austinlee

I just checked the website. The Xcelerator closure dates which were there yesterday have been removed. You must have seen my signature. No, I didn't ride Pony Express and I'm severely disappointed about that. Seriously though, I did walk back there and check on it. Even though I don't like it very much I would have rode it once or twice if it had been open. After all it is a coaster and I will ride just about anything if the wait is short enough. As long I don't sit in the back I don't have any problems on GhostRider. I sat in the first five cars, between row 3 and row 10 each time, and had no issues. The ride is still rough, but as long as I avoid the back, I find it to be intense but not painful. I usually get dirty looks when I do that. One time an Operator even went as far as to tell me to stop doing his job. Wow, that's surprising. I have been doing that on GhostRider for years now. Nobody has ever given me a dirty look or said not to do that. They have always either said nothing or thanked me for it.

^ Thank you. It was nice to meet you too. I'm really kicking myself for not staying until 6:00 now. I will have to go back soon but it probably won't be until at least next week.

If an extra $20 on the cost of an Xtreme Play Pass was the only added cost I would do it. Especially if I could get a few rides on X2 that way rather than fighting crowds on a busy day. I would ride X2 during that 30 mins or 1 hour and use the rest of the day to ride everything else.

I was at the park from 11-5 today. I got on 42 total rides. Xcelerator tormented me by testing all day (purple train) but was not open. I met Cody (Calicoasters). Very nice guy. One time when I rode Silver Bullet the ride op on the mic said "enjoy the rest of your day at Knott's Berry Farm, more flags more fun........yes I know that is the Six Flags motto" A ride op on GhostRider thanked me for fastening the seat belt around the lap restraint in the seat next to me for her. Pony Express was closed but I don't really like it anyway so I didn't really care. Here is my day in order. Just about everything was a walk on and a stay on. 1, 2. GhostRider twice. 15 min wait and 10 min wait, probably because the back of the park had just opened. 3, 4, 5. Silver Bullet three times. 6, 7, 8. Sierra Sidewinder three times. 9, 10. Montezooma's Revenge twice. 11. La Revolucion once. 12, 13. Jaguar twice. 14. La Revolucion once. 15, 16. Supreme Scream twice. 17, 18. Boomerang twice. 19, 20. GhostRider twice. 21, 22, 23. Silver Bullet three times. Walk on to front row on the first ride. 24, 25, 26. Sierra Sidewinder three times. 27, 28, 29. Montezooma's Revenge three times. Sat in very back then front row then middle. 30. La Revolucion once. 31, 32. Jaguar twice. 33. La Revolucion once. 34, 35. Supreme Scream twice. 36, 37. Boomerang twice. Sat in the middle then moved to front row. 38, 39. 40. Silver Bullet three times. Sat in middle then the back then moved to front row. 41, 42. GhostRider twice. Ride totals: GhostRider: 6 Silver Bullet: 9 Sierra Sidewinder: 6 Montezooma's Revenge: 5 La Revolucion: 4 Jaguar: 4 Supreme Scream: 4 Boomerang: 4

On X2, even when the audio is working properly I have never heard anything during the main part of the ride. I only hear the audio on the lift hill and at the end of the ride after the second raven turn. On Terminator, when it was working I have always been able to hear it loud and clear during the whole ride. I enjoy both coasters either way but, from judging by the rides I have had, having no audio on Terminator is a much bigger loss than having no audio on X2.

That $10 ERT session might be ok if you don't go to the park very often or have traveled a long way to be there, but for me personally I wouldn't do it, since I go there often. $10 for 30 minutes doesn't sound that good to me when I can get a Regular Flash Pass for $26 with my Xtreme Play Pass and use it for the entire operating day.

^^ This is what I have experienced too. The ride ops on many of the other rides do things like talk to the people in line, tell a couple jokes or ask the people to cheer if they are excited to ride. I find things like that to be fun, but when it is overdone like the shark song and other things I have heard, like when a ride op hummed the Super Mario Bros. music every time the ride was running it gets very annoying very fast. I have only seen things like this happen on Silver Bullet.

The only ride which is on Gold or Platinum but not Regular is X2. For X2 you have to pay an extra $10 per person, per ride to reserve it. On X2 only you pay extra and choose a ride time right after you pay. A separate clerk does this for you just to the right of the registers you pay at. I went to the park on Monday, July 13th last year and was able to get re-rides on everything except X2, very easily using a Gold Flash Pass. I paid for X2 and that was the only time I rode it due to a 2.5 hour line. I was there from opening to closing, 10:30-10, and got on 36 total rides although I did lose some time because X2, Batman and Riddler each broke down for about 30 minutes each. Riddler broke down while I was on it. Tatsu, Terminator and Deja Vu each had 1.5 hour lines but everything else was a 20 minute wait or less, including some walk ons. You probably could ride everything with a Regular Flash Pass, at least on a weekday, but if you are going on a July weekend, I would get Gold at least. Also, on Thursday, August 20th last year, I was able to re-ride everything easily, except for X2, using a Regular Flash Pass. The park was a little less crowded than in July. They were open 10:30-8 and I got on 39 total rides. On that day, X2 and Deja Vu had 1.5 hour lines. Tatsu and Terminator were 1 hour and everything else was 15 mins or less, including some walk ons. There are no special events tomorrow. The "Select Sunday" ticket in the Value Book is valid tomorrow but I have never noticed that to effect attendance very much. Don't go over the hill after Tatsu though. Hit Deja Vu and Terminator next. ^^ I have noticed those white spots too.

Yeah, this kind of stuff is annoying when it is overdone to that extent. A little bit of entertainment mixed in here and there is appreciated when it breaks up the monotony of standing in line but this is too much.

^ Thanks. Maybe it doesn't make much different when I go in May as long as I avoid Memorial Day weekend. I also want to go before May 22-31 since that is when they have Coasters for a Cause. I'm not sure if that will have a large effect on crowds, but given a choice, it is safer to avoid it.

SFMM is my favorite park and at the time I joined the site Tatsu was my #2 coaster and my favorite of all the coasters which had an avatar available. Tatsu has since bumped X2 out of my #1 spot (see signature), due to some roughness issues on X2 which have caused me to only have good rides in certain seats, which makes my avatar even more appropriate. X2 is still my #2 coaster but I have had consistent great rides on Tatsu with no issues and it is nearly the same quality ride as X2 in my opinion so it is now my favorite. The avatar is also the same design which is on the Tatsu t-shirt I own.

Sorry to quote myself but since the subject of school schedules is being discussed again this seemed like a good time to ask this again. When I was in college finals week ended around May 20th. Is that common in SoCal or different in all different areas and types of colleges.

^^^ I agree. I usually sit in the middle because the wait is usually shorter than the front or back and the back is way too rough. Anywhere in the first 5 cars gives me an intense, but not painful ride, although it is still rough. GhostRider is my 2nd favorite wooden coaster after Terminator too. When GhostRider was new (er), and I was younger , I used to be able to sit in the very back. I actually preferred it back then, but now it just beats me up too much.

^^^ & ^. Thanks for the info. I will probably still go on Monday, due to the ride closures which are scheduled in May and the questionable weather we may have later in the week, depending on which forecast you check. I can always go back again when Xcelerator reopens.

^^ Thanks, I have already tried that and still didn't receive any of the rewards. ^ That's terrible that they would tell people not to fill in their e-mail address when that info is needed for Funatics. I had a feeling that the system would record when and where my pass was scanned. I am hopeful but skeptical that they will be able to verify that I was at the park in March and April when rewards should have been given, and give me credit for the first two rewards which I should have already received. I am going to go to Guest Relations and ask about all of this in person next time I go.

^ That is one of the things I plan to ask about next time I go. Also, I signed up for Funatics in December and received some of the offers which were separate from the rewards you receive based on visits. There should be a record that I signed up far in advance.

I got my picture taken with Joe Grahe and Bryan Harvey in 1990 when they both played for the Angels and some fans were allowed on the field before the game. I also talked to Bobby Grich for a few seconds at a game in 2006, when my mother and I went to a game and he was in the elevator at the same time. I also have autographed baseballs from Howie Kendrick and Rex Hudler. I have an autographed picture and autographed poster of Pat Benatar which she signed for me when my friend and I went backstage at some of her concerts in 2003 and an autographed ticket stub from when we went backstage in 2001. We were huge fans and saw so many of her concerts that we got to know her manager and he started letting us backstage once in a while. Each of us got our picture taken with her too. My friend and I also saw Doug Flutie at a Pat Benatar concert in 2002, but didn't approach him. He appeared to be with his family and we didn't want to bother him.

^ No problem. Glad the rewards are working out for you. I'm frustrated that I haven't got any of them yet and that the problem has not been fixed even though Guest Relations told me it was. Thanks for the info about the free sodas, but it doesn't look like I'm going to get any of the rewards.

YES, 7-1 (front row, back car). I'm not lying or trying to make you kill yourself, it's the best. I always avoided the back row and rode as far up as possible, but I finally tried it at WCB and it was great...and, believe it or not...the most enjoyable part of the train. At least try it. If you don't like it, go for the front...but the back completely changed my opinion on Ghostrider (positively)! Glad it worked out well for you, but I have got the living heck beat out of me when I sat back there. I've never had any trouble on Viper no matter where I have sat. I'm trying to resist the urge to count on Xcelerator being open when I go on Monday but that OC Register article from today is very encouraging, especially when combined with the fact that we have KBF employees and visitors on this site verifying that it has been testing regularly for weeks.

On GhostRider, in my opinion it doesn't matter if the trains or the track have had rehab recently. The back is always very rough and you better be able to take a beating if you sit there. Anywhere from the front to the middle of the train is much less rough and not painful. The front is the most tolerable and the closer to the back you get the rougher it is. Please let there be Xciting news at the park before I go on Monday.

^ I have thought that too.

I'd be thrilled just to be able to ride it again. It's so short that running one train hardly slows the line down at all. When they run both trains you sit at the end of the ride waiting to enter the station for more time than the ride itself.

I guess it would be fairly difficult to go there if I wasn't alive. Let's try this. ...when I visit the park in June just to keep my streak alive of riding every coaster they have had since I started going there." ^ I hope they lower the height requirement too.

It has not interested me either but I will ride it once when I visit the park in June just to keep my streak of riding every coaster they have had since I started going there alive. I was there on May 27th and June 4th last year. Crowds weren't that bad, except for X2 which had a 90 minute wait. Tatsu and Terminator had 30 minute waits. Deja Vu was 45 minutes. Everything else was 20 minutes or less. It was almost exactly like this when I went on 5/27/08 and 6/6/08 too. Regarding Funatics Rewards, I am having problems again. When I visited the park on 3/23 I didn't get my voucher for the skip the line pass. I e-mailed the park and they said I didn't opt in to receive e-mails which is very strange because the park had already been sending me e-mails. The guy at Guest Relations said that he fixed it so that I would start to receive offers, but I went to the park again on 4/16 and still haven't received the voucher. Next time I go I'm going to ask about this in person. Also, do any of you know which week in May that most colleges get out? I'm trying to decide exactly when to go. I have only been to the park in early May and the week of Memorial Day, except for a few visits on Mothers Day. I would like to know what you think the best week in May would be to go on a weekday. I would most likely want to go the week of May 10th or the week of May 17th. Since there is no new ride which I am interested in opening on Memorial Day weekend, I am going to move up my May visit to a time which should be less crowded.

^^^ Good luck with Xcelerator, but I wouldn't count on riding it. There is also a chance of rain tomorrow, so I hope the weather cooperates for you. The park should be deserted tomorrow since it is a school day. I am very anxious for Xcelerator to reopen too. I have not rode it since June. I am going to the park next week either way so that I can ride Montezooma's Revenge and Sierra Sidewinder before they close for rehab. According to weather.com, it is also supposed to rain in Buena Park from Tuesday to Friday of next week so I will probably go on Monday. If it doesn't reopen by Monday, hopefully it won't be much longer so that I can ride it in May.