65skylark

I am admittedly not very into shows. They are the very last reason I would ever visit a park. So maybe it's just my lack of excitement for this type of thing, but to me, it just looks like Fantasmic with a lot more water and no live action spots. The music is even very similar. I'm sorry, but the videos look like a whole lot of time and money to invest in shooting a lot of water into the air.

Nice job Jimmy. I need to do the LA touristy thing one of these days, too. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun.

^^Totally agree. Just the slow climb to the top builds up so much more anticipation than just being blasted off from ground level. But, Maliboomer would be a great fit, too. That park certainly needs something like that to go along with it's coaster heavy line-up.

Great PTR as usual, Divv.

Very cool, Cameron! Looks like your buddies did some good planning and marketing. That was one heck of a crowd. Looking forward to some Rye Knot if I ever make it our to IB some day.

Absolutely. I think Wes was right. SF is doing this just so enthusiasts can argue themselves in circles for the next few years. Who cares what they call it, if it is better.

That's just it. Regardless of the what the facts are in this case, maybe this will cause Merlin to re-evaluate the way the use these whales, like you said earlier. That show has always seemed a bit much to me. I can't imagine their ticket sales would suffer much from not having 7000 pound wild animals hurtling trainers through the air. They could still have a show where half the crowd gets soaked and the whales jump out of the water and everything else. It just seems a very unnecessary risk.

I like n7's design a lot. I think it's a bit too "bright?". I think that design and layout would look good with colors similar to what rcrider had for his (which was also a great card).

Kid on a leash! Kid on a leash! Great updates, guys.

It has been FAR too long since my last visit to SCBB. One of my all time favorite parks. And it really doesn't get much coverage on most sites. Thanks for the update! I look forward to seeing more pictures.

Just to add to this, I think people really need to understand what they are getting, not just in the cost of the membership, but in having a site with TPR's track record to back up what they are offering. Regardless of your personal opinion of this site, you can't argue that TPR has set themselves way above other enthusiast sites. They actually have an established track record of parks all over the world working with them on a level not even ACE gets anymore. What other coaster site can say that? None. I see this as a no lose situation. I don't think the premium membership would be for everyone, and for those people, you continue to use the site as you always have. For those of us who plan on going on trips, attending park events and using the TPR store, it is a great benefit.

I have to admitt, some of those pics were a bit disturbing. Nice to see Lou is still alive

^ I have billions of pictures from SFMM. I didn't bother posting many because it is easily the most coverd park on TPR. If you want more pictures of SFMM than any normal human being could possibly handle, than I suggest blowing you mind here......... http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26782

Before I post the pictures for WCB, I just want to say that this event was awesome. Robb and Elissa, Chris and Natalie, and Six Flags Magic Mountain deserve a huge THANK YOU for putting this thing together. Thanks!!!! * I apologize in advance if some of these pictures look familiar from the official WCB PTR Robb posted. But hey, it's been like 8 months, you'll get over it. And I will end with this lovely family photo (minus the pregnant lady) in front of Valencia Falls. Thanks for reading! TPRERT!!!!!!! This looks different now. This is the second best coaster on the West Coast. There is ERT and then there is TPR ERT. Parents, teach your children to use protection. I stole that caption from Robb. Sorry. Yep. I hear Deloreans don't do well in the rain. Big Mike doing what he does. Cameron is at least 20% cooler than everyone else in America. This picture was supposed to be funny but instead it's just blurry. If you know who is in the picture and what the blue line says, then maybe it is still funny. Yeah, maybe not.

The next day we met up with Ted (coasterfanatic) and Catrina (ImAPrincess) at Disneyland. Beer enthusiast group. Next stop, WCB at Flags Magic Mountain . I got nothin. Chad getting beat at air hockey by the birthday girl. Later that evening was Kristen's birthday party. There was a big slide of death. It was fun. How's that brake run for you there, Ted? New credit! Sandi couldn't ride the best coaster on the West Coast because she had a baby in her. =( This, however, is the single best roller coaster on the West Coast. Fact. This is not Disneyland. This is a spinning coaster that does not spin. Sad and pathetic. Kid on a leash. OMFG! The door is open. OMFG!!!!! Chad's expression pretty much sums up what we thought of the ride. We hadn't done the Finding Nemo subs yet (because we didn't care) but since the line was short, we decided, why not? 25 minutes!!!!! Are you kidding me?! Yes, it's small. I still prefer this park over the Magic Kingdom at WDW. Yes, I know I'm in the minority.

So, I was looking through my pictures for no particular reason this evening and found my 2009 West Coast Bash pics. So I said to myself, why not share? This trip was kind of a two part trip for us. My wedding anniversary is March 17th (St Patty's Day) and Sandi (my wife) and I LOVE San Diego, so we decided to start our trip at Mission Beach. I'll keep this one short and sweet as I didn't take too many pictures and I'm no Scott, Wes, or Dave Thomas, so you'll just have to bear with me on the not so clever captions. Sun sets on Mission Bay. Disneyland is next. These are palm trees. I live in Portland Oregon. It rains here a lot. I like palm trees. This is our favorite restaurant in San Diego. Just after this picture was taken we told our kids that they were getting a new brother or sister. My daughter kind of freaked out and my son thought it was no big deal. Justin POV. I could get used to this. Looking down at the pool area. There is a roller coaster in this picture. If you know what coaster it is, PM me. If you guess right, I will not send you a bag-o-crap. The view looking out over the bay at the Pacific. These are our beautiful children enjoying the view from the balcony. We started our trip at San Diego's Mission Beach on the 15th floor of this super groovy hotel.

The Abyss release party was this last Tuesday at Deschutes Brewery in Portland. Still easily my favorite beer. Also, I love finding beer buried in the beer fridge that I forgot I had. It's like an early Christmas present. As I was adding my new bottles of 09 to the collection I found two bottles of Mirror Mirror. Aged for almost a year now I thought I'd crack one open and give her a taste. WOW. This one seriously needs a year before it can be truly appreciated. Much better. I'll be saving the last bottle for at least another 6 months to a year. 2009 Mirror Mirror released early this year. '07, '08, '09. Now that's a beautiful sight. I'm looking forward to the ultimate vertical tasting soon.

Unfortunately, my last park and coaster for the year was in September. And it was about as crappy a coaster as you can find. Looping Thunder @ Oaks Park.

#6 all the way. Great report. Fantastic pictures! I really NEED to get to Europe one of these years.

Why is this so ? Because, like a few have already said, Ghost Rider has gone to crap. The first two or three years it was open it was amazing. Then it spent several years slowly going down hill but still capable of giving some decent late night rides. The last two years (especialy this year) it is nothing but pain and discomfort.

Yeah, I've got pretty good connections. Normally you wouldn't be able to just walk in when there are only two other people in the entire restaurant We literally had the place to ourselves.

Here's an even better picture showing off all of the "homemade' goodness of Ice Mountain Bobsleds, Chuck. How's that for scarry looking?

Very nice, Larry! I think it actually worked out well that you deleted those photos on accident. You said you wanted to do a unique photo TR and you've certainly have. It was great hanging out with you again! I'm looking forward to seeing the Oaks Park pictures. Should be about 50 pics of the bumper cars and a half dozen of the rest of the park, right? And hooray for a Sandi cameo!

I've been on both many times and SCBB is a much better coaster, IMO. Noticable airtime, much better pacing and a lot smoother. The tunnel leading to the lift is a lot better on the SCBB Dipper, also. The only California woodie I haven't been on is Terminator. Out of all the rest, I rank Giant Dipper at SCBB number one with Roar a close second. There was a time when I had Ghost Rider firmly at number one but those days are long gone.

Wait, something is going on at KD? Eh, I'll just take your word for it. BTW, great report Matt!