Sidra

This will mostly be a text (boring I know) account. I unfortunately didn't pull my camera out half as much as I would have liked to. Had Cody been there, we'd have hundreds of pictures from the trip. First off I didn't tell my 8 year old Morgan we were going. I was pretty good at keeping it completely under wraps. I told her she had a doctors appointment, she might need to get some shots on Friday afternoon and I would be pulling her out of school. So I pretend like its a normal day on Friday, get ready for work as if I was going, get her off to school, make sure she packs her lunch and all, then I head home and start packing and getting ready for the trip. Pick up the kiddo from school and she's still clueless, pack up in the car and start driving south. The airport is about 45 miles away and halfway through the trip I can tell she's looking around a lot and wondering where we are headed, but she never asked until we exit at the airport and park in one of the overnight lots. Then I pull her suitcase out of the trunk and she's all excited, but still clueless. Of course our first stop was in Albuquerque and she had no idea where that was, or why we would go. She finally figured it out about half way to Dallas on that leg and asked excitedly and out of the blue, "Are we going to a six flag park?" That was fun. Had some hiccups in the trip, our plan leaving San Diego was delayed an hour and we were there early, thats ok because Morgan finally got to watch all of Batman from 1989. Morgan watching Batman We finally got on the plane and they shut the door and we all think we're leaving as they already did some of the safety briefing and told us to turn off all our electronics. So not leaving, the seal on the cargo door needs to be replaced. I figure thats a fairly important piece, but now I'm sweating bullets as our layover in ALB was only going to be 30 mins and I know it was the last flight leaving for Dallas that night. Luckily Southwest had us covered and there were 15 of us on that plane making the connection, they held the plane in ALB. We eventually leave 1 hour 20 mins late, make up massive amounts of time in flying and run two gates away in ALB to board to a plane full of people that have been waiting. Love those stares! Unfortunately I'm cheap and fly Southwest and they only fly into Love field, across town. LaQuinta Inn didn't shuttle to and from Love, but I got a nice deal from Southwest to rent an Alamo compact for less than $10 a day and it was cheaper than hiring a shuttle service. Picked up my crappy little Chevy Aveo and headed towards Arlington... and go there right when the Ranger's game let out. Took 30 minutes from exiting the freeway to get to the hotel that I could see the entire time, probably 1/8 of a mile away. Oh well, got in later than I wanted, but still got in a drink at Humperdinks and met up with some cool TPR people. Up bright and early the next morning and chow down at the free breakfast off the lobby, met up with more TPR people and we headed out on foot to the park that was an easy walk. Looking like such a great day, its a little chilly in the air, but its early and the sky is all blue, no clouds in sight. Judge Roy Scream and the LaQuinta Inn we stayed at. Head over to the checkin table, get our bracelets and tickets and just a couple minutes later we're heading in through a side entrance.... only my Magic Mountain Xtreme pass doesn't scan... ummm what? I've used that pass a few times already this year. Luckily Robb and Elissa came to the rescue and produced a couple extra tickets because the SFOT staff really wasn't sure what to do. They told me to go to Will Call (wasn't open) meanwhile everyone else is walking back to New Texas Giant ERT. Seriously... Thank you Robb! Plan of attack for the day, get in a couple of morning rides and then head over to the front of the park to get a gold Qbot. First time seeing Texas Giant... wow, so nice, I love the red track, then getting up to the station, the cars are amazing, the station theming is amazing and the chicken coop is just brilliant! Morgan's very nervous, she likes to freak her self out before riding new rides, so I make many promises of holding her hand through the whole ride and she's visibly nervous as we load up in the very comfortable seats somewhere in the middle for the first run. She's squeezing the life out of my hand as we head out and start climbing that lift hill, her teeth are chattering from the cool breeze and she's looking up towards the top. We crest that lift hill and I can't even see the bottom, she's still holding on like crazy, but by the bottom of the lift hill, it wasn't me who let go of the hand, that little monkey thrust her arms up in the air and was screaming with glee as we started popping and turning through that amazing track. I have to say the misty tunnels were completely unexpected and a little dang cold that early in the morning, but it made me laugh when I heard someone scream, "Take the tunnel!" We ride both blue and black train a couple of times each and head over to Titan to try it out. One of Morgan's favorite rides at Magic Mountain is Goliath so she's pretty eager to try it out. On the way over to Titan she asks me for my phone. Somebody needs to call Uncle Cody to brag... It was too perfect, she woke up in California to tell him she just got a credit he didn't have and how awesome it was. Morgan on the phone with Calicoasters One ride on Titan and we both thought it was just, 'okay'. We both love Goliath more, dont know why, but Goliath feels more exciting. I was prepped for the helix and and still got a nice gray out going on. That was the only time we rode Titan and neither of us wanted to go back. ERT wasn't over quite yet, but we wanted to hurry up and get in the flash pass line so we could jet over to the Q&A at 10:15. Unfortunately the qbot line was on the other side of this unrully mob... Opening park crowd. The gold qbot was so very worth it! If you're only going to be at a six flags park for a day I highly recommend one of these little things. We had a blast and I think we went on more rides in that 12 hour day than any other park I've been to. Our Ride List (In order by first ride): 1. New Texas Giant (Morgan's 27th credit) <<<<<< My favorite ride of all time! 2. Titan (Morgan's 28th credit) 3. La Vibora (Morgan's 29th credit) 4. Big Spin (Morgan's 30th credit) 5. Batman (Little monkey is too short) 6. Batwing 7. Mr Freeze (Little monkey is too short) <<<<<<<< loved it! 8. Flashback (Morgan's 31st credit) 9. Judge Roy Scream (Morgan's 32nd credit) 10. Roaring Rapids 11. Yosemite Sam's Gold River Adventure <<<<<<< I actually really like this one too 12. Antique Cars 13. Runaway Mountain (Morgan's 33rd credit) 14. El Aserradero 15. Aquaman <<<<<<<<<<< I've been dryer after jumping in the ocean 16. Mini Mine Train (Morgan's 34th credit) 17. Runaway Mine Train (Morgan's 35th credit) <<<<< people like this? 18. El Sombrero 19. Acme Rocker 20. Grand Canyon Blaster (Morgan's 36th credit) <<<<<< yes I went on it too! 21. Frog Hopper 22. Texas Chute Out 23. Crazy Legs 24. Shockwave (Morgan's 37th credit) <<<<<<<< can we PLEASE bring this to Magic Mountain?? Then we rode New Texas Giant again at least ten more times, but I didn't even count, was having way too much fun. I was so pleasantly surprised by Shockwave, we only got one ride on it because it decided it wasn't going to do any overtime that night, but it was a very nice ride and I wish we'd have gotten more turns. Some random pictures: No I didn't know the girls in the other bat wing... Morgan just about killed me with whiplash on these Antique cars! TPR Quiz! Yes I'm a credit whore! But I liked this one better than SFMM The kid next to Morgan looked thrilled! We broke Shockwave Never gotten more wet on a ride before. Judge Roy reflecting off the pond True story, I chicken out and didn't ride the drop tower... I would have done it if Cody was there, he always makes me ride the drop tower. Morgan on the plane the next day Recovery. Watching a TPR dvd that Morgan got in a bag of crap at the bash. Had a great time, took a shower after getting back to the hotel and Morgan and I both decided we were hungry and found the wafflehouse even though it was 1am. I felt like a bad mom out very early Sunday morning with my eight year old... then we were up at 6am because my Aunt lives in town. Met with my family at Cracker Barrell and had a great time there before we left for the airport. Got home with no trouble and Morgan was completely passed out on the plane most of the time. We did nothing the rest of the day but watch movies, the first being Coaster Expedition Volume 6. Thank you so much Robb, Elissa, all the TPR staff and SFOT. Never been to that park and had an amazing time!

Cant wait...

I hate to just say something negative and run, but I don't have time for the detailed post. This event was amazing and I can honestly say the only critism I have is so very minor, a spec of dirt on a great big bright clean sheet of fun. I was riding mostly on the right side of the train for night time ERT and I thought the op was being really rough, but I chalked it up to me being a bigger person and needing the bar to go down a bit more. Then my eight year old switched sides with me and he did it to her and left some pretty good red marks on her legs and she was hurting. I switched back with her and just dealt with it, the ride was so awesome I didnt care. Hope I have time to post a little trip report later, it was an amazing day, had some funny hiccups (like being on the phone with magic mountain management for an hour). Robb I hope that ticket didnt come from your pocket $ because that was so magic mountains fault.

Thats what TPR event ERT is for.

Yay! Rip that Pepsi shite out!

I love this whole report. I'm a bit behind in reading certain threads so I just caught up with the whole one today. Australia looks like it was an amazing trip.

I doubt if something was missing that it would be track, probably something much smaller. Damn those pictures look great dont they? The green track looks so much better up in the air than laying in the dirt behind Termisalvation...

I'm so excited, today at work was pure torture! I'm kind of more excited to be suprising my daughter though. She's clueless. I told her she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon and she might get shots. I'll pick her up from school at noon and drive straight to the airport, she has no idea.

Roadrunner is NEVER going to open...

I live just a handful of miles from legoland and make it to sfmm in 2 hours most of the time. Also I'm not sure where AAA gets their numbers but my aging 1999 Camry can go to sfmm and back and have enough gas to commute to work the whole next week at least. Full tank is costing me about $70 these days.

I'll be getting a gold pass for me and my kid, the only coasters she's too short for are Batman and Freeze (I'll still grab a ride on those and she'll just wait at the exit). We usually ride water rides and don't mind getting soaked on a warm day. Hell we rode tidal wave on a very cool west coast bash day.

I'm thrilled about how the weather is looking. Need a nice weather coaster event. West Coast Bash was a great time but the rain hurt on X2! Can't wait for this weekend. Played hookie from work today because I got smacked by a line drive at a softball last night. Could have worked but I wanted to rest up and recooperate for the weekend. And definitely getting a flash pass, first time visit and it's a Saturday, I don't want to miss out on any rides.

Oh thats hot

ohhh pretty pretty green lantern! Thanks for the pictures Clink. I can't wait until its ready to go.

Hurry up Friday!

Completely off topic... didn't know they still did mud runs. I grew up on El Toro and Tustin when they were still active bases, great memories of spraying off a muddy platoon of Marines in the garage. Back on topic. I'm a Star Wars fan and the area is ok, but not great. I don't see that it brings much to the park really. However Star Wars Days at Legoland is one of the best events I've ever been to. Can't wait for that in June. I love Legoland, its amazing and the food and even merchandise to me has great pricing. The one day admission is a bit high, but there are great deals throughout the year and if you are local and get the year round its not that bad. I do get tired of Legoland but only because we've been a million times over. Haven't been to the waterpark yet, but it looks really great for the age group its geared to. Every time we try and go it becomes a freakishly cold day and it looks like tomorrow is no exception... maybe a run to Belmont is in order instead. Great report, glad you guys had a good time. Love my local park. I will sometimes grab lunch there and ride technic to clear my head before I go back to work a mile away.

Hey Lion King was an amazing game almost 20 years ago.

Deju Vu @ SFMM I haven't ridden it since Termination Day in 2009... I miss it terribly but it hasn't been operating any day I've been since 2009. Hopefully this summer Deja Vu, I miss you...

I don't see what the big deal is. The way I see it, I will always get a platinum pass for six flags so I can park with no extra charges, I go enough that it pays for itself besides the food/retail discounts. Any additional passes I get are just the standard for my kid. I do the same with Legoland and anywhere I would get a season pass, I would get at least one higher tier pass that included parking, its just what I factor in for price. I don't see why people who buy the 'play pass' for a regular price admission are belly aching about parking, you get what you pay for?

I think I'll also be there all day, never been to this park, but if it were a park I've been to before I usually take off for a couple of hours in the afternoon to go relax somewhere, get cooled off, not walk for a while, eat. Because I've never been to SFoT and the event is on a Saturday I'll probably get a gold pass too.

I love it so, I miss living in Germany *sigh*

Spent a couple of really cold days at the Disneyland Resort April 8th and 9th. Had a great time despite the crazy weather and unusually cold temperatures. Took this video of my 'ride warrior' kiddo screaming in terror on Mickey's Fun Wheel. This same kid thinks X2 is the best thing since sliced bread and laughs at people who are afraid to ride it.

So I'm expecting a new pair of shoes in the mail via USPS yesterday for the little monkey and sure enough there is a fat stuffed envelope waiting after work. I'm thinking... weird way to send shoes Amazon, but ok it was weird they sent via USPS in the first place. I toss the bag to my kid and realize it isn't shoes and ask her what it says. She lit up like it was Christmas and said, "It's from Themepark Review, what did you order?" I try to recall... "Um... nothing!?" I'll let her explain what she got. Thanks Theme Park Review! I love surprise bags of crap (so not crap) on Mondays!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland

I'm a friend of Big Mike. Have fun in Texas!