KBrylczyk

^ Ah, gotcha. I'm not holding my breath, haha.

Uh, what? Where did they say that? I was expecting them to maybe reopen the food stands down in that desolate area of the park.

I'm imagining a giant Coke logo plastered on it, a la the Jersey Boys advertisement on El Toro.

Wait, what? Sorry but I have to really disagree about this. And I do love Radiator Springs Racers, a lot. I don't even like the Cars franchise, but I love that ride. But more thrilling than Test Track? Sorry, no. If there is one thing I feel that Radiator Springs Racers is lacking is a really thrilling, awesome ending. The entire last part of the ride I feel like the ride wants to go faster, but it goes about half the speed of Test Track as it's top speed. IMO, when you have a ride that is based around RACING, your ride should have blown Test Track away, but it doesn't. Different stroke for different folks. Yeah, Test Track hits a higher top speed but I much prefer the hills and turns in RSR. Just like you and RSR, I'm not trying to bring Test Track down as I love it, as well, but I just prefer RSR because I feel it offers more during the finale. I also find the immersion of RSR adds a ton to the experience. Rather than looking straight ahead I always catch myself looking all around the environment during the race with the cliffs and rock formations that you're speeding around. I'm sure we'll agree on Journey To The Center Of The Earth once I finally get over to Japan, though! Ever since I saw your POV of that one I've been jonesing for a fix, haha.

Last year we visited the following week (so, really, this week) and it was even less crowded, plus Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion were up and running for Halloween. I don't think any rides were actually shut down during that visit aside from half of Matterhorn. It really is the best time to go! Kids are just starting back up in school so no families are looking at vacations!

Time for a fun filled report from a fun filled two days at Disneyland Resort! i'm talking about photos, videos, vines, POVs, ridiculous commentary while on rides, the sounds of my pain mixed with laughter, more fun stuff, and INDIANA FREAKIN' JONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, so there's only like three photos of Indy, but shut up. It's my favorite ride in the history of everything ever recorded by sentient beings, so deal with it. INDY 4 LYFE DAWG! Holy crap I need to lay off the caffeine. Oh, well, c'est la vie. Join me as we enter a world of horrifyingly oversized mice! Seriously, they're huge and have costumes. It's weird, man. Not to mention that there's a dog named after a panet that doesn't exist anymore, another dog who is the equivalent of The Wizard Of Oz's Scarecrow, chipmunks who neither chip nor munk, ducks with anger management issues, and crazy women who find pleasure living in a castle made of ice. Are we sure I didn't take a hefty amount of drugs today? Alright, let me get serious for a minute. Put simply, this was the best visit I've had to Disneyland Resort! Granted, I've only been four times in the same amount of years (2011, 2013, twice this year) so I don't have a great background for how the park has fared through history, but that shouldn't matter. What matters is that Disneyland was hitting on all cylinders even with two of their star attractions shut down for Halloween prep (Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain). That's not an easy thing to pull off and they came through with flying colors. Our first day we went straight to....STARBUCKS! YEAH! Not what you were expecting? You obviously don't know my priorities. And shame on you for judging me. Just because I decided to forego the questionable Super 8 breakfast and instead opt for a giant iced coffee and spinach & feta wrap at Starbucks doesn't mean you have to hate me. The fact that I was at the Starbucks at Disneyland and you weren't, though, does. Anyhoo, after the delicious detour of delectable dining (wonderful alliteration, if I do say so), we headed to California Adventure. Sheesh, again with the judging! Quit it! Yes, we went to California Adventure before Disneyland. Deal with it. We had good reasons, one of those being to get our World Of Color Fastpasses (because World Of Color is AWESOME and if you don't like it you're wrong even though Fantasmic is the better show but Fantasmic isn't performed outside of weekends and we were there on a Monday and Tuesday so no Fantasmic for us but at least we got World Of Color which was AWESOME and that brought us full circle in this ridiculously long run-on sentence and can you believe I'm still going on about this without using a single period anywhere?). The other reason was because California Screamin' would be closing on Tuesday for it's scheduled maintenance and we wanted to get our rides on it. Also Cars Land. Now, in past visits I've made it a point to beeline to the World Of Color Fastpass booth followed by Paradise Pier to get Screamin' and Toy Story out of the way before the crowds hit. Not so much this time. We still made World Of Color our first priority to avoid the godawful General Admission area. after that we kind of leisurely strolled around the park without worrying about hitting anything in any particular order. Why? Oh, maybe because mid-September is the best time EVER to visit Disneyland! The parks are ghost towns! There's no such thing as a line! Hell, the only Fastpass we actually used was the World Of Color one! Speaking of World Of Color, isn't it awesome? [vine]https://vine.co/v/OzJFmlmw2xn[/vine] First up? Let's get to Cars Land and do some racing! I'm still in awe of Cars Land. The attention to detail just blows me away every time! I wish they put this much effort into all of their future work because it truly is something you won't get anywhere else, not even Potterland. [vine]https://vine.co/v/OzMlFAOpFu2[/vine] I can't wait until I finally get to Tokyo Disney Resort to see how accurate Robb's claim is of this being the closest thing other Disney parks have to their level of detail. I can't even fathom how mind-boggling it would be to have an entire resort be this sensational! [vine] [/vine] Radiator Springs Racers - Awesome, awesome, awesome ride. They took the Test Track tech and pushed it to be much bigger and more thrilling. I love Test Track but this blows it out of the water. Did I mention there was no line? Yeah, Fastpasses sold out by 11am but the standby line was next to nothing all day. We rode a bunch throughout the two days in the parks and it never gets old! Enjoy this onride POV I got. Apologies for the finger on the bottom left for the racing bit. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] We then headed over to Paradise Pier to hit big daddy, California Screamin'! [vine] [/vine] California Screamin' - Every single train had the onboard audio working properly!!!! First time I've ever seen that! Good on you, Disney! Such a great coaster. It's fast, long, has some airtime, very twisty, smooth, just all around fantastic. It isn't pushing any limits but it is a solid ride that I always have fun on. Have another video! Again, apologies for the finger for the first section of the ride. Once we hit the slow hill I learned how to properly hold my phone to not obstruct the lens, so everything after this won't have it. No apologies for commentary, though. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Up next was Toy Story: Midway Mania. 10 minute wait? Sure! Toy Story: Midway Mania - Yes, it's a shooting gallery. Yes, it's a shooting gallery that doesn't even use real target. Yes, OK, it's a video game on a moving bench. Still fun, though! Definitely no fun enough to justify those 4+ hour waits I witnessed in Orlando a few years ago, but for a 10 minute wait I'm not complaining! Those cars really whip around in the building! It's cute, it's fun, it's nothing special but it's a good way to spend a few minutes. We circled around the lagoon and hit the wave swinger. They're always fun rides! I love that this one plays the William Tell Overture while you're on it. It makes it more exciting. I still get scared on these, though, because I just don't trust the chains. Since this one is elevated over a lagoon it makes it a bit freakier, haha. Continuing around we saw that, unfortunately, Goofy's Sky School was broken down. Not a big loss but it's still a cute little mouse. However, turning around I noticed something I had never witnessed before. ZEPHYR WAS OPEN!!!!!!!!!! I have never witnessed this ride operate. Due to it's design it can't run if wind hits 1mph, apparently. Luckily today there was no wind! WHOO! Of course we hopped on! Such a calm ride but it's a great taste of what amusements used to be. We stayed on for two cycles, mostly because I'm fairly certain I'll never see it operating again. Here's a Vine of my madness (excuse the random accent) - [vine]https://vine.co/v/OzOxdFvuYwe[/vine] Moving right along, we came upon the recently reopened Little Mermaid ride! The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure - It's a great ride done in the same vein as all of the Fantasyland dark rides. I got to ride this before the refurb last year and while there were very minor changes (mostly just the "Under the Sea" room is now in blacklight) it's still the same cute ride. It sure as hell isn't thrilling but a good dark ride is awesome in its own right. Remember what I said about crowds? Yeah, absolutely zero line for this one. I'm fairly certain there were more crew members than guests in the building. We rode a few times in a row and I got a nice onride video, too! No insane commentary in this one as it's a very calm ride. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Armed with out $1 Walmart Ponchos it was time to give Grizzly River Run a ride! Grizzly River Run - While I'm not really big on raft rides, I do enjoy this one because the themeing is pretty good and it has more than just rapids. The drops are fantastic, especially the spinning drop! Granted they're not the near-vertical drops that have shown up on other raft rides (Phantasialand, I'm looking at you) but they manage to soak you well enough! Thanks to our ponchos we escaped relatively dry and happy. We looped around and gave it a second go just because we could! Why not give Soarin' another shot? Soarin' - Yup, still blows. I will never understand how this ride has the reputation it does with almost everyone else. It seems every person I talk to loves this ride to death. I mean, yeah, it's a funky take on the motion simulator and you can smell oranges to some extent, but it's still a motion simulator that has one of the worst put-together films I've ever seen. We looped back around and hit California Screamin' a few more times and Radiator Springs Racers a few more times, as well. We also stopped by the Cozy Cone Motel and got some pear soda. Holy crap that was a lot of sugar! Ask for half of the amount of syrup they put in the cup, haha. Tower Of Terror - Worst crew I've ever seen at a Disney park. On Monday it wasn't bad at all but whoever was there on Tuesday was atrocious. No line management, nobody was in character, I actually saw them pulling out cell phones in the boiler room, the entrance greeters caught two people line jumping and just let them do it anyway, just ugh. With the rest of the trip and resort being so fantastic this crew just shocked me. It didn't ruin the trip or anything but it threw me for a loop. It didn't help that it was posted as a 10 minute wait on Tuesday and we ended up stuck in the boiler room for 45 minutes since nobody was paying attention. We ended up missing Aladdin because of it. The ride itself is still a lot of fun, though! We got a ride on Monday evening around 7:30 and had a WONDERFUL view of the sunset when the doors opened! Time to head over to Disneyland! Alright, you know what? Rather than giving a play by play of my two days, I'm just gonna go through the highlights in no particular order. We has park hoppers and bounce between Disneyland and California Adventure and repeating attraction reviews is boring. Here we go! [vine]https://vine.co/v/OzXaxwjKuvx[/vine] Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - Super dark for kids! I love this ride but YOU GET KILLED AND GO TO HELL! That's messed up, man! Also it teaches you to drive like a maniac on amphetamines! Huh, I guess this explains Californian drivers. Yes, offense intended if you're from California. You people suck at driving. Anyways, the girlfriend was in the driver seat for this one. Enjoy the POV video and the crazy commentary, mostly of me yelling at her about her skills behind the wheel! [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Peter Pan's Flight - Seriously, why does this always have the longest line in Fantasyland? It's no better or worse than the other dark rides, yet it consistently has an insane line. Remember how Radiator Springs Racers was a walk on? Remember how crowds are nonexistant at this time of year? This ride still has a 30-minute wait. Anna and Elsa didn't have a 30-minute wait. I'm so confused. Still, though, it's a fun ride and the fact that the pirate ships swing a bit in the corners is always fun! Alice In Wonderland - This was shut down last time for it's big refurb project. We waited about 15 minutes to see what all the fuss was about. The updates are great! New animation effects all over the place bring a whole new life to the ride that was lacking when we last rode a year ago. It also helps that everything got a fresh coast of paint so it's completely vibrant throughout! Here's a POV with no commentary because, well, the ride simply doesn't warrant it. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Dumbo - It's Dumbo, the grandfather of all spinning flats. If you're expecting anything more you're kinda dumb. Casey Jr. Circus Train - Is anyone else tired of that soundtrack yet? Just me? OK. Snow White's Scary Adventures - Another of the excellent classic dark rides. I want this to get the same type of treatment Alice did. It's not that it looks like it could use an update as everything was working well and looked pretty, but after seeing how much the new touches helped Alice I can only imagine what kind of cool stuff they could do in here! Here's a POV with commentary. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - Just like Little Mermaid, it was a walk on. We rode twice in a row, once in the same car, once in separate cars. I noticed something funny. On the first ride I was actually aiming at targets and trying to get a high score. The second ride through I was just shooting anywhere, not thinking about where the gun was pointing, and I ended up doubling my score! HUH?! Also, I just need to mention how much better this version is over Florida's for one reason and one reason only. The guns detach from the car so you can actually shoot at things. Florida is longer and has that super awesome lightspeed room but the fixed guns BLOW. [vine]https://vine.co/v/OzHHUZZ3Dg2[/vine] Guardians Of The Galaxy - Alright, Guardians was an excellent movie. This is just a 10-minute preview of the movie. And it replaced Captain EO, the greatest 4D attraction in history. Hate on it all you want, Captain EO is awesome and you can just deal with it. Astro Orbiter - Just like the one in Florida but on the ground! It's old school and will screw you up with G-forces if you're not careful! Play with the height of your vehicle and you'll see what I'm talking about. It'll try to eject you! Star Tours: Mission Crap - I'm not a fan of Mission 2. At all. It sucks. The original Star Tours was thrilling and slapped you around like you owed it money. It was filmed with practical effects. It was all kinds of excellent and made me feel like a 10 year old whenever I rode it. Mission 2 is watching a cartoon with some movement. On the bright side, we didn't get stuck with the god forsaken Jar Jar planet this time! I'm a big fan of Patrick Warburton Bot in the queue, though! Yeah, the guy right before boarding is voiced by Patrick Warburton and put through a pitchshifter. And he's hilarious. Monorail - It's a fun, scenic way to waste some time and get out of the heat. As a transportation tool it's kinda useless unless you're staying at a Disney hotel. They really screwed the pooch by not adding a California Adventure stop, unfortunately. Also, I forgot how good of a speed this one gets to! It jets right along! Jungle Cruise - We all know what it is. Lame jokes abound but it's such a goofy experience. The skipper makes or breaks the ride and I can happily say that the three skippers we had throughout the visit were all top notch! We got stuck on our first ride in the piranha attack section and were attacked 4 or 5 times while they got a broken boat out of the lineup. The skippers in our boat, the boat ahead of us, and the boat behind us all got into it and were warning each other of incoming piranhas and headhunters. Good times! Indiana FREAKIN' Jones - As I said earlier, the greatest ride in the history of everything, in my opinion. The amount of detail, the amount of controlled, synchronized chaos, everything, it's fantastic. They took what could have been another dark ride that's specific to each vehicle and instead made it a huge, larger than life experience that completely engulfs you! The fact that it mostly takes place on one huge, shared showroom with the other vehicles moving around you is great! You can look around and see other vehicles driving around trying to find a way out. Yeah, they're all on the same track but in the moment it looks like everyone is lost and desperately trying to escape! Add in tons of fire, smoke, explosions, and evil temple goodies, you've got a perfect ride! I could go on and on and on about how much I love this ride but you're probably already tired of hearing me gush about it so I'll shut up. IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! Pirates Of The Caribbean - Yo ho, yo ho, I got surprisingly wet. We rode four times throughout the visit and on one of those rides we ended up in the front row. I never knew this, but apparently on those drops you end up getting a pretty good splashing up front! Nothing excessive, but it surprised me. It's a great ride after all these years, of course. Everything is holding up well. I do miss the Paris version, though. Splash Mountain - Screw you, Disney. Every single time I've ridden a Splash Mountain, be it here or Orlando, I've had a refreshing splash. This time? Soaked to the bone. Yeah, we used the ponchos on Grizzly River Run but not here. Big mistake. Holy crap, cheap shots all around. Wave over the side of the boat right into my lap, secondary splash on the big drop that the person in front of me dodged, resulting in me getting a face full of water and all down my shirt and crotch. Geysey going off as another boat hit the big drop and landing right on top of me. Why?! Why me?! This ride is dangerous if you make it angry, apparently, haha. I love the ride but it was a sneaky little bastard this time! Pooh's Hunny Hunt - Another great dark ride. Not nearly as awesome as the one in Japan (judging by the videos I've seen) but still fun! See if you can spot the disembodied heads of the Country Bears as you exit the Heffalumps and Woozles room! Have a POV - [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Tom Sawyer Island - First time I've ever gotten to check out this version of Tom Sawyer Island and was a bit underwhelmed. The fort is off limits because it's used to store all of the Fantasmic stuff. The caves are short and there aren't a whole lot of them. The island itself is much smaller than I remember Orlando and Paris being. Still cute but but as good as it could be. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - They've got the kinks worked out and this thing is running top notch! No downtime at all that I witnessed! Last visit it was broken more than it was running and we only managed to score one ride. This time it was just whooping butt left and right! We rode a ton over the two days and never had a bad ride or a missing effect! The new finale with the exploding mine is so cool, it was nice to see it more than once this time, haha. Here's two POV videos for you, one up front and one (better one) from the back! [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] [youtu_be]http://youtu.be/6KBDihqFd78[/youtu_be] Matterhorn - Both sides were running! Holy crap! Haven't seen that since my first visit! The world's first tubular steel coaster, of course, and will definitely throw you around quite a bit, but I love this ride so much. It doesn't pull any punches. When you see a sudden twist or drop in the track, you're gonna feel it! It also gets a surprising amount of speed in certain areas, like the pitch black drop before meeting the yeti that suddenly jerks to the right and gives you a free chiropractic checkup! I've saved my favorite POV for last, guys. Enjoy this one. [youtu_be]http://youtu.be/MqSl613gW4s[/youtu_be] Alright, I've spent way too much time in front of my computer writing this up today, so I'm wrapping this up and then I'm gonna actually do some work around the house and be semi-productive. Hope you guys enjoyed it! On with the pictures!!! I'm in California spying on Orlando. Technology! Grizzly River Run See what I was saying about crowds? It was like this everywhere both days. Fantastic! Cars Land was the most crowded of every place in the resort and even then it wasn't bad. Incredible themeing all over the place in Cars Land Whoo! Radiator Springs Racers! The same photo everyone gets. So pretty! Mr. Potato Head tried to get me to stop. Too bad, I've got a ride to go on! On Toy Story you can be either a pussy or a beaver. I say, aren't they equal? Zephyr with people on it!!!!! Ample room! Let's see how many TPR veterans are paying attention. Paradise Pier from the Zephyr. Yup. "Crowds." More "crowds." The sign only says 5 minute wait because there's no 0 option. The Disney Difference. Actually caring and making sure everything is looking top notch! You'll never see this at a Six Flags park. Grizzly River Run looking pretty. Meh. Another classic shot! Yep, we did it. Nice and air conditioned for about a half hour. It's a sign. I need to get to Tokyo. Another sign of going to Tokyo. Sheesh, signs everywhere! I WANT TO GO!!!! OK, this one is literally a sign. "Crowds." One of our Jungle Cruise boats! No editing on this, just took it while walking through the Indy line and it came out pretty unexpectedly cool! See this station, Gringott's? Disney did it better about 19 years ago! Best. Ride. Ever! Long line for Pirates. Yup. I can confirm the back row is still off limits. I know, ruined our vacation. Sigh. The new Club 33 entrance by Blue Bayou. Surprisingly they made it more visible than the old entrance. The Mark Twain Riverboat was getting refurbed so they had Columbia sailing around! AWESOME!!!!!!! Cannons firing and everything! Tom Sawyer Island fun. Missed it by four days! Super Splash Mountain this time! Hanging out below decks on the Columbia! Heh, spiral butt. Both sides! California Adventure looks pretty at sunset. Liberace's Fire Hydrant. Great ride, crew needs to get their stuff together. World Of Color!!!!! THE CUTEST DAMN THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! Yes, I bought a print of this and it is currently in my house awaiting a frame. Be jealous. Day 2? Starbucks to start again! Mr. Toad! They're burning alive! Hi, Olaf!!!! Classic Fantasyland. How long until they get the 2.0 update like Florida? Can you hear it yet? How about now? It's a small world after all.... Yeah, the ultimate in torture. Front row in Small World. "Crowds." And now, the photo you've been waiting for...WALL! Apparently the monorail was moving faster than my camera's shutter, hence the warped light. Also, "crowds." "Crowds." Finding Nemo was cycling all day long in preparation for its grand reopening! It looked gorgeous! Fresh paint everywhere! Bring back EO! Pew pew pew! Ooooo, shiny! 3PO is shiny, too! Awwww, the original pilot is scrap. Patrick Warburton Bot! They were selling snake oil elixirs in Frontierland. They were delicious! I got Knowledge because I obviously need more of it. This wasn't there on Monday. In fact, there were no Halloween decorations on Monday anywhere. On Tuesday? Everywhere! They were busy overnight! Lightning McQueen! Again, incredible themeing everywhere. Mater! "Crowds." Kachow! It's a mountain with a bear. Yep. This is the last photo. Underwhelmed? Whoops.

Just make sure you tailor Twitter to what interests you. For instance I follow TPR and a few other accounts related to the industry. I follow a bunch of comedians and people in the film industry (actors, directors, screenwriters, everything), and a handful of friends who I actually care to hear what they say. I've only got two of those that I follow to send my phone a notification when they post something. It isn't something I use endlessly unless I'm live tweeting from a park or event (like at Magic Mountain or Disney last week) but it is actually a very useful tool for connecting with people in the moment when it's used properly. Alright, time to write up the Disney report.

^ Reason B seems most likely, though Twitter and Facebook are also a big player. Twitter is fun for the in-the-moment type of things but I do love having it all in one place like a TR. Some of the jokes on this TR are lifted directly from my messages to Robb on Twitter (Fun - Brought to you by Toyota and a unicorn). You'll see the same thing when I get the time to put together my Disneyland report (most likely tomorrow, finally have a day off).

I think you're halfway right about the lineup. There are some great rides but they're not all home runs. Scream, for instance, isn't anything world class. Fun, sure, but not anything to write home about. Same for Goliath, Viper, Revolution, even Apocalypse. Yeah, I called it the best ride at the park but that doesn't mean anything when there are a bunch of other top notch GCIs all over the place. Yeah, Apocalypse is awesomely awesome, but Thunderhead is a better ride at Dollywood. The lineup is nice and varied, unfortunately there's nothing else to the park at all. It's coasters, coasters, and more coasters with maybe 3 flat rides in the mix. Also, I just noticed that the once time I typed YOLOcoaster's actual name, right next to "YOLOcoaster," it got autocorrected to YOLOcoaster. Damn straight, Robb!

What's there to say? Magic Mountain went against all odds and actually delivered a great day for West Coast Bash! After my last visit to the park in 2011 I had pretty much decided I would never return. It was the worst day I had ever had at an amusement park. Single train operations on every coaster, many of which weren't even open, rude employees, horrible clientele, trash everywhere, just a terrible, terrible day. I hated it and honestly thought that if it were to burn to the ground nothing would be missed. The only reason I bought tickets to go this year was because my girlfriend had never visited and she wanted to check it out, so I figured if we went during a TPR event at least we'd be able to smile every now and then throughout the day. Magic Mountain delivered. It wasn't the greatest day as there were still some issues, but it was a BILLION times better than the last time! Rides were open! Multiple trains were running (except Tatsu because you suck Six Flags)! Everything was ready to go on time (except X2 because who knows)! Only one ride "crashed" (Supes)! The event began with our morning ERT for two hours on YOLOcoaster, Goliath, Lex Luthor's Drop O' Happy Funtimes, Green Lantern, and Batman. We opened the day in that order, funnily enough. Full Throttle / YOLOcoaster - Solid ride. Nothing to lose your head about, but very fun. The launch is super wimpy but the hangtime in the loop is wicked! Twisty bit after the loop is kinda dull as it loses a loooooot of speed going over Supe's plaza. I still feel like the pause and reverse launch are completely unnecessary, though! Just do the twisty dive and hit a second launch without stopping! There's not need to a horribly mushed-together Pink Floyd / Ozzy / Techno audio bit! Just blow the train though and let us boogie! Going over the top of the loop has some surprise airtime as you crest the hill. Watching from the ground it doesn't look like there's enough speed for any airtime but it'll get ya! We rode a few times throughout the day and I prefer the front row. The back was fun with the reverse launch hangtime but the front just gives an overall better ride. Again, solid ride and a good addition, I just feel the stop and reverse launch are completely pointless. Goliath - Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but I don't remember this ride being as much fun as it was. It still isn't anything super crazy, especially since you come to a complete stop on the brakes and the helix no longer has any power to it, but when I rode in 2011 it bored me to tears. This time we rode up front a bunch and in back once, the front is the way to go! The back seemed to lack the oomph that the front had, especially over the airtime hill. The second half of the ride is just totally lacking now. That stop on the midcourse kills it. Still, being the front it's kinda terrifying leaving the brake run with the 90-degree banking that you take at about 1mph. I called it the "dump seat" all day. Lex Luthor's Drop O' Happy Funtimes - No longer the tallest but still a fun ride. I gotta say, though, after the first ride it never felt as scary the rest of the day. The first ride my brain was still trying to comprehend the height. The rest of the rides it didn't get me so much but it was still a fun, suuuuuuuuper long drop. Once they got Supes running it made for some freaky trips up the tower with the amount it shudders. Good times! Green Lantern - OK, seriously, what is everyone's problem with this ride? I'm not even close to joking. This was AWESOME! We flipped nonstop the entire ride (except the lift hill, duh) and never once felt uncomfortable! Maybe because we had an unbalanced car? We had two on one side, one on the other. Flip city, guys! No pain, just tons upon tons of screams and laughs! Of course due to the unbalance we broke the ride in the brakes since we weren't upright. We sat for about 10 minutes until maintenance came and righted us. If there's any complaint I have it's that they don't have a way to make the cars sit upright at the end. Batman - We've all ridden it. Solid, old school, awesome. The end. After morning ERT ended the park was open to the public for the day. It was around this time that some issues began to bubble up. We got one last ride on YOLO before the public came in and went straight to X2 to beat the line. We ended up waiting about a half hour past the park's opening before they decided to open X2. Why it took so long I have no idea as we saw the ride testing for the past two hours of ERT. Go figure. Once up to the station we noticed that trains were leaving while mostly empty even though the queue had filled up. Whoever was in charge of splitting the line had no idea of how many people to send and how long to wait. The queue was full, the station was empty. We went to the front row and the only other people on our train were in the back row. Tatsu was running half of the station with one train. Big surprise there. Supes had reportedly crashed (employee's words, according to Robb's Twitter, not mine) and was only running one track. Riddler was running two trains but with all the speed of a snail. Two train ops on a really long ride and they still managed to stack constantly. Dispatches ranged from 5 minutes to 10 minutes between trains. I really appreciated sitting on the brake run forever while my scalp baked in the sun. Some employees were rude, the clientele continued to blow, etc. The usual. Just on a lesser scale than my last visit. After lunch we jumped in line to process our season passes that I bought during the labor day sale. 45 minutes! 45 MINUTES! THERE WERE 5 PEOPLE IN FRONT OF US!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL?! Anyways, enough of the ranting. Like I said, it wasn't nearly as horrible as 2011 but still there were issues that have the simplest solutions in the world. Stop being lazy and actually try. Problem solved. On with the ride reviews for rides that weren't in either ERT session! Mine Train - Fun little mine train that works well with the landscape. There's not big hills or airtime moments but it has plenty of quick turns and unexpected jolts. Ninja - We didn't hit a tree! Yes! It's a good suspended with some big swings but there were sections where you could feel the train waiting to catch up with itself. It works well with the landscape and the pool at the bottom of the hill, but unfortunately the log flume is am empty shell to interact with. Also, this ride is home to the most exciting finale in the history of rollercoasters! Riddler's Revenge - So many people hate on stand-ups. I enjoy them! Outside of the wretched crew, I love this ride. It's big, long, and fun! I've never had any bad headbanging that I always hear people whine about. The layout is also completely unique! Great ride, needs a crew with a brain. Scream - Yay. Medusa in a mirror and parking lot. Surprisingly rough, though! I've never had an issue on Medusa but this thing gave me a headache. Apocalypse - NO PRESHOW! HOLY CRAP ON A STICK THANK WHATEVER DEITY YOU BELIEVE IN THEY DON'T FORCE YOU THROUGH THE PRESHOW ANYMORE! I don't thing you understand how much I HATED that damn thing. Just let me get on the damn ride! Fantastic wooden coaster! I love this ride so much! GCI has yet to let me down. Their rides are just pure adrenaline from start to finish! Once you're off the lift you're hauling until the brakes! I'd swear they don't lose speed at all. The guys at GCI are wizards and abuse the laws of physics. Airtime everywhere, laterals and positive Gs everywhere, bonus explosions and tunnels! WHOOOOO!!!!! I'd go so far as to say it's the best ride in the park. If ERT was offered on this I probably wouldn't bother going to any other coaster. So, soooooooo good! I think that about covers the normal operations attractions. Onto evening ERT! This is where stuff went WILD, kiddies! SUPERMAN: ESCAPE FROM MY DOUBLE SHOT HEAVEN - THIS CREW WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, full disclosure, Supes has been a bucket list coaster for me since before I can remember. I have always wanted to ride it, the thing was a legend in it's own time. Sure it's been beaten in speed and height, but this was THE king for the longest time! Back in 2011 I wasn't able to ride because, as we've gone over, the park blew harder than Jenna Jameson that visit. Supes was shut down. I was sad. This year, though, it was open but with only one side running it had an hour long or more line all day, so I waited until ERT to hit it. Holy. Crap. First ride was in the front row (or last row, depending on your feelings. We had nothing in front of us.). The launch was stronger than I was expecting! No need to do a blow by blow for such a simple out and back ride, but it's just a pure shot of adrenaline! We immediately jumped back on, this time in the back (or front, only two seats). About this time more TPR veterans were showing up (Cliff, Caesar, and more) and we all happened to be on the same ride together. As we came back into the station a chant had started. "DOU-BLE SHOT! DOU-BLE SHOT! DOU-BLE SHOT!" What happened? Yep, they crew gave us a double shot! We tried for a triple shot but to no avail. A quick circle back around to the station and we were back on, same group together again. Again another double shot. Repeat this process about 5 or 6 times. Double shots for every trainload on Supes during ERT! The girlfriend and I decided to head down to the other coasters after about 45 minutes of this madness since she still hadn't gotten on Tatsu! Seriously, Supes team, you're AWESOME! Tatsu - My favorite flyer. This one was designed properly! It isn't just a bunch of turns and a pretzel loop. It actually feels like you're flying around the mountain! One second you're 5 feet from the ground, the next you're swooping over the valley from what looks like 1000 feet! I love it! We unfortunately only rode this twice in a row before realizing we were running out of time for the other coasters. Revolution - A classic that brings the pain due to corporate idiocy. I only got knocked twice, just like my last ride in 2011, but there's no need for the OTSRs at all. Shame. Viper - Shimmy shimmy shimmy, shudder, shake, rattle, copy, past, repeat for about 2 minutes. I mean, hooray classic Arrow loopers, they're solid rides, but I don't remember this one being so shaky. No big headbanging, just a lot of vibrations that never ended. It doesn't ruin the ride, it just makes me wonder if someone isn't tightening the right screws, haha. And now, the ride that still manages to break my brain, X2. X2 - Yep, it's still the one ride that will terrify me to no end. I can't explain it. I love this ride, love love LOVE it, and I can handle the bounciness (not headbanging, but violent bounces), but for some reason it just scare the everloving CRAP out of me! Each time we rode throughout the day I'm pretty sure I had a panic attack as we crested the lift hill. It is so insane, so confusing, so bugnuts PSYCHO! Every time I hit the brakes I have no idea what just happened to me. The entire ride is a blur, I just can't comprehend it. It's an amazing ride, fan-friggin-tastic, and I love it to death. I just don't trust it. I know I'm safe, I know I'm secure, but for some reason I just don't trust the ride at all. It's WRONG. It shouldn't exist! It goes against everything I've ever known coasters to be! BUT IT IS SO DAMN AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Vine and photo time!!!! Full Throttle Hangtime! [vine]https://vine.co/v/OzWwLHZPeBO[/vine] Supes Vs. Lex! [vine]https://vine.co/v/OzWjiAPxazW[/vine] YOLO! Caught it between the supports. Over the top! IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US! Wheeeeeee! "Mine's bigger than yours." For our Spanish friends, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLiath." Fun - Brought to you by Toyota and GIANT UNICORNS! Awesome, awesome, awesome ride. I don't understand the criticism. Amateur photographers take note - Don't do this. It's pretty crappy. This is a little game I call "Misdirection." Low Capacity - The Ride. Shame since it's such a great ride! Historical pain! Hooray! We're special! Tourist photo Best ride in the park. Some call it themeing. I call it Six Flags Custodial's Reputation. Out of the tunnel. Heading into the YOLO twist! Wheeee Fun with angles! Hangtime! Wheeeeeeee! Hey, Robb, are you the reason Foghorn Leghorn isn't in any of the fountains anymore? One last look at X2 on our way out to the car.

Awesome.

Same as any other day at the park. Haunts are upcharge, though, because Six Flags.

Sure, let's say that. Only one train was cycling and one was in pieces. If there is a third train it isn't anywhere visible.

Yup. Second train is on the transfer track mostly in pieces.

Just popping in to mention how AMAZING our visit was this past Monday and Tuesday! Far and away the best visit to Disneyland I've had yet! Be on the lookout for a full photo and video TR coming soon!

I'm late to the party, but I just had to mention how great of a time West Coast Bash was. Complete change from my last, horrible, terrible visit in 2011. It wasn't perfect but it was a LOT better. Unfortunately the awesomeness didn't carry over into the regular operating hours. Morning ERT was fantastic, evening ERT was purely excellent (shout out to Supes crew!), but everything in between was just "good" with some "oh my god this place blows" mixed in. Part of that can be attributed to the wonderful clientele Six Flags attracts, part of it can be attributed to the employees and operations. Riddler's crew, in particular, was worse than you can imagine. Running two trains on that super long ride, they still managed to stack every single time. Dispatches varied between 5 minutes to 10 minutes (no, I'm not exaggerating). This wasn't due to difficult guests or problems with the ride, it was just because they were extraordinarily lazy. Apocalypse, though? WAY better than last time! First off, they don't force you to sit through that god-forsaken preshow anymore. We walked straight into the station and they were pumping the trains through with no stacking at all. I rode it 5 times and didn't ever witness an issue outside of the fireball not erupting during one of our rides. 4 out of 5 ain't bad for fire! Anyways, I'll spare the details for the TR I'll post soon. Just wanted to jump in and say how much fun was had! Supes ERT won in a huge way with their crew and double-shots! WHOOOO!

I'm pretty sure Shavethewhales is aware of that. SLC is probably the most isolated city in America, though. Like I've said many times it's a 6-hour drive from Vegas, the closest major city. Yeah, the metropolitan area is pretty large (Provo through Logan) but once you're out of that area there's really nothing for HOURS in any direction.

^ According to those teeny tiny pictures it looks yellow. Maybe red on the interior sections? Or is their artist just terrible?

^ Nope, you're right, I'm dumb.

Speaking of the Tron Lightcycle coaster, I can't be the only one who thinks the theme would lend itself perfectly to Mack's new VR coaster using Oculus Rift, right?

^ Your placement is dumb. From inside the park the view of the ferris wheel won't be obstructed at all. From outside the park along I-15, yeah, it will be, but at the time of night when the lights are visible I highly doubt anyone is gonna be spending the coin to come in, anyway. A giant yellow coaster does much more to generate interest in a park than a ferris wheel.

^ Disneyland's version is the one from the World's Fair, just like Haunted Mansion, Small World, etc. They're shorter versions of the ride but they hold historic significance. At least Disneyland has a much longer Pirates! Edit - Chuck edumacateded me. Jungle Cruise wasn't a World's Fair ride but a Disney original from the opening. Probably the same for Haunted Mansion, too. Small World is most definitely World's Fair, though.

The same way Disney does the majority of their rides in house. Wicked was designed in-house but they hired Zierer to bring the ride to reality (launch system, track, vehicles, etc). Cannibal is fully in-house with no outside help. Of course different companies, mostly local, are being brought in to manufacture and construct it, but every last bit was designed and engineered in-house.

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here, especially since I explicity stated it's a 6 hour drive. 5 hours to Provo.

Not pessimistic. Just weathered to Six Flags' operations handbook.