayne's most famous movie, though not his best in my personal opinion. Mary Poppins. Great movie. Casablanca. Not just a great movie, one of the very greatest. If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for?!? The Wizard of Oz. Great movie, and the final scene of the ride before the montage of movie clips, which is a cool way to end. Next to Hollywood Boulevard and the Great Movie Ride is Echo Lake, which is home to another attraction that really hasn't changed at all since my first visit -- the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Once again, though, I don't mind that it's remained essentially the same. I enjoy it as is, plus it's the one and only attraction I've done every time I've been to Walt Disney World (I didn't go to the Magic Kingdom or Epcot during this visit, and the Animal Kingdom didn't even exist during my first visit). The show is split up into three scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark, starting with the jungle temple ruins (featuring the famous giant rolling boulder). Next is the Cairo street market scene. The final scene takes place on the desert airstrip. The only thing about this show that has (unfortunately) changed is how the Nazi mechanic is killed. While he used to get "chopped up" by the plane's propellers just like in the movie, now he's simply shot. Does anybody know why this switch was made? Oh well, at least it still ends with explosions! Though the show drags a bit while the sets are changed between scenes, I nevertheless enjoy it and hope it will still be around during my next DHS visit. Indiana Jones' neighbor is Star Tours, which actually has changed. Like its Disneyland counterpart, Star Tours is now in 3-D and features various mix-and-match scenes. While the ride exterior looks so much cooler than it does at Disneyland, this one for whatever reason has never seemed to achieve the same popularity. I guess that's a good thing, as we were therefore able to ride multiple times to experience several different scene combinations. The Jedi Training Academy is held outside of Star Tours. Young children are given robes and lightsabers and are taught a series of offensive and defensive moves. Darth Vader and Darth Maul then show up, and each child gets a chance to put his or her lightsaber moves to use. The young Jedi are of course victorious. The show is so simple yet very popular and really kind of brilliant. Some of the youngest participant's almost oblivious reactions to fighting Vader or Maul are hilarious. New to DHS for me this visit was the American Idol Experience, occupying the site of the former Superstar Television (which I only vaguely remember, though I do seem to recall enjoying it as a kid). I went to the finale show of the day, where the winners of the five earlier shows compete for the grand prize -- a ticket to an actual American Idol audition. One at a time each contestant sang his or her song. Some of them were actually quite good. The stage was pretty elaborate too, very reminiscent of the real show. And of course the judges were on hand to either shower the contestants with praise or knock them down a notch or two. A couple of the quips were a bit harsh considering the contestants were park guests, though I imagine they were warned to expect it. It was the audience, however, that ultimately decided the winner -- all audience members got to vote at the end of the show, which was a cool interactive feature. Overall this was well done, and I'm sure it's a park favorite for fans of American Idol. (For everybody else, at least you don't have to put up with Ryan Seacrest as host!) I do recommend going to the finale show of the day, as it's longer and you get the best singers. Beyond Echo Lake is the Streets of America section of the park, where another (relatively) new show is located -- the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. Most of the show involves the good guy (red car) being chased by the bad guys (black cars). There's plenty of the high-speed, high-flying action you'd expect from an automobile-themed stunt show. Plus other cool tricks, like driving on two wheels while making tight turns. And it's not just cars either. The stuntmen end up on motorcycles... ...and jet skis. Plus no stunt show would be complete without fire. This part was actually pretty neat. The stuntman seen here shoots another on a motorcycle, who ends up sliding through the wall of fire on his fallen motorcycle and catching on fire himself! Overall I enjoyed the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. All of the stunt work was impressive, and I'd even go so far as to say some of it was jaw-droppingly incredible. Much like Indiana Jones, however, the pace was frequently interrupted by the "production crew" stopping the action to explain how various stunts are coordinated and filmed. I know this is necessary to change sets, but it really did kill the momentum. Plus there was a totally irrelevant time-waster involving Lightning McQueen from Cars making a cameo appearance. Muppet Vision 3D is also located in the Streets of America section of Hollywood Studios. Minus the annoying and unnecessary Waldo character, this show is actually really funny -- pure Muppets mayhem and chaos from start to finish, with lots of amusing one-liners thrown in throughout. Up next is the Studio Backlot Tour. The tour essentially consists of three separate components, the first being an audience participation version of Pearl Harbor demonstrating how special effects for movies are filmed. Pretty standard stuff. Guests then board a tram for the second part of the tour. The tram passes by the Earful Tower water tower, another park icon. It's then on to Catastrophe Canyon, which features fire and flooding. Major flooding! The tram tour really ought to be simply called Catastrophe Canyon rather than the Studio Backlot Tour. This can't compete at all with Universal Hollywood's backlot tour, which I think it is (or at least was originally) trying to. I seem to remember there being so many more props and sets viewed in previous years. Now it's basically get on the tram, pass the Earful Tower, go through Catastrophe Canyon, and that's all. While Catastrophe Canyon is fun, boarding a tram just for it seems a little pointless. The tram unloads guests at the American Film Institute Showcase, a museum that features (I believe) changing exhibits. Currently featured are AFI's 50 greatest villains. Several of the villains are displayed as life-sized figures with actual costumes from the movies, such as Alien. The White Witch from the Narnia films. Darth Maul. Interestingly, the White Witch and Darth Maul aren't even on AFI's list of the 50 greatest villains. Anyway, this is the third and final portion of the Studio Backlot Tour. You can stay for as long or as little as you like. Outside, the pathways in the Streets of America section of the park have facades replicating actual streets of America, such as San Francisco... ...and New York City. Moving to the other side of the park, this archway serves as the entrance to Animation Courtyard. With the main entrance, this archway, Mickey's sorcerer hat, the Chinese Theater, and the Earful Tower, DHS may have more entranceways and iconic structures than any other park in the world! Appropriately located in Animation Courtyard is The Magic of Disney Animation. No longer the working studio it used to be, this attraction is now very reminiscent of the Disney Animation attraction at DCA. In addition to a few interactive exhibits, there are two main theater presentations, Art of Disney Animation and Animation Academy. Art of Disney Animation is the show where an animator interacts with Mushu from Mulan, explaining the animation process. It used to be found at DCA, but was replaced by Animation Academy. You can still find both shows together here, though. While Art of Disney Animation is perfectly fine, my vote for the far superior of the two shows is Animation Academy. This is the one where you get to follow along with an animator and actually draw a Disney cartoon character. I am definitely NOT an artist, yet I still love this show. I've loved it since it debuted at DCA, and I loved it here. The room where the show is held at DHS is a lot fancier than that at DCA, with its individual desks. However, the MAJOR trade-off is that the room can hold far fewer people. While at DCA you're always guaranteed into the next show, here it's possible to wait two shows before getting in, which means an hour of waiting! That pretty much eliminates the possibility of attending multiple times, which many people at California Adventure will do -- finish one show and immediately head back into the next. At California Adventure, there's a set schedule for which character will be drawn during which show. Interestingly, here the animator simply asked for suggestions before we started. One girl shouted out "Tinker Bell," so Tinker Bell it was. This is how Tink looks drawn by a professional. And here's how she looks drawn by a non-professional! Next door to Disney Animation is Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I've somehow managed to miss this during all of my previous visits to the park, so it was a first for me. We got in line during a mid-afternoon thunderstorm to avoid the rain, with the wait time posted at 30 minutes. As we waited and Fastpass guests were admitted in hordes, the posted time kept increasing -- from 45 minutes to 60 minutes. It was pretty frustrating. When it finally was our turn, they rushed us into the darkened theater so quickly that I felt like I totally missed something. Is there normally a pre-show? If so, we zoomed right past it. I was also completely caught off guard by the amount of water sprayed on the audience during the show. This was far more than a simple mist, and it kind of defeated the purpose of getting out of the rain -- I had to scramble to get my camera covered again. Plus the whole show was just so dark -- I don't mean dark in mood or tone, just physically dark. In the end, based on this single viewing, the whole experience seemed incredibly odd to me. I'll have to try it again on my next visit, using a Fastpass and having my camera safely tucked away in advance. Pixar Place is a small themed area that features just one attraction, but it's a good one -- Toy Story Midway Mania. One of my very favorites at DHS (as well as at DCA, and I'm sure at DisneySea too), Toy Story is the absolute best shoot-'em-up dark ride you'll find anywhere. This is another attraction where you'll want a Fastpass; get one early, as they "sell out" quickly and the standby line can become pretty horrendous. Wedged between Animation Courtyard and Pixar Place is another small themed area, Mickey Avenue, that is also home to just a single attraction. One Man's Dream is a museum dedicated to Walt Disney, and while I thought it was going to be a pretty minor exhibit, it actually turned out to be quite huge, nicely organized, and very impressive. There's plenty of memorabilia on display, as well as tons of interesting information presented on little plaques throughout. The plaques present a chronology of Walt's life. In addition, they're divided into about eight different themes, such as "Early Inspirations" and "Mickey's Milestones." I'll go ahead and include several of these, for all the Walt Disney fans out there. At the completion of the attraction is a theater presentation, with a brief but very interesting and entertaining film documenting Walt's life. I was quite amazed by some of the footage in the film, as it appeared to be very rare material. I believe this same film showed for a short while at California Adventure, in the Animation theater that currently houses Turtle Talk with Crush, though I somehow managed to miss it completely when it was at DCA. That was a huge mistake -- it's extremely well done, as is the entire One Man's Dream exhibit. Highly recommended. There's even a preview of future Disney attractions, including this large model of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland renovation. Here's what we can expect come 2014. The final section of Hollywood Studios is Sunset Boulevard, home to the park's best ride -- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The actual ride is wonderful (there's some awesome airtime, or what I like to refer to as "hovertime" on this one, during the drops), plus the mood it creates is unequaled (I'm a sucker for its old-fashioned atmosphere, as well as for its mixture of eerie premonition and excited anticipation). I love the California Adventure version of this ride as well, so I'm certainly not going to assign one as "Good Tower" and one as "Bad Tower." The important take-home message is that Tower of Terror is a great ride no matter where you ride it! Next door to Twilight Zone is the park's second best ride (and the park's only roller coaster), Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. See, Aerosmith. This is a Vekoma launched coaster very similar to Premier's Flight of Fear, Joker's Jinx, and Poltergeist coasters. I'd actually rank Rock 'n' Roller coaster higher than any of those. The launch, speed, and inversions are pretty "extreme" for Walt Disney World, yet at the same time it's uber smooth and extremely comfortable (don't ask me how Vekoma pulled that off), so it should please everyone. The soundtrack and indoor scenery add even more to the experience. Very enjoyable. In addition to the two rides, Sunset Boulevard also features two shows. The daytime show is Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. See, Beauty and the Beast. All of the movie's characters are included... ...as are all of its musical numbers. This is an elaborate production that's really quite worthwhile, especially if you're a fan of the Disney film. I know the show has been around for a long time and rumors about a replacement for it keep popping up, but I'd much rather see the Little Mermaid show go before the Beauty and the Beast show. The nighttime show is Fantasmic. Only my close-up shots of this one came out, so I've just got a few. The star of the show, the fire-breathing dragon. I'm kidding, the star of the show is of course Mickey Mouse. Although I would rank Disneyland's Fantasmic higher than DHS's Fantasmic based on the show content alone, this one has the distinct advantage of having a much more accommodating venue. A very nice way to end a very fun return visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Being summer, it's time for my annual Six Flags Magic Mountain trip report. In 2011, I covered the park's roller coasters (which you can find back on page 5). In 2012, I reported on all of the non-coaster rides at the park (see page 7). Is there anything new in 2013 that will produce a different trip report from the previous two years? Of course there is -- Full Throttle. Though Full Throttle was definitely polarizing during its development, I'm glad reactions to actually riding the coaster have been almost entirely positive. I'm also happy to add my review to the "highly recommended" group. The loop and top hat are the major two elements of the ride, so I'll start with them. As almost everyone has mentioned, because the loop is so huge, the train slows to a crawl within it; this definitely leads to the most upside-down hangtime I've ever had on a coaster. With only a lap bar holding you in, it's totally awesome! Though reports haven't been entirely unanimous regarding the airtime during the top hat, I actually found there to be a great deal. While I was a little disappointed during construction of the coaster to see the brakes start midway down the drop, as others have noted, this itself proves to be a unique and exciting element. Lifting upward during the top hat's airtime followed by immediately being slammed forward into the brakes is actually really fun! Who would have thought? I rode the coaster twice, both times in the back (they weren't allowing preferred seating, so I happened to get the back on both rides). I therefore can't say what the front is like, but I'm glad I did at least get to try out the back, as it seems to be "beating" the front as far as rider reviews go. As for the rest of the coaster, the two forward launches are very enjoyable. Not the most intensity you'll ever experience during a launch, but not too shabby either. The dive loop into the mountain is also good, and the backward launch out of it is cool -- more hangtime, plus it adds a little extra to an otherwise pretty short ride. Overall, I give Full Throttle two thumbs up. One review I read described the coaster as a cross between Xcelerator and California Screamin', which I would say is an accurate description, and also a nice pair of coasters to be compared to! Here we are, back at Six Flags Magic Mountain. What's that giant loop newly visible from the park entrance? Wait, is it a loop or a hill? It is in fact a loop... ...and a hill! Maybe a gimmick, but a pretty interesting and original one at that. First things first, we have to get to the loop. The train launches straight out of the station, hitting 70 mph. It's a very fun launch; maybe not the most intense ever, but you'd never know it from some of the riders' reactions. This picture kind of cracks me up. The train is sent directly into the 160-foot tall vertical loop, a world record. Even though it's launched to 70 mph, the loop is so large that the train slows considerably for plenty of great hangtime. The train later launches again over the outside of the loop for some airtime before slamming into the brakes. From a different angle. Do you recognize the location as that of the former Log Jammer? What the heck? Brakes down half of the drop?!? Not to worry. It actually works well for this coaster! Let's not ignore the rest of the ride. Following the massive loop the train makes a right turn and leaves the Log Jammer site. It then crosses over the walkway leading to Superman. Passerby actually get quite close to the track and train (and vice versa). Next comes the dive loop. Dive loop into what? Where is the train going? Into the mountain naturally! This is a cool use of the park's old monorail tunnel. And FYI, the train's position in this pic is about the maximum it reaches when launched backwards out of the tunnel. Another good hangtime opportunity, especially in the back. What do you think, forward or backward? Or forward again? It's a conundrum. Twisty angle. And yes, you do get a brief scream from Ozzy Osbourne in the tunnel during the backward launch. The forward launch in the tunnel then blasts the train out of the mountain... ...and over the top hat. I noticed that this is a coaster that MANY people ride with their hands up. Hands up through the loop. The lap bar will hold you in. Hands up over the hill. Enjoy the airtime! From the Sky Tower you can follow the entire layout of the coaster. Launch, loop, cross over the mountain, dive into the mountain, launch out of the mountain, top hat, brakes. You can also still see construction equipment throughout the area. This shot was taken two weeks after the ride opened, and while I'm not entirely sure what the situation was on opening day, there is now a cover over the station as well as over most of the queue. And I'm hopeful that the baby trees will eventually grow up to fill in the open space. The forested setting is part of what made Log Jammer so good. Since we just looked at Full Throttle from the Sky Tower, let's now take a look at the Sky Tower from Full Throttle. This is my attempt at an artsy shot. I shouldn't neglect the fact that one other new ride has opened since my last Magic Mountain trip report. Sling Shot is an upcharge attraction located in the very back corner of the park. It's not quite as far back as Deja Vu used to be, but it's as far back as you can get now. Because of it's out-of-the-way location, I'm not sure how much business it gets. I didn't ride it; in fact, I actually had to wait around for 45 minutes just to get this shot! It's a good thing the candy store is nearby! But really, this report is all about Full Throttle. To sum up, I very much enjoyed it. I'm optimistic that all the naysayers will enjoy it as well. In my opinion, it's a welcome addition to the park's coaster lineup, and I'd rank it as my favorite Premier coaster yet ridden.

While in Virginia, it certainly seemed appropriate to stop by Kings Dominion. This was my third visit to this park, having previously visited in 2010 and 2000. Much like I said with Carowinds, Kings Dominion is a very Cedar Fair park -- pretty huge and packed to the gills with coasters. The definite headliners are Intimidator and Volcano, both of which are excellent. Kings Dominion does cater more to the thrill crowd, though there seems to be enough to keep everyone else occupied as well. I would rank it higher than Carowinds overall, but both are pretty comparable. This park also marked the end of the first half of my August 2012 trip. The Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia made for a great combo; I very much enjoyed it all! The entrance is quite nice -- the park's marquee; the pond, fountains, and trees; and the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is designed the way an observation tower should be designed. It's nice and tall, so there are great views of the entire park. As opposed to being a controlled ride with a set duration, it's simply an elevator leading up to an observation deck, so you can stay as long as you like. And most appreciated, the observation deck is open, rather than being enclosed or surrounded by windows. That makes for excellent photo opportunities! One such photo opportunity -- Intimidator 305! This coaster is so ridiculously massive it absolutely towers over the rest of the park. It perhaps looks even more impressive from ground level. I first rode Intimidator back in 2010. At that time, they had already replaced the original restraints with the more comfortable restraints that are featured on the ride today. That was also the time, though, when a trim existed on the first drop to slow the train's speed during the following turn. Some weird, unexplainable part of me kind of enjoyed the trim; the feeling of being "caught" while in the middle of that huge drop was a very unique sensation. However, I will say that I didn't miss the trim at all during this visit. Without anything holding it back, I couldn't believe how fast the train now tore through this coaster's track. I know the turn following the first drop, leading up to this second hill, has been slightly retracked to accomodate the new speed. I honestly didn't notice any difference; it was still incredibly forceful. I've never experienced any "greyouts" while riding Intimdiator, but I will admit that the turn is a very powerful element. So insanely intimidating-looking (how appropriate given its name!). I should comment on the fact that I've never really noticed any airtime on this hill, or on the smaller hill down below. While that smaller hill bothers me a little bit, only because there's a seemingly unnecessary trim brake leading up it, the lack of airtime during this hill doesn't bother me at all. Intimidator 305 is, to me, all about the magnificent first drop, followed by pure, unbridled speed. With or without airtime, the train still crests this hill at incredible speed. Another view from a different angle. Spectacular drop. Crazy force and speed. Despite the fact that most of what you see are huge hills, the majority of this ride actually takes place quite low to the ground. It's very interesting to me that a ride that begins so high and tall spends so much time racing just above ground level, hugging the flat terrain. (It almost seems like it could have been a launched coaster, with the launch being replaced by a 300-foot, 85-degree drop to provide the initial speed!) The way the train whips through these tight twisting turns with such amazing speed and smoothness is almost mind-boggling, both to ride and to watch. Intimidator's original design and unique layout make it such a different type of coaster than anything I've ever experienced (and I've been on all of the Intamin hyper / gigacoasters in the U.S.); I'm not very good at ranking my all-time favorites, but if I was, Intimidator 305 would certainly be a top representative on that list. Another definite favorite is Volcano, The Blast Coaster. The three heartline rolls on Volcano are simply awesome. The train is moving fast, yet the inversions almost feel as though they're being taken in slow motion. They're also incredibly smooth and comfortable. Much of this coaster's awesomeness, though, comes from what you can't really see exteriorly. The initial launch behind the mountain is very thrilling, followed by the large swooping turnaround that's great fun. Then there's the second launch straight up through the volcano's interior, only to "erupt" upside down out of the top. It's a wonderful sequence of elements that come rapid fire -- they don't give you a moment to catch your breath! The elevated heartline rolls and turns then follow in quick succession. Even the final turn / drop that leads back into the mountain is great. As soon as the train is back inside, it hits the brake run, but it's still moving so fast at this point that the sudden brake run is itself kind of an exciting element. The overall ride duration is pretty short, but the whole thing is so fun and gets your adrenaline surging so much that I defy anyone to not be completely satisfied with it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the only full-circuit inverted launched coaster ever made by Intamin. It would be great if they made more, but I think being one-of-a-kind gives this coaster a unique appeal that, much like Intimidator, adds even more to the ride experience. I go back and forth between Intimidator and Volcano as my favorite ride at Kings Dominion. Either way, they're both top notch! Honorable mention runner up would go to Dominator, the park's B&M floorless coaster. It starts with a large drop that leads into... ...a large vertical loop. Yep, that's a big loop. The first half of Dominator doesn't have the typical sequence of floorless coaster elements. While the cobra roll is very standard, it's missing the dive loop and zero-g roll that are commonly found between the vertical loop and cobra roll. Interestingly, this doesn't take away from the ride experience at all. In fact, the turns that have replaced the usual inversions here are taken at great speed and actually provide a nice change of pace for a floorless coaster. The second half of the ride features the usual interlocking corkscrews. And here's the complete layout. With the exception of Superman at SFFT, I've been on all of B&M's U.S. floorless coasters, and Dominator ranks as quite a good one. This also marked the second coaster relocated from Geauga Lake that I got to ride during this trip (along with Carolina Cobra at Carowinds). Having never been to Geauga Lake, I'm glad I got to sample a small piece of it. It's time for Anaconda, another of the park's loopers. The dive underwater is a nice touch. I actually kind of like this ride. Standard Arrow loop / corkscrew coasters aren't too terribly exciting anymore, but for whatever reason I do find the custom designs that mix things up quite enjoyable. I'm not even sure what the turns are called that precede the corkscrews here (a butterfly turn?), but they're definitely unique. Plus I've always liked the way Arrow coasters look. Anaconda's setting adds even more to its photogenic quality. Though these coasters may not be the most comfortable rides in the world, there's no arguing that they're classics. I'm glad I got to try one at every park during this trip (Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds; Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood; Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg; Anaconda at Kings Dominion). Up next is Flight of Fear. I like this coaster okay, though I curiously prefer it when it's outdoors (i.e., Joker's Jinx at SFA). I think I must still be jaded from my initial ride on Flight of Fear, back during my first Kings Dominion visit in 2000. At that time, the coaster still had its ridiculous over-the-shoulder restraints, and they resulted in what was without a doubt THE MOST PAINFUL COASTER RIDE I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED. Those restraints bashed my head so badly I might as well have been in a boxing ring without any protective headgear. Though the OTSRs have mercifully been removed, I'll never be able to get rid of the memories. The park's other Premier coaster (and the third launched coaster at Kings Dominion) is the Backlot Stunt Coaster. I regret to report that I'm pretty indifferent toward this one; it's not really that great. I think back when it was the Italian Job and the effects worked, it could have been good. Sadly, though, I've never seen any of the effects, so the whole ride seems kind of pointless. Avalanche is the park's bobsled coaster. If I'm not mistaken, this is the only Mack bobsled in the U.S. The ride is pretty tame but still fun. It should be noted that, with the exception of Dominator, all of the coasters seen so far have been in the Congo section of the park. While Volcano and Anaconda work well with the Congo theming, I'm not entirely sure how a bobsled, Nascar, Hollywood, and outer space fit in! Regardless, it's still an impressive collection of coasters in just this one corner of the park. Moving away from the Congo, we come to Shockwave. Like Avalanche, Shockwave is a unique coaster for the park, being the only remaining Togo stand-up coaster in the U.S. (I know there's also one in Canada). Togo coasters in general are becoming pretty sparse in this country -- are Manhattan Express in Vegas and this one the only two left? While this is certainly nowhere near as good as a B&M, I actually like Shockwave because it has such a different feel than a B&M stand-up coaster (also different than an Intamin stand-up coaster). What I don't like is how ridiculously long it takes the train to inch its way up the lift hill, plus the spiral following the loop is the only coaster element I've ever experienced that I would classify as a "jaw banger." I always have to brace my jaw with my hands entering into the spiral so it doesn't get bashed by the OTSRs. Ricochet is the park's Mack wild mouse coaster. This is a different layout than Carowind's Ricochet, featuring a nice large drop to begin the ride. Interestingly, Ricochet has the same layout as the Legoland wild mouse coasters, though it runs faster after the drop because it doesn't have anywhere near the amount of braking as the Legoland versions (Legoland California, anyway; I imagine the others are similar). I hope the new Coast Rider at Knott's runs like Ricochet rather than like the Legoland coasters. Kings Dominion boasts an impressive four wooden coasters. Though none are new or particularly stellar, most are not bad either. Rebel Yell is an out-and-back very similar to Thunder Road at Carowinds, but this one ran SO MUCH BETTER than that one. I don't know what was going on with Thunder Road during my ride, but Rebel Yell had none of the "rampiness" that so painfully characterized Thunder Road. Hurler, on the other hand, ran virtually identical to the way it ran at Carowinds. The two Hurler clones are, to me, perhaps the most bizarre and atypical of all wooden coasters, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Beyond the first drop they've got such a weird layout, with more straightaways and turns than anything else, and all of the turns kind of rattle your brain within your skull. Definitely the least re-rideable of the park's wood coasters. Still, people always appear to be having fun during the first drop. Just wait for the rest of the ride! While Grizzly seems to get dismissed due to its less than spectacular first drop and the slow and uneventful turnaround that follows, the rest of the ride is actually very enjoyable. You can't really see much of it buried amongst the trees, but that forested setting makes it even better. Ghoster Coaster (which is I guess now being called Woodstock Express) is a junior woodie that, like the Carowinds version, packs more punch than you might expect. A view of the ride from the Eiffel Tower. And to round out the coasters, there's Taxi Jam (now being called the Great Pumpkin Coaster). Without a child, I didn't ride it. I did, however, ride all of Kings Dominion's other coasters, thereby scoring 13 out of 14 possible credits! Switching gears, we come to the park's non-coaster thrill rides. Drop Tower is first. This would definitely be one of my very favorite drop tower rides. It's Intamin, it's got a large capacity, and it's huge! Thanks to its impressive height, the speed and airtime are sustained for a longer duration than on most other drop towers. I love it -- this is a ride I could easily re-ride over and over again without getting off (if they'd let me!). Back in the Congo, we arrive at the Crypt. In addition to all the great flipping and swinging action, the effects on this one are good too -- water fountains and, though I didn't get a picture of them, bursts of fire. I've got two kind of funny stories about Berserker. The first time I rode, it was starting to rain, so the wheels that propel the ship around were wet. The ship ended up "hydroplaning" on them, not making full contact. The ride therefore ran its entire cycle without ever making a complete loop! I rode it again later after it had dried off. The lap bars on these rides come down so tightly that I would strongly advise against leaving anything you don't want to get crushed in your front pockets. I learned this the hard way. Fortunately nothing valuable got ruined, but I did have a pen in my pocket that got cracked open and proceeded to leak ink down my pant leg for the rest of the day! Kings Dominion's new-for-2012 ride, another Windseeker. Oh joy. Last time I was at Kings Dominion, the El Dorado flat ride was located in this spot. That must have been a very short-lived ride at the park. And speaking of short-lived rides, wasn't this the site of the former Hypersonic coaster as well? I'm bummed that I never got to try that one, having visited Kings Dominion before it ever existed and then again after it had been removed. It seemed to be such a celebrated ride when it first opened, but it was then taken out so quickly and with such little fanfare. Was it really that bad? It sure looked like fun. At least the Americana ferris wheel has remained. There's nothing particularly exceptional about the ferris wheel ride itself, but I do like that it provides a vantage point for a few additional photo opportunities. For example, this is the best spot to get a complete look at the entire layout of Rebel Yell. You also gain even more appreciation for just how monstrous Intimidator 305 is. Notice that the very top of Rebel Yell is essentially at the base of Intimidator. There can never be too many Intimidator photos. One more. And a final shot from the Americana ferris wheel -- Shockwave and Dominator. Kings Dominion's Flying Eagles weren't quite as good as Carowind's Woodstock Gliders, but they definitely weren't bad. The ride operator did not enforce any restrictions, so even though these flyers didn't snap as high as Carowind's, they still allowed me to get in some good practice. Located in the back of the kid's section of the park is Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. The theming is elaborate and the ride is as good as Carowind's, but it's so hidden away that I think most people don't even know it exists. However, that's good news for those of us who do know it exists, as it's always a walk-on! Blue Ridge Tollway is a pleasant track-guided car ride. The forested setting makes it scenic and relaxing. Kings Dominion's two water rides are also located in this forested setting (the Old Virginia section of the park). Shenandoah Lumber Company is a pretty short log flume that I seem to recall spent much of its time at ground level, but again, all the surrounding trees made it nice. White Water Canyon was definitely a soaker. I also found it interesting how several rafts were released from the station at once and they all sort of played "bumper boats" in the rapids before being sent through the main course individually. Also, didn't there used to be waterfalls cascading down from the inside walls of this shed? Utilizing the same forested section of the park is Kings Dominion's Dinosaurs Alive exhibit. Because I'd never been through one of these, I paid the extra $5 to give it a look. Carnivores are represented. As are herbivores. Also carnivores attacking herbivores. Definitely not our dino! All the "baddies" are positioned in their menacing stance. This was an impressive sight. I did like that they featured mostly lesser known dinosaurs, rather than including all of the overly familiar ones. Of course, they did have to sell out a little bit. After all, a dinosaur exhibit wouldn't be a dinosaur exhibit without T. rex. You've just seen Dinosaurs Alive. Now give me five bucks. The overall exhibit is not something I'd pay to do frequently on repeat visits, but it was worthwhile once. All of the dinos were automated and there was lots of info included if you felt like learning. The park's Action Theater has also been converted into a 3-D movie theater showing Giants of Patagonia. This was kind of an odd film for a theme park, as it seemed instead like something you'd find in a science center's IMAX theater (which is apparently where this film originated). I don't predict it will be overly popular with park guests, but, being a biologist, I loved it and actually watched it twice. It's also free (not part of the extra $5), which is a definite plus. That concludes the first half of my August 2012 trip. Where did I go from here? Coming up next...

Following Tennessee it was off to Virginia and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Busch Gardens is one of two parks that I have visited more times than any other amusement park outside of my home parks in So Cal (and I guess Las Vegas). This 2012 trip marked my fourth visit to Busch Gardens, the previous ones taking place in 2010, 2009, and 2000. For this reason alone I have a very special attachment to the park. Of course, the reason I keep returning is because I enjoy it so much. This is a theme park that, like Dollywood, is made so perfect by its setting, scenery, atmosphere, and ambiance. I absolutely love being inside the park surrounded by all of it. Let's not forget that there are roller coasters and thrill rides to be found at Busch Gardens as well. Since my last visit in 2010, two new rides have been added -- the highly anticipated Verbolten and the mediocrely anticipated Mach Tower. How were they? Read on! Based on the theme parks I've been to, I'll agree with this statement! Apollo's Chariot greets visitors at the entrance. A B&M hypercoaster, Apollo's Chariot was the park's newest headliner ride during my first visit to Busch Gardens. I absolutely loved it back then, and I'm still a huge fan to this day. Apollo is exciting but relaxing and pleasant at the same time. I think that's what most enthusiasts take issue with about this coaster, but I thoroughly enjoy it. It may not be my very favorite B&M hyper, but having been my first, sentimental value alone earns Apollo's Chariot extra bonus points. Of course the new-for-2012 headliner coaster was Verbolten. Being a Zierer coaster, I was curious to try Verbolten. I've been on some Zierer junior coasters, as well as Jaguar at Knott's (though let's be honest, Jaguar is basically an adult-sized junior coaster), but I've never been on a true adult coaster from this manufacturer. Also very important is the fact that Verbolten had the difficult task of taking over for the much-loved Big Bad Wolf. Did it measure up? I'm somewhat torn. The coaster seems to be getting a very positive response from the general public as well as from the coaster community, and I'm happy that that's the case. I personally felt that the launches and final drop were lots of fun, and I think the intensity level was definitely on par with Big Bad Wolf (moderately intense, but still appropriate for most of the family). I do think there were a few too many midcourse brakes throughout the ride that kind of killed the momentum. However, I was probably most disappointed with the indoor stuff. Sure, the "surprise" drop was cool, but the rest of the theming left me a bit underwhelmed. First of all, while I know each train gets one of three storylines at random, I rode three times and felt like I got the exact same thing every time. I don't recall any wolves or storm, so I'm thinking I happened to always get the spirit story, which was pretty incoherent. As for the effects, there weren't many. It seemed like a darkened building with a few glow-in-the-dark props. Revenge of the Mummy at USH always gets ripped for this, though I felt Verbolten was more or less exactly the same effects-wise. Finally, I guess I was just expecting a little more mood from a coaster themed to a spooky car ride through the haunted woods. It could have been great, but it ended up being just okay. I'm not trying to sound overly negative here -- I definitely liked Verbolten, I just didn't love it. Part of it may have to do with me still missing Big Bad Wolf. Moving on, Alpengeist is next. Alpengeist is a B&M inverted coaster, and a pretty huge one at that. If I had to pick my very favorite B&M invert (no easy task), Alpengeist would probably be it. I actually think Montu gives a slightly better ride, but the theming of Alpengeist (like all of BGW) completely wins me over. Montu has nice theming as well, but Alpengeist has absolutely perfect theming for this type of coaster in this type of park. Alpengeist even "duels" with the log flume. Le Scoot is an okay log ride, but it's pretty short and doesn't have quite the amount of theming I might expect from Busch Gardens. Even so, it's still worth a ride when the line shortens up (usually around dusk). Alpengeist's signature shot. For the past six years or so, Alpengeist's signature shot has been photobombed by its new neighbor, Griffon. Griffon is another B&M, this time a dive coaster. I know there's an ongoing debate over which is better, Griffon or Sheikra. Griffon gets my vote, likely because it was my first B&M dive coaster, I've ridden it many more times than I have Sheikra, and because I tend to be partial toward BGW to begin with. Be sure to queue up for the front row during your first ride on Griffon. The sensations of slowly approaching the edge and dangling over it are unmatched. The release is pretty darn awesome too. The drop itself is of course what these dive coasters are all about. So tall and STEEP! It should be noted that this is an extremely re-rideable coaster. And very photogenic (I particularly like how this shot turned out). Following the drop is the huge swooping Immelmann loop. Like the drop, it looks so intimidating, but it's actually extremely smooth and comfortable. Plus the trains give you plenty of floorless freedom. Another vertical drop and Immelmann loop follow (see the picture above of Griffon with Alpengeist). This splashdown then ends the ride, which is definitely an interesting final touch (it's actually more for onlookers than for riders). Overall, I would rank Griffon as my favorite coaster (and therefore my favorite ride) at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The park's oldest coaster is Loch Ness Monster, an Arrow looper that dates back to 1978. You can see the majority of the ride from this vantage point -- the first drop, the second drop leading into the first vertical loop, and the second vertical loop. Of course, there's still that lengthy sprial through the darkened tunnel that's out of view here. I stated above that Griffon is very photogenic, but Loch Ness Monster's interlocking loops (the only remaining ones in the world) are probably among the most photographed of any coaster element. Deservedly so. I will be honest and say that Loch Ness Monster is my least favorite of BGW's adult coasters, but that's only because it's in such good company. Please please PLEASE don't let the same fate await this coaster as the park's other (former) Arrow coasters, Big Bad Wolf and Drachen Fire (the latter of which I sadly never got to try). To wrap up the coasters there's Grover's Alpine Express. I'll admit that I did ride this, even without a child. In so doing, I was able to get all six of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's coaster credits. Score! Time for the park's non-coaster rides, starting with Mach Tower. Take a look in this picture at how high up the tower the brakes extend. More on that in a moment. A close-up of the ride vehicle. Going up. Coming down. Overall there were some definite positives about this ride, but also a couple of detracting negatives. On the plus side, though the tower doesn't look exceptionally huge (especially compared to the nearby drop tower at Kings Dominion), it actually felt REALLY HIGH while riding. The way the vehicle rotated during its slow ascent made for great observation of the entire park. Oddly, the vehicle stopped revolving well before it reached the top of the tower. The release was forceful and the drop itself provided a few legitimate tummy-tickling negative-g moments. However, as noted above, the brakes kicked in WAY TOO SOON. There was still plenty of drop to be had, but it was all slowed and controlled for the entire bottom half of the tower. Though that's unfortunate, in the end I still enjoyed Mach Tower well enough. I've heard that the brakes have been relaxed this season, which is certainly good news. Curse of DarKastle is a nice 3-D simulator dark ride. Though the storyline is a bit incoherent (which is pretty much the case for all of this ride's cousins [spiderman and Transformers]), I do think the haunted house theming works well with this type of ride system. Europe in the Air seems to be a pretty polarizing attraction. With its Soarin' Over California vibe, I actually quite like it. I do think the visuals become a bit distorted at certain points throughout the ride, kind of like when you take off your 3-D glasses during a 3-D film, except that this isn't 3-D to begin with! It doesn't really bother me, though, and I definitely like Europe in the Air better than the ride it replaced, the whiplash-inducing Corkscrew Hill. In addition to Le Scoot, BGW has two other water rides. Escape from Pompeii is my favorite. Ordinarily boat flumes that go up, around, and down aren't too terribly exciting for me. However, the indoor portion of this boat flume makes Escape from Pompeii so much more than that. The ride always appears to be incredibly clean and well maintained, which even makes the drop (a pretty standard drop) seem more enjoyable. The ride will definitely wet you but probably won't soak you, so I think everyone will be satisfied. Impeccable theming -- check. Effects that actually work -- check. Awesome drop -- check. Appropriate amount of wetness -- check. Escape from Pompeii is a winner across the board. Roman Rapids also has exceptional theming, though the wetness here is definitely hit or miss. It's possible to come off more or less dry, or else beyond soaked. This is really the only part of the ride that's visible to onlookers. Beware, though, that hidden out of sight are three back-to-back waterfalls lined up in a row. If you end up on the waterfall side of the raft when you reach them, you're going to get nailed by all three. It's absolutely drenching. If you're not on the "lucky" side, however, you probably won't get too wet on Roman Rapids. Next up is the park's train ride. Rather than using the train as a means of transportation from one part of the park to another, I prefer to take a round trip ride to relax and look at the scenery. Among the scenery -- the Rhine River. You can get a more up-close-and-personal look at the Rhine River by taking the Rhine River Cruise. Though it's a manmade body of water that doesn't really leave the park, it can certainly feel like you're far removed from a theme park while on board. The skyride provides yet another relaxing opportunity to take in all the sights. That's it for the rides (there are several flat rides that I didn't take pictures of). However, I did take pictures of some of the park's animal attractions. Though BGW doesn't have quite the same emphasis on animals as Busch Gardens Tampa or the SeaWorlds, Jack Hanna's Wild Reserve is a nice corner of the park that does have a decent selection of animal exhibits and shows. Eagle Ridge is one such exhibit. Various animals get brought out into Jack Hanna's Wild Reserve for impromptu meet-and-greets and info sessions. For more birds, you can pay a visit to Lorikeet Glen. Interesting looking bird. Ditto above. This is one of those exhibits where you can purchase some nectar for the birds and feed them as you wander through. The food booth wasn't open when I was there, so I'm not sure if you just get to feed the lorikeets, or all of the birds that show interest in your nectar. More animals out and about in Jack Hanna's Wild Reserve. Wolf Valley is a relatively large exhibit for wolves to roam. For a closer look at the wolves, you can watch the show in Wolf Haven. Though the wolves do demonstrate a few behaviors here, this is mostly for educational purposes. (As a funny aside, a friend asked me prior to the show, "What do they do in a wolf show? Dances with wolves?") The show is technically about predatory animals in general, so there are a few non-wolf representatives as well. But the wolves are definitely the stars. Finally, there's the Pet Shenanigans show. This was pretty reminiscent of the pets show at SeaWorld San Diego. Jump-roping dogs are always fun to watch. There are more than just dogs, though, such as this mathematical parrot. What's "2 + 2"? Yep, smart bird. Cats also join in on the shenanigans. Overall the show wasn't quite as funny or elaborate as, but was a bit more schmaltzy than, the SeaWorld pet shows. Still, it was fine for what it was, and I could tell it was a huge hit among children and their families. Well, that's a wrap. I'll leave you with this parting shot of Busch Gardens Williamsburg, one of my favorite theme parks. I very much look forward to returning yet again.

Funny, I hadn't even noticed that. I had noticed this though and wondered the same thing. That's too bad, but I guess it totally makes sense. While in the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg / Sevierville area, I decided to pay a visit to Ober Gatlinburg. This was the second time I've visited this park, having stopped by previously during my 2007 trip to Tennessee. Much has remained the same, though there were a few noticeable differences. A new maze attraction has opened, and the miniature golf has been moved outdoors (it was formerly inside Ober Gatlinburg's mall). These must have replaced the go-kart and swinging ship rides, which I seem to recall being previously located in the same spots. Probably a wise move from the park's standpoint, as I'm sure a walk-through maze and mini golf are much easier to maintain. Also, what used to be exclusively the Black Bear Habitat has expanded and added more native Smoky Mountain animals, becoming the Wildlife Encounter. Overall Ober Gatlinburg is a very nice family fun center-style park. Being high up in the mountains, it should be a satisfying destination for both those who enjoy theme parks and those who enjoy national parks. I've only ever visited during the summer, but I'm sure it would also be worth a stop in the fall (to see the forest in its autumn colors) and in the winter (for the snow activities). Ober Gatlinburg is of course famous for the aerial tramway you have to take to get to the park itself. (You could drive up instead, but that wouldn't be nearly as fun.) There are some outstanding views of the Smoky Mountains, as well as of the Gatlinburg area, on the way up. The ride itself, though gentle, relaxing, and comfortable (unless it happens to be exceptionally crowded), is also quite exciting. It reaches a very decent height above the ground when crossing the support towers, and it swings back and forth while doing so. We're now inside the park. Here's an overview of the two main attractions, the scenic chairlift and the alpine slide. The alpine slide begins where the blue chairlift ends (the blue chairlift only transports sleds, not passengers). You can get off at that point to ride the slide, or continue up the mountain to the scenic overlook. Time to begin our chairlift journey! The alpine slide crosses under the chairlift several times, so you can get a good feel for the track layout on the way up. Almost to the top of the alpine slide. Shall we exit the chairlift here? Let's first continue up the mountain to the scenic overlook. Yep, very scenic. This impressive elevation provides a great viewpoint for the Smoky Mountains. Ober Gatlinburg also features a live bluegrass band up here. One of the songs they cover, "I'm My Own Grandpa," cracks me up. Maybe you're familiar with it (I know it's been featured on some movies and TV shows). If not, YouTube it! Pretty cool views on the way down too. Okay, time for the alpine slide. This one isn't quite as long as certain others that I've ridden. Part of the reason is that it doesn't switchback as much as the others; instead, there are several more straightaway sections. This isn't a complaint, just a comment. I do have one complaint about the way Ober Gatlinburg runs its alpine slide though... The slide is very popular with children (riding alone or with a parent). This by itself is of course not a problem. However, the park really needs to assign one track as the "slow" track for children and the other track as the "fast" track for everyone else. I tried riding four times, and every single time I caught up to the riders in front of me, who were just poking along, almost instantly. I'm not a speed demon who was going aggressively fast; the riders in front of me (always children) truly were barely moving. Part of the problem is that the sleds are hardly spaced out in the first place; I was always instructed to begin when the previous rider had barely gone anywhere. One time I asked if I could wait a little longer, so as to not catch up with the sled in front of me so quickly, but I was denied. I know spacing out the sleds would hold up the line, but I was so frustrated that not once did I get a true ride on the alpine slide. Each time I tried I ended up just scooching along the track, stuck behind other sleds. Oh well, I'm sure it would have been fun otherwise. In addition to the alpine slide, the park features three water slides that are all good fun. Ober's Lightnin' Raft Ride and Shoot-the-Chute are located right next to each other (I'm actually not even sure which is which). This one, featuring back-to-back dips, actually produces some significant lift going over the second dip. This one is fun for simply featuring a single straight drop. It's great that the park operates these as "dry" water slides. You will get splashed, but not drenched, so you get to ride them in your street clothes. The same is true for Blue Cyclone Rapids, which is probably the more "aggressive" of the three water slides. While still suitable for everyone in the family, this one is longer, higher, darker, and wetter as you splash your way through the turns. The mini golf is a bit ghetto but still fun. Although it's definitely small, it is a lot nicer now that it's outdoors; it doesn't look anywhere near as crammed as it did back when it was inside a single enclosed room. At Amaze'n Maze, you not only have to find your wait out, but to each corner and to the center stairs as well. I actually really enjoyed this -- if you make it a competition against the rest of your group it's lots of fun. Since it hardly counts as a trip to the Smokies without seeing a black bear, Ober Gatlinburg makes sure you get the opportunity to do so in the Wildlife Encounter. The Wildlife Encounter also features a Nocturnal House, where the great horned owl is appropriately located. In contrast to the great horned owl, which is the largest owl species in the Smokies, this guy only weighs a few ounces. Racoons, skunks, opossums, snakes, and turtles also call the Nocturnal House home. In addition to the Black Bear Habitat and the Nocturnal House, you can also find river otters at the Wildlife Encounter. The otters were perhaps the highlight of the entire exhibit -- they actually interacted with guests a bit. Surely this was for no other reason than equating humans with feeding time, but it did give them playful personalities. Plus they are incredibly cute. Ober Gatlinburg's website states that additional native animals, including bobcats and foxes, will be added to the Wildlife Encounter in the future. Okay, that's it for Ober Gatlinburg. Time to take the aerial tramway back down the mountain. Before finishing this post I thought I'd include one more nature pic from outside the park, just to re-emphasize that in the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg / Sevierville area you really are completely surrounded by nature. And finally I'll throw in a picture of the Mysterious Mansion haunted house to emphasize the other thing that surrounds you in these Tennessee towns -- tourist trap attractions. There are honestly more attractions here than I could ever keep track of, ranging from quite elaborate to pure cheese-fests. I tried several of them back in 2007, and Mysterious Mansion was my favorite. It wasn't as good this time around, but at least it still looks awesome!

After the Carolinas and Carowinds, I headed to Tennessee and Dollywood. Dollywood is a park that I had visited once previously (in June of 2007), and I was certainly looking forward to returning. This second trip was notable for the addition of the entire Wilderness Pass area in the back section of the park. In 2007, the Timber Canyon and Craftsman's Valley areas were not connected, so the park dead-ended in both places. It was great to now have the park be one complete, continuous circuit. Even more important, the three attractions in Wilderness Pass -- River Battle, Adventure Mountain, and of course Wild Eagle -- were brand new to me. I found all three to be unique and excellent additions to the park. A couple other noteworthy points about my August 2012 visit: First, by visiting in August, I got to experience Dollywood Nights, when the park stays open later than any other time during the year. Also, I happened to be at the park when the National Roller Coaster Museum exhibit was on display. These two perks made my trip to an already outstanding theme park even better. The butterflies mean we've arrived! Let's first check out the park's new-for-2012 coaster, Wild Eagle. (This is an incredible entrance sculpture, by the way.) Wild Eagle is of course a B&M wing coaster, the first in the U.S. and one of only four currently operating worldwide. It's the only one I've yet ridden. How was it? There seems to be some negativity toward this style of coaster, but I actually REALLY enjoyed it. I've heard people complain that it's forceless, but I found the whole thing to be extremely pleasant -- like soaring on the wings of an eagle. I've heard comments about the restraints constricting too tightly, but I honestly didn't notice that at all. The one thing I will say is that I did find one side to be rougher than the other. It's been several months now since my visit, so I may not be remembering entirely correctly (therefore don't hold me strictly to this; I may have it backwards), but for whatever reason the left side of the train seemed significantly rougher than the right. This was the case during all of my rides (about three on each side). Built along the hillside and among the trees, the coaster is pretty well hidden from the rest of the park, so it's not easy to see much of it. However, this setting is fantastic while riding. The few places where you can get up close to the coaster, though, show off just how awesome it looks. Overall I truly enjoyed Wild Eagle; a great new coaster style and certainly a great new coaster for Dollywood. Mystery Mine was the new coaster during my previous visit, and it seems to be just as popular now as it was then. The original Gerstlauer eurofighter in the U.S., Mystery Mine has theming that still makes it stand apart from the rest. While I've never really been able to follow the storyline here (with the ravens and canary), the haunted mine atmosphere works so well it doesn't even matter. Also, the vertical lift hills and stop-start nature of this kind of coaster lend themselves perfectly to an indoor themed ride. It's definitely not all indoors, though, with some pretty cool features outside as well. This "climbing the wall" curve is lots of fun, as is the drop that immediately preceeds it. Though not incredibly huge, that drop is so steep it's gut-wrenchingly awesome. The ride's finale, however, is unquestionably the best part. The vertical lift, followed by the explosion of fire, followed by the coaster's big drop, followed by the heartline roll, followed by this dive loop -- five awesome elements back-to-back in quick succession. Pretty hard to beat. I give Mystery Mine two big thumbs up! My only warning pertains to one of the first indoor turns toward the very beginning of the ride. It's a major headbanger, so brace yourself. Other than that, enjoy! Up next is Thunderhead, the park's fantastic GCI wooden coaster. This one opened in 2004, so it's nearing a decade in age, but it was still exceptionally smooth and comfortable. As I've found to be the case with many GCI coasters, Thunderhead really came alive after dark. While it was great fun during the day, I'm so glad I also got to ride during Dollywood Nights -- it absolutely TORE through the course. In the dark it was impossible to see what was coming up next, and not being overly familiar with the track layout, I didn't know what to expect next. It was therefore some of the most "controlled chaos" I've ever experienced; almost unequaled. Most excellent! Tennessee Tornado is Dollywood's Arrow megalooper. I think the consensus is that this is quite possibly the best of the genre, and I would agree. (Interestingly, if I'm not mistaken, it's also the last one Arrow built.) It's certainly smoother than pretty much any other Arrow looper in existence. This ginormous loop is particularly awesome, especially following the drop through the tunnel and the way it "twists" like a tornado. As with all of Dollywood's coasters, the Smoky Mountain setting adds immeasurably to the ride experience. Dollywood may only have four major coasters (Wild Eagle, Mystery Mine, Thunderhead, Tennessee Tornado), but even so the collection is surprisingly varied and highly satisfying. My intention is not to imply that Blazing Fury is not a good coaster as well, but I almost classify this one as more of a dark ride than a coaster. Whatever you want to call it, it's definitely unique and fun for the whole family. During my previous visit in 2007, there was a little splashdown pool at the bottom of the final drops. The pool was dry as a bone during this visit. Can anyone tell me if this is a permanent thing, or if I by chance happened to visit on a day when they had drained the pool? I think the splashdown was a nice touch, so it's a shame if it's no more. The park's final coaster is Sideshow Spin. I think I technically could have ridden this without a child, but I would have felt too silly to do so, so I didn't. I therefore got five out of Dollywood's six coaster credits, and I was happy with that! Time to move on to the park's water rides. Dollywood boasts an excellent selection, with an impressive four different offerings. Smoky Mountain River Rampage was a pretty good rapids ride, with a lengthy duration, some attractive scenery, and the potential to get very wet. Daredevil Falls looked incredible and this final drop was fun, but other than that (and I hate to say this) it was actually kind of a boring log flume ride. Am I alone thinking this? The coolest of Dollywood's water rides (in my opinion anyway) is Mountain Slidewinder, a very unique flume / waterslide / toboggan combination. I've really never seen anything quite like this anywhere else. The ride sloshes through the trough, climbing up the sides and threatening to overturn the riders. This also causes quite a bit of water to fly. The finale is a straightaway drop, which is lots of fun, especially if two sleds happen to be racing each other towards the finish line. Also lots of fun is River Battle, the park's splash battle ride. This is actually only the second splash battle I've ridden so far, and I found it to be much better than the one at Legoland CA. There, the vehicles ride on a rail above the water, so it doesn't look very realistic at all. The way these vehicles float on the water made this one far superior. In fact, the theming throughout this ride is very well done. I also liked that riders face toward the side rather than forward or backward. It was still a bit challenging to shoot at other vehicles, as they had to be lined up just right, and they usually weren't. However, there were plenty of opportunities to shoot at onlookers (and have them shoot back). Plus there were lots of targets to shoot at, triggering different effects. It seemed like some didn't do much of anything, but others really responded -- I shot a target right out of the station, setting off a geyser that had me absolutely drenched from the very beginning. Nearby is Adventure Mountain, one of those elevated obstacle courses that are becoming quite popular these days. This was by far the largest and most elaborate version I've ever come across. Adventure Mountain really did provide a legitimate workout; by the time I was done I was pretty much a giant pool of sweat (this was August in Tennessee, don't forget). Some of the obstacles were quite tricky and even somewhat frightening; I give the small children I saw doing this a lot of credit. The theming throughout was truly exceptional. This cliff face element, plus the geyser seen in the previous pic, are just two of the many examples that showcase the extra touches that made this attraction so great. I also enjoyed that, once you were harnessed up, you were allowed to participate for as long as you liked. Now, I realize that Adventure Mountain will be no more beginning with Dollywood's 2013 season. That's very unfortunate, as this was unique, popular, fun for the whole family, and still very new. I hope Dollywood knows what it's doing. Maybe Adventure Mountain will be sent elsewhere, and hopefully something spectacular will replace it. Also new since my last visit was Barnstormer. Once again, great theming. I've been on a few S&S screamin' swings, and I especially enjoy these giant versions. They're thrilling yet sort of relaxing at the same time; definitely among my favorite flat rides. What are some of the other rides to be found at Dollywood? There's Dizzy Disk, which is fun but nothing incredibly exceptional. There's also Lumberjack Lifts, which is pretty cool. I've only ever seen this type of ride at Legoland, so it was neat to have one here. This is certainly not meant to be a thrilling drop tower ride, as it's designed for kids to hoist themselves up and then fall gently back down. However, I found it to be fun for adults too if you make it a race to the top! Imagination Cinema houses the park's motion theater simulator ride. I know the film changes semi-regularly depending on the occasion, but I believe Smoky Mountain Wilderness Adventure is the default. Last time I was at the park was during the annual Kids Fest, and they were curiously showing the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera that used to exist at Universal Florida. At any rate, I know Imagination Cinema is also closing up shop for good and, unlike Adventure Mountain, I don't think this is any big loss. I'm glad I got to try the Wilderness Adventure and I think it's appropriate that Dolly Parton be part of a ride at Dollywood, but this wasn't all that great; I could tell it was made back when simulators were meant to be pure chaos and incoherence. It would have been much nicer had they made it a more Soarin' over California or Europe in the Air type of experience, being able to appreciate the Smoky Mountains rather than manically plowing through them. Oh well, just my thoughts... Rockin' Roadway is a very Autopia-like car ride. Certainly acceptable for what it is. Dollywood Express seems to be a very celebrated attraction at the park. I'm not a hardcore train aficionado, but I always do enjoy train rides at theme parks. I definitely liked this one too, though it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. From what I'd heard, I thought it traveled through some of the Smoky Mountains separate from the park. While riding, however, I never felt all that terribly removed from the park itself. (I'm not complaining, just making an observation.) Also be prepared to get covered in soot! Aside from rides, I know Dollywood is very famous for its shows. I wasn't too interested in seeing any, but I did watch the Wings of America bird show. (Had Sha-Kon-O-Hey still existed, I'm sure I would have watched that one too.) The star of Wings of America was of course the bald eagle. The bald eagles can also be observed in the nearby Eagle Mountain Sanctuary. As mentioned, the National Roller Coaster Museum was on exhibit during my visit to Dollywood. Time to finish up with a look inside. Lots of old-time photos on display. A tour of theme park history wouldn't be complete without Mr. Disney. There were several displays devoted to individual ride manufacturers. Arrow was probably the most interesting. There's no denying Arrow's importance in the development of the modern roller coaster. How many have you ridden? I figured some of you might enjoy this one. Another amusing blast from the past. I liked that dark rides were included as well. There was more than just posters in the museum. There were models too, such as this one of the Crystal Beach Cyclone. There were also various artifacts, such as cars from coaster trains. The old one belonged to Belmont Park's Giant Dipper in San Diego. A fitting end to my visit. Dollywood is an excellent theme park, and I very much look forward to returning yet again.

Two years ago (January 2011), I began biosciking's So Cal Thread (which you can find here), highlighting the parks and attractions local to me in Southern California. This past summer (August 2012), I finally got some time to take a lengthy out-of-town theme park vacation. Since the trip reports from that vacation obviously don't belong in biosciking's So Cal Thread, I figured I'd start biosciking's Non-So Cal Thread, showcasing the places I visit beyond my neck of the woods. My August 2012 trip was divided into two parts, both parts being on the east coast. The first stop during part 1 of the trip was Carowinds, a brand new park for me. While Carowinds has never seemed to achieve quite the fan following that several other Cedar Fair parks (Cedar Point, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Knott's) have, it certainly felt very Cedar Fair -- a large park with lots of rides, including an impressive number of coasters. While most of the coasters would rank as decent (not bad but not stellar), Intimidator was a definite stand-out. Overall I enjoyed Carowinds quite a bit and would gladly return. I'll continue to update biosciking's Non-So Cal Thread with the remaining trip reports from both parts of my summer 2012 vacation, as well as with any additional parks that I get a chance to visit from this point on. August 2012 Carowinds - p. 1 Dollywood - p. 1 Ober Gatlinburg - p. 2 Busch Gardens Williamsburg - p. 2 Kings Dominion - p. 2 Disney's Hollywood Studios - p. 2 Disney's Animal Kingdom - p. 2 Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf - p. 2 Everglades National Park - p. 3 Busch Gardens Tampa - p. 3 August 2013 Gilroy Gardens - p. 3 California's Great America - p. 3 Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - p. 3 Epcot - p. 4 Winter Summerland Miniature Golf - p. 4 SeaWorld Orlando - p. 4 Silver Springs - p. 4 Fun Spot America - p. 5 Fun Spot USA - p. 5 Old Town - p. 5 August 2014 Lake Winnepesaukah - p. 5 Six Flags Over Georgia - p. 5 Georgia Aquarium - p. 5 Wild Adventures - p. 6 Magic Kingdom - p. 6 DisneyQuest - p. 6 Here we are at Carowinds, my first time visiting this park. The Carolina Skytower is a nice way to overview the entire park; it reaches an appropriate height and rotates at an appropriate speed to observe everything. It also provides an informative recorded spiel about the history of Carowinds. Of course Carowinds is known for being the theme park that straddles two states. First things first -- a ride on Intimidator. Intimidator is the park's newest coaster, a B&M hyper. One of my favorite coaster elements (perhaps my very favorite coaster element) is the first drop on a hypercoaster. Intimidator lived up to my high expectations. The second hill. It goes without saying that hypercoasters are also incredibly popular for their airtime. I know newer B&M hypers (maybe all B&M hypers) have a reputation for being too mild in the airtime department. However, I do love the floating air they provide. Intimidator also features a couple moments with a bit of ejector air as well. I've been on a few other B&M hypers (Apollo's Chariot, Nitro, Goliath at SFOG), and I would rank Intimidator right up there with the rest of them. It's always been difficult for me to put together favorite coaster lists, but if I was to try to make one for B&M hypers, I'd probably come up with 1. Nitro, 2. Intimidator, 3. Apollo's Chariot, 4. Goliath. That's just a quick approximation, and really kind of misleading, as I thoroughly enjoy all four of them. The turnaround. Intimidator's cars feature staggered seating that's kind of funky but does make the ride feel more open and free. I just said I'm not very good at listing favorites, but I can definitively state that Intimidator was, for me and I'm sure many others, the best at Carowinds. The park has a lot of other fun coasters, but I think it would have been lacking a true headliner without this one. Prior to Intimidator's existence, I imagine the star of Carowinds was Afterburn, a B&M invert. It's still very good. Afterburn is a relatively short ride, but it does pack a punch. It's fast-paced and has powerful forces, plus it contains a great collection of aggressive elements. The theming is cool too. I've been on far more B&M inverts than I have B&M hypers, so I'm not even going to try to rank them. I do know that this one has a good reputation and is well regarded among the coaster community. One additional pro (plus one con) that I'll point out for Afterburn: Pro -- I love that there's no midcourse brake, but rather a little "airtime" hump instead; Con -- Right after this hump comes the final corkscrew, which for some reason is significantly more headbanging than most other inverted B&M corkscrews. Maybe not as highly regarded but actually very underrated in my opinion is Nighthawk, a Vekoma flying coaster. I've been on two of the three Vekoma flyers that exist (the other being Batwing at SFA), and on both rides I've been pleasantly surprised. Unlike a Vekoma boomerang or SLC, these flying coasters are not rough. The loop, while forceful, is also nowhere near as intense as a B&M flyer's pretzel loop. I therefore find Nighthawk (and Batwing) to be very comfortable and enjoyable. Very attractive too. While the high swooping turns and loops are great, I also enjoy the low-to-the ground interaction during the second half of the ride. Intimidator, Afterburn, and Nighthawk were my top 3 coasters at Carowinds. Intimidator and Afterburn certainly get plenty of press, but I think Nighthawk deserves its fair share as well. (I know this coaster, formerly Stealth at Great America, used to get a lot of attention for being the world's original flying coaster, but that attention has definitely waned lately.) On to the rest of the coasters. Vortex is next. I've been on most of B&M's standup coasters, and this one is pretty typical of the early variety. Relatively short and compact, with just two inversions -- a vertical loop and a corkscrew. Nothing really to write home about, but there was a definite plus worth mentioning. I actually found this coaster to be surprisingly smooth. I was expecting a total headbanger (much like I remember the Vortex at CGA to be), but that wasn't the case here at all. Carolina Cobra is the park's second newest coaster. Also nothing spectacular, though I give them credit for naming a Vekoma boomerang something other than Boomerang (or Zoomerang). I'll admit that I was somewhat eager to ride Carolina Cobra to try out the new boomerang restraints. However, though others may disagree, I actually didn't feel like they changed much about the ride at all. I've never really had an issue with headbanging against the standard restraints during a boomerang's cobra roll element. Instead, I tend to bump the back of my head against the headrest during the vertical loop (while traveling both forward and backward). The new restraints unfortunately couldn't do anything to remedy that. At least the coaster is photogenic. Also perhaps more pleasant to look at than to ride is Carolina Cyclone, a standard Arrow double-loop, double-corkscrew coaster. I'm probably not being entirely fair. I learned after riding that this was the world's first four-inversion coaster, so I am glad I got to ride a little piece of history. Plus the coaster finishes with a spiral through an excavated trench below ground level, and that was kind of cool. And I can't deny that I have always like the way Arrow loopers look. Another "Carolina" coaster, this time Carolina Goldrusher. It's neat that all Arrow mine trains have unique layouts that fit them to their specific park locations. This may not be the most thrilling coaster in the world, but I liked it. As an added bonus, it also contained several lengthy trench spirals. Ricochet is a Mack wild mouse. Pretty standard stuff, but these are always fun. Wood coaster time. Hurler (both this one and its twin at Kings Dominion) has to be one of the oddest wooden coasters I've ever come across. I guess it's technically an out-and-back layout, but after this first drop it's got more straightaways and turnarounds than ups and downs. It's also pretty jarring. Everyone sure seems to be enjoying it though! Thunder Road could have (and should have) been so much better than it was; I actually found this coaster to be brutally painful. It's almost hard for me to describe the sensation I had while riding. It seemed like the train lifted off the track a bit during each drop, and then crashed back onto the track at the bottom of the drop, only to then bounce its way up the next hill. This resulted in riders having their spines compressed repeatedly during the ride. I've never minded a little violence from a wooden coaster, but this was so different and unusual that I just wasn't prepared for it. Didn't Thunder Road recently complete a huge retracking job? If so, something certainly didn't go as planned. Haven't I heard that Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion may follow suit with a similar retracking job? Please cancel that, as Rebel Yell ran SO MUCH BETTER than Thunder Road. Then again, there was only one side of Thunder Road operating, so maybe I got the side that hasn't yet been retracked??? If that's the case, finish it quickly! In the meantime, I'll go ride a shopping cart down a staircase. Woodstock Express is the park's junior wooden coaster. Despite its small size and lower height requirement, it has a little more bite than you might expect. Flying Ace Aerial Chase is the park's junior suspended coaster. It may not seem like it after a couple of my above reviews, but I do try to find the positives in all roller coasters. However, I can honestly say that this one was truly awful. I really can't think of any redeeming qualities to it. It was so slow and boring and pointless, yet at the same time it was a complete headbanger. I kept wondering to myself during the ride how a coaster that didn't do anything could be so rough. Why am I banging my head against the OTSRs when we're barely even moving? Why are there OTSRs at all on such a lame ride? I don't think I've ever really heard anything good about these Vekoma junior suspended coasters, and after now riding one I'm unfortunately not able to come up with anything either. (It also took forever to load and dispatch.) Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie is the park's final coaster. I didn't have a child with me so I couldn't ride this one. Even so, I think I did pretty well getting 12 of Carowind's 13 coaster credits! Carowinds of course has more than just roller coasters. There are two water rides, the first being Rip Roarin' Rapids. I thought this one was quite good. It has a nice setting and offers a reasonably lengthy ride. There are some decent rapids throughout, but this is the spot that'll really soak you. It was fun watching different riders' reactions to the downpour. Some literally got out of their seats trying to avoid it. Others simply got naked and took a shower. Whitewater Falls is the other water ride. It's a typical boat flume -- lift, turnaround, drop. It may be typical, but it certainly serves its purpose. If you want to get wet on a hot day, this will do the job. Very refreshing. Boo Blasters on Boo Hill is a nice combination dark ride / interactive shooting ride. The Action Theater was showing the Spongebob film during my visit. These old-school motion simulator theaters aren't that terribly exciting anymore, plus it seems like you can find the Spongebob film everywhere. However, I do have to somewhat admire a ride that is entirely themed to chasing after a pickle. Drop Tower Scream Zone is the park's drop tower (had you figured that out?). It's a relatively small Intamin version, maybe 150 feet tall or so, but it's surpisingly effective. The tummy-tickling jolt when released and the speed on the way down are great. Because this had such a short wait, I rode it about ten times. Windseeker was the park's new-for-2012 ride. I'm not entirely sure I "get" Windseekers. I've been on the ride at Knott's that opened in 2011, and my thoughts on that one and this one are pretty much the same. I suppose they're mildly exciting because of their height, but otherwise these aren't exactly thrill rides. They're just sort of relaxing, which is fine if they're not meant to be thrill rides, but I think they are. I'm also not sure why Cedar Fair is so in love with them, after all the mechanical issues they've had. Since the 2011 installments all seemed to be complete lemons (riders stuck mid-ride, extended downtime, not able to operate when it's windy of all things), I would have thought Cedar Fair would be fed up. However, they then installed a bunch more in 2012, and they had the exact same problems. Southern Star is ride I was happy to find at the park, as there aren't many of these looping ships left. Back in the day I did have one local to me at SFMM (called Z-Force), but it was removed when I was pretty young. I did get to ride Z-Force a couple times, and I've missed it since then, so this gave me a chance to re-live the memories. It's the same story with Scream Weaver; I'm always happy to find an enterprise flat ride since there aren't any in Southern California. Again, there used to be one at Magic Mountain (called Reactor), but it's long gone. (Incidentally, both Z-Force and Reactor were right next to each other, in the spot where Batman is located today.) Snoopy's GR8 SK8 is another flat ride that I very much enjoy. There used to be one of these at Knott's that I loved as a kid, but it was removed many years ago. There is still one local to me at Castle Park though. Last but not least is Woodstock Gliders. I had heard that these were a very good set of flyers, and they didn't disappoint. Not only can the Woodstock Gliders be snapped out to an impressive height and angle, but you are actually encouraged to do so (the ride attendants even announce the "winner" of each ride). I spent some time watching the ride before riding, and I'm happy to report that I finally mastered how to best fly these things; I did so well that I ended up the winner during each of my rides! A fun way to end a fun Carowinds visit.

SpeedZone in the City of Industry is a family fun center with a major emphasis on go-karts. Five different tracks are located on the property (four for adults and one for kiddies), while two mini golf courses and an arcade complete the attraction lineup. Prices vary for the different go-kart rides, and there are plenty of different combo packages available. The best deal I found is called the "Pit Pass," which allows you one session on each of the four adult go-karts and one round of miniature golf. This works well if you want to sample everything, plus you can purchase it in advance online for $20, which is a great discount compared to the individual prices. If you purchase the Pit Pass at the park, it is a bit more, but still a good value. Beware that this may be a seasonal offering only, but I'm not entirely sure. SpeedZone is also referred to as Malibu SpeedZone by locals, and this name appears at the park entrance and at the dragsters (the park's top attraction). SpeedZone's online homepage refers to it alternatively as SpeedZone Los Angeles (there is apparently another location in the Dallas area). However, all other mentions of this family fun center, both at the park and online, simply call it SpeedZone, so I will do the same. Let's take a look. The entrance to this racing-themed family fun center. The arcade is inside the building, but all of the other attractions (the go-karts and miniature golf) are located outside. The park's most popular attraction is the Top Eliminator Dragster. Top Eliminator's dragsters are on a track, so there is minimal work required of the driver to control them. It is actually very similar to a launched coaster. Despite the fact that the ride is very controlled, you are still responsible for the outcome of your race. Drivers do have to push the accelerator at just the right time and with the most force to gain the best speed. The speed is actually quite thrilling; these things can hit 70 mph in 3.5 seconds if you punch the accelerator correctly. There's no shifting gears manually, but there is a button on the steering wheel to push midcourse that will shift the dragsters automatically. You've got to time that just right to get the perfect boost. After the finish line the cars slam to a pretty abrupt halt and are slowly returned to the starting gates. Three races make up one session, so you get a few times to practice or to simply enjoy the thrill. And they're off. One car burning rubber, one car eating dust. A photo finish. I found the dragsters to be great fun. Though they may look kind of intimidating, they're really appropriate for most ages (older kids as well as adults; there is a 56" height requirement). The second major attraction at SpeedZone is the Grand Prix. The Grand Prix is reminiscent of formula or indy car racing. Three circuits make up one session here. Your time is displayed after each circuit, so you know exactly what to shoot for during the following circuit. There is no direct racing here. Although the goal is to of course beat your own times and everyone else's times, the cars are well spaced apart so that you essentially have the course to yourself. There's no banking at all to the curves, so you have to take the turns with caution to stay on the track. This is the type of go-kart course where you could really benefit from riding over and over, so that you learn exactly how to brake and accelerate on each turn. This is also the most "demanding" of SpeedZone's attractions; riders must be 60" tall and have a driver's license. Next up is the Slick Trax. Slick Trax looks like your typical go-kart ride, with multiple cars racing at once. However, as the name implies, the track is very slick, which leads to "drift"-style racing. Turning too abruptly will cause your car to spin out. While that can be fun in itself, spinning out tends to send your car into the side rails, where it gets stuck. You then have to wait for the ride operator to free you. I really enjoyed this one. I was proud of myself for maintaining control of my vehicle well enough to only spin out once. Fortunately (if two go-karts crashing can be called fortunate), there was another kart right behind me when it happened, and it slammed me back into place! Slick Trax does have a 60" height requirement, but it does not require a driver's license. The final adult course is Turbo Track. Turbo Track is your standard go-kart ride, with slight banking to the curves and minor changes in elevation. I'd probably recommend riding this one first. It's a good starter, but might not seem that exciting after the other three. Don't get me wrong, it's still fun. If it was a stand-alone go-kart ride it would be perfectly acceptable. However, at SpeedZone it has to contend with three other very unique tracks. Turbo Track is also the only course to offer double-seater vehicles. Drivers must be 58" minimum, while passengers must be 40" minimum. Notice that all courses at SpeedZone do keep track of individual car times per lap. The final (and newest) track at SpeedZone is Lil' Thunder. This one is just for racers between 42" and 54". A nice addition for budding thrill seekers who've been excluded from all the other go-kart rides. Finally, Speedway Golf features two 18-hole miniature golf courses that are nicely landscaped and well maintained and offer the typical mini golf obstacles. However, I took issue with a couple things about Speedway Golf. First, each hole seemed to slope slightly upward the entire way, so that if you didn't get a hole-in-one your ball would roll right back down to the start of the green. Also, there was a handicap exit to the curb that lined each course. While I have no problem with that, the exit opening was almost always located directly behind the hole, so that the ball, if it didn't roll back, left the course altogether! I therefore got pretty frustrated with this miniature golf. It was difficult not because it was challenging, but because it wasn't designed all that well in my opinion. At any rate, mini golf isn't supposed to be the star attraction at SpeedZone. The go-karts are. And all of those make this family fun center well worth a visit.

SeaWorld San Diego concluded... The final daytime animal show at the park is Pets Rule, which features quite a large number of trained dogs, cats, birds, pigs, and a few others. There's a segment with an obstacle course race between a couple of the dogs. The pig gets to "run" the course as well. Next is a segment featuring the pets showing off their various behaviors. It's all themed to sports / play / exercise. The golfing dog hops around the entire stage on two legs. Tennis cat zigzags through her trainer's feet. The jump roping dog is impressive. Even more impressive. Poor piggy is the unwitting butt of many of the show's jokes. Overall Pets Rule is very entertaining. It features a large cast of animals, they're all adorable and well trained, and the show can actually be pretty funny. Next up is Cirque de la Mer, an aquatic-themed Cirque du Soleil-style show. The show is only presented during the summer months, and it actually closed up shop a few weeks early this summer to make way for something new next year. I'm not sure why it couldn't have continued for the remainder of the season, especially since very little notice was given and nothing much seemed to be done during those few weeks of closure. In fact, reports are now suggesting that Cirque de la Mer will return next year, in which case the early closing was completely unnecessary. Anyway, time will tell I suppose... A sampling of the acrobatics involved. What impresses me the most about these Cirque shows is the effortless athleticism displayed by the performers. You'd have to have abs of steel to pull off these moves. It's kind of neat that the show uses the bay itself as the arena. The skyride travels behind the show (above the bay), and there is this rather large set that occupies much of the arena's space. Most of the action, however, occurs on this smaller set up front. The whole thing is one large trampoline on which the performers get to jump around. And jump off. Cirque de la Mer is a pretty cool show, and I'll be happy if it returns. If it gets replaced, I hope it's with something that's at least equally as good. Located directly underneath the Cirque de la Mer stadium is Aquarium de la Mer; it consists of a long dark room populated by many small individual exhibits, all lined up in a row. I imagine the name of this one will change if the show changes, but my money is on the aquarium itself remaining. I always think of this aquarium as housing many of SeaWorld's tropical and exotic specimens. The lionfish is a good example. Yes, I sold out and included a picture of the clownfish and anemones. A sunflower star. Jellies. The stonefish, my favorite. There are plenty of other interesting animals, including octopuses and lobsters, that have their own exhibits in Aquarium de la Mer. Many are just too dark to get good pictures of though. Very close by is World of the Sea Aquarium. This one consists of a large rectangular room with four separate exhibits (one on each side of the aquarium). Taking up one entire wall is the kelp forest exhibit, featuring plenty of leopard sharks. A kelp forest wouldn't be complete without garibaldi. Opposite the kelp forest is the coral reef exhibit. Another of my favorites, the pufferfish, calls the coral reef home. On one end of the aquarium is a tank with some rather large and impressive gamefish (though I can't imagine catching and eating these). This is a humphead wrasse. A tarpon. A grouper. Yep, that's a mighty big fish. The fourth and final exhibit in World of the Sea Aquarium contains more of the park's sea turtles. I believe these turtles are being rehabilitated, though I'm not sure why they couldn't be in the Turtle Reef exhibit. Anyway, everyone seems to enjoy sea turtles, so the more the merrier I suppose. Right outside World of the Sea Aquarium is the California tide pool, where you're allowed to touch anything you can get your hands on. Sea stars are of course the most abundant animals, though there are additional tide pool residents as well, including sea urchins, sea anemones, and snails. Next up is the Freshwater Aquarium. This is a circular room with a couple of large central exhibits and many smaller exhibits that wrap around the periphery. Four-eyed fish. Nope, not another sea turtle. This time it's a freshwater turtle. An electric eel. Yet another favorite of mine, the arowana. I love the way they look. Tilapia. Not only do they look good, they taste good too! The piranha will avenge the tilapia. Without a doubt, the most popular aquarium exhibit is the Shark Encounter. This is of course where park guests get the opportunity to pass through an underwater tunnel surrounded by sharks. Though there are several different species represented, the sand tiger shark looks the most menacing and is therefore probably the most popular. It's just like the third Jaws movie. As previously mentioned, the Bayside Skyride travels over Mission Bay. This is a round-trip ride; you don't exit on the opposite end as that's not even in the park anymore. From the Skyride, you get a good view of the now-shuttered Cirque de la Mer stadium. Heading back to the station. What's really great about the Skyride these days is that it's included with park admission. It used to be an upcharge (a couple of dollars); now everyone can ride. This can make the line significantly longer, but that's a trade-off I'll take. Also no longer an upcharge is the iconic SeaWorld Skytower. I've always liked the location of the Skytower and its load / unload platform. It's a very peaceful, serene, relaxing setting. With Manta, Journey to Atlantis, Shipwreck Rapids, the Skyride, the Skytower, the Wild Arctic simulator, and Riptide Rescue, SeaWorld San Diego has a reasonably decent collection of rides. It may never be SeaWorld Orlando or SeaWorld San Antonio in the rides department, but it's not bad. The Skytower travels up to a height of over 300 feet. From the top you can see Belmont Park, downtown San Diego, and even the U.S.-Mexico border. Plus there are of course great views of the entire park itself. This is your best opportunity to get a look at the complete layout of Manta. The Skytower becomes very patriotic at night, serving as the backdrop for the nighttime Shamu show, called Shamu Rocks. Shamu Rocks differs from One Ocean in that the sappy sentimental music of the daytime show is replaced by a more rock 'n' roll soundtrack. There's even an approximately five-minute interlude in the middle of the show where this guy comes out and does a solo jam on his guitar. A couple of the female trainers get their groove on with the guy. It's really weird. Still, as I said with the daytime show, it doesn't matter how they theme it. The point is watching the killer whales do their thing, and that's always awesome. Following the final Shamu Rocks show of the night, SeaWorld puts on its fireworks display, called Into the Blue. The music the fireworks are set to is taken directly from the Blue Horizons show. Therefore, if you've finally been able to get the Blue Horizons song out of your head after being stuck in there all day, it'll get put right back in for the rest of the night. You can watch the fireworks from pretty much anywhere in the park, though Shamu Stadium probably provides the best viewing (maybe slightly obstructed by the Skytower!). The nighttime sea lion show, called Sea Lions Tonite, is hands down my favorite show at the park. Sea Lions Tonite parodies all of the daytime SeaWorld shows, starting with One Ocean. Notice that One Ocean is so generic that there's really nothing more to parody than the show's rotating screens. It's lots of fun to make fun of One Ocean. Everybody is One big happy Ocean family. Time to mock Pets Rule with a game of frisbee. Not even Manta is safe from spoof. O.P. Otter is too short to ride. Clyde and Seamore are tall enough though. How did you like the ride? Hurl. Last but definitely not least, it's Blue Horizons time. It's all in good fun, but it's interesting that SeaWorld is willing to recognize how much ridiculata there is in Blue Horizons to parody. Here comes that theme music again. "Dive into the moment." "See how floating feels." It wouldn't be a true spoof of Blue Horizons without the parrot... ...or the character it morphs into. Sea Lions Tonite had me doubled over with laughter more than once. Really funny stuff. Because it's only presented during Summer Nights at the park, I highly recommend visiting then. Well, that's it. I had a great couple of visits, SeaWorld. See you next summer!

Yeah, Pirate Reef hadn't been built yet during my last visit to Legoland (spring 2011), but I just looked up a video and it does look pretty wet. I would also add that Perilous Plunge at Knott's used to be drenching, though I guess we can't count that one anymore. SeaWorld San Diego continued... Right next door to Wild Arctic is Penguin Encounter, so you can essentially go from the North Pole to the South Pole in just a few steps. Penguin Encounter is a nice, dark, chilly exhibit, so it's a great place to get out of the bright, hot sun for a while. The emperor and king penguins seem to be most people's favorites. I always enjoy watching them walk. It's also fun seeing them slide around on their bellies, as well as leaping into or out of the water. SeaWorld has (I believe) seven different penguin species. These are adelies. Also housed within the Penguin Encounter is a separate exhibit featuring Arctic birds (yep, we're back in the Arctic again). Puffins are probably the most abundant birds here. Murres are also well represented. You can find even more penguins outside the exhibit. These are temperate rather than polar species, so they do just fine in So Cal temperatures. Very cute. I believe there are two different penguin species (Humboldt and Magellanic) in the outdoor habitat. Aside from penguins, SeaWorld is pretty famous for another animal that's black and white and swims. What could that be? Showtime! One Ocean is the current incarnation of the Shamu show. The Shamu show is of course all about watching SeaWorld's killer whales demonstrate their behaviors. Some pretty impressive behaviors are showcased. Side flop. I will say that One Ocean, despite being heavily advertised as the new Shamu show (debuting in 2011), felt kind of generic. I actually preferred the storyline of the previous version, Believe. The Shamu show always has a conservation message about how to care for the planet and its inhabitants, and that was no exception here, but it really didn't add anything new. My intention is not to knock the show, as it's obviously SeaWorld's most popular attraction. I just thought I'd point out that if you've ever seen any version of the Shamu show before, you've seen One Ocean. Still, it's always amazing to watch these animals do their thing. I should add that, even though the trainers are no longer allowed to enter the water with the whales, they still interact with them very closely. The audience is taught the proper training signal for "splash." Shamu is happy to oblige. Don't forget the other side of the stadium. A few more behaviors to go; these always get plenty of "oohs" and "aahs" from the audience. Ooh. Aah. Pretty neat. Simply having the opportunity to watch these incredible animals is the highlight of the show for me; the theme they build around it is very secondary. If you haven't had your fill of Shamu, you can always head down to the underwater viewing. It's really great to be able to get this up close to the whales. The current dolphin show, Blue Horizons (debuting in 2010), is the complete opposite of One Ocean. Whereas that one was more of a rehash of previous shows, Blue Horizons is a completely revamped dolphin show, significantly different from anything I've seen before at SeaWorld. It's actually quite an elaborate production, more like something I would expect from a Disney park. The story focuses on Marina, a girl who has always dreamed of interacting with sea and sky animals. It doesn't take very long before she's interacting with them. The dolphins demonstrate several "simple" behaviors during this introductory part of the show. Plenty of great views of dolphins. Once more of the cast starts to join in, the behaviors get a bit more complex. It's always cool to watch the trainers get propelled around the pool by the dolphins. Dolphins interacting with the trainers and each other. There's more to Blue Horizons than just dolphins. This parrot as well as a few other birds soar onto or past the stage. The parrot morphs into this character! The parrot woman flies over the stage, pool, and even the audience. There's an interlude where divers get to demonstrate their skills. You could argue that this portion is just a glamorized theme park high diving show, but many of the jumps are pretty darn impressive. These guys come out and do some bungee acrobatics. SeaWorld's pilot whales then make their entrance. The park has three pilot whales, but the youngest has yet to be incorporated into the show. Marina of course interacts with the whales. Awesome animals. Awesome skills. If I'm not mistaken, SeaWorld San Diego is the only place in the world where you can see pilot whales perform, so it's a not-to-be-missed opportunity. Not to be outdone, the dolphins have some more skills of their own to show off. Nice moves. It wouldn't be a dolphin show without dolphins leaping. There's plenty of that here. And of course the trainers get to ride the dolphins. Marina gets to ride too. I've heard some complaints that Blue Horizons is too heavy on humans with not enough dolphins. I disagree. Take a look back at the last several pictures and you'll see how much dolphin activity there is in this show. The fact is that it's quite a long show, so there's also time for other things as well, and that's what makes it unique. Just look at everything that's going on in this picture; that's Blue Horizons. I applaud SeaWorld for introducing something totally different to the park. (One final note - the show includes an original score that is extremely catchy. I'll be the first to admit that it's very heavy on the schmaltz, but I defy you to not have it stuck in your head for the rest of the day after listening to it throughout the show.) Nearby is Dolphin Point. Dolphin Point is an opportunity for park guests to get up close and personal with dolphins. Dolphin Point used to have a feeding booth where you could purchase fish for the dolphins at select times throughout the day. This is no longer available. Instead, SeaWorld is now doing something a bit different here. Dolphin trainers are almost always present at the exhibit these days. The trainers are constantly interacting with the dolphins, having them demonstrate learned behaviors, teaching them new behaviors, etc. During the process, park guests get kind of a mini dolphin show right there in front of them. Because this is still the dolphin encounter exhibit, the trainers frequently bring the dolphins around for everyone to touch and even practice giving signals to. Pretty neat. This could very well be my favorite picture of the entire bunch. Some more skills to demonstrate, right in front of the park's guests. My consensus on the new format of Dolphin Point - it's great. While some may be disappointed that they don't get to feed the dolphins anymore, you can always get your feeding fix at the sea lion and ray exhibits. The purpose of feeding the dolphins seemed to be a way to get them to come up to you so you could touch them. You can now do that anyway, for free. Plus, you never know, the trainers may still let you throw in a fish reward. All the new activity (both dolphin and trainer) is what's made this exhibit more exciting than it ever was in the past. Also part of Dolphin Point, located in a separate exhibit, is the sea otter habitat. Next up is Sea Lions Live, the sea lion and otter show. Sea Lions Live is a "spin-off" of Saturday Night Live. The theme of the sea lion show does change every few years, though the basics always remain the same. This works well because 1) they never really promote an updated sea lion show as a brand new attraction and 2) I really don't want the show to change anyway, as it's perfectly funny and enjoyable as is. In Sea Lions Live, Clyde and Seamore spoof several television shows, including CSI. Smile. Applause. The sea lions present their version of Survivor. Don't forget that O.P. Otter is also part of the show. For the finale, there's Dancing With the Stars, er, Sea Lions. A little swing action here. Followed by the tango. The giant bow tie cracks me up. Sea lion stud. Some hip hop to close the show. Fun stuff; always a must at SeaWorld. To go along with the sea lion show, there's Pacific Point. Pacific Point is your opportunity to feed sea lions and seals. Like the ray feeding exhibit, each tray of fish costs $7, and you get about five or six fish per tray. It's certainly not cheap, and it's very easy to go through all of them very quickly, but it's definitely a lot of fun. I usually end up forking over money for two or three trays. Keep in mind that the feeding booth is not always open, but I've found that it tends to be open more often than the ray feeding booth. Many sea lions have figured out little tricks and poses to get you to throw your fish to them. I charge one fish for my pose. I'm getting impatient. I know you've got fish up there. The seals, though smaller than and outnumbered by the sea lions, have their technique for obtaining fish all figured out. How can you resist a wave from a seal? That's worth at least two or three fish. Some sea lions look so proper and regal. So proper. So regal. Others...not so much. Not a care in the world. Peek-a-boo. You do have to beware of the "evil" birds that hang around Pacific Point. The birds pictured here, as well as the gulls, will aggressively try to steal your fish. A lot of people get angry with or scared by the birds; I actually kind of like them. Either way, you do have to admire their determination (after all, why should we so willing feed one animal but try so hard to avoid feeding another?). I'll protect you from the evil birds. Nap time. So much for protection against the evil birds. Let's let the sea lions sleep. A few more shows and exhibits still to come...

I paid a couple of visits to SeaWorld San Diego this summer, which is a great time to visit, as the park celebrates Summer Nights. Summer Nights includes extended park hours (9 am to 11 pm is very impressive!) and, with those extended hours, special evening Shamu and sea lion shows, plus fireworks. Summer is also the season during which the park presents the Cirque de la Mer show, though its run was cut off a bit early this summer to begin the transformation into a new show for next year. The main draw this summer, however, was of course the opening of the new Manta coaster. The summer months are certainly more crowded than the rest of the year (I do wonder if Manta made it exceptionally crowded this summer), but the extended hours make up for that. Hit the rides early or late when the crowds are lighter, and then see the shows and exhibits during the busy part of the day. While it can get warm and even hot in San Diego, it's far cooler than most of the rest of So Cal, and the morning and evening temperatures are perfect. Very pleasant. SeaWorld San Diego. First things first, let's hit up the new Manta coaster. Manta is a double launched coaster by Mack. The first launch blasts the train into this highly banked turn. Some nice theming and detail to the coaster train. The banked turn is followed by a drop underneath the walkway and the hordes of onlookers. There is a water splash effect at the bottom of the drop. Perhaps not as spectacular as the Orlando version, and really not even noticeable while riding, it's still a nice touch. The coaster then swoops around the ride's marquee. A fun negative-g hill follows. There's actually a decent pop of airtime here. See, airtime. Another hill follows. This one doesn't have quite the same airtime as the previous hill, but it's still fun. It's located over the final brake run of the ride. There are a few twisty turns that lead up to the coaster's midcourse brakes. The midcourse brakes are followed immediately by the coaster's second launch. The flamingos get to watch Manta launch all day. The second half of the ride is all about twists and turns. There's a sprial that actually produces some decent postive g-forces. Plus more negative-g hairtime as the train hops into the turns. More curviness. The final stretch into the brakes. So overall, how is the ride? I give it a big thumbs up! While definitely not the most hardcore coaster in the world, being at SeaWorld it probably shouldn't be. I hope coaster enthusiasts don't knock this one for being too tame. As mentioned, it does have two very fun launches, in addition to hills and drops with negative g's, plus swooping curves with positive g's. The ride actually reminded me of a mini-Maverick from Cedar Point. It was PERFECT for families. I could tell children above the height requirement (48") and their parents absolutely loved it; this really was incredibly thrilling stuff for them. In addition to all of these positives, I haven't even mentioned yet that the ride begins inside a tunnel that surrounds riders with crystal clear projected images of a tropical reef. Manta rays swoop all around the train before the first launch shoots it out of the tunnel into the banked turn. A great addition to SeaWorld San Diego. I believe they've got a real winner on their hands. Immediately adjacent to the entrance of Manta is the ray touch / feeding pool. These are mostly bat rays; no mantas here. You can buy a tray with about five or six fish to feed the rays. Each tray costs $7, and while that's pretty pricey, it's neat to have the rays swoop over your hand and grab up the fish. The feeding booth is not open all day, and I don't believe there are set times, so if you're interested in feeding the rays you may have to wait around or keep checking back. Some rays don't seem all that interested in humans whether they have food on them or not. Others are like giant kittens or puppies and just want to be pet all the time. Prior to the addition of Manta, the ray feeding pool used to be part of an attraction called Forbidden Reef. The other part of the attraction was the underground moray eel caverns. The caverns have now been incorporated into the coaster queue (note that you can also view this aquarium without riding). Because of the change, the eels have been removed. I inquired about their status, and an employee told me that they are in a backstage area. While you can still see them on a backstage tour, there are currently no plans to put the eels back into public view. Though that's a shame, they did make a neat new change when converting this to the Manta Aquarium. The aquarium is now continuous with the feeding pool above. The rays can therefore hang out in the pool above or in the aquarium below. Also, notice that they've added some new windows... ...directly above the aquarium. Come up here and feed me. There are some other fish in the aquarium besides bat rays. There are shovelnose guitarfish, but probably the most popular was this sturgeon. There's also my favorite, the garibaldi (California's state fish). While I never saw the garibaldi go up into the touch pool, the sturgeon would as it made its rounds. Okay, that's it for Manta and its adjacent exhibits. Cool stuff. Let's check back in on the flamingos before getting too far away. Like the rays, you can also feed the flamingos. This is a much better deal too. Just $0.50 for a handful of food. If you feel like sharing, all of the ducks and pigeons in the area will happily eat the food as well. These flamingos really are treated like royalty. Each day, a group of them is paraded across the park. Where are they going? They're moving from the flamingo pool to... ...the grassy lawn in front of another attraction, Animal Connections. Animal Connections took over the stables that were formerly home to the park's Clydesdales. Flamingos are awesome looking. While a fenced-in lawn may not seem like the most exciting place for the flamingos, I'm sure it's a nice change from the flamingo pool, plus for a short time the flamingos are allowed to roam around the hillside. Even cooler, they get to interact with park guests. While you're not supposed to touch the flamingos, the flamingos can touch you. You're allowed to sit on the curb and let the flamingos peck through your hair! What else is this new Animal Connections all about? It's actually quite nice. It showcases the fact that the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment company has a strong commitment to and much experience with terrestrial animals in addition to marine animals. The outdoor stables are home to this miniature horse. Plus these llamas. Inside are additional exhibits. A beaver. A porcupine. A capybara (the world's largest rodent). A sloth. Like the flamingos, several of Animal Connection's residents are brought out to meet guests for a while. In fact, you're pretty much always guaranteed to find an animal or two roaming the premises. A legless lizard (not a snake). A tortoise. The water monitor seemed to be the most popular. Nearby are the crowned cranes. I believe these are the ones that make an appearance during the Blue Horizons show. Overall, Animal Connections is a welcome addition to the park. Check it out during your visit. Time for the second of the park's big rides, Journey to Atlantis. Atlantis is a water coaster that, like Manta, was built by Mack. After ascending the lift hill, the boat immediately rounds a turn and heads down the ride's flume drop. It's a very decent drop. It also produces a very decent splash that is pretty much guaranteed to get everyone wet. Maybe not soaked, but certainly wet. After the drop the boat meanders around the front of the attraction at ground level for the flume portion of the ride. Following the flume portion, an elevator lift carries the boat to the top of the coaster portion of the ride. The coaster part is relatively short but still quite fun. It drops and swoops around the back side of the attraction. Nearing the end. One final maneuver awaits. Being a water coaster, the coaster must of course return to the water. The boat hits the splashdown pool with all its coaster speed and momentum carrying it. This produces an even bigger splash than the first drop. Again, maybe not soaking (though the front row can come pretty close), but still very, very wet. What are my final impressions of the ride? I really, really like all of the individual parts, yet somehow the whole doesn't quite come together the way it probably could. The flume part is very nice, the coaster part is lots of fun, and the final splashdown is great. The elevator lift, while probably the coolest part of the ride because it is the most unique, is also a bit frustrating because the effects have never really worked the way I know they're supposed to. The theming of the overall attraction looks incredible, but the storyline of the ride has always remained a bit unclear. I'm sure the average park guest is completely satisfied with the ride itself, as for the most part I am, but there are a few issues that I feel could definitely be worked out to make this really great. Journey to Atlantis has a nicely themed "lost city" aquarium at its exit. This used to be home to SeaWorld's Commerson's dolphins, though it now houses more of the park's bat rays. When I inquired about the status of the dolphins, the employee I asked unfortunately didn't really know. I did find a video online from about a year ago showing them in a backstage location. I don't know if the construction of Manta necessitated the relocation of the rays to this aquarium, but I hope the dolphins return somewhere in the park someday. They really are most appropriate here, as they play a role in the Journey to Atlantis ride's theming. The aquarium also has leopard sharks. In addition to bat rays there are also a few stingrays, though I failed to get a good picture of them. Between the Journey to Atlantis aquarium and the Manta aquarium and feeding pool, SeaWorld San Diego sure has a lot of rays! Despite the fact that I miss the Commerson's dolphins, this aquarium really does look nice in its current state. It's a very large exhibit with attractive theming, plus the rays sure look cool when they start to school. The third and final major ride at SeaWorld is Shipwreck Rapids. This is an excellent river rafting ride with exceptional theming. There are some serious rapids too, as seen by this section of whitewater at the beginning of the ride. Near this area, onlookers get to blast the rafts with water cannons. It can be drenching. More of the ride's incredible theming. This ride will very likely soak you. It is quite possibly the wettest river raft ride in So Cal (wetter than Grizzly River at DCA, Bigfoot at KBF, and Roaring Rapids at SFMM, unless you happen to get a particularly "wet" ride on one of those or an uncharacteristically "dry" ride on this one). This stretch of the ride splashes you, but keeps you out of direct contact with the waterfall. However, look what's coming next... Good luck staying dry here. While the waterfall does shut off somewhat right before the raft passes under, it still pours down pretty significantly. Plus, if you're near either end, you're going to get nailed. It's awesome. There's one additional component to Shipwreck Rapid's fantastic theming. During this straightaway the rafts travel right through a pool of sea turtles. I'll admit that it's kind of hard to even notice them while braving the ride, but you can always come back and take a look afterwards. What a bunch of beach bum turtles. These days you can get up close and personal with even more sea turtles at SeaWorld. Where? Time to head over to... ...Turtle Reef, the park's new sea turtle exhibit that just opened last year. Turtle Reef features a very large aquarium that houses MANY sea turtles. This used to be home to the park's manatees before they were returned to Florida. It's a very attractive exhibit. The turtles share the aquarium with a bunch of tropical fish. See, lots of fish. At the exit of Turtle Reef is Riptide Rescue, a ride they added along with the exhibit. I'm not entirely sure it was necessary, but I guess it can't hurt for the park to have a few flat rides thrown in here and there. At least it's unique; kind of a troika-style flat ride, which we don't have anywhere else in So Cal. Another ride / exhibit combo is Wild Arctic. The ride here is a simulated helicopter trip through the frozen north. While perhaps not the best simulator ride ever, it really doesn't matter. The ride is NOT the main point of this attraction. The animal exhibits are. In fact, you can skip past the ride and go directly to the animals if you don't feel like waiting in line or if you don't like simulators. I always do ride, and I'd recommend for everyone to do so at least once. If you don't have your expectations set too high, you'll enjoy the ride just fine. The first residents of Wild Arctic that you'll encounter are the beluga whales. There's above-water and below-water viewing for all of the animals. Smile for the camera. I'm just chillin' here in the Arctic. Pun intended. Then there's the walrus habitat. I can swim a backstroke just as well as the belugas can. While everybody loves the beluga whales and the walruses, the stars of Wild Arctic are definitely the polar bears. Relaxing on the ice. The polar bears spend most of their time above the water, so you may not get to see them swimming below. However, there are a bunch of cold-water fish to look at in the exhibit. They sure are impressive. Polar bear. (I know, I've got more pictures than I've got captions to go along with them.) Getting sleepy. I think I'll rest here on my paw. Ah, this is more comfortable. Wild Arctic is an excellent exhibit. Great animals, great theming, great attention to detail. From the Arctic, we'll head next to the Antarctic. Coming up soon...

Sure, that sounds great. Any pics of the pack mules and the mine train especially would be much appreciated.

I'll get back to finish up Disneyland a bit later; in the meantime, new rides are opening at many So Cal parks, so I thought I'd give them some coverage. I'll start with Six Flags Magic Mountain and Lex Luthor Drop of Doom. Last summer I reported on the coasters of SFMM (which you can find back on page 5). With the opening of Lex Luthor, I figured this would be a good opportunity to discuss the park's non-coaster rides. As most everyone knows, Magic Mountain is a coaster park first and an "other ride" park a very distant second. The park has only about half a dozen (very standard) flat rides, and with the recent removal of Log Jammer and Sierra Falls, a rapidly declining number of water rides. However, if the opening of Lex Luthor is any indication, perhaps we could see some higher-thrill non-coaster rides added in upcoming years. I know a new coaster is all but confirmed for next year, and I'm certainly happy about that, but I do think a few rides of other varieties are definitely in order every now and then as well. Lex Luthor is a great start. Let's take a look. Here we are at Magic Mountain again. This time we'll check out the park's collection of non-coaster rides. What is that I see attached to the side of Superman? It's a drop tower! And not just any drop tower. Lex Luthor Drop of Doom is the tallest drop tower in the world. Attached to both sides of the Superman tower, Lex Luthor drops riders from a height of 400 feet. Some theming in the queue. Dangling 400 feet above the ground. Dropping all the way back down. The other side. If you look closely, you can see that the opposite side of the tower is still at the top here. Both sides get raised and dropped simultaneously, so the opposite side must have gotten stuck at the top. I saw this happen more than once during the day. A close-up look at the ride vehicle. Sitting eight across on both sides of the tower, Lex Luthor's capacity is definitely not huge. However, the ride is not very long, and the employees were efficiently loading and unloading riders. The line therefore moved at a decent pace. The only time it seemed to slow was during the abovementioned "stalls." It hasn't been shown in the previous pics, but both Lex Luthor and Superman can and will run at the same time (note how insanely high up on the tower Superman is getting). The first time I rode Lex Luthor, Superman went up while we were at the very top, and the entire tower seemed to shake. The second time I rode, Superman didn't run, but there was still the same swaying. I therefore determined that the movement wasn't caused by Superman, but instead realized that the Lex Luthor vehicle sways back and forth at the top with the cable it's attached to. The pause at the top is therefore definitely the most terrifying part of this ride. In addition to the cable and vehicle sway, Lex Luthor's voice comes on to basically tell us we're all insignificant beings. The drop itself, though very fun, isn't quite as gut-wrenching as it probably should be. I think the reason for this is that the initial release, while usually the most forceful part of a drop ride, is almost unnoticeable here. It took a split second before I realized "Oh, we're dropping now." This is a minor criticism, as the drop is very long and picks up incredible speed on the way down. There are also some awesome new views of the park on the way up (especially if you're facing toward Goliath). Overall a very enjoyable ride and a great addition to the park. Okay, let's see what else the park has to offer in the non-coaster department. First up is Flash: Speed Force. It's a musik express flat ride. Directly across from Flash is Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth, a round-up. Both Flash and Wonder Woman have been at the park for many years, rethemed several times to match the current theming of the area they're in. With the addition of Green Lantern last year, this area became DC Universe, home to Green Lantern, Batman, Flash, and Wonder Woman. The new theming actually works well with these two flats. Elsewhere in the park are two other next-door-neighbor flat rides, Buccaneer and Swashbuckler. Buccaneer is a swinging ship. Swashbuckler is a yo-yo swing ride. The park also has bumper cars, called Sandblasters. Scrambler is right next to Sandblasters. Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, Sandblasters, and Scrambler have also been at the park for a long time. They are all perfectly acceptable examples of their type of ride; certainly not the best, but far from the worst either. I think each could still benefit from a little attention and TLC the way Flash and Wonder Woman have. That kind of finishes up the flat rides at the park. During the last decade or so there has also been a tilt-a-whirl, a rotor, a bayern curve, a trabant, a condor, and an enterprise (and perhaps others that I'm not remembering presently), but all have sadly been removed. At the front of the park is the Grand Carousel. Grand Carousel is a restored 1912 carousel, which means it's celebrating its 100th birthday this year. The park removed another family-friendly ride, the antique cars near Bugs Bunny World, five or so years ago. Speaking of Bugs Bunny World, this giant fake redwood tree marks the entrance to the the park's main kiddie area. Bugs Bunny World is actually pretty decent for a park that focuses on such big thrills. It takes up a relatively large area and has about a dozen well-themed kiddie rides (including two coasters, Road Runner Express and Canyon Blaster). There's also the Looney Tunes Lodge, an indoor play area. Here's the Bugs Bunny World tree (a semi-park icon) with the park's main icon, Sky Tower. We'll get back to Sky Tower in just a moment. But first, a quick look at... ...Whistlestop Park, Magic Mountain's other kiddie area. Compared to Bugs Bunny World, Whistlestop Park is pretty underwhelming. It is very small and only contains a tiny water play area, the park's kiddie coaster (Magic Flyer), and a train ride. The train ride is reasonably elaborate (this used to be Thomas Town, after all), but it (along with all of Whistlestop Park) is almost always empty. Though Whistlestop Park (Thomas Town) is somewhat new, I feel like it's living on borrowed time. However, the park tries very hard to advertise all of its family-friendly offerings, so they may not be willing to scrap the whole area. I suppose it could be incorporated into Bugs Bunny World, which is immediately adjacent. Okay, back to Sky Tower. Not technically a ride (unless you count an elevator a ride; if you have a fear of heights this may be the scariest ride in the park), it's an observation tower that offers great views of the entire park. Though it's about 350 feet above the ground, because the tower is located on top of Magic Mountain's mountain, you're actually even higher above most of the park than that. A few years back they added the Magic Mountain museum to the Sky Tower, showcasing memorabilia from the park's past. It was very worthwhile for the nostalgia. During this visit to the park, I discovered... ...an empty Sky Tower. No more museum. Boooooo. The ride attendant said it may return in the future, but nothing was definite at this point. Another classic "ride" at the park is Orient Express, which offers transportation between the front of the park and the top of the mountain. Very old school, I'm surprised this has lasted as long as it has. I suppose they have to offer a way for guests who don't want to walk (hike) the mountain an alternative to get up and down. A view from the top. Let's talk water rides. Here's a look at Tidal Wave from the Sky Tower. Tidal Wave is of course a boat ride that goes up, around, back down, and produces a big splash. Sounds great on a hot day. However, if you look at this picture you'll notice the major problem with the ride. All of the water splashes away from the boat, so riders DO NOT GET WET AT ALL! I feel so bad for people who wait for this in a long line on a hot day hoping to get soaked. Not only will you not get soaked, you won't even get sprayed. That effectively makes Tidal Wave completely pointless. Now, I'm not advocating for the removal of yet another water ride, but I really feel this one should have gone before Log Jammer. I suppose salvaging the ride somewhat is the exit bridge, where you actually can get soaked by the next boat. You've got to stand toward the sides of the bridge. What many people do is just skip the ride altogether, walk up the exit, and stand on the bridge to get soaked by several boats in a row. Sorry, you guys aren't going to get wet. You guys will though. Jet Stream is a log flume ride in a little jet boat rather than a log. It culminates in a very decent flume drop. Ninja and Jet Stream kind of snake around each other for their entire rides. Jet Steam is quite good. It moves at a rapid pace that crashes the boat side to side within the flume and constantly splashes water, it has two drops (the first smaller one is enclosed within a shed), and it skims the water at the end, hopping along the straightaway after the drop. Here you can see the boat jumping, much like an actual jet boat. Pretty fun and unique. However, Jet Stream is still not as good as the park's other flume ride, Log Jammer. Here's what's left of Log Jammer. Boooooo. From the Sky Tower. I'm sure Log Jammer's absence makes for a far less interesting ride on Gold Rusher. I know this site is the location of next year's major coaster, but I think Magic Mountain made a very bad decision by removing Log Jammer. I can't imagine there couldn't have been a way to add the new coaster while keeping Log Jammer as well. Let me come out and say it and you can disagree if you'd like - Log Jammer was the absolute best log ride at any Six Flags park. Probably the best traditional, non-themed log ride anywhere. It was an incredibly long ride (unlike most Six Flags log flumes), it moved at a very swift pace (unlike most Six Flags log flumes), and the final drop was a real winner. It was huge. Log Jammer's first drop was more comparable to the final drop on practically every other Six Flags log flume. Also, the forested setting through which Log Jammer traveled added so much to the ride. Part of me will never forgive SFMM for removing this one. The park's final water ride is Roaring Rapids. After remaining completely dry on Tidal Wave and only getting moderately splashed on Jet Stream, I came off Roaring Rapids COMPLETELY DRENCHED! How wet you get will vary, but this is definitely the park's wettest ride. It's really quite great too, situated in another forested setting and soaking riders legitimately, with water crashing into the raft as you run the rapids, rather than relying on gimmicks like waterfalls and geysers. It's very hard to get a picture of the ride, tucked away in its isolated corner of the park, so this shot from the Sky Tower was the best I could do. Realize, though, that it does occupy a very large chunk of territory. While this is great for the ride itself, I do worry that Six Flags could possibly start thinking about other uses for this spot. This had better not happen. Roaring Rapids is incredibly popular on a hot day (almost every day at SFMM), and it always has a huge wait. The number of water rides at the park has already dropped too low; seeing as how SFMM used to have an impressive five water rides, they cannot afford to lose any others. I'll finish with the park's few upcharge attractions. Dive Devil is SFMM's skycoaster. This is the only skycoaster I've ever ridden, as I never feel very inclined to pay extra for them. I have ridden this one twice over the years, and while I can't compare it to others, it is very fun. One thing I've never done is Cyclone 500, the park's go-karts. I've just never been able to bring myself to pay extra for go-karts at Magic Mountain, where there's already so much else to do. Here's a shot of the entire course from Sky Tower. It looks fun enough but also pretty standard. I'm sure some day I'll cave and actually try this. The final upcharge, the park's rock climbing wall. It gets more difficult as you move from left to right. Kids should be able to handle the left side of the wall, while the right side becomes challenging even for athletic adults. That's it for Six Flags Magic Mountain. We've now taken a look at the park's coasters and non-coaster rides. Time to eagerly anticipate the announcement of the 2013 attraction.

The eastern half of Disneyland concluded... Time now for Tomorrowland. The Astro Orbitor is located front and center at the entrance to Tomorrowland. The ride is basically an older kid's version of Dumbo the Flying Elephant. While the Astro Orbitor looks great in its current location, I did prefer the former incarnation of the ride (the old Rocket Jets), as they were elevated off of the ground to begin with and therefore gave a more thrilling ride. We'll get to that past location momentarily. Immediately to the right of Astro Orbitor after entering Tomorrowland is Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, Tomorrowland's big new attraction (Disneyland's big new attraction, for that matter). Star Tours re-opened in 2011 and is still proving to be incredibly popular in 2012. A nice mural of the ride above the outdoor, overflow queue (which is very frequently filled). The indoor queue looks pretty similar to the way it used to, with C-3PO and R2-D2 still tinkering with a Starspeeder. Being Star Tours, the overall premise is the same as before. The Starspeeder is our mode of transportation to a particular destination planet. There are significant differences in the new ride though. First of all, C-3PO is now the pilot. The major changes involve the addition of 3D to the film, as well as the random sequence of destinations that each ride may experience. Though it's advertised as having a beginning, middle, and end sequence, there are actually four sequences that can be mixed and matched per ride. The first sequence involves the Starspeeder exiting its hangar. Here you are either fleeing from Darth Vader or following the Millenium Falcon. In either case, it's been made known that a Rebel spy is in the group (a rider is chosen at random to be the spy). The ride then travels to its first destination, which could be one of three planets. Hoth was my favorite, as it felt just like the battle scene from Empire Strikes Back. Tatooine is I believe the most popular destination, as it involves podracing, which I know Star Tours has wanted to incorporate ever since Episode One first came out in 1999. The third possibility is Kashyyyk ("Wookie planet" as C-3PO calls it), which was actually kind of uneventful. After this first planet, there is a transmission from either Yoda, Princess Leia, or Admiral Ackbar telling the Starspeeder to deliver the Rebel spy safely. It's then off to the next destination. Here the possibilites are: Coruscant, zipping around the traffic of the planet; an asteroid field followed by a trip into the interior of the uncompleted Death Star; or Naboo, most of which involves traveling through the planet's underwater core. I actually liked Naboo the best, as it made the most use of the 3D technology. Overall I'm torn between the new Star Tours and the old Star Tours. The picture quality of the new ride is spectacular, though 3D effects may not be utilized as extensively as they could be. The ride will be great for repeats as visitors try to experience each of the possible destinations (I've now seen them all). Some of the destinations are better than others, though, so if you get a combination of the lesser ones the ride might seem kind of lacking. I don't know; maybe it's just my old-school nature (the same reason I like the classic Star Wars trilogy much more than the new triology), but I do miss the original version of the Star Tours ride. Immediately to the left of Astro Orbitor after entering Tomorrowland is Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Buzz Lightyear is awesome. It's a shoot-em-up dark ride that is completely addicting; you'll want to ride again and again in attempt to improve your score. Because the ride is so efficient at processing riders, you actually can ride multiple times without ridiculous waits in line. Buzz Lightyear beats out Roger Rabbit for my vote as Disneyland's best dark ride. Farther back in Tomorrowland are Captain EO and Space Mountain. There's also this boulder that reportedly weighs tons, yet little kids can still spin it because it's sitting on top of a high-pressure fountain. Captain EO replaced Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (which in turn replaced Captain EO). The show is a little cringe-inducing due to some of the dated 1980s style, but it's still pretty cool to have it back. Michael Jackson always gets plenty of cheers when he first shows up. Next door to Captain EO is Space Mountain, arguably Disneyland's most famous and popular ride. Who in the world doesn't recognize Space Mountain's iconic structure? Who in the world doesn't love riding Space Mountain (or long to ride it some day)? Though not the most hardcore roller coaster in existence, Space Mountain seems hardcore because 1) it is the wildest ride in the park and 2) its outer space theming adds exponentially to the thrill factor. Despite being 35 years old now, Space Mountain remains my second favorite ride at Disneyland (Indiana Jones has been number one ever since it opened in 1995). Nearby is Innoventions, plus the moonliner rocket (not an attraction, just a decoration outside of Redd Rockett's Pizza Port restaurant). Innoventions is perhaps the most head-scratching attraction at Disneyland for me. It's kind of like a high tech playground, so if you're a techie (which I'm not), you might consider this awesome. Much of it tries to be educational (which is not a bad thing), but you have to invest some time and energy to make it at all worthwhile and I just don't think most Disneyland guests are in the mood to do that during their visit. This takes up a huge chunk of territory and is never incredibly crowded (which does make it a good place to get out of the heat or crowds if necessary). It also utilizes the former Carousel of Progress' revolving base, which is completely unnecessary and actually kind of weird. I've seen many people getting lost while trying to exit because the entrances and exits keep moving. The top floor of Innoventions contains a random assortment of high tech exhibits (each hosted by a different sponsor). Project Tomorrow is I believe very similar to what is done on Epcot's Spaceship Earth these days (determining what your perfect future would be like). There's a futuristic driving video game that's part of it as well. Many of the remaining displays are also interactive video games. I guess I can see kids (and certain adults) eating this up. Then there's a bunch of health-related stuff. I can see this fitting into Epcot, but I just don't think it works at Disneyland. Pictured here is one kind of interesting exhibit, where you can see what an older version of you will look like. It was actually pretty disturbing. Even though I indicated that I don't smoke or spend much time in the sun, they still made me look hideous. The bottom floor of Innoventions consists of the house of the future. At least there is some continuity to this portion of the attraction. Here's the living room of the future. The kitchen of the future. The bedroom of the future (a boy's bedroom; they had a girl's bedroom too, but I somehow missed taking a picture of it). The office of the future. Notice that it's not supposed to be unrealistically futuristic. It's just supposed to be high tech. Speaking of the future, I can imagine the entire Innoventions building being replaced in the years to come. It's sort of interesting (I guess), but it just isn't a major draw at Disneyland. This structure is located where the old Rocket Jets used to be. Though it does "come alive" every 15 minutes or so, it's really just a decoration. There's no reason why the Astro Orbitor couldn't be placed back in this spot. Encircling the structure is the load / unload platform for the old People Mover and Rocket Rods rides. The Rocket Rods are perhaps the most infamous attraction in Disneyland history. I did get to ride the Rocket Rods a few times. The ride's motions reminded me of a slightly faster version of Alice in Wonderland. It would accelerate but then come to a crawl every time it reached a turn, forced to do so because there was no banking to the track. It would then speed up and slow down again, moving in fits and starts the entire ride. Most of the times I attempted to ride I wouldn't even get to, as it would break down while I was in line. A couple times it broke down while I was actually on the ride. Instead of removing us, they just inched the vehicle along the track to get us back to the load / unload platform. We may as well have been riding the People Mover at that point. The whole thing was just an epic fail. Here you can see how the track works amongst Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, and Astro Orbitor. The track snakes through all of Tomorrowland and its attractions, and it's a conspicuous eyesore just sitting there doing nothing. I imagine it will have to be brought back to life in some form in the future, or else removed entirely. One attraction that is a real winner, on the other hand, is the Jedi Training Academy. I had never seen this before, and I must say whoever came up with it is a genius. The concept is simple yet brilliant. Kids are selected from the audience by a Jedi master to train in the ways of the force. Each is given a robe and a lightsaber. The kids are then led through a (rather complex) lightsaber training exercise. Darth Maul and Darth Vader arrive. Every single participant is brought up in turn to fight either Vader or Maul. All of the lightsaber moves that were learned during the training exercise are put to use here. Some kids are pros and get the moves down perfectly. Some kids remain sort of oblivious to the entire goings-on. That's what makes it hilarious. I was amazed that such tiny children had no apprehension whatsoever to approach a giant Darth Vader and start swinging a lightsaber at him. The Jedi-in-training naturally defeat the Sith, and there is a celebration of their victory. The show is of course designed for young children (to participate) and their parents (to watch and photograph). However, I think it's pretty darn funny for everyone else too. Like I said, the concept is simple, but it's incredibly inspired and very popular. Nearby is the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. The gulls from Nemo are present, mindlessly squawking "Mine, mine" just like in the movie. The submarines pass through a waterfall, beyond which much of the attraction takes place. You'll have to humor me for a moment here. I've got several shots of the submarines because I think they're just so photogenic. The ride itself is a bit of a letdown. I enjoy the first part, before you pass under the waterfall. During this portion you travel through a bright, tropical coral reef. This naturalistic setting is reminiscent of the old Submarine Voyage attraction. It may have looked fake and cheesy, but it at least tried to simulate the actual oceans. Once you pass under the waterfall on the new submarine ride, it becomes Finding Nemo. I know that's the whole point, but I don't care for it much. There may be some advanced technology at work, but there are a couple of problems with it. First, the soundtrack is the same for the entire submarine. Because the submarine is quite long, riders may not be viewing the same thing at the same time, and the audio may not match what is currently being seen. That makes for some confusion. Also, the screens and images all seem to be projected up a little too high. Maybe they're designed for kids who are looking up through the portholes, but for adults trying to look straight out of (or even down through) the portholes it gets kind of uncomfortable. You have to slouch quite a bit. I guess I'm just being nostalgic for the old Submarine Voyage the way I'm nostalgic for the old Star Tours. The current ride still looks fantastic. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Disneyland Monorail swoops around above the submarine lagoon. The two attractions sure look great together. As you can see, the entrance to the monorail is literally above the entrance to the submarines. The monorail pulling into the station. Yet another Disneyland icon. From the monorail you get to see much more of the Rocket Rods track. The monorail track and Rocket Rods track are actually pretty intertwined at certain points. Of course, they're not completely intertwined. The Disneyland Monorail actually exits the park and travels around California Adventure, the Grand Californian Hotel, Downtown Disney, and the Disneyland entrance plaza before re-entering the park. Once back in the park, the monorail glides above Tomorrowland and skirts a bit of Fantasyland too. Next to the monorail and submarines is the Tomorrowland Autopia, a fairly large and elaborate car ride. While it may not totally belong in Tomorrowland, I'm not sure where else it would belong. There used to be a Fantasyland Autopia as well. Both tracks have since been combined to produce the new super-sized Tomorrowland Autopia. It's very popular and pretty fun if you're into theme park track-guided car rides. The Tomorrowland Autopia and Disneyland Monorail interact a bit. As opposed to just concrete pavement, there's an "off road" stretch to the Autopia as well. Kind of cool. Hidden beyond the Autopia, kind of tucked away at the easternmost point of the park, is the Disneyland Railroad's Tomorrowland station. Between this station and the Main Street station, the train passes through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World dioramas. Both are classic Disney attractions that are still quite impressive and enjoyable, in my humble opinion. Okay, time to head back to Main Street to catch the fireworks display above Sleeping Beauty Castle. The current fireworks show is called "Remember...Dreams Come True" and is set to music and audio that takes guests on a trip around all of Disneyland's eight lands. During the Tomorrowland segment, there are clips from the old Star Tours and Submarine Voyage audio. I guess I'm not the only nostalgic one. Being Disney, there are of course all kinds of crazy pyrotechnics in addition to just standard fireworks. It's a good show that I'd recommend to all. Just a few more nighttime shots to wrap up the post. These shots were taken during the holiday period. Nighttime + holiday = Disneyland magic. The giant Christmas tree is located at the Town Square end of Main Street. It's a Small World becomes amazingly illuminated. As does Sleeping Beauty Castle. What a beautiful sight. Well, that's it for the eastern half of Disneyland. I'll go back for the western half sometime soon. Until then, thanks for reading.

The eastern half of Disneyland continued... Here we are, at the entrance to Fantasyland. Cross the drawbrige over the moat to enter the land of fantasy and make-believe. I know Disneyland's castle has a reputation for being small when compared to the castles of other Disney parks. However, when you're right up next to it, I defy anyone to say it doesn't look spectacular. Here it is with its winter holiday trimmings. Zoomed out a bit to include the neighboring Matterhorn. What an incredible view. Two iconic Disneyland attractions. Looking back at Sleeping Beauty Castle, once you've passed through to Fantasyland. Another plus to Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle is that there's an attraction inside. It's a walk-through that tells the story of Sleeping Beauty using storybooks and dioramas. The walk-through is exciting in that you have to navigate through some pretty narrow, dark corridors and stairways. There are some special effects sprinkled throughout as well, including more than one appearance by the evil Maleficent. Right next to Sleeping Beauty Castle is Snow White's Grotto. It's a nice quiet spot that always makes for a good photo op. Also nearby is Pixie Hollow, a meet-and-greet area for Tinkerbell and her fairy friends. I don't have any pictures of the actual meet-and-greet itself, as there's always a huge line (you can see some of it in this pic), plus I didn't feel any compelling urge to meet Tinkerbell anyway. Prior to Pixie Hollow, this area was themed as Ariel's Grotto and King Triton's Garden. The ponds and fountains that surround Pixie Hollow definitely look nice but seem sort of out of place here now (they were more appropriate when this was King Triton's Garden). I'm not really sure what else they could do with the area though. It's in kind of an awkward location, between Fantasyland, Main Street, and Tomorrowland. It's attractive and peaceful and the meet-and-greet is very popular, but I imagine that once the fairy craze wears off this whole area could be transformed into something entirely different. It would certainly clear up a decent amount of space for a new attraction. Here you can see that, in one direction, Tomorrowland sits immediately beyond Pixie Hollow. A centerpiece of Fantasyland is the King Arthur Carrousel. The sword in the stone is prominently on display in front of the carrousel. They used to hold an informal ceremony a few times a day where Merlin the Magician would select some children from the audience to try to pull the sword from the stone. I don't believe this has been done for several years now, but I could be mistaken. On either side of the carrousel are Fantasyland's many dark rides. Snow White's Scary Adventures is my favorite, probably because it's most reminiscent of a typical haunted spookhouse dark ride. For that reason, though, it really isn't the best choice for young children. Next to Snow White is Pinocchio's Daring Journey. It's nice because it tends to have the shortest wait of all the Fantasyland dark rides (Snow White's wait is usually pretty short too). Speaking of short waits, Peter Pan's Flight is the POLAR OPPOSITE. Located across from Snow White and Pinocchio, Peter Pan has the most consistently long line of any ride at Disneyland (along with Dumbo I suppose). The ride is fun in that your pirate ship vehicle is suspended from the track above, rather than riding on the track below, but it's a very short ride for the time you invest waiting in line. I would make this a first-thing-in-the-morning stop if it's a priority for your Disneyland day. The architecture of the building (all of the Fantasyland buildings, for that matter) does look very nice though. Next door to Peter Pan is Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This is a pretty good one that unfortunately also tends to gather fairly large crowds. Nearby is Alice in Wonderland. Alice is very good in that it is the longest of the Fanytasyland dark rides, it changes elevation throughout, and it has both indoor and outdoor components. The downside, though, is that wait times here tend to be just as long as for Peter Pan. For what you get for your wait, however, I rank Alice in Wonderland significantly higher than Peter Pan. Appropriately located just outside Alice in Wonderland is the Mad Tea Party. Mad Tea Party was Disneyland's original thrill ride and is still hugely popular today. Like any teacup ride, this can be sickeningly awesome if you choose to make it so. Next we arrive at Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Dumbo is hugely popular with the kiddies, so this is another one that you'll need to hit first thing in the morning if you want to avoid an interminable wait. It's also a very short ride, though I suppose out of necessity. Imagine how long the line would take if each ride cycle was any longer. I don't mean to sound too negative toward Dumbo (or Peter Pan). I know they are Disneyland classics that need to be experienced at least once. If the line was short (which doesn't ever happen), I'd happily ride Peter Pan. I'll leave Dumbo more for the kids. Next up are the Storybook Land Canal Boats, a pretty underrated attraction in my opinion. Storybook Land definitely draws large crowds, but, like the park's other boat rides (Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and Small World), it can process the crowds quickly. Unlike Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and Small World, though, this one doesn't ever seem to get much press. I think it should. It's quite worthwhile and also unique, considering you can't find a comparable attraction at Walt Disney World (I know there is a version at Disneyland Paris). The ride begins with the boat being swallowed by Monstro the whale. It's pretty neat for both riders and on-lookers. After emerging from the Monstro "cave," the boat journeys past miniaturized representations of many Disney animated film sets. The landscaping (miniature trees and shrubs) is a notable feature of this ride. Probably the most famous and impressive scene is Cinderella's castle. In recent years scenes from some of Disney's newer animated films have been added. Here is Aladdin's palace. The seaside castle from Little Mermaid. The boats travel past a scenic waterfall at the end of the ride before returning to the dock. Intertwined with the Storybook Land Canal Boats is Casey Jr. Circus Train. As you can see, Casey Jr. and the Canal Boats cover much of the same territory. Casey Jr. is a very slow-loading ride, plus the sites of Storybook Land can be better viewed from the Canal Boats. I'd therefore give the boats the distinct edge. However, kids love riding the train, especially in its animal cage cars and caboose. Moving on, we get to the park's original roller coaster, the Matterhorn Bobsleds. As I know you all know, this was the first ever steel coaster and is therefore incredibly significant in the coaster world. It's also incredibly photogenic. Here's how it looks from Main Street. From Fantasyland. From the ride's exit. From the ride's queue. From Tomorrowland. Pretty gorgeous if I do say so myself. The ride begins with the bobsleds traveling up the inside of the mountain. Riders then encounter the Abominable Snowman and begin their descent by spiraling around the mountain's exterior, though they do frequently poke back into its interior. There are tight turns and fun dips throughout, culminating in an alpine lake splashdown. There are two separate tracks. The track that faces Fantasyland is a little milder, while the track that faces Tomorrowland is a little wilder. Both are fun and thrilling in a rickety, old-fashioned coaster kind of way. This is one of the last times we'll be seeing these particular bobsled vehicles, as the Matterhorn is now undergoing an extensive refurbishment, part of which includes replacing the trains. Ready to see how the Matterhorn currently looks? Here it is... Yuck. Lining the construction walls are some pretty interesting and informative signs to read. I'll have to watch this movie. A preview of the new bobsleds. I'm not sure I agree with the sign saying the Fantasyland side has sharper curves. It will be interesting to see what new enhancements come along with this refurbishment, in addition to the new vehicles. A few more fun facts. At the back (northern) end of Fantasyland is It's a Small World. What can I say about Small World that you don't already know? It's a boat ride through various countries with doll children (and a few Disney characters) singing the ride's theme in each country's native language. Topiary animals are located outside. It's a classic. The Disneyland Railroad passes through Small World's iconic facade. Next door to It's a Small World is the Princess Fantasy Faire, a large area that incorporates the Fantasyland Theater and its immediate surroundings. I'd never even thought about visiting this previously, but I figured I'd go ahead and give it a look this time around. Here you can see all of the offerings. The main attraction is of course the Royal Walk, a princess meet-and-greet. It had an incredibly long wait, so I passed (as I'm sure I would have even if there'd been no wait). There are two shows presented, one informal storytelling and one more elaborate presentation. For what it is, the area was actually not bad. I liked that it was almost a "mini land" within Fantasyland, incorporating multiple components into an integrated whole. With the exception of the meet-and-greet, it was not exceptionally crowded, so it felt relaxed. Plus, the restaurant sold delicious baked potatoes that you can't find anywhere else in the park. Here's a shot of the storytelling performance. Children sit on the floor gathered around Cinderella as she recites her story. And here's the stage show. The show's goal is to teach young princesses and knights how to behave at a formal coronation ceremony, so it was appropriate for both boys and girls. Plenty of audience participation. Again, I wasn't expecting to care for any of this, but I ultimately felt it was all quite well done. Between Small World and the Princess Fantasy Faire is the entrance to Disneyland's next land, Mickey's Toontown. You have to cross under the Disneyland Railroad track to get there. The Disneyland Railroad actually has one of its four stations in Toontown, right next to the land's entrance. A more zoomed-out view of the Toontown train station. Mickey's Toontown is of course supposed to look very cartoony. Everything is bright and colorful and curvy. It's actually set up similarly to Main Street, with a downtown area at one end and a residential area at the other, connected by the main thoroughfare. The Jolly Trolley used to bounce along Toontown much the way the Main Street vehicles travel along Main Street. However, the trolley was decommissioned long ago, so it now just sits there and the track serves no purpose. Like Main Street, there are plenty of buildings, some of which house restaurants or shops. Here, though, most of the buildings instead offer some sort of gag, so you'll need to spend a little time playing around with everything to discover them all. Downtown Toontown features the land's best ride, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Roger's Fountain is located outside of the ride's entrance. Car Toon Spin is a very elaborate dark ride that I rank higher than any of the Fantasyland dark rides. It's actually a cross between a dark ride and a spinning ride, as you can spin your vehicle throughout. The spinning is by no means as hardcore as that on the Mad Tea Party, so it shouldn't make anyone sick. The ride is very long and detailed, and includes a pretty neat and impressive illusion as its finale. The line for the ride tends to be very long; so long that Fastpasses are available. I would say take advantage of that opportunity, except that the queue is so detailed and entertaining that it's almost part of the attraction. It's actually a bit of a shame to cut through the queue using a Fastpass, missing it all. The ride vehicles. As soon as the ride starts, the weasels spill dip on the road, which causes the cabs to spin "out of control." Lots of fun; I highly recommend this one. Toontown's residential district is highlighted by Mickey's House. Like Roger Rabbit, Mickey Mouse also has his own fountain. Mickey's house is a walk-through attraction and, more importantly, an opportunity to meet the mouse himself. Unlike the previous meet-and-greets, I went ahead and did this one. After wandering through the various rooms of Mickey's house, you enter into his movie barn. This is where you get to meet Disney's most famous character. Mickey & Me. Minnie lives right next door to Mickey (convenient), though this is mostly just a walk-through. Minnie herself is only present at select times. A look at Minnie's kitchen should give you a feel for what Minnie's House is like. Everything is very girly and cartoony. Near Mickey's and Minnie's Houses is Gadget's Go Coaster, Toontown's second ride and one of four roller coasters at Disneyland. It's a Vekoma roller skater, so you pretty much know what to expect. It does seem a bit larger and more elaborate than a typical roller skater (even though it's not), probably due to its extensive theming. By the way, the tent in the background is part of the Princess Fantasy Faire. After the lift hill there's a little dip, followed by a quick pass through a tunnel. The ride ends with a spiral. As you spiral, frogs lining the track squirt water just above the train, so there is the possibility of getting sprayed. Gadget's Go Coaster is a perfect fit for Toontown. It's great for kids and their families. How worthwhile it is for coaster enthusiasts, however, is another question. It almost always has a long wait, plus the ride is less than a minute in duration. If you're out to get every coaster credit, I guess you've got to do it. Also located in Toontown are Goofy's House, Donald's Boat, and Chip 'n Dale's Treehouse. Goofy's House is designed to actually resemble Goofy. Goofy's House used to be called Goofy's Bounce House, as it consisted of a giant inflatable room for the kids. It now doesn't really have anything to do inside. There is a small soft foam play area outside, but that's pretty lacking compared to its original incarnation. Also lacking is Miss Daisy, Donald's Boat. This used to have slides and rope ladders and all kinds of cool stuff for kids to play on. Now you basically just walk on and off with nothing to do. But the winner (or rather, the loser) for most pathetic remnant of its former self is Chip 'n Dale's Treehouse. Kids used to be able to climb up the treehouse and then slide down into a pit of acorn balls. Now the treehouse just consists of a spiral staircase (a very tight and confined spiral staircase, by the way)...and that's it. You enter, walk up, and then exit. I heard so many people asking "Was that all?" after they'd walked up the treehouse. Yes, that was all. I'm not sure what's happened to these Toontown attractions over the years. Are inflatable bounce houses and ball crawl pits really that hard to maintain? Is Disneyland really that worried about kids getting hurt? It is very unfortunate, because these attractions used to be great for children to work off energy. Now they're just kind of pointless. Anyway, time to move on to the final land making up the eastern half of Disneyland. Tomorrowland is coming up shortly...

We're over two months into 2012 now and I haven't done a single update to biosciking's So Cal thread. Time to remedy that. I paid more than a couple visits to Disneyland during January and February, in an attempt to document the entire park. Disneyland is not a huge park per se, but there is just so much there that I think it's physically impossible to do everything in even two or three visits. I realized this pretty quickly while trying to photograph it all, so I decided to break the park up into two and devote my first Disneyland post to the eastern half of the park. Despite only covering half of the park (albeit the larger half), I've still got a ton of photos to share, which will require a few separate posts just by themselves. The eastern half of Disneyland consists of four of the park's eight lands. Main Street, U.S.A. is immediately beyond the entrance, Fantasyland is immediately behind Main Street, Mickey's Toontown is immediately behind Fantasyland, and then Tomorrowland occupies the entire easternmost side. Because I did visit in early January, I've got some shots of the park still dressed up in its holiday attire. I've also got some shots of the Matterhorn operating during its final days before refurbishment. Most of the pictures are from later January and February, when the holiday decorations had been removed and the Matterhorn refurb was in full swing. Disneyland, arguably the world's most famous theme park. This is of course the original Disney park, created and enjoyed by Walt Disney himself. How could anyone not love it? You're greeted at the entrance by floral Mickey, plus the Disneyland Railroad chugging into the Main Street train station. The Disneyland Railroad passes over the entrance bridge. I can hardly wait. Let's go. After passing under the entrance bridge, you immediately find yourself in Main Street, U.S.A. The Main Street train station is at the very southern end of the street. Here you can catch the Disneyland Railroad for a trip around the perimeter of the entire park. A Disneyland icon. The southern end of Main Street is called Town Square. Here you'll find the Main Street Opera House, which features the Disneyland Story and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. If you are at all a Disney geek, the Disneyland Story is a must. The Disneyland Story features tons of concept art and memorabilia spanning the park's entire history. 1959, the first big expansion year for the park, as well as the introduction of the E-ticket. Disneyland's classic attractions. Disneyland's modern-day attractions. A picture of Walt making his dedication speech during the park's opening day, July 17, 1955. Excepts from Walt's opening-day speech introduce each of the park's (then only five) lands. There are plenty of models throughout the Disneyland Story as well. This very large model is a 1/100th scale representation of the park as it existed on opening day. A model of Sleeping Beauty Castle. A model of Splash Mountain. Historic items on display include the bench from the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round. You can also watch a video that was produced for Disneyland's 50th anniversary, hosted by Steve Martin and Donald Duck. Back during the 50th anniversary, this film actually played in the Opera House's main theater. Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln is now back in that spot. Speaking of, here's a model of the United States Capitol Building from the lobby of the main theater. Very impressive. Inside the main theater itself. Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln has gone through several incarnations over the years. The current version is said to be most reminiscent of the original version. I kind of miss the previous version, where the audience was given headphones to wear and sound effects were presented in "3-D" audio. Still, the show is very patriotic and historic for its Audio Animatronic Mr. Lincoln figure (impressive even today). The show is a nice, uncrowded respite from the rest of the park, and I recommend it to all Disneyland visitors. Right next door to the Disneyland Story and Mr. Lincoln is the Disney Gallery. The Disney Gallery features changing art exhibits; the current display focuses on the various trains of the Disney parks. Walt was of course a huge train aficonado, so this is certainly appropriate. Presented in the Disney Gallery is an actual piece of Walt Disney's personal railroad. An overview of the Disney Gallery's main exhibit room. The Disneyland Railroad is well represented here. Despite all the changes that took place during the planning stages and development of Disneyland, one thing was always certain - the park would be surrounded by a railroad. Artwork of all of the Disney park's railroads is on display. There are other trains in addition to the Disneyland Railroad at the park, and they're all included here as well. Did you know the Casey Jr. Circus Train was originally designed to be a roller coaster? Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland. If I was given the opportunity to go back in time to experience one attraction from Disneyland's past, this would be it. The scenery (mountains, deserts, forests, caverns) looks incredible. Anyone care to share their memories of Nature's Wonderland? I'd love to hear them. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Nature's Wonderland's replacement. Big Thunder Mountain opened in 1979, the year I was born. I love this ride, but how I wish I'd gotten to try Nature's Wonderland as well. A little farther up Main Street is the Main Street Cinema, another cool, quite respite from the crowds on a hot, busy day. The entrance to the Main Street Cinema. What a wonderful, old-fashioned vibe it exudes. The darkened, circular, standing-room only Cinema presents six classic black-and-white cartoon shorts. Most are silent, though a band organ plays typical silent-film musical accompaniment that fills the theater. One of the more interesting and entertaining films is Mickey's Polo Team, which features a large collection of celebrity "guest stars." However, the most popular film in the Cinema is of course... ...Steamboat Willie, the debut of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. It's great to always be able to watch it here. Another attraction along Main Street is the Penny Arcade. As you can see, it's undergoing a refurbishment right now, as are many of the surrounding sweet shops and eateries. I hope most of the classic attractions remain when it reopens. The Starcade in Tomorrowland has been tampered with so much that it remains just a pathetic remnant of its former self. The same fate had better not be in store for Main Street's Penny Arcade. Perhaps the most prominent feature of Main Street are the vehicles that travel it, from Town Square to the Central Plaza and back again. The horse-drawn streetcars are probably the most famous of the Main Street vehicles. Much nostalgia is added to Main Street by the streetcars' presence. They also sure look great with Sleeping Beauty Castle in the background. Or, from the other direction, with the Main Street train station in the background. I thought I'd throw in the same view (minus the streetcar) as it looks during the holidays, to show off how decorated Main Street U.S.A. becomes. In addition to the horse-drawn streetcars, there are also the horseless carriages, here awaiting passengers at the Central Plaza end of Main Street. And here transporting passengers down Main Street's thoroughfare. Notice the omnibus, another of the vehicles that services Main Street, in the background. Speaking of, here's the Omnibus in Town Square. And in Central Plaza. The final means of transportation along Main Street is the fire engine. The Main Street vehicles are perhaps not the most efficient way to travel Main Street (you could probably walk faster), but they certainly add tons of charm. If you're on a relaxed schedule, give one a try. Where there's a fire engire, there must be a firehouse. This building contains the apartment that was actually occupied by Walt Disney himself when he stayed at the park. The candle buring in the second-story window is in honor and memory of Walt. Another highly recommended Main Street "attraction" is the flag retreat ceremony, which takes place each evening at dusk. The ceremony begins with the Disneyland Band marching down Main Street. The band then circles around the flagpole. The band is joined by the Dapper Dans, the famous Disneyland barbershop quartet. The Disneyland Band and Dapper Dans play and sing many patriotic tunes, naturally including the Star Spangled Banner. The color guard enters next to lower and fold the flags. Overall this is a very moving and patriotic ceremony. Members of each branch of the military are invited to come forward during the flag retreat to be recognized for their service. If you're a proud American, you'll want to be sure to schedule this into your Disneyland day. Here's the base of the flagpole. Very attractive. The most famous excerpt from Walt's opening-day dedication speech is found at the flagpole's base. As already alluded to, the northern end of Main Street, U.S.A. is called the Central Plaza. Prominently displayed in Central Plaza is the Partners statue, featuring Walt and Mickey. Sleeping Beauty Castle makes a nice backdrop. Sleeping Beauty Castle also serves as the gateway to Fantasyland, which is where we'll be heading next. Coming up shortly...

Adventure City is located in Anaheim, literally just down the street from Knott's Berry Farm and only a few miles from Disneyland. The park is small and definitely geared toward very young children. However, there are a couple of attractions that should also keep older kids and theme park / coaster enthusiasts happily occupied. There are about a dozen rides in all, and children as young as three can ride all of them except for Tree Top Racers (which has a 42" height minimum). Some rides do require that children ride with an adult, but it's great that adults can be accommodated on all of the rides as well (with the exception of Crank 'n' Roll, which has a 52" height maximum). Therefore, Adventure City is a park that the entire family should be able to enjoy together. Adventure City costs $14.95 for all guests except seniors (55+), who get in for $9.95. Parking is also free. A pretty reasonable deal for a day out with the family. The entrance to this fun kid's park. For older kids and coaster fans, the top attraction at Adventure City is definitely Tree Top Racers. Tree Top Racers is a Miler wild mouse coaster, one of only four in existence according to rcdb. Here you can see the lift hill and multiple switchbacks that begin the ride, some of the drops off to each side, and the central spiral leading into the break run at the end of the ride. The lift hill from a different angle. The coaster has received a nice new coat of paint since my last visit a few years ago. The switchbacks are cool but not as forceful as on some other wild mouse coasters, mostly because they're not taken at the fastest of speeds. It's not until you reach the drops (and there several of them) that this coaster picks up speed and puts the wild in wild mouse. The track and turns are banked a bit during the second half of the ride, and you even travel through the roof of the coaster station. The second set of drops takes place directly underneath the first, and I defy anyone to not reflexively duck your head seeing that other track just above. Overall very good fun. The cars can comfortably fit two children or an adult and a child (sitting inline), though they are a bit of a squeeze for two adults. It's a little hard for kids to see over the front, but for a single adult rider the view is not obstucted and the vehicles are quite comfortable. They're heavily padded on all sides, so even if you get jostled around a bit it just makes it fun, not at all painful. And another view, this one taken from the park's Drop Zone ride. Speaking of Drop Zone. This is a Moser tower ride, which is more than a notch above a frog hopper in the thrill department. It actually stands 45 feet tall and provides a legitimate tummy-tickling sensation with each drop, and the ride drops about half a dozen times. This is hugely exciting for young children, and pretty darn fun for me too. Adventure City has a second coaster, called Freeway Coaster. It's another Miler, this time a kiddie coaster. It begins with this small curving drop. However, this is a custom-made kiddie coaster. After the first drop it travels through a tree, leaping over one of its branches. The coaster finishes with a spiral around some boulders. Interestingly, these boulders are actually a tunnel for the park's train ride. Kind of unique for a kiddie coaster. Beware that the coaster is sent around the track twice, and it does provide a decent amount of whiplashing for adults, but I suppose most kiddie coasters do. Here is the park's train ride, called Adventure City Express Train. It is pretty tiny so there's no problem fitting through that tunnel. The train travels around the perimeter of the entire park, giving a glimpse of pretty much every attraction. After passing through the tunnel, there's this scenic spot that can only be viewed from the train. The train also travels through the park's birthday party building, which is neat for both train riders and birthday party guests. Let's take a look at the rest of the park's rides. The balloon ride looks pretty tame, but it's actually no joke if you're not into spinning rides. It can get quite dizzying, especially if you are seated in the backwards direction. Right next to the balloons are the Barnstormer Planes, a standard kiddie ride. There's also a crazy bus... ...a carousel... ...and a kiddie ferris wheel, called Giggle Wheel. One of the most popular rides at Adventure City is Rescue 911, where kids can drive their parents around in fire trucks, police vans, and ambulances. It's a pleasant and attractive ride with some decent theming. And as mentioned, it's a huge hit with the kids, who can dress up like firefighters while in line and actually wear the costumes on the ride! One more track ride, this one just for kids. There are a few other attractions at the park. An outdoor children's theater puts on puppet, magic, and song-and-dance shows that were VERY popular with the young ones. This Thomas the Tank Engine play area was another spot where kids could probably spend all day. There's also a petting farm. If you buy some feed, it comes in an ice cream cone that the goats can eat right along with the feed! In addition to sheep and goats, the petting farm has a couple other inhabitants, such as this cute fellow. This guy was also roaming around. Finally, there's a nice-sized arcade and a rock climbing wall, which we got to after dark. The rock wall is cool in that, after you make it up the easy level (the middle of the rock), you then get to try the intermediate level (on the right), and if you can make it past that you get to try the difficult level (on the left). I only made it halfway up the intermediate level. There's impressively no age requirement for this. Employees will follow small children up the whole way and help them as necessary. There was also an interesting but efficient way to pay for the rock climbing and arcade (as well as the food at the petting farm). You get a card that you load points onto, and use the card at all of the attractions. My final verdict is that Adventure City is a very well-maintained park, with friendly employees who are extremely good with kids. The food is also reasonably priced and there's some variety too (a few healthy alternatives mixed in with the typical theme park fare). Definitely check this park out if you have kids. Even if you don't, it's worth a stop. After all, you'll be in the area visiting Knott's and Disney anyway!

I have been wanting to try a good ziplining course for quite some time now, but I haven't really known of any locally in Southern California. However, earlier this year (July 2011), a new ziplining course opened in Wrightwood (in the Angeles National Forest). Called Navitat Canopy Adventures, this represents the company's second installment, the first of which opened in Asheville, NC, in 2010. There are apparently plans in the works to open more in the upcoming years, though specific locations have not yet been revealed. Navitat Canopy Adventures is an approximately four-hour course that includes ten ziplines, four suspended sky bridges, and three rappelling experiences (two actual rappel descents and a third one that would probably count more as a jump). There are a few short hiking segments interspersed throughout as well (they advertise that you'll hike approximately a mile in total). The Wrightwood course will operate from April through November. I visited toward the end of the operating season, during Thanksgiving week. It was a perfect time to visit, as it was cool but sunny out. It had snowed a couple days earlier, though, so we got to enjoy ziplining around the snow-covered mountain. The cost is $109 per person, which might sound expensive, but I actually found it to be quite reasonable for the length of the experience and all that it includes. I thought the whole thing was great fun, especially considering the fact that this is a pretty unique experience for So Cal. This is "base camp," where you check in and gear up. You do need reservations, which you can make online. Tours depart each half hour every day, from early morning through mid afternoon. The Navitat building is at just above 6000 feet in elevation, but the actual course is at just above 7000 feet. Therefore, these "troop transports" are used to drive you the rest of the way up the mountain. Loading up. The gear includes a complete harness system, a helmet, and gloves (your "brakes" for the ziplines). And we're off. Each tour can accommodate eight guests and two guides. After the Navitat vehicle drops you off, there is a short hike to get to the start of the course. A nice scenic hike in the snow. The first zipline is very short and low to the ground, so that you can practice proper starting and stopping techniques before moving on to the larger lines. The next two ziplines aren't too terribly long but are significantly higher. You can see how they've constructed the starting and ending points of the ziplines as platforms in the trees. More ziplining from tree to tree, through the trees. The platforms and trees they were on had a tendency to sway a bit as people zipped across, which might be unsettling if you're not fond of heights, but I found it added to the excitement. Everyone remained hooked up the entire time, so there was nothing to worry about. After the third zipline was the first rappelling experience, during which you lower yourself from the tree platform all the way to the ground. You do have a decent amount of control over your own descent, but the whole thing is rigged up in such a way that it's pretty much impossible to do anything wrong and hurt yourself. Another hike to the next part of the course. To get to the next tree platform, we had to traverse our first sky bridge. This sky bridge was inclined and had pretty widely-separated logs as the steps, so it was kind of like climbing stairs and walking a swinging rope bridge at the same time. As mentioned, the first three ziplines were considered "warm ups" for the remainder of the course. This fourth line was the first of the big ones. As the guides put it, you go from kindergarten during the first zip, to first grade for the next two, and then you're at university level for the remainder of the course. Even this one, while significantly longer and higher than the previous three, still wasn't anywhere near as extreme as some of the later ones. This should give a better feel for the height of the tree platforms (center of the picture), connected by ziplines all the way down the mountain slope. A very long and high zipline. Notice the starting platform way back in the distance. Time for the next rappel. This one was cool because you had to work your way down among all the branches. The next two sky bridges came back-to-back. These bridges had double planks instead of logs to walk on. Doesn't it remind you of the Ewok village? These bridges were very high, getting us to the starting platform for the tallest, longest, and fastest zipline of the course. Here goes nothing. It's kind of hard to tell from the starting platform angle just how long and high this zipline is. If you look closely you can follow the line to the top of picture, which still isn't anywhere near the end of its run. Turned around from the ending platform, however, you can see just how huge this particular zipline is. The stats are: 1500 feet in length (over a quarter mile), 300 feet high at its greatest distance from the ground, and speeds up to 55 mph. Notice the sky bridge that we just walked across to get to the starting platform for the zipline. This is a picture of that same sky bridge taken much earlier in the course. The entire tour works its way down the mountain, so that, while this particular sky bridge was very high, we were at a much greater elevation earlier on. I've got a few more pictures near the end of the "mega" zipline. Notice how gorgeous the setting is. Smile for the camera (and for the thrill of the 55 mph, 1500-foot ride). Navitat actually had a photographer positioned at the bottom of this zipline to capture your experience in case you didn't want to bring your own camera along. Since I'm always the one taking pictures I never get to be in these trip reports, so I borrowed the photographer's pictures of myself to prove that I do partake. Cheese! The tour was by no means over yet. Next was the final sky bridge. Half of the group with one of the guides. The other half of the group with the second guide (thanks again to the Navitat photographer for these last two pics). This bridge had just a single plank, so it was like walking a wobbly balance beam. The final zipline. Another very long, tall, fast one. Nearing the tree platform at the end of the line. Almost there. You have to use your gloved hand to brake yourself a the end of the run. You don't grab the line, but rather press down on it with an open palm. You have to learn to time it correctly so that you don't fall short or come to too abrupt of a halt, but by the end of the course everyone was a pro at this. The final rappelling experience took us down from the last tree platform (probably almost 100 feet high). However, this one wasn't so much a rappel as a jump off the tree. We had to take a step off, after which we free-fell for about 10 feet, before the rigging caught us and smoothly lowered us the rest of the way to the ground. It was actually a very similar mechanism to the Stratosphere jump in Vegas. A final hike to get us back to the truck for our return trip to Navitat headquarters. I've skipped around a little with the pics for the second half of the course, as I know pictures of ten different ziplines all start to look the same. I thought I'd finish off with a couple pictures that I didn't include in their correct order, but that exemplify the thrill and the variety of ziplines the tour offers. Here's one that traveled pretty low to the ground the whole way, just avoiding all of the surrounding vegetation. However, most of the ziplines were very high off the ground, as you can tell from this picture... ...and this picture... ...and this picture. It's a pretty huge rush zipping high above the forest at such a fast speed. It's also quite a workout, holding on and keeping yourself positioned properly. Still, it's also very pleasant, enjoying the scenery as you fly by. (As an aside, this picture totally makes me think of the opening scene from the move Cliffhanger. Not to worry; it's much safer than that.) Because it is such a small group, you get to know everyone else pretty well. It was a fun group, and a very fun experience overall. Highly recommended!

The L.A. County Fair in Pomona recently ended its 2011 run (it essentially runs for the entire month of September, ending at the very beginning of October). I've always been the type of person who'll go to the fair every other year or so, ride a few rides, and eat some food. This year I thought I'd spend a little more time exploring everything the fair has to offer, so I bought a season pass (which is really the best deal if you even plan to visit just twice). I hit up the fair on four different days, and I can say that I probably still only saw a fraction of the attractions. What with all the rides, shows, exhibits, shopping, food, and special events, I think it's physically impossible to do everything, even if you were to go every single day. There's that much to see and do. Now, whether or not all of if is necessarily worth seeing and doing is a slightly different story. Still, being exposed to the huge variety of fair offerings gave me a different perspective of the fair, and I'll probably be more inclined to go back on an annual basis from now on. Being an amusement park / roller coaster / ride fan, I did spend the majority of my time in the carnival section, and I have a pretty comprehensive set of pictures for that part of the fair. The rest of the pictures show off just a sampling of the shows and exhibits, to give a feel for the type of thing you can find. And let's not forget the crazy fair food - some of it awesome, some of it just plain weird, but all of it a huge part of the fair experience. Let's begin in the carnival section of the fair. The newest addition to the fair this year was Typhoon, an impressively large coaster for a fair (for an American fair, anyway). I imagine this was added to make up for the absence of the Hi Miler coaster, which has been at the fair for as many years as I can remember but wasn't present this year. Typhoon is the relocated, repainted coaster from the old Santa's Village park in Illinois. I've always known that this coaster had a bad reputation, but for some reason I've always wanted to try it. Here was my chance. The inclined loop, the most unique part of the coaster's layout. Watching the coaster, I was amazed at how SLOW it traveled. Was the coaster this slow when it operated at Santa's Village? I had always heard that it was rough, but I don't think I'd heard about it being so slow. I figured at this minimal speed it couldn't possibly still be rough. Let me tell you it is possible. I'm not sure how, but this coaster was nothing but a head-banger from start to finish. It wasn't the most painful head banging, as there were huge padded restraints, but I still couldn't figure out how it could knock your head back and forth so consistently even during the slowest and straightest segments. An overview of the entire ride. Though I'm glad I got to ride it to say I did, this really was not a very good coaster. However, I suppose it might be accepted by the general public as it travels the carnival circuits. The other adult coaster at the fair was the Crazy Coaster. The Crazy Coaster is a typical spinning mouse, so you pretty much know what to expect. Though not the most exciting coaster in the world, it was reasonably entertaining and I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Typhoon. Cobra was one of at least three kiddie coasters that I saw (there may have been more; there were so many that they all started to look the same and I could very well have missed some). I just couldn't bring myself to be a whore on any of them. I was impressed, though, by the size of the kiddie area. In addition to the coasters, there were tons of kiddie flats, merry-go-rounds, slides, funhouses, etc. everywhere. Let's add in a food item every now and then. The most talked-about new crazy fair food this year was the deep-fried Kool-Aid! I didn't try it, but the employees said it basically tasted like a doughnut. My favorite ride at the fair this year was Evolution. I have never been on one of these rides before, and while I was anxious to try it, I was a bit hesitant too. These have always looked to me like they have too much upside-down hangtime, so I worried that it might actually become uncomfortable. I'm happy to report that I had no need to worry, as it was great fun. Spinning around in this position was pretty unique. Spinning around in the upside-down position for as long as this ride does seems like it might be too much, but the whole thing was actually exciting, thrilling, and, believe it or not, quite pleasant. I look forward to trying more of these. Always popular at the fair is Tango. It is pretty fun, as long as you don't mind dangling from your crotch the whole time. Re-Mix II was essentially an orbiter flat ride on steroids. It doesn't go upside down, but it flings you around enough to still become sickening. But the winner for most sickening ride would be Experience. It's basically a cross between Tango and Re-Mix. Many years ago I nearly killed a friend on this ride. She didn't really know what she was getting herself into, and after getting off she was clammy and sweaty and had to sit completely still for about half an hour before she gradually got some life back. This year, my sister rode with me. She didn't have as extreme a reaction, but it did give her a headache to the point where she was done with rides for the day. For the record, I enjoy Experience, but I would probably not ride it twice during the same visit. The Krispy Kreme chicken sandwich was the talked-about new food a few years ago. I actually tried one this year. The chicken was good. The jelly doughnut was good. The combination of the two was kind of weird. I guess that's the point. Speed was the fair's skyscraper ride. These are always fun and thrilling, plus a little disconcerting when you are left at the top while the other side of the ride is loaded / unloaded. While Evolution may have been my favorite new ride this year, my all-time favorite carnival ride remains the Zipper. You can't beat the forces produced by the movements of this one. Mega Drop was a very decent drop tower ride. Speaking of tower rides, next was the Sky Flyer, my first ever star flyer. I've been apprehensive about these from the first time I heard of them. I have ridden Windseeker at Knott's, which is mildly scary due to the height, but it is so slow and controlled that it isn't too bad. However, a standard chairswing ride hundreds of feet in the air sounds just plain freaky. And trying one for the first time at the fair didn't sound like a very good idea either. However, it was actually a good choice, as this one was really not very tall at all - only 130 feet. It was therefore a good way to get my feet wet for the much bigger star flyers that I know I won't be able to avoid forever. There was a traditional-sized chairswing ride as well. G Force had an interesting ride cycle. It seemed to operate at only 50% during the first half of the ride before kicking up to a full 100% and delivering the goods during the second half. A typical Disk-O. Fun enough, but nothing spectacular. As with any carnival, there were plenty of standard spinning twirl 'n hurl flat rides. A round-up. A tilt-a-whirl. A gravitron. Techno Jump, my first ever bouncy bouncy type of ride. It was fun but I imagine there are better examples out there. This one had a long cycle, traveling both forwards and backwards, but the spinning in circles kind of came to a halt every time the bouncing started. So the ride was either traveling in circles or bouncing, but not both, which I'm sure would have made it much wilder. A himalaya / music express ride (not sure what the technical difference is between the two, if any). This one had one of those funky tarps that cover the vehicles for a portion of the ride. A cliff hanger. I think I'll pass on these, though I suppose if I was to eat frog legs deep frying them would be the way to go. There was a pretty good selection of non-spinning rides as well. Wild River was a standard compact log ride, but the two drops were fun and it actually got you reasonably wet. Euroslide was the largest slide at the fair. By the time you reached the last couple of humps, you were traveling at a fast enough speed to actually get a little bit of airtime. Bumper cars, a staple at any carnival. I generally love cheesy dark rides, but the Haunted Mansion was just okay. Very short and not much activity inside. Definitely no scares. However, it was award-worthy compared to... ...Ghost Pirates, without a doubt the most pathetic dark ride I've been on. After the Haunted Mansion and Ghost Pirates, I wasn't expecting much from Creep Show. It actually turned out to be pretty good. It was a much longer ride consisting of upper and lower levels, plus it had plenty of neat stuff to look at, some cool effects, and even delivered a couple scares. There were tons of funhouses all over the fair. Moscow Circus was the biggest and best of them. That spiral slide made me dizzier than any ride. I was completely discombobulated when I plopped out of it. There were also multiple ferris wheels spread throughout the fairgrounds. The Grande Wheel was the largest. The Sky Ride is a classic part of the L.A. County Fair experience. Even stuffed animals enjoy the Sky Ride. Just a couple coaster pics taken from the Sky Ride and Grande Wheel. Here you can see the entire layout of Typhoon. And the entire layout of Crazy Coaster (if you're able to see through trees anyway). Bungee Jump. I didn't do this, as it wasn't included in the ride wristband. I've actually never been bungee jumping now that I think about it. I will definitely have to one day. Looks like fun. Who says you can't eat healthy at the fair? They have fruit. Okay, that's it for the carnival and ride section of the fair. Time to explore some of the other offerings. I very much enjoy visiting national parks, so this sounded like a cool exhibit. Let's check it out. It looked impressive when you first walked in. However, what wasn't emphasized outside but what became very apparent inside was that this was just the fair's flower exhibit. They were trying to set up dioramas I guess with flowers representing different national parks, but everything was such a stretch that it really made no sense at all. Lame. The two most highly advertised exhibits at the fair this year were the Live Shark Encounter and Jurassic Planet. The Shark Encounter occupied a portion of one of the shopping buildings. Having live sharks mixed in with mattresses, spas, and jewelry made me concerned about the quality of this attraction before I even entered. Still, the Jaws-looking sign gave it some potential promise. Let's take a look. Um, there it is. A tank that looked like something you might find at a seafood restaurant with a few nurse sharks that appeared miserable hanging out on the bottom. This somehow still drew a huge crowd of amazed spectators. Have people never been to an aquarium before? Not exactly Jaws. 0 for 2 on the exhibits. With now incredibly low expectations, I headed over to the Jurassic Planet exhibit. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this one was actually quite good. An entire shopping building was transformed into Jurassic Planet, which featured many life-sized dinosaurs in realistic settings. This huge dino was definitely the star of the exhibit. Pretty cool-looking. The dinos were automated so that they moved and interacted with each other. I imagine this is very much what the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit must be like at the Cedar Fair parks, except that here I didn't have to pay $5 extra. It's a good thing the building had a high ceiling. The exhibit buidling was set up as a research station, and they had some living representatives of animals that coexisted with dinosaurs on display. My favorites - the Madagascar hissing cockroaches. What seem to be everyone's favorite dinos, Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, were placed outside the building, getting everyone's attention and luring them into the exhibit. I sure hope those are mashed potatoes underneath the beef. The majority of the live animals at the fair were located in the quite large Mojo's Jungle area. Kangaroos were among the animals present. Emus were hanging out with the kangaroos. Other birds represented included parrots. In addition to birds, there were tons of other reptiles on display (yes, birds are feathered reptiles). You were free to (and even encouraged to) touch many of the animals. Several reptiles were in cages that were open enough to reach inside. Other reptiles were freely roaming around the Mojo's Jungle area. This is a South American lizard called a tegu. If you don't believe that the previous picture wasn't taken in an enclosure, here's the same tegu wandering around on the pavement, soaking up the sun. You can get very up close and personal with some of the snakes, as my sister ably demonstrates. I opted to get up close and personal with the scorpions instead. This almost doesn't seem that weird anymore. I thought I'd use the Wilderness Ridge area to give an idea of the types of shows offered at the fair. Of all the animal shows, the bear show was probably the most entertaining. Trained bears doing tricks. The bears had been raised as pets since birth and seemed very well cared for, plus the "tricks" were mostly exercises that proved the bears to be more athletic than me. Receiving a bear's reward - honey. In addition to the bears, other animal shows at the fair included a monkey show, a parrot show, a falcon show, a pets show, and the like. After the show you could feed the bears a snack, as my sister again demonstrates. If you were looking for a show starring humans, the lumberjacks were also in Wilderness Ridege. Pretty typical stuff, such as log sawing... ...log rolling... ...and "tree" climbing. Also at the fair were Chinese acrobats (always very good), circus acrobats (pretty good), and many other shows and demonstrations. I suppose this might sound appealing if you're pregnant. No visit to the fair would be complete without a stop at the farm exhibits. At the farms you can watch pig racing. Ironically enough, after the pig races everyone in the audience received a coupon for bacon. If you've always wanted to watch cows being milked, here was your opportunity. Sadly, the audience didn't get to milk the cows (that's too old fashioned for our high-tech cow-milking times). On a plus note, though, they did sell some of the most delecious chocolate milk at this exhibit. There was also one of the most crowded (in terms of number of people and number of animals) petting farms I've ever seen. It was mostly goats, but there were a few cows too. Plus a llama thrown in for good measure (okay, it might be an alpaca). This sounds even more disgusting than the chocolate-covered pickles. The Our Body exhibit was very popular at the fair. I didn't get around to doing it, mainly due to time constraints (you've got to give yourself at least an hour), but I have seen this exhibit at a couple different places. Though the concept is the same, the presentation does differ from location to location, so I would have liked to see how this one compared. It was an $8 upcharge, but based on my past visits to Our Body exhibits, that's well worth it. There was a concert free with fair admission almost every night. This is the one I went to. Awesome! I've been spotlighting some of the funky food at the fair, but I thought I'd finish by mentioning that there was a ton of "normal" food too. Pretty much anything you could want could be found. Without a doubt the two most popular items were the turkey legs and the roasted corn. They were being sold everywhere. I never had a turkey leg, but the corn was so good I got one on every visit. Perfectly buttered and salted and delicious. That alone makes it hard to wait for the 2012 L.A. County Fair.

With the summer season winding down (yet the temperatures still scorching in So Cal), I figured I'd hit up one more waterpark before they start closing for the year. I decided to visit Pharaoh's Adventure Park, which contains a waterpark that I've actually never been to before. Located in Redlands, Pharaoh's used to be called Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom. It contained a waterpark, a family fun center, plus rides (a galaxi coaster, a powered kiddie coaster, and about half a dozen flats). I visited the park once during that time to ride the rides. About five years ago the park closed and the rides were removed. Last year the park reopened as Pharaoh's Adventure Park, with the Splash Kindgom waterpark now serving as the headliner attraction. As I didn't visit the waterpark during my previous visit, I don't know if it changed much, but I don't think so. The family fun center part is also still here, though with not quite as many attractions. It operates year-round. You have to pay to enter the waterpark ($24.99), though the fun center attractions are pay-as-you-go (there are of course unlimited options for them too). Also unique to Pharaoh's is their buffet, which you have to pay to even enter ($9.99). You're given a wristband and can then I believe come and go from it all day, eating as much as you want, which is a pretty good deal. The welcome sign that hasn't been replaced since the days of Pharaoh's Lost Kingdom. Notice the black tape that's covering up "Lost Kingdom." Also notice the waterslide, roller coaster, and ferris wheel on the sign. The main entrance. The Egyptian theming is used throughout the park, including in the Splash Kingdom waterpark. It's a little hit-or-miss everywhere. In some of the pools the theming is done decently well. On the slides, the theming is really just in the names. Speaking of the waterpark and slides, let's head there first. All of the park's major waterslides (eight of them) are built on a single large tower. On this side you can see five. Their names are Ramses' Rocket and Pharaoh's Falls (the two white slides), the Anileator (pink slide), Wrath of Ra (black slide), and Pharaoh's Revenge (yellow slide). Ramses' Rocket is the one that dips a couple of times on the way down. Pharaoh's Falls is the one with the straight drop. I actually think Ramses' Rocket is a little more fun, as you get some lift going over each hill, though most people seem to be more intimidated by Pharaoh's Falls. And speaking of intimidating, the Anileator is claimed by the park to be the world's tallest enclosed waterslide (90 feet high). They also claim you can reach speeds of 50 mph while riding. Whether or not I hit that speed I don't know, but it certainly did feel fast, thanks to the dropping first curve that really gets you going right from the beginning. Another look at Ramses' Rocket and Pharaoh's Falls. Plus you can make out someone splashing out of the Anileator. Wrath of Ra is a tube slide that is enclosed during its first half but open during its second half. Pharaoh's Revenge is a tube slide that is open during its entire course. They both ride pretty similarly, though I would give the edge to Wrath of Ra due to its larger final drop. One thing I like about the park is that you can ride any of the tube slides in single or double tubes. They also advertise that you can ride them in triple tubes, though I'm not sure how, as I never saw a triple tube in the entire park. On the other side of the tower are the three remaining slides, all of which empty into a common pool. From left to right, they are Tut's Tomb (an enclosed body slide), Sphinx Express (an open tube slide), and Dark Chamber (an enclosed tube slide). Tut's Tomb is probably the most thrilling of the three, though all of these are considered the "smaller" of the park's eight waterslides. A closer look at Sphinx Express and Dark Chamber. In addition to slides, Pharaoh's also features other typical waterpark fare. They have this relatively large activity play area for older kids. There's another one of comparable size for younger kids elsewhere in the park. The Nile River is the park's lazy river. Interestingly, the park does not have a wave pool. Instead, they have a flow rider wave machine. It's not an upcharge attraction, which is nice. The flow rider is called Riptide. The sign behind it for the Flusher is for a separate waterslide that wraps around the Riptide and ultimately connects to the Nile River. You have to be riding a tube and it only slopes at a very gradual angle, but it's a fun way to enter the lazy river. That's it for the waterpark. Let's briefly check out what the fun center has to offer. The bumper boats are themed pretty well, and the water jets on each boat are certainly appreciated on a hot day. Pretty standard go-karts. They actually have three separate tracks, but I'm pretty sure this is the only one that still operates. The other two looked kind of deserted. Also SBNO on site is a sky coaster, another remnant of the park's former days that has never been removed. I think the park's theming is best displayed in its miniature golf courses. There are four separate nine-hole courses. Pretty good Egyptian theming. It would be even better if the pools and fountains were operating, but it still looks nice without them. While still interesting-looking, I'm not sure what a dragon, a medieval tower, and a spaceship have to do with Egyptian theming. Anyway, the park also has an arcade and several large inflatable slides and play structures for kids. Overall it was an enjoyable visit and I definitely won't wait over five years to visit again.

The roller coasters of Six Flags Magic Mountain continued... Ninja is the park's Arrow suspended coaster. The swinging turns are what this type of ride is all about. Ninja is built on and around the park's Samurai Summit hillside. From the Sky Tower you can follow most of Ninja's path along the mountain, traveling through the trees and weaving in and out of the Jet Stream flume ride. For the record, I liked Big Bad Wolf much better than Ninja, but I like Ninja better than any of the other Arrow suspendeds that I've been on (which isn't too many - Iron Dragon and XLR-8). The park's oldest coaster is Gold Rusher, an Arrow mine train. Like most mine trains, Gold Rusher has a couple of lifts and moderately sized drops. It ends with a fun spiraling helix. Though it stretches out through the middle of the park, there aren't too many places to get pictures of it, so this is it. (If you scroll up to the shot of Superman from the Sky Tower, you can see a bit of Gold Rusher's track crossing under the start of Superman's track.) To be complete, I've got a couple of pictures of the park's kiddie coasters. Canyon Blaster is located in Bugs Bunny World and is actually kind of fun. I couldn't get a shot of the entire ride, but there are a couple of small jolting drops and a turnaround before reaching these lurching bunny hops. For an adult it mostly provides whiplash, but for whatever reason I was amused and entertained by the whole thing. And finally the REALLY kiddie coaster, Magic Flyer. This one is located in Whistlestop Park and is exclusively for those under 54" tall. It's therefore the only SFMM coaster that I haven't been able to ride. Actually, this ride has been around since the park first opened, going through various themes (Clown Coaster, Wile E. Coyote Coaster, Goliath Jr., Percy's Railway, and now the Magic Flyer). So I suppose I could have ridden it as a kid, but I honestly don't remember. There you have it. A look at the 18 roller coasters located at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I'll leave you with this shot from the 5 freeway just north of the park. If that view doesn't get your adrenaline pumping as you approach, you must be lacking adrenal glands. How many roller coasters do you see in this photo? I count seven. Pretty impressive to think that this skyline doesn't even contain half of the park's coasters!

Time for a visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain, as the park has debuted all of its new 2011 coasters. Magic Mountain now of course has "the park with the most coasters on the planet" claim to fame (18 of them). This post is going to focus exclusively on the roller coasters of Six Flags Magic Mountain, as it is a pretty huge park and there are so many coasters. I'll save the park's water rides (four of them), flat rides (only about a half dozen very standard flats), and whatever goodies the park has in store for next year for a later post. I've actually been to SFMM several times so far this summer, but have been saving everything for one large post. I must say that I have been very impressed with operations. All of the coasters, water rides, and flat rides have been operational on every visit. There have only been a few minor things I've noticed. Green Lantern and Superman seem to have regular bouts of downtime, though they are brief and I suppose expected with new rides (it is a little aggravating to be stuck in line for Superman on the side that breaks down, while the other side continues to run, but what are you going to do?). The audio on X2 has been mostly silent. Tatsu is running two trains, which sounds like it should be fine, but the ride is really designed for three. Because they are still using both load stations, with one train servicing each, once you get to your station it bascially is one-train operation, and it takes FOREVER. However, these are very minor points. For the most part operations have been pretty much perfect. Here we are. We'll be focusing on Magic Mountain today, specifically on the park's 18 roller coasters. It seems appropriate to begin with the park's newest coaster, Green Lantern: First Flight. Green Lantern is of course the first Intamin vertical spin coaster in the U.S. Here you can see the eight-person train ascending the lift. The first half of the ride is pretty mild. The seats mostly just rock back and forth a bit during the first couple of straightaways and drops. However, the trains then reach the midcourse brakes, and everything changes from there. The second half of the ride was honestly the most intense coaster experience I've ever had. I actually don't know if we were flipping repeatedly or just suspended in an upside down position, but the positive g-forces and pressure on my head were unlike anything I've ever experienced. This final up-and-down stretch back to the station is pretty much insane. It was all pretty brief, but probably thankfully so. Now a look from the other side. Pretty calm here. Pretty hardcore here. And now a couple of pictures I got from the park's Sky Tower. That's Tidal Wave in front of Green Lantern (behind it, actually, as this is the back of the coaster). I've only gotten one ride in on Green Lantern, so I'm not really in a position yet to give my final take on it. Watching it run, it doesn't look like much. I mean, it looks cool and unique and all, but it doesn't look very intense. I really think I saw some trains not flip at all, which would probably result in a very brief, disappointing ride. However, as there is complete freedom of movement here (unlike with X2), if you do get a flippy car you'll be grateful the ride is brief. That's why I need to ride again before I can say anything for sure. If I got an exceptionally wild ride, then the intensity is appropriate. If, however, I got one of the milder rides, then I'm actually a little scared to go on again. Time for the park's next new-for-2011 coaster, Superman: Escape from Krypton. I know Superman isn't technically a new coaster, but it sure feels brand new. It's got a bright new paint job of red, blue, and yellow, as opposed to the drab gray that it used to be. Oh, and have I mentioned yet that it runs backwards? Superman backwards is SO MUCH MORE FUN than Superman forwards was. The backwards launch is awesome, and the forward drop is incredible. On how many other rides do you get to experience a backward launch at 100+ mph and a 400 foot straight-down drop? Not too many that I can think of. Plus let's not ignore the fact that it is actually going 100 mph again like it's supposed to (they actually claim that it goes 108 mph). This therefore takes the cars to the top of the tower like they should, far higher than anything we've seen for a long time with the old Superman. Plus both sides are operational again. Like I said, it feels like a new experience, and it is a GREAT improvement. The seating configuration is a little different than before, plus the new trains look way cool. They're not so bulky and restricting to your view like they used to be. Don't worry at all about the arm shields on the sides of the trains. I didn't even notice them while riding in the outside seats. A full view of the ride from the Sky Tower. Despite its impressive stats and intimidating look, I actually think Superman is an appropriate ride for everyone. I rode with a seven-year-old nephew who was just tall enough to make the 48" height requirement, and he loved it. If you are looking for a ride that is simply pure fun, I think you could do no better than Superman: Escape from Krypton. The third and final new coaster for 2011 is Road Runner Express. This is of course a standard Vekoma roller skater (the exact same ride you can find, incidentally, at nearby Disneyland and Castle Park). While I was a little bummed to lose the Sierra Falls "dry" waterslides that used to be in this spot, I suppose it is important to have a selection of coasters for the younger folk in addition to the bigger folk. The ride is fun enough for what it is. Located between Bugs Bunny World and Whistlestop Park (the former Thomas Town), there has never been much of a line for this. They could therefore probably let it go around twice, but they don't. What I liked most about the ride was the theming. I actually think they did a really good job in that department. Time to explore the park's many other coasters, starting with my very favorite, X2. One of the best first drops you'll find on any coaster. You do a 180-degree front flip while dropping, so though you begin the drop looking straight down, you end it looking straight up! You then go into this loop which, because of the way the seats rotate, never actually inverts you. Instead, it provides a great feeling of soaring and swooping. On the opposite end of the coaster is this turnaround, which is the calmest part of the ride. However, it sets you up for... ...the craziest part of the ride. This funky turn-loop (which they call a raven turn) is followed by another non-inverting loop and a final raven turn. All three elements are incredibly intense and want to eject your body from the seats. Be grateful for your restraints here! By the way, the train does an awesome 360-degree back flip while traveling through that hill next to the raven turn. What makes X2 different from the previous X? A better paint scheme, new trains (a very similar fourth dimensional design though), an audio track, and fire! I'll admit that X2 is a little rough. It never bangs my head side-to-side though. Instead, it has a tendency to bang the back of my head against the headrest. However, I don't even care about that, as the ride is totally worth it. The whole thing feels so massive and powerful and performs maneuvers that you just can't experience anywhere else. (No sexual innuendo intended with that last sentence.) X2 isn't just my favorite coaster at Magic Mountain. It's my favorite coaster ANYWHERE. I absolutely love it. Right next to X2 is Viper. Curvy first drop. The very tall first loop. It's not necessarily a large loop; the train just has to travel pretty high up to get to it. Back-to-back vertical loops and corkscrews must mean we're on an Arrow coaster. The contorted boomerang loops also give that fact away. The final dip of the ride. Viper was a world-class coaster when it opened in 1990. Today it wouldn't even quite crack my top 10 list at SFMM. However, I do enjoy it. I also very much appreciate that it is still here. With Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Great Adventure losing their Arrow megaloopers, I hope that the same fate is not in store for Six Flags Magic Mountain's. From the Sky Tower. I told you X2 and Viper were right next to each other. I would still to this day classify Arrow megaloopers as some of the most photogenic coasters, and this sure is an attractive view. Speaking of rides leaving parks, let's head over to Deja Vu. While I don't think it's been confirmed yet by Magic Mountain that this coaster is on its way out, it sounds like it's been confirmed by Six Flags New England that it's on its way in, which doesn't leave much guesswork. This news is disappointing to me. I know some out there are not fans of Deja Vu (giant inverted boomerangs in general), but I love this ride. In fact, it's my second favorite at the park (after X2). Everyone says that it's not reliable and it's never open. I disagree. It has actually been running perfectly well all summer. They tend to keep it closed during the off-season, but if that's what it takes to make it run well during the crowded periods, I'm fine with that. The only consolation that I have is that the ride is being moved and not scrapped, plus this could mean a new coaster is on the way to take its spot. After all, they'll lose their coveted coaster crown if they don't replace it. It's going to be hard to beat Deja Vu in my opinion though. Next door to Deja Vu is Apocalypse. Apocalypse is of course the GCI wooden coaster that opened in 2009 as Terminator, replacing Psyclone. It has since lost the Terminator name, but the apocalyptic theming remains essentially unchanged. Hence the new name Apocalypse. I'm in the very tiny minority of people who actually kind of liked Psyclone, but I'll be the first to admit that Apocalypse is far superior. It begins with a twisty GCI first drop. In fact, pretty much the entire ride is twisty or hilly. In typical GCI fashion, with the exception of the station fly-through, there is very little straight track to be found anywhere. There's also fire. And the ride's infamous tunnels. Also worth noting is that this coaster seriously flies through the course. At night especially, it just tears its way through. An absolute blast! From the Sky Tower, you can see that Deja Vu and Apocalypse are neighbors. You can also somewhat make out Apocalypse's layout, though it's not entirely apparent. If I have one MINOR complaint about Apocalypse (no, it's not the preshow videos, which I actually don't mind), it's that it's just a tad too short. Especially since it moves so fast, it does tend to end a little too quickly. Enjoy your ride. Deja Vu's vertical loop awesomeness. Along with most people, I'm not a huge fan of standard boomerangs. However, giant inverted boomerangs don't belong anywhere near the same category. The hang time, the staight-down drops, the enormous loops, the forwards and backwards. I love it all. A great corner of the park that is going to become far less great unless an equally great replacement shows up. Turning toward the opposite end of the park, we find another steel coaster / wood coaster combo. Note that you can also make out Road Runner Express in the bottom right corner of this picture. Goliath is the park's hypercoaster. Even the ride's name is huge. Some claim that the first drop isn't steep enough. It sure looks and feels steep while riding though. From this view you can observe the height of the ride, as well as the positive g-force helix twistiness that makes up the coaster's second half. From this angle the drop sure looks steep. And still tall, even with Superman towering over it. The smaller (but still large) hill next to the big drop provides very nice airtime. You can also see a Colossus train peaking over its lift. Goliath's sweeping turnaround, connecting the first drop to the airtime hill. Colossus' first drop. While still very entertaining, it's hard to believe that this was once one of the world's most spectacular coasters. I guess it still looks reasonably impressive. And don't get me wrong. It's still lots of fun. A nice view showing off the layout of both coasters, as well their location next to Superman and Scream (to the left). Goliath ranks in my top 5 at SFMM. Colossus is (like Viper) just outside of my top 10. I'm not sure how I feel about a potential re-tracking of Colossus. I think it's already been tampered with enough, but if the re-tracking could return Colossus to its original glory, then it would be worth it. Let's head next to Tatsu, the park's B&M flyer. The coaster's soaring first drop. It's hard to tell from this picture, but you are very high above the ground at this point. You are also of course lying face-down toward it. After the first drop you twist and turn around the Sky Tower. Then there's this fun and unique turn (not really a loop). Believe it or not, everything up to this point has been sort of peaceful and relaxing. That all changes once you arive at the coaster's signature element, the pretzel loop. The pretzel loop ranks higher than Goliath's helix in the intensity department, but it's now been beat out by Green Lantern's intensity. A zoomed-out view of most of Tatsu's layout. I've been on a couple of other B&M flyers (Superman at SFGAd and SFOG) plus one Vekoma flyer (Batwing at SFA), and I can say that Tatsu is my favorite. Much of Tatsu occupies the front of the park, along with SFMM's classic Revolution coaster. Tatsu sure changes the appearance of the park's famous entrance fountains and waterfalls. Revolution is a Schwarzkopf coaster, but not your typical compact Schwarzkopf. It's actually sprawled out over a good portion of the front of the park. The coaster with the most comparable layout would probably be Hersheypark's Sooperdooperlooper. One of Revolution's drops. Navigating the world's first vertical loop. The spiral that ends the ride, with Tatsu's pretzel loop looming in the background. A look from the Sky Tower at both coasters doing their thing. While Revolution is by no means a huge or incredibly thrilling coaster by today's standards (plus it has unnecessary over-the-shoulder restraints that cause a decent amount of headbanging), it gains points for its historic status and for being a classic icon. In addition to Tatsu, SFMM has a few other B&M's. Batman is the park's B&M inverted coaster. The first drop and vertical loop. The zero-g roll, the most intense part of the ride. The second vertical loop plus a corkscrew in the foreground. Navigating said corkscrew. A look at the entire second half of the ride (after the drop, first vertical loop, and zero-g roll). While Batman represents an early compact B&M inverted design, it is a very intense and still very good one. The Riddler's Revenge is the park's B&M stand-up. Notice how the lift hill actually travels through the coaster's enormous vertical loop. At the top of the lift, ready to dive back down into that massive loop. I think I can, I think I can... A couple of dive loops follow. Through the dive loop. Through the oblique loop, which is like a vertical loop sort of tilted on its side. Dive loop. Oblique loop. So much looping and twisting goodness everywhere on this ride. See, more looping and twisting goodness. And you do it all while standing up. From the Sky Tower, you can see that Batman and Riddler hang out next to each other (though I thought they were enemies). Riddler was my favorite ride in the park when it opened in 1998. It is a very long ride that used to be uber smooth. Though it rattles a little more these days than it did back then, I still think I like it slightly better than Batman, mainly due to its length and variety of elements. Zooming out a bit, you can also see how Green Lantern fits in. It's kind of weird having two green tracks right next to each other, but I know that both coasters obviously need to be green. Speaking of colors, Batman's new blue coloration looks a lot nicer than its former dark gray color scheme. And one final B&M, Scream, this time a floorless coaster. Down the curvy first drop. (What is it with B&M and their curvy first drops?) Through the vertical loop. Like Riddler, Scream has a gigantic vertical loop. Also like Riddler, Scream has a dive loop. It's pretty funny to look at people's legs sticking out on floorless coasters. Check out the front row. A couple of elements are unique to Scream. Here you can see the cobra roll plus the preceding zero-g roll, which is quite different from Batman's and actually my favorite inversion on the ride. Cobra roll. And yes, Scream is SFMM's infamous parking lot coaster. After the midcourse brakes there is some twistiness, followed by... ...interlocking corkscrews. Scream is definitely a fun ride, but it's never proven very popular. Probably because it is constucted over the parking lot and is so similar in its elements to Riddler, it might come across as a "second rate" ride. Only at Six Flags Magic Mountain could a seven-inversion floorless megacoaster be considered second rate. I do have a few more pictures left to go, but I'll put them in a separate post since I've reached my max here. Coming right up...

Universal Studios Hollywood did not open a major new attraction this year, though the park did introduce a couple new additions last year. Since I somehow managed to not visit Universal at all in 2010, those attractions were still new to me this year. The major attraction that the park opened in 2010 was King Kong 360 3-D, a replacement for the old King Kong Encounter on the Studio Tour that was destroyed during the 2008 backlot fire. You'd actually think this was a "new for 2011" addition, as Universal still advertises and promotes and hypes it to the same extent they did last year. I imagine it has proven very popular for the park. Interestingly, 2010's other new addition was never really advertised at all. The Special Effects Stage took over the show building that has previously housed Creature from the Black Lagoon, Fear Factor Live, Spiderman Rocks, Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue, Adventures of Conan, and probably some others that I'm forgetting. The Special Effects Stage is a revamp of the former Special Effects Stages that was removed to make way for the park's next big addition, 2012's new Transformers ride. Universal Studios Hollywood is an interesting park in that there are only about a dozen attractions. However, it is still very easy to spend the entire day, as many attractions require a decent investment of time. The shows run about 15 to 25 minutes in length. The famous Studio Tour tram ride lasts between 45 minutes and an hour. The park is divided into an Upper Lot and a Lower Lot, separated by a very large system of escalators called the Starway. It is not the simplest of tasks to travel back and forth between the Upper and Lower Lots, as it takes some time to head up or down the Starway. This is not by any means a complaint; it just makes the park quite unique. There is also an exciting feel throughout Universal that I attribute to being in a theme park based on movies that also serves as a working studio in the entertainment capital of the world. Where else can you find a theme park that fits that description? The iconic Universal globe just outside the park, with the entrance arch in the background. You don't have to be famous to walk the red carpet when entering (or exiting) Universal. Let's start the day at the world famous Backlot Studio Tram Tour, of course featuring the new King Kong 360 3-D. The tour begins by taking guests past a history of Universal films in the form of a timeline of movie posters. You then briefly pass through the front lot of the studio before heading into the backlot. The first stop in the backlot consists of the new Metropolitan / New York sets that have mostly been rebuilt since the 2008 fire. What's nice about the new sets is that Universal has added some more modern looking buildings into the mix. In addition, the classical looking New York sets are still present. Also found amongst the Metropolitan sets is Courthouse Square, which was of course seen in the Back to the Future films. I also learned for the first time that this was also the courthouse building seen in To Kill a Mockingbird. The courthouse survived the 2008 fire, so this is the actual set seen in the films, not a rebuilt version. An overview of the recently rebuilt Metropolitan / New York sets. You can see the courthouse in the back center of the picture. After the New York sets, it's time for the current headliner attraction at Universal, King Kong 360 3-D. Peter Jackson gives a brief intro to the attraction and the King Kong film history. The attraction itself is very impressive. It is billed as the world's largest 3-D experience, consisting of two long screens that run the length of both sides of the tram. The screens are designed to look like the images are surrounding the entire tram, as Kong and the dinos he's battling leap from one side to the other. What I like most about the attraction is that the 3-D is not meant to be "in your face" so that you are consciously aware that you are watching something in 3-D. Instead, it is simply meant to look real. I've always felt this way about the Terminator attraction in the park as well, but this one takes it to even the next level of realism. Although the tram stays stationary, there are several cool effects, giving the impression that you are speeding along while being chased by dinos, falling off a cliff, or being jumped on by Kong himself. Though the whole thing only lasts a few minutes (as do all of the individual Studio Tour attractions), it is very well done, and I would say worthy of the hype. Each time I rode it received a round of applause. Just outside of Kong is the old Collapsing Bridge, which I'm pretty sure is being used just as decoration these days rather than as an actual working attraction. This is sort of a shame, as it was always fun to ride over, but not too terribly disappointing, as there are plenty of other attractions on the tour that will jolt you around (especially Kong and Earthquake). It is always somewhat of an uncertainty throughout the entire tour what specifically you will experience, as they are constantly adjusting the route to accommodate any filming or other work. I rode the Studio Tour twice during this visit, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. The first time we traveled through Little Europe and the old Parting of the Red Sea exhibits, yet we skipped these later that same day. (I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of them the first time around.) There's also always the possibility that you might actually glimpse a movie or TV or music video shoot, or even a celebrity, though that is pretty rare. Next up on the tour are some prop cars that have been used in various movies, the most famous of which is probably the Back to the Future DeLorean. Speaking of cars, into what award-worthy attraction are we entering now? Oh goodie. The attraction bascially consists of two cars that get set into motion by an explosion. They leap forward... ...and then dance for us. I know the Fast and Furious movies are popular and make a ton of money for Universal, but this is honestly the dumbest thing in the park. Moving on, the tram passes by several props from the Jurassic Park films (mostly the second film, The Lost World). Next is Old Mexico, the setting for the Flash Flood attraction. After Old Mexico is the Old West. This area includes some of the oldest sets in the park, from back during the days of Universal's silent westerns, long before it was a park. Soundstage 50 is the next stop. We're told we are getting a special treat by being allowed to enter. In actuality, this is the show building that houses the Earthquake attraction. It's designed as a subway station that essentially "crumbles" all around the tram once the shaking begins. Amity Island is the next destination. I know the Jaws attraction is old and cheesy and fake-looking, but it's a classic and still remains one of my favorite parts of the Studio Tour. For you Desperate Housewives fans, the tram travels down Wisteria Lane. I'm actually more familiar with this house as 1313 Mockingbird Lane, the home to the Munsters before it became the home to Teri Hatcher (or whichever housewife lives here). The Whoville sets from How the Grinch Stole Christmas follow the Desperate Housewives sets. Another of my favorite stops on the Studio Tour is the Bates Motel and Psycho House. In years past the tram used to just pass by the sets. Now there is a live scene in which Norman Bates comes out of the motel, stuffs Marion Crane's body into the trunk of the car, and then proceeds to approach the tram wielding his knife. Mrs. Bates can also be glimpsed in the window of the Psycho House as the tram passes by. The War of the Worlds crash site is very impressive. This is an actual 747 that Universal destroyed, not just a fake prop. Tons of great detail throughout the set. You may recognize this cabin from the Great Outdoors movie or the Coach TV show. The final stop on the Studio Tour is the Mummy's Tomb, which is essentially one long dizzying funhouse tunnel. This has previously been themed as both an avalanche and a volcanic eruption (Dante's Peak), both of which I think I preferred, though there is kind of a funny gag now involving some scarab beetles and the tram guide. Speaking of the tram guide, Jimmy Fallon recently became the Studio Tour host, replacing Whoopi Goldberg. Each tram car has a few video monitors that show clips throughout the tour. Jimmy Fallon comes on every now and then in a short comedy sketch that usually involves whatever set the tour happens to be viewing. Each tram also has a live tour guide, who actually provides most of the information. Jimmy Fallon does sing us out, though, bidding us a "tramtastic" day. Overall, I highly recommend the Studio Tour, though I'm sure you don't need my recommendation. It's easily the most famous and popular attraction at Universal. Time to check out the rest of the attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood. The Simpsons Ride is the park's newest ride, replacing the old Back to the Future ride. While I very much enjoyed Back to the Future and a part of me will always miss it, I do like the Simpsons even better. It's a giant simulator ride that is rough but wild the way a simulator should be, with a storyline that is a bit incoherent but hilarious, involving typical Simpsons humor spoofing theme parks with all kinds of in-jokes. My favorite: Don't worry, a theme park won't kill you as long as you've got a dime left in your pocket. All of the park's shows are found in the Upper Lot. My very favorite is Terminator 2 3-D. There's a lot of talk about this show being dated and a replacement being in the works, but I completely disagree and hope the show stays for a long time. This is actually my favorite 3-D show at any theme park. It so perfectly blends an awesome pre-show (how often is a pre-show awesome?) with the main show, which itself blends live action, a 3-D film, and 4-D effects seamlessly. And as I mentioned above with King Kong, the 3-D here is not meant to make you jump or reach out and touch; it is meant to look real. And it does. Everything about Terminator 2 3-D succeeds flawlessly. Shrek 4-D is a newer attraction than Terminator, but it isn't quite as good in my opinion. It's not by any means bad, and I do very much enjoy it. It's just that Terminator is so awesome that everything else sort of pales by comparison. The pre-show here actually drags a little, but the main show is admittedly entertaining, blending typical Shrek humor with 3-D and 4-D effects (including some very bouncy seats). Waterworld is another show around which rumors of replacement constantly swirl. I'll agree that this one is a bit dated, plus it's based on a movie that wasn't that good in the first place. However, as a stunt show, Waterworld actually works quite well. There's a lot of acrobatics on jet skis and water skis. The sea plane that gets launched into the stadium always receives tons of "oohs" and "ahhs" from the audience. There's an impressive high fall by the villain, who has been set on fire. The heroes escape just before... ...the entire set explodes. Overall, the stunts are very good, the pyrotechnics are great, and the show has a catchy musical score. However, there's a lot of corny dialogue and hammy acting that gets old after a while. I won't be too upset if Waterworld gets replaced, as I've seen it so many times, but I'll also be happy if it stays. I think it's especially popular with first-timers. Universal's Animal Actors is a pretty typical trained animal show, which is fine, since trained animal shows tend to be entertaining. All of the animals in Universal's show have appeared in film or television. Famous dog stars that may make appearances are Lassie, Benji, or Beethoven. The orangutan always steals the show. Other animals include cats, pigs, rats, birds, and this cute little kit fox that was new to the show. The park's newest show. The Special Effects Stage showcases the use of classic practical effects plus modern visual effects in the making of movies and TV shows. I thought that this show would basically be identical to the old Special Effects Stages (with just on one set instead of three), but they actually made it pretty different. They seemed to reuse more of the props from the former Creature from the Black Lagoon show, such as this boat, than from the Special Effects Stages show. They also reused the cables and harnesses from Black Lagoon. This was for the finale of the show, in which an "audience member" is rigged up and made to look like he is floating through space. I think a show like this is definitely needed in a park like Universal, and I'm glad they tried to modernize it by including a discussion of visual effects (which the old Special Effects Stages lacked), but I think I'll still give the edge to the old show. I really liked the horror movie component of that one (a little of which was reproduced here), as well as the sound effects component (which is now completely absent). Maybe I was just used to the old show's format. I'll save final judgement for this one until after I see it again. One attraction that I absolutely love is Universal's House of Horrors, a year-round walk-through haunted maze themed to all of Univesal's classic horror films. This is very elaborate and incredibly lengthy and just extremely well done. You get to walk through scenes from Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Psycho, Child's Play, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and more. This has previously been themed exclusively to the Mummy and Van Helsing, but it works so much better as a mix of all the Universal classics. They've added more live actors into the House of Horrors over the past couple of years, making it a truly scary haunted maze (which means probably not appropriate for little kids; I've seen many come out bawling). It's especially creepy if you're walking through alone with just your group, which can happen especially at the end of the day. However, don't race through at a panicked pace. Take your time and really enjoy the atmosphere and details. I can't emphasize enough how exceptionally well done it is, especially for what is considered a "minor attraction" at the park. It would rank as one of the best haunted houses I've ever been through, and, believe it or not, possibly my favorite attraction at the park. That's it for the Upper Lot. Time to head down the Starway to the Lower Lot. The Starway is an elaborate system of escalators that connects the Upper and Lower Lots. The Lower Lot is the location of Jurassic Park The Ride, an awesome boat ride that opened 15 years ago but still remains among Universal Studio's best. Everyone's favorite dinosaurs from the movie make appearances here, including Dilophosaurus (the "spitter"). Velociraptor is of course present too. Tyrannosaurus rex terrorizes you before you make the final thrilling drop to safety. The ride will splash you throughout but definitely won't soak you, so it should satisfy everyone. A definite must for fans of the movie. This guy (Spinosaurus from Jurassic Park III) can also be found creeping around outside the ride itself. Next door to Jurassic Park is Revenge of the Mummy The Ride, Universal Hollywood's only coaster (an indoor roller coaster). For the most part, I really like it. I love the dark ride portion that begins the ride. I love the launch into the forward section of the coaster. I love the transition from forward to backwards that includes a visit by scarab beetles. However, the very end of the ride (the transition from backwards to forward) is completely anticlimactic and unsatisfying. I have not yet been on the Florida version of the ride, but it sounds like it has an infinitely superior ending. However, I do rank everything else about Hollywood's Mummy very highly. That's actually it for the Lower Lot. The old Special Effects Stages and Backdraft used to be down here too, but they've been taken over by construction of next year's headliner ride, Transformers. Something to look forward to and a reason to come back in 2012!

This was definitely the trend I noticed. The Abyss and Patriot were the longest lines of the day, while Bazooka Bowls was empty. The last time I went to Wild Rivers was probably in the very early 90s, so Chaos, Patriot and Bazooka Bowls were new to me. Do you happen to remember when Wahtubee opened? I'm not sure I remember it either, but I could just be forgetting about it. I distinctly remember all of the other older waterslides (Bombay Blasters, Sweitzer Falls, Nairobi Express, Congo River Rapids, Wipeout, etc.). I completely agree about them being among the best in the park (they were actually my favorite two). And they never had a line of more than a few people. I wonder if it's because they're so short and they can process people so quickly that a line never really gets a chance to form. This is exactly what I was told by an employee. Chaos is generally open, while Nairobi Express opens only on the very busiest of days. I guess I'll have to go on a Saturday in the middle of summer (when I would normally be staying away from a park) if I want to ride Nairobi. You're right, the exit of the slide was off limits to park guests (just as the entrance was), and what I could see of the final straightaway was very overgrown. Kind of sad, but maybe a good thing if it was too intense and painful and bordering on dangerous. Then again, I am pretty sure I rode it as a kid (apparently in one of its early incarnations), so it must have been doable. Anyway, thanks for all the great info. Hopefully the park will find a new location to call home, though I'm not going to hold my breath.