ILoveRides

Yay, it sounds like Indiana Jones won't look like he's standing on a Footsie Wootsie machine anymore. Those animatronics were in serious need of a rehab. I'm glad Indy is finally getting some TLC!

^ This wouldn't surprise me either, although I don't think it would do much to attract people to the park. At the S&S presentation at WCB 2010, S&S announced their Free Fly "X" coaster concept. If I remember correctly they said they had been in town presenting the concept to executives in the area. I know it's unlikely, and none of the rumors point to it, but it would certainly be an interesting addition if Knott's put one of those in.

^^ Manly Flyer!!!

I've never been on it, but from POVs it looks like Monster Mansion at SFOG is pretty decent. I wouldn't mind seeing more rides like that at Six Flags parks.

^ TPR posted on Facebook that they aren't part of the event this year since TPR is based in Orlando now. But they still recommend signing up through MiceChat!

This looks like a great choice for the Boardwalk. I can't wait to ride it!

^

Oh, BTW, Mind if I use those ultra embarrassing makeup pictures in my report??? xoxo Only because you were nice enough to ask first! Oh wait...

Perhaps David will explain The Robot Warehouse, perhaps not. I'm just sorta upset that no robots made it into the trip report!!!! Tim - there is a story, but it's sort of boring and long and convoluted, so I'm not going to post it. But feel free to ask me in person! Bebe - next time, robots! MAYBE. I agree with Bebe! The event was a blast, and it raised a ton of money for an awesome cause, but I must say... I hurt for days and had bruises that lasted for weeks. We'll see! You do it because you're Commander Bebe. Captain Bebe Mc. Bebington! It's your sworn duty. And you will continue to do it or else you will be demoted from Bebe to Beh.

That was hilarious Bebes! Seriously well done! I was laughing through the whole report. So many random memories and inside jokes in there too! I loved it! Oh, and I never should've posted those makeup pictures!!! If it clears up some confusion - The Bebes wanted to make this a Groundhog Day themed trip report, which made sense, considering the repetitive nature of the Coasting For Kids event. But I said it was too predictable and that it had to be Jurassic Park themed and have dinosaurs. The rest is history! (But I still want more dinosaurs!) You have left me with a lot of questions though Bebes... Who vacuums the sidewalk? What is this Theme Park Retreat I hear about? And what happened to my dinosaur hat pic sequence from Universal? I feel like there could be an entire part 2 of this TR that gives us these valuable bits of information. Anyhow, amazing TR (as always), it was great hanging out with you guys (as always), and we can't wait til we see you guys again (as always)!!!

A dive machine seems a bit repetitive to me since you already have vertical drops on Xcelerator and Supreme Scream. It's kind of the same gimmick, and one that Xcelerator pulls off better IMO.

Spears and I got in without any problem a few years ago. They even gave us a discount since we were enthusiasts. We actually enjoyed the park. It's clearly aimed at kids, but still, it was fun. I think the TR I did from this park may have been my first one ever. (It's the one where the manly pose was invented!) Anyhow, here's a pic of me on the planes from that day. If my memory serves me correctly, there wasn't a weight or height limit.

Oh yeah, that's right!!! I *HATE* trains but love animal butts. Thanks so much for reminding me! This new epic trip report you're working on better be pretty freaking epic to make up for all the animal butts I just had to endure. It better be Jurassic Park themed!

Nooooo... save the spiders! I am obviously jealous you went to Train Town. TRAINS!!! But thanks for the photos - I've never seen a TR from there. I could've done without the elephant vagina, but otherwise, excellent TR!

That was an awesome update! Great photos.

Excellent photos with helpful commentary! Thanks for taking the time to post it. That was a really cool and rare look back in time!

Friday at Six Flags Magic Mountain was the media day for Lex Luthor Drop of Doom, the world's tallest drop tower, and TPR was there with David and Spears! It's a doomed drop with some Luthor on top! Lets check it out... Lex Luthor Drop of Doom Rider POV Video! We're at Six Flags Magic Mountain for the Lex Luthor Drop of Doom media day! On the way in we spotted Gertrude! We let Gertrude tag along with us to the event so that she could try the ride. And here it is! This is the main sign outside the queue building. On the outside of the queue building there are several posters. There's also a new alien shooting midway-style game. You get a slingshot and 3 balls, and you have to shoot the balls into the holes on the aliens. They let us try it out. It was pretty fun! Here's a picture of Spears playing. I had one successful shot when I played. Neal Thurman, Director of Park Operations, tried the game out too. There's also a small Daily Planet gift shop near the exit of the ride. There were stilt-walkers walking around and getting the crowd excited. Park President Bonnie Rabjohn came on stage to introduce the new ride and some special guests. First up was Michael Rosenbaum who played Lex Luthor on the Smallville TV show. Lex Luthor isn't so scary! Also introduced were Dustin Penner of the Los Angeles Kings, and some members of the LA Kings Ice Crew. Bonnie, Michael, and Dustin then grabbed onto the lever that would launch the first official ride. They pulled the lever... And the ride began as confetti filled the air! Up it went. Here it is at the top! The Superman cars then shot into view, and when they stopped at the top the Lex Luthor car was dropped simultaneously. Fireworks were launched off the top of the tower in celebration. Firework smoke enthusiasts, if there are such a thing, will probably love this shot. Everyone posed for a minute as the confetti rained down. Yay confetti! Spears posed in the confetti too! The Lex Luthor Drop of Doom is officially open! Here's the ride sign at the entrance. And here's what you see when you first walk in. This is the old arcade building which has been turned into a LexCorp building. There are various signs all around the room. And a tribute to Lex Luthor. More signage. LexCorp is building our tomorrow! This suit is the main attention grabber in the room. One more sign. There's also an elevator door at the back of the room. Going up? You then enter a hallway which leads you out to the ride. Once you leave the hallway, this is your view. And here's the loading area with a car just starting its journey up the tower. Here's the loading area for the second car. They're identical, just on opposite sides of the Superman tower. Bye bye car! The gates opened and we were about to ride! Spears shows off the ride vehicle. Don't let her looks fool you - she's terrified of drop towers! After surviving a ride, Spears posed with the ladies of the LA Kings Ice Crew. I couldn't resist taking a few more rides. I give it two thumbs up! The drop is really long - it just keeps going and going. The harnesses are very open and don't get in your way. And the ride itself is butter smooth. The smoothness would be my only minor criticism of the ride experience. While smoothness is a selling point on a roller coaster, free fall rides are sometimes more fun when they shake and feel rickety. This one doesn't have that "it's about to break and fall apart feeling" that some of the older Intamin drop towers have. That said, it's a great ride that in my opinion was absolutely the right choice for SFMM. The length of the drop makes up for any minor criticism I could throw at it. One more shot of a car leaving the station. This is what you see between the two loading areas. It's like a shrine to Intamin cables. Back outside the ride, here are some more photos. Up goes a car! There it is all the way at the top. At the top you hear the voice of Lex Luthor. The audio is loud (in a good way) and clear. It was actually quite well done! Then down it comes! And into the magnetic brakes. Hey look, it's Gertrude! It looks like she's having a great time. At the beginning of the day they did a few synced launches where Lex Luthor would drop at the same time as Superman. I'll end with a few shots from one of those launches. The tower sways 24" for Lex Luthor riders when the two rides sync up like this. We didn't get a chance to actually ride it like this during the media event, so I can't wait to get back to the park and see what Lex Luthor feels like when Superman is running. They won't be deliberately synced during normal operation, so you just have to get lucky for this to happen. And down they come! Lex Luthor Drop of Doom is really fun (and scary!) I would definitely recommend getting out to SFMM to ride it. Thanks for checking out this report everyone!

^ Yep! My report from the media event will be up very soon!

Agreed. The restraints aren't intrusive at all. It was a mixed bag for Spears and me. Some rides the audio wasn't synced and the ride dropped in the middle of the talking (which was actually pretty scary, because you weren't expecting it!), one ride didn't have any audio, and some rides the audio worked as intended. I'm guessing the kinks will get worked out pretty quickly. Overall, when it works I think it adds to the experience. It's loud (in a good way) and clear.

We heard Tim confirm in an interview that it sways 24" when the Superman trains run. Unfortunately they weren't running Superman during the media-ride-time portion of today's event (probably because the noise would interfere with all the video taping), so Spears and I didn't get to feel how shaky it is when Superman runs. When Superman isn't running, the ride is very, very, very smooth. Tim also stated that during normal operations there will be no deliberate syncing between Superman and LL:Dod. So they will only sync up perfectly if you get lucky.

^ lol. In that case they deserve congratulations on a well crafted and perfectly executed plan.

^ I'm 6' 1", and at first glance when getting in the trains they looked tight, because your legs now go on either side of the person in front of you in carved out leg pockets, rather than just having a large open seat to place your legs wherever you want. However, once settling in, I found there to be enough room, and it didn't feel cramped to me. But yeah, the ride experience seemed no better than before. So is the slight increase in capacity worth losing the old sleds? I suppose different people would give different answers. There may be other reasons Disney changed to these sleds though. The new seat belt system is easier to use, and presumably locks once you leave the station. The old seat belts didn't lock, which their lawyers may not have liked. Also, a total guess, buy maybe these sleds are easier to maintain? Plus I think they share the same design as the trains on Space Mountain in Florida, so maybe having a larger fleet of the same trains makes replacement parts cheaper and easier to get? Just a few other possible reasons Disney may have made the switch.

Here's a look at the refurbed Matterhorn: After the DCA media event we headed over to Disneyland because we heard that a certain snowy mountain may have been given a little TLC. Snowy mountain spotted! Yep, the Matterhorn has officially reopened after its lengthy refurb. Are my eyes tricking me, or is there something up on the top of the mountain? That's no trick! Disney brought back the mountain climbers! I remember the mountain climbers from my childhood. They were gone. They're back. EPIC WIN! 90 minute wait. I spy new bobsleds. Hello new bobsleds! I also spy NEW LANDSCAPING. And I must say, of all the changes, I think the refreshed landscaping may be my favorite. There are also some festive musicians who play music way up on the mountain. They're awesome! The view from up there must be pretty neat. The monorails enjoy listening to the music as they circle the mountain. New bobsleds. You can only sit one-person-per-seat now though. But people seem to be enjoying them. Forget the bobsleds though, the real star of the show is LANDSCAPING! Mr. Bee says, "Yep, the landscaping is where it's at!" The station and Matterhorn signs look pretty similar. But forget the station and signs, it's all about the landscaping! Mr. Bird says, "I really appreciate all the new landscaping!" Well the landscaping isn't EVERYTHING. They also added single rider lines on both sides, and that's pretty neat. I like the adding-single-rider-lines trend going on. Most trains leave without empty seats, and guests who don't mind riding alone get a significantly shorter wait. These lines can also help a lot for guests who may only be able to stay one or two days at the resort, but still want to do everything. Here's the main sign. It looks pretty similar. Here's the main sign, with some LANDSCAPING in the foreground! Fancy! The old 2 riders per seat signs have been replaced with 1 rider per seat signs. Which I suppose is good, because you can't sit 2-to-a-seat anymore. Here's the new hotness that I'm sure everyone is wondering about. Lets take a ride and see how they feel. I was expecting a little more work to be done on the show scenes. The snowfall effect on the lift looked the same. The crystal cave seemed the same too. There may have been some new LED lighting here, but if so it wasn't too noticeable in the daytime. The yeti lighting was improved a bit, but still, nothing huge. And the new bobsleds? Well, they feel about the same. I was hoping for a smoother ride, considering we had to give up one of the coolest features of the Matterhorn - 2 per seat seating - to get these new sleds. But they feel pretty much like the old ones. Spears was in a middle seat and claimed they were a little less rough there, but in the back I didn't notice much of a difference. So in my opinion the only advantage of these new sleds from a guest standpoint is the theoretical higher capacity (there are less seats, but more of the seats will be filled). Yeti sighting #2. Once again, improved lighting, but nothing Earth shattering. Which isn't a bad thing - it's just not an amazing thing either. Something like on-ride audio or a Yeti with more movement would've blown people away, but I guess it just wasn't in the budget. So how do I sum up this rehab? The new sleds and lighting inside the mountain were kind of "meh." However, the new night-time lighting package on the outside of the mountain (not pictured in this report because it was daytime), the revival of the mountain climbers, the new paint job, the single rider lines, and of course, the LANDSCAPING were all done very well. So on the whole, things look really good and have been spruced up, but there isn't anything that will blow you away, and I do miss 2-per-seat-seating. But yay for the single rider line so you don't have to wait in this! And yay for LANDSCAPING! Bye bye Matterhorn. You're still my first roller coaster, and for that I love you!

Here is part 3, the final update: Welcome to part 3! This part covers the grand re-opening of DCA on Friday, June 15th 2012! Outside the park thousands of guests had slept overnight to be among the first to experience the new DCA. With only about an hour more to go before the grand re-opening, you could feel the excitement in the air. Just before the re-opening ceremony, the guests were allowed to queue up on Buena Vista Street. The guests were held at this location until after the opening ceremony. It was finally time! The Red Car Trolley News Boys took to the stage and began performing. They danced... They flipped... And they all had custom papers announcing the grand re-opening! Let The Adventure Begin! After the performance, Bob Iger took to the stage. He gave an eloquent and touching speech, talking about Walt Disney's trip to California with little more than a suitcase and a dream, and how that dream came true beyond even Walt's wildest imagination. Iger then welcome a special guest, Mickey Mouse. Mickey asked if he could invite a few friends, and of course Mr. Iger agreed. From all around, cast members from all facets of the park surrounded the stage, and joined in singing "California Here I Come." It was neat seeing the eclectic mix of costumes and personalities all performing together. It was also a nice way to honor all the cast members who help make the park great. Mickey turned to Mr. Iger and said, "Alright Bob, that's your cue!" And with that, Iger announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the new Disney California Adventure!" The crowd went wild! The large collection of cast members all waved goodbye and ran off into the distance. Flamingos, trolleys, and cars dispersed as quickly as they had arrived. With only minutes to go until 9am, the public was allowed to line up in front of the Carthay Circle Theater. At 9am the Cars Land employees holding a velvet rope began walking guests into the park. The massive crowd made their way towards Cars Land. The crowd entered Cars Land and began walking down Route 66. They made their way towards Radiator Springs Racers. The 13 hour overnight wait was finally about to pay off for everyone! I bet all the residents of Radiator Springs are ecstatic that people are finally coming in droves to their town. While the crowd all funneled in to Radiator Springs Racers, we decided to check out the one place in Cars Land we hadn't stopped in at yet, Flo's V8 Cafe. Everyone was heading for the rides, so it was still empty. Just inside the door is a fancy chandelier. They offer more (s)miles per gallon. Here's a look at the breakfast menu. And here's a look at the standard menu. The view from Flo's is incredible. There's a giant rear view mirror hanging on the wall. Plenty of records hang on the walls, all with some sort of pun. That's punny! If you've already ridden the rides, this would be a nice place to come first thing in the morning to enjoy breakfast in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. The first 30 minutes of the day it was pretty empty. It's equally pretty inside and out. There's plenty of outdoor seating. Bob Iger and Tom Staggs were wandering through the land this morning. When it looked like they had a moment, we introduced ourselves and took a quick picture with them. I would've dressed nicer if I had known! Still, this was a total Disney geek moment for me. When Spears was taking a picture of me with Tom Staggs, he interrupted and said, "Wait, the pretty girl needs to get in this picture, and she needs to be in the middle!" So we had someone else take the picture with the two of us, and this is how it turned out! Tom was a really nice guy. I wish we could've talked longer! The Goodyear Blimp was back this morning. I think the bear wants to eat it. Here's a look at the Fastpass line for Racers. They extended the queue with tape on the ground. Speaking of Fastpasses, while I was photographing the crowd walking in, Spears made a point to grab one. We kept it as a souvenir. It's one of the first, if not the first Radiator Springs Racers Fastpass ever issued. It says 8:55am and the park didn't even open until 9am. Since everyone was exploring Cars Land in the morning, the rest of the park was pretty empty. Tower of Terror had no line so we took a ride. We used our time on the elevator to catch up on the latest news in The Buena Vista Bugle. After Tower of Terror, we decided to ride a Red Car Trolley. Here comes our trolley. A picture from our first ride on the trolleys. If you ask nicely, you may get to blow the whistle! The trolleys seat 20 people at a time. The ads advertise real places on Buena Vista Street. That was a neat little touch. Spears and the rest of the trolley riders waved to passersby during our entire ride. One of the conductors talks about the sights you're passing as you ride. And the other conductor drives the trolley. Small side story: As a special bonus for any train fans out there, we made our way out to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA this weekend for their Pacific Electric Red Car day! This is the actual red car trolley that the Imagineers based the California Adventure version off of. We arrived just before the museum closed, but they were really nice and allowed us to take a spin on the cars as they put them away for the night. Here's the inside of the real red car that inspired the DCA version. The DCA version has ads just like this! The employee we talked to told us about how the Imagineers came out and rode the cars and took measurements and pictures of them to create the replicas. While this is the style of car that inspired the DCA version, apparently the color of red they used on the DCA version is actually from a newer red car trolley model, which is why the shade of red on the DCA cars isn't quite the same as what's pictured here. If you look closely, you can see that Disney actually numbered one of their red cars 717 as a tribute to the actual car that inspired their design. Back over to Cars Land, after just 40 minutes Radiator Springs Racers Fastpasses were sold out. The land was now filled to the brim with guests. I'm guessing this sight makes Disney management very happy. There was a huge turnout for the first day. Cars Land is really cool to experience as an adult, but I can only image how fascinating it must be for a child. One last shot of the traffic jam on Route 66. On the topic of souvenirs, over the 3 media days Spears and I looked in every shop and saw everything they had to offer. There are a lot of neat custom Cars Land items, but in our opinion this one takes the cake. Music is the unsung hero of Cars Land, and this CD has every major song from the land, including all the Mater's Junkyard Jamboree songs, as well as a Radiator Springs Racers full attraction ride through. If you're looking for an item to remember Cars Land by, this one is a great choice! Lets check out the line for Radiator Springs Racers. Yep, it's long! Like the Energizer Bunny it keeps going and going and going. At its maximum length the line stretched all the way to the entrance of Paradise Pier, and had an estimated wait time of 5-7 hours. The ride is good, but I'm not sure if I would wait that long for it! On our way out we decided to make one quick stop at The Blue Sky Cellar. I asked what would happen to the cellar now that all of the changes to DCA were complete. The cast members said that they plan to keep it open, using it to show off any future changes to DCA as well as changes to their other amusement parks. It was nice to hear that the cellar will continue to be updated and won't be closing now that DCA's construction is complete. Looking at the Cars Land model in the cellar brought back memories of all the times I came in there to see the latest progress on all of DCA's projects. I remember dreaming about riding Radiator Springs Racers since the first renderings and models were shown, and it's so surreal looking back at a model now that the real land is complete right next door. It has been an amazing 5 years watching DCA get transformed, and I'm so happy that for me at least the changes completely lived up to my expectations. Spears and I want to give a huge thank you to Disney for throwing such an incredible event and for inviting TPR to attend. It's hard to put into words how amazing these 3 days were. They really added up to more than the sum of their parts. We had many once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and will never forget the fun times we had. In our opinion, the new additions to California Adventure have truly transformed the park. Buena Vista Street inspires by telling the story of Walt Disney when he first arrived in California to pursue his dreams - with little more than a suitcase and a dream he changed the lives of billions of people. Cars Land thrills and adds to DCA one of the most immersive themed environments ever created. And all of the other changes over the last 5 years have rounded out the lineup of the park, making it feel much more complete and giving it the "soul" that it lacked when it first opened. If the past 5 years are any indication, the future of DCA is very, very bright. We can't wait to see what surprises that future holds! Thanks for checking out our report.

By the way, for those interested, the MythBusters special they were filming is scheduled to air July 3rd.