Bubba83

I did check on the Holiday Inn Express, with the special "MMPRO" rate their rooms were still $140 a night, and now they are booked up and don't have any rooms but suites left, which are $160 per night. We are going to want to check-in April 9th and check out April 11th. But we're so happy with our accomodations for Knott's that we are thinking of staying the extra night there and trying to leave early in the morning and drive to SFMM to get there before opening. I know the drive is about an hour without traffic, but on a weekday at 8am I am sure there will be plenty of traffic. Would it be a bad idea to do this? Also, I've never heard of Kayak and Sidestep before, I will check it out. Looks like they are similar services to all the ones I have checked. So far I have checked priceline, expedia, orbitz, travelocity, hotels.com, maybe I will find something on kayak or sidestep, thanks for the suggestion. Update: I finalized our accomodations a few minutes ago, we got a $107 a night rate at the Best Western near the park. We will probably walk to save the $15 in parking. I just wanted to thank everyone who helped with all the replies. I didn't expect so many different opinions/responses when I started this topic and I'm very happy so many people are looking to assist people with this kind of info! Thanks Again, Kevin

I worked as a restaurant front desk host for 2 years when I was 16 and 17. I kept my cell phone on vibrate in my pocket and never answered it if it rang during my shift. If I was talking on my cell phone it would have looked unprofessional to both my employers and the customers coming in to be sat. Once I got a break, I'd go outside and sit down and use it to return the calls. At a theme park, the reasons not to use one are more significant. In addition to looking unprofessional to customers and employees, there is also a safety issue.

Make your calls on your breaks. It's pretty simple. Also, shifts that long as ride operator are too long and they shouldn't be scheduled. The parks doing that should probably be focusing harder on recruitment instead of overworking their thin number of employees to the point where they quit.

I've never seen ride operators on their cell phones, which is very unprofessional and could distract them. I hope if anything comes from this it will be that they have a meeting with their employees and tell them something like "You'll be fired if we catch you operating a ride and using your cell phone at the same time". As for the forcefulness issues, I do kinda wish Goliath's helix pulled out a little sooner, as I do feel like I'm going to pass out since I have bad circulation (always have), but I've ridden it like 5-6 times and never have actually passed out so I like the ride, it's just not that re-ridable for me.

^ True, I'd wrestle a bear. < Is going to Knott's Berry Farm and Magic Mountain in 5 days. V Is jealous.

For some reason that Best Western is about $120 per night at this time of year, but I'm starting to think we might have to bite the bullet in Valencia and just pay it. If we stay at that Best Western, do you think we'd be able to walk to the park to avoid the $15 parking? We haven't done the priceline name your price option because I'm just a little too scared to put all the details in their hands. For example, you are booked whatever room any hotel with a certain star rating has, and charged on the spot. It may or may not be possible after your room is booked to switch to the room options you want, like 2 queen beds and smoking or non, and if you can't get what you want, unfortunately you're stuck with it. As for Buena Park, we're not going to stay at the Day's Inn anymore, the Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel has rooms for about the same price!

Anyone know when Deja Vu is going to re-open?

I need to visit this park so bad. It's like top 3 for sure if I made a must visit next list! I've only been to one park on the east coast, BGE. Unless you count Cedar Point as East Coast. Are there any other parks nearby I would also be able to hit?

Damn, you guys are pro at Beer Photo Trip Reports. I wish my friends were willing to try new brewpubs instead of going across to the gas station and buying cases of bud light over and over.

Very, very nice job sir!

No. Do you hope I believe in magic? (missed the mcdonalds reference)

Yuck. Tell him he isn't welcome back until he has ridden Eejanaika at Fuji-Q. http://www.themeparkreview.com/videos/eejanaika.htm

I liked this Trip Report a lot. I also liked how you didn't complain about the cold too much. Afterall it's probably why the queues were so short!

Yes. Do you hope I do?

I don't feel that way at all. I think it would be fun to fly out of a roller coaster, you'd basically be flying. The only bad part about it is what happens next, hitting a solid object and probably severely injuring or killing yourself. That's why it is fun for me, you get the benefit of feeling like you're flying out of the chair without the disadvantages of getting hurt. If you throw up or break your leg, I don't see any advantages to either of those, because there is no moment of sensation or fun during either of those events.

Thank you.

Using the name your own price feature?

"I cant see how anyone could enjoy feeling like they're gonna come out!" ^ Probably because you don't actually come out but you get the sensation you will. =P

I really can't afford $170 a night for the Hilton Garden Inn. Should we just start looking in like San Fernando? Edit: Oh hey, we're also looking for good places to eat outside the park. Anything you could suggest would be very welcome! Not looking for anything too nice and expensive, just something that has good service/food/prices near SFMM. I was pretty pleased with Marie Calendar's last visit.

I've been on 3 stand-up coasters. Riddler's at SFMM, Vortex at PGA, and Mantis at CP. Riddler's is by far the best of the 3 in my opinion. I usually only see steel coaster "top 10" or "top 25" lists, and naturally stand ups don't rate very high overall in those lists. Which makes me wonder, what is the best stand up coaster in the world based on user ratings? Is there somewhere I can go to see that? Is Riddler's the best? I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

My friend and I are planning to go to Knott's Berry Farm first, and we got a good tip from a TPR member to stay at a hotel across the street for $60 a night that is apparently decent. I'm looking to spend no more than $80 per night for hotel and I've started looking around Valencia/Santa Clarita and I can't seem to find anything, even the lowest end hotels are charging $100 a night. I know you guys live there, so it might be a stretch to ask about hotels, but then again, I figure you might know something I don't.

Has X been open every day of the week?

The Kölsch from Four Peaks Micro-Brewery in Tempe, AZ From the website: Sunbru Kölsch Style Ale A very light golden ale that is malty sweet, almost honey-like in the nose. This ale has a light to medium body and a very delicate flavor. Easy drinking, it has very low bitterness and a soft dry finish. 5.2% alcohol/volume. This style originates from the city of Cologne, Germany where all twenty eight breweries are dedicated to brewing only Kölsch. Wish I had a picture of the actual beer, and the rockin burger that went with it. Maybe next time, but this is my favorite pub beer around here. Also was my favorite brew when I was in Germany.

Your mother is a circus wagon. That's right, a circus wagon. Yeah, I said it...

Thanks for the suggestion, I hear the renovations they did there were good but... Above the price range, cheapest room I found for those dates was $159 per night. Looking for something closer to around $50-60 per night.