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Leviathan and Behemoth aren't on Fast Lane, only Fast Lane Plus. That's your only real perk getting the Fast Lane Plus. But, with their capacity being so high, it's really not too worth it (unless you plan on marathoning either ride). It's a completely different system at the Cedar Fair parks than at Six Flags. Instead of a Q-Bot, you have a wrist band. You just walk up to the Fast Lane entrance and show your wrist band whenever you want to ride.

I like the idea of this. It's pretty much how I play Kerbal Space Program. Build the craziest or most insane thing ever to see if it works. Or if it won't, how big of an explosion can I make?

I haven't been to a concert since Paganfest in May, but in super exciting concert stuff, I managed to get tickets (and a hotel room!) for Wacken Open Air 2015! The show is a year away, but I'm already more excited than I've been for any other show ever. This festival is the metalhead Mecca. I absolutely cannot wait.

The only rides I have issues with are the ones that are incredibly rough and no one in their right mind would want to ride again (e.g., Hades 360, Ghostrider, SFA Roar, etc). Everything else though is good to go. But then again, I'm still fairly young.

I want to party with you, cowboy.

^ Yeah, we've just been calling whatever the next major coaster is Ziz since Leviathan was announced. Nothing substantial behind any of it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/skyrider-canada-s-first-standup-roller-coaster-nears-its-end-1.2729311 Coaster or more? My money is still on a Splashworks expansion. Imaginary money. But still.

I almost never ride Skyrider when I'm at the park, but I'll still be sad to see it go. Whenever I did ride it, I had fun. Now...bring on the "Ziz" rumours and speculation!

It rained for most of the Behemoth marathon at Give Kids the World this summer. That was painful. In hindsight, riding in the front may not have been the best idea. It also rained for most of my day at Kennywood this year, but none of the rides were too bad in the rain, even Phantom's and Sky Rocket.

I suppose it would be Wild One (SFA - 1917), though it's only been at the park since 1986. For oldest at one park, it's Jack Rabbit (Seabreeze - 1920).

Superman: Escape from Krypton was easily the biggest disappointment I've come across. I was so unbelievably excited to finally ride it, and backwards no less! But...the boring and forceless launch combined with a feeling of "meh" going up the spike left me really sad. It's sad too because I really wanted to like it.

Leviathan is pretty similar to Millennium Force. It's built to give a sensation of speed and has graceful curves. Leviathan does have more air than Millennium Force though. However, I305 is in a completely different category than either of the two other North American gigas. I305 is all about balls to the wall intensity. When you get off Leviathan or Millennium Force, you're thinking "hey, that was pretty fun!", when you get off I305 you're thinking "holy crap, that was insane!". For me, I'd rank them I305 > Millennium Force > Leviathan. Though your mileage may vary.

I was at Kennywood on Saturday and despite the rain, had a great day. Phantom's Revenge was way better than I remembered it being, which definitely made me happy. The only downside was that some of the operations (particularly Black Widow) weren't entirely the best. But, it was easy to look past and enjoy the day.

Awesome photos! I was just at Waldameer yesterday and Ravine Flyer II was running great, as always. Whenever I get anywhere near Erie, I make a point to stop there and get a few rides in.

I agree with you about Dorney's coasters. They're not bad or anything (well...maybe Thunderhawk) they're just...ok. Did you manage to get a ride on Demon Drop? I always like hearing peoples' first experience with that thing.

Another coaster season has descended upon us and as always, that old familiar feeling of wanderlust came crawling back. Unfortunately, there was no TPR trip in store for me this year. But, a good friend and I decided to make the trip out to California to ride some rides for this year's adventure (we also did trips together in 2010 and 2012). What lay ahead were some ups, downs, positive g's, but not a lot of airtime. It was a great (albeit rushed) week and I'd definitely go back if I had the chance. But enough of that! You're here to read about parks and look at pretty pictures! THE DAVE THOMAS DISCLAIMER: I like to write my full park experiences the best I can, so be prepared for some word reading. Part 1: Pacific Park/Disneyland (you are here) Part 2: Knott's Berry Farm (Page 1) Part 3: Six Flags Magic Mountain (Page 2) Part 4: Disneyland 2: Electric Boogaloo Part 5: Disney California Adventure Part 6: Universal Studios Hollywood Part 7: Gilroy Gardens Part 8: California's Great America Part 1: Pacific Park/Disneyland After making the trip from Toronto to LA, we got in our rental car and made our way to the first park of our trip, Pacific Park located at the scenic and world famous Santa Monica Boardwalk. Originally when we were planning the trip, we didn't plan on going here this day. But, we noticed how close it was to LAX and said "well, what the hell". The beach itself was pretty busy, so the parking lots were rather full. We ended up parking quite a ways down the beach, but it was a nice walk to the pier, so we didn't really care. Upon entering the boardwalk area, we immediately got our ride cards and queued up for the Santa Monica Westcoaster. For years, I've seen Westcoaster in just about every movie, TV show or commercial where they need a roller coaster. Hell...it was even in GTA V as Leviathan. The ride itself is good for what it is, a family coaster. It's not intense or mind alteringly fast, but it's enjoyable and has a couple of really fun moments. The third hill in particular gave a surprise bit of airtime. We also got a two for one deal apparently because they decided to send us around a second time when we got back into the station. No complaints from me! The only other ride we rode at Pacific Park (because it's small and such) was Pacific Plunge. This ride can best be described as an adult frog hopper. It ran a decent length cycle and provided more than its share of laughs. We wandered around the pier for a while, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the ocean. I love the smell of the ocean, and it had been far too long since I've been to one, so this trip was most welcome. We had a late lunch/early dinner at The Albright which was delicious and made our way back to the car so we could head out to check in at the hotel. OK. So...LA traffic. Holy crap. I thought I had seen bad traffic in Toronto and Montreal, but those towns have nothing on LA. It was definitely frustrating going from Santa Monica down to Anaheim where we were staying. But we got there, which is all that matters. Since we were staying in Anaheim, we were conveniently located about 10 minutes from the Disneyland Resort. Once we checked into the hotel, the obvious choice for what to do that night was clear. We made the quick trip to Disney and hopped on the tram to the park. It was about 7pm when we got there and we figured we'd be there until 10 or so before leaving. But, apparently we didn't research this well enough because Disneyland was open until midnight. It was definitely the best news we had heard all day...just not for our internal clocks as we were still 3 hours ahead. When we walked through the gates and into the main entrance of the park, I was instantly transported back to my childhood and the first time I stepped into the Magic Kingdom at WDW. I felt the same feelings of overwhelming happiness making my first steps into Disneyland. There's just something about a Disney park that you can't really put your finger on. Everyone there is just a little bit happier, a little more friendly and everything seems to have its own special touch. Our first stop took us to Pirates of the Caribbean, one of my all time favourite rides. Even though the queue was overflowing into New Orleans Square, it only took about 15 minutes to get on. Hurray efficiency. I still love the ride with all it's wackiness (and slightly terrifying ghost ship). I thought I wouldn't enjoy the Jack Sparrow stuff, but it was done so it didn't really take away from the classic feel of the ride. Plus, "WE WANT THE REDHEAD" and the dog with the key are still gold. Next up since we were in the neighborhood was The Haunted Mansion. I really liked the exterior of the mansion, with it looking like a creepy old Louisiana plantation. Granted, I prefer the exterior of the Orlando one, but this was also pretty darn good. The interior of the ride is the exact same (that I can remember, it's been a while since I've been to WDW) and the effects are still impressive, especially the ballroom scene. I have always thought though that the hanging body in the stretching room is a bit much for little kids at a Disney park, but whatever. We decided to skip Splash Mountain for now and went over to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Which to be honest...wasn't that good. You just kind of bobbed around listlessly while going through the various scenes. I was expecting a bit more life or action out of the vehicles, but it just didn't happen. At least it was a walk-on, so I can't really complain too much. From there, we decided to make our way over to Tomorrowland where we hoped to ride Space Mountain. Again, our faulty research did us in as it was down for maintenance until July 4. It was a bit of a downer, but since there's nothing we could do about it, it didn't dampen our spirits. We instead took a spin on Autopia during the fireworks display. It was neat to be driving the cars while staring in awe of the sky and clearly not at the car in front of me. Autopia was also a lot longer than I was expecting it to be, with more turns and actual stuff to do, driving wise. Since we were in Tomorrowland, we decided to hit up Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear. This was the first time I've been on Star Tours since they made all the changes. I really liked what they did with the movies, especially with them being different each time. Don't get me wrong, I liked the original with the Death Star run, but the new ones felt like there was an actual story rather than "hey remember this from the movie?". There's not really much to Buzz Lightyear, but it's still one of my favourite shooting rides. The spinning controls make it a little more chaotic when you're fighting the person you're riding with for control. After getting off Buzz Lightyear, we wanted to go ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds, but they went down while we were in line. So, we decided to ride everything in Fantasyland instead. We started with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride which made me so very very happy. I loved the WDW version of this and was actually really sad when they took it out. It made me happy to be able to ride it again. Snow White and Pinocchio were...ok I guess. Well ok, they're actually pretty boring if I'm being honest. But, I'm not exactly their target demographic now, am I? Our final ride of the night was Peter Pan. We got in line at about 11:45pm, but our bodies thought it was 2:45am. The line is mostly a blur we were so tired, having been awake since 5:30am. Once we got on the ride, we were able to wake up. I enjoyed Peter Pan and I still really like the suspended dark ride system. It's something you really don't see a lot of. After leaving the park, we went back to the hotel and instantly fell asleep. It was a long day, but a very good one. But, it was only day one, we will had a full week ahead of us. Here are some various photos from the day! Wow...what a hole! Santa Monica Boardwalk! The area is actually pretty gorgeous Hurray roller coasters! Fun is apparently here as well. Going through the long helix Going up... Slowly coming down. It's always weirded me out that the trains are essentially hypercoaster trains, but it's a family ride. I think this is where the surprise air was Roaring back into the station Hey look! An ocean! An adult sized frog hopper See? It's even made by Moser! The backside of Pacific Park Hail Hydra Quite literally the end of the road Famous! One last look at the boardwalk and ocean Yaaaaaay I was so happy at this point What is this? A castle for ants? It all started with a man and a mouse... Yo-ho! Yo-ho! A pirate's life for me! Also...I need to figure out how to get into the Dream Suite. Yarr There are 999 ghosts here apparently. I hear they're looking for one more. Everybody has a laughing place. Fireworks after getting off Autopia Oooh! Aaah! Oooh and aaah! OK, this is so not canon. Between Episodes III and IV, C3P0 and R2D2 belonged to Wedge Antilles. *adjusts nerd glasses* Flights from Alderaan being cancelled? Better get used to that. RAWR Stuff from the Snow White queue Sleeping Beauty Castle by night Looks like Walt is still home Up next: Knott's Berry Farm!

It's a toss up between either of the Mr. Freeze (I liked the Texas one slightly more) or Montezooma's Revenge. Typically, shuttles don't do a lot for me, but I really enjoyed those ones.

I completely agree with you. Outside of the B&M's and maybe Vortex, there isn't a whole lot going on coaster-wise at the park. But, there are enough flats to keep you occupied and like you said, it's generally a nice park. Probably the nicest I've been to in the Cedar Fair chain.

Picture courtesy of KCAL/Park Journey on Facebook: Well..there's your problem.

From that Reddit thread: POV! Tree: 1 - Coaster: 0

Santa Clarita Sheriff confirms it was a fallen tree... SCV Sheriff ‏@SCVSHERIFF 28m #MagicIncident - Tree fell on Ninja ride at @SFMagicMountain - @SCVSHERIFF & @LACo_FD on scene along with theme park staff.

A branch can shift, break and fall onto the tracks. Ninja is basically in the middle of a forest (using the term very loosely), so it's possible.

Wow...that is one hell of a trip. I'm glad you liked the charm of Knoebels. It's what keeps me going back every year.

I'd lighten the MCBR on SFMM's Goliath. Not by a lot, but at least so you can some kick-ass positive g's in the helix.

Awesome Gatekeeper pictures! That ride is probably the most photogenic of any I've come across. Can't wait to see the rest of the day, especially any photos taken during the epic Millennium Force ERT.