While checking in at the Best Western just across highway 5, I asked about shuttle service to the park. They said that the city only provides one from Thursday to Sunday, and that there's no public transportation options. Bummer The hotel was decent. Some online reviews said that traffic noise was a problem, but we didn't really notice it. To be fair, though, after driving a few hundred miles, a day at the park, and some adult beverages courtesy of the local Albertsons (open until 11!), I wouldn't have noticed marching band practice in the parking lot.
So on Tuesday we woke up bright and early at 11 am, paid the nice man at the gate his pound of flesh, and got a parking spot right in front of the third tram stop. Another busy day, it seems. First stop was Tatsu, got in line at about 12:30. We skipped it on Monday because the line was just too long and we were too tired. Today, the line was just as long -- all the way through the switchbacks -- but we were in a much better state to wait around doing nothing.
Tatsu means "bored" in Japanese
And so we did nothing. We watched the trains, we tried to figure out where the people next to us in line were from, we watched crappy music videos, and we watched ads. Lots of ads. Lots and lots and lots of ads. One crappy music video, five crappy ads. Repeat. And repeat. (I started keeping track of all the different companies we saw ads for throughout the day, the list is about 30 long. We saw most of them in line for Tatsu.) Finally made it on the ride in an hour and 10 minutes.
I had never been on Tatsu before, but I had been on Stealth at (Paramount's) Great America. That ride had some severe issues, most notably ridiculous loading times, zero shade, and an underwhelming ride experience. B&M or SF obviously anticipated the loading time problem by building two loading tracks, but they were only using one. Shade was ample. The ride experience, though, was similarly underwhelming. The only part I really liked was the pretzel loop; the rest felt a bit pedestrian. Maybe I trust safety harnesses too much.
Roaring Rapids wasn't open so we made the short hike over to Superman to try our luck again. Got into line at about 1:45, starting at about the Gold Rusher lift hill. The line moved slowly but steadily, even though only the left side was running. The AC inside wasn't running, but it wasn't too stinky or hot. Made it to a "front row" seat in about 50 minutes. Since they turned the seats around, the line for the front row was actually the shortest, which was nice! The ride itself was solid, the car was regularly going very high up, close the the emergency brake things at the top of the tower. Not sure whether I like sitting backwards or forwards more.
Next up was Riddler's Revenge. 40 minute line at 3 pm. Got on the back row, which turned out to be a mistake. In fact, choosing to ride it at all was probably a mistake. Painful. Possibly worse than Viper. Not worth a 10 minute wait, let alone 40. The view from the queue was cool, though.
Seeking something that wouldn't try to kill us, we headed over to Lex Luthor. I was a little apprehensive after seeing one of the cars stuck at the top for four or five minutes, but, like I said, I trust the rides' safety devices. Not knowing if or when you're going to drop for that long though? That freaks me out. Anyway, I prepared myself and we got into line (read: Rebeccah dragged me in by the ear) at 4 pm. The line was right at the door to the building. At first, I thought the theming was really neat. The posters were cool, the schematics were cool, the soundtrack was varied enough not to get too repetitive, I liked thinking of why the locations on the map are where they are.
I've heard that somewhere before!
Someone needs a diaper change!
But there wasn't anything else to it. You're stuck in a dimly-lit copy of a boring office lobby with a broken elevator for a made-up company led by a sociopathic evil billionaire. For an hour. With at least a hundred other people. And you can't sit anywhere but the floor. Which is sticky because you don't make it to a trash can until you're 40 minutes in. And then the ride breaks and the line doesn't move for 15 minutes and you sit down anyway because your legs hurt from standing still on a hard floor and you just don't care anymore clothes can be washed can't they?*
Then they say it's been fixed and everyone cheers and you make it outside and oh my god it's so warm and so bright I cant believe how cold it must have been inside and you hug and you kiss because you made it and its almost your turn and you strap yourself in and wave to the people on the ground and keep waving man i must be grinning like an idiot and oh my god this really is high up this is going to be awesome and what was that voice saying i must have missed part of it i wonder if i can see my car nope lol too late falling falling i love this feeling this is going on for so long holy crap still falling brakes so smooth back on the ground safe i know im grinning like an idiot now how awesome was that i wish we could go twice in a row man i am shaking what did you think i loved it too ok get my bag walk out the gate what should we do next Then we saw the single rider line. All three of them.
Checked out Goliath, but the line was all the way up to the lockers (!!!). Went for Colossus instead. 20 minute wait for the front row from 6:05. Only the left track was running, but at least they had two trains running. One had a full wrap on it for The Great Escape, the other was plain black.
I want to escape from all the damn ads!
We got the black train. Not uncomfortable, still fun, but man do you go slowly through the big turns. And that brake run seems completely unnecessary. A 5 to 10 minute wait ride, for sure. 20 was pushing it.
Headed all the way back to Apocalypse to compare the woodies directly. Night and day. Rode twice at 6:45, basically walked on both times. Such and awesome, awesome ride. I hope it doesn't get neglected despite the seemingly low ridership. BTW, one solo rider was having trouble getting the bar to come up but the attendants didn't notice so we helped instead.
Took a nice little walk up the back path of the hill. Parts of the park really are quite nice. Serene even. Noticed that Roaring Rapids was still closed, which probably added to the serenity. Took another spin on Ninja; 7 minute wait at 7:05. Much more reasonable. "Ear-shattering PA syndrome" was noted here, too. Methods of transmission are as of yet uncertain, however in both documented cases the host body was a roller coaster of the "suspended" or "inverted" type. Train #3 was sitting in the yards in awful shape. I have a soft spot for Ninja, I hope they're not just waiting for it to shake itself to parts and then scrapping it.
Train 2 ain't dead yet though!
BTW, the floor of Ninja's station building looks like it used to have a big circular thingamabob in it, like a turntable for a water ride or chairlift. Any info?
Took the Orient Express down the hill. It puts the fun in funicular!
FUNICULATING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT
We had to ride the Road Runner Express. I swear, some guy held us at gunpoint and made us do it! We weren't credit whoring! We didn't have a choice! He was crazy! 3 minute wait at 7:30. On an unrelated note, some little kids get extra cute when they're all tuckered out! Also went on the Buccaneer; 3 minute wait at 7:35. A nice little bit of air in the back row! The cycle was too short, though. Not as good as the pirate ship at Santa Cruz.
And, finally, Goliath for our last ride of the night. 59 minute wait for the front row at 7:48. Saw Lex Luthor get stuck again while waiting. It was the Batman side, just like the other time. Much shorter though, no more than 30 seconds after the other car dropped. They did an empty test run pretty quickly afterwards, so it seems they're getting a handle on the problem (or at least the reset procedure). Goliath in the dark was awesome. A great end to a great day. Not perfect -- it was more crowded than I had expected, several rides were running well below capacity, Flash Pass has some kinks to be worked out, the game selection in the arcades is really lacking -- but nothing that will really ruin your day. Overall the big surprise for me was Apocalypse. Not only how good it was, but how empty it was. Hopefully whatever they're replacing Deja Vu (good riddance!) with will help get more people to ride it, which hopefully will convince the park's management not to let it go the way of Ninja.
*At least there weren't any ads you couldn't escape from.
