rcdude

Already Visited: Disneyland Disney California Adventure Park Knott's Berry Farm Will Visit: California's Great America Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Magic Mountain May Visit: Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park SeaWorld San Diego Universal Studios Hollywood Wild Waves Theme Park (will be a first visit) Not a whole lot this year compared to previous years, primarily due to no TPR trip this summer.

I do think it is appropriate for CGA to be a considerate neighbor and put up sound walls to minimize disturbance to the nearby buildings, but there is reasonable and then there is ridiculous. This case is sounding a lot closer to ridiculous every time I hear about it. Now, if the ride caused distracting noise in the workspace that wasn't there before, that would be one thing, but doing a noise test on the parking garage? Who is out there for more than a few minutes a day and why would the small amount of additional noise be any concern to them? I don't know...I really think if you move in next to an amusement park, unless they do something to deliberately mess with your business you need to just accept that noise will always be present. I can't imagine Cedar Fair is happy with this at all and I'm a little surprised the city is going along with it too. Hopefully it all gets resolved quickly and Gold Striker doesn't have any more significant downtime. CGA really needs this ride if they want to remain competitive in the Northern California theme park market, and I know I'll be very, very unhappy if something causes it to be down when I visit next month.

It's interesting that DCA's attendance skyrocketed while Disneyland's dropped slightly. I don't know how Disney counts attendance at the Disneyland Resort (I've heard first admission, once per park, and every admission reported at different sites), but I have to think it is due to a combination of non-locals deciding to give DCA another chance combined with locals who can only visit one park choosing to go to DCA. I know there have been days where DCA had a higher daily attendance than Disneyland, and I know some people who delayed their trip until everything was open at DCA so that they could experience the "new" park. It doesn't help Disneyland's case that they haven't installed a brand new ride in quite some time (I believe the last completely new one was Buzz Lightyear in 2005). I'm really surprised that Universal Studios managed to grow as much as it did from the addition of a single new ride. I do think that is the type of park that you visit once and don't need to visit again until there's a major change, so perhaps everyone who was planning to return was waiting for this. It will be really interesting to see what happens when Despicable Me opens, and even more interesting to see how Harry Potter affects attendance (I've kind of got a feeling by the time it opens, it will be too outdated and most fans will have visited the area in Orlando, resulting in a very mild attendance boost). Finally, I find this somewhat amusing: SFMM has built three major new attractions in the past four years, including a first in the US and a world record holder, and their attendance has grown. Knott's has only built one new attraction in the past four years, one that was closed almost half of last year, and chose to sit out 2012, causing their attendance to take a hit. However, SFMM is still 700,000 visitors behind Knott's. I wonder if this is primarily due to SFMM focusing exclusively on thrill rides or the current state of the park, as I would have expected the park to be roughly even with Knott's by now.

^I thought I remembered it being said that the ride would be slightly custom, but the same general layout (unless I'm confusing that with another 2013 coaster). It's not listed specifically as a Maurer Sohne Xtended SC 2000 model on RCDB, although that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Hopefully this ride will open sooner rather than later. I'm planning a trip to Northern California and really don't want to end up missing it as I may not get another chance to go back up there for a while (my last trip was in 2008). Although, I'd be very surprised if the ride isn't ready by 4th of July and I won't be going until mid/late July, so I doubt there's anything to worry about.

Timber Mountain Log Ride is looking great. Knott's really seems to have done an outstanding job with the overhaul. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go check it out in the next week or two since it wasn't ready when I went on Memorial Day.

A couple more at Disneyland that haven't been mentioned yet (although they may be considered gray areas): Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage-At the end of the ride, a whale eats the sub and then blows it back to the surface (can't see this one too well but it's evident based on what you can see and the dialogue in the ride). Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin-There is a room in the ride where all the machinery is coming to life. The exit to the room has cuttings that look like teeth and clear eye-like features above the opening And one not at a Disney park: Dragon at La Ronde-If I remember correctly, there is a point on this coaster where a dragon gets you, but I'm not 100% sure and the ride is so dark it doesn't show clearly in any video I've found. ADMIN EDIT - Sorry, we don't allow videos from the YouTube channel you posted from as they often film rides without the parks permission.

I was dragged onto Sky Jump a couple times when I was a kid, and I never liked it at all. It wasn't the heights, as I always enjoyed the Sky Cabin, but just standing in the little basket and falling at a high speed. I wonder what I'd think of the ride if it were still around...I'd probably find it boring now with Supreme Scream next door.

Those slides definitely look different from any I've seen elsewhere. Most are either fully opaque or fully translucent, not opaque with translucent strips. It should give an interesting experience. I can't wait to visit Las Vegas next summer and check out both Cowabunga Bay and Wet 'n' Wild. While I won't judge the parks until I actually visit, from everything I've seen so far Cowabunga Bay looks like the far superior park.

I've never used Platinum, but when I've used Gold at other parks it was definitely good enough. Most of the time, it would be time to ride by the time I got to the attraction I had reserved (provided I made the reservation as soon as I redeemed the previous one). I also don't agree with the way Six Flags does double rides for Platinum users, so I would never get one. If I were you, I'd save money by getting Gold and use single rider on Lex Luthor (or ride within the first hour of opening). X2 is a $15 upcharge per person, per ride, so I'd just go ride this first thing in the morning, then get the Flash Pass, then head to Lex Luthor and go from there.

I didn't ride GhostRider so I can't confirm or deny anything, but I seem to remember hearing that the ride can no longer operate with all three trains simultaneously during normal operations. I certainly never saw more than two, and when it seemed to be a couple minutes between trains I can't imagine using three would be any more efficient than two. I do know that when I got back to the park around 9:20 A.M., GhostRider had a train sitting at the bottom of the lift (copper or gold...don't remember which) and another in the station (silver...definitely silver) and there was an alarm going off repeatedly followed by an announcement about the ride starting, so perhaps they had all three for testing purposes and removed one very early in the day. The ride did have a posted 90 minute wait yesterday, with the line spilling about halfway to the entrance tunnel, so if they can run three trains still that would have been a day to do so. There are some lights on it, but they appear to just be simple fluorescent tubes. They were never on while I was there (even in the early morning), but I'd be surprised if they were anything different. I believe all the wild mouse coasters in the Cedar Fair chain (or at least the Mack models) have the same 44" if accompanied, 54" alone restricton Coast Rider has. Yes, I do think it would be nice if it was 42" since Sierra Sidewinder (a more intense coaster by the same manufacturer with a similar restraint system) is 42", but it's not a big deal. I think it's much, MUCH worse that Pony Express and especially Jaguar have 48" height restrictions than it is that Coast Rider is 44" instead of 42".

Same on Surfside Gliders: a key is required to unlock the seatbelts. An operator also has to unlock every seat manually on Pacific Scrambler by means of a pedal under the seat. Today, they had two or three operators stationed at each attraction as the queues were overflowing, but I could see both having incredibly slow loading cycles with only a single operator.

Had a good time at the KTLA film shoot today followed by a decent time in the park during normal hours. The new area is great, possibly the best thing that has been added since Cedar Fair took over. All three rides will be excellent for families and will give them something to do in an area that has been dominated by thrill rides since the 90s. Knott's also knows how to run a wild mouse right...I rode Coast Rider around 11 and even with a full queue the wait was below 30 minutes. 8 cars running with zero stacking! In case anyone was wondering, Coast Rider does NOT have seatbelts, just lapbars. The park overall was pretty good today, other than a few rides with one train (Jaguar, Pony Express, and Xcelerator). Not as busy as I expected for a holiday (most attractions were 30-45 minute waits). Also, based on the current state of the attraction I am a little worried that the Timber Mountain Log Ride could be delayed, but I'm guessing they'll work around the clock if necessary to get it open on time.

Silver Bullet at Knott's Berry Farm on Tuesday.

I just got home from school and found out that I'm in for the KTLA shoot. I've never done one of these before, so it will be a different experience.

Honestly, the only time I've ever been unable to make my Fastpass return time was when I happened to be in the other park during the return window. It only takes five minutes or so to cross the park, and if you can't make it back during the one hour window then that's most likely poor planning. I've also got a feeling that the park would make accomodations for anything that is their fault, and I also believe that you'd probably be able to get in if you're a few minutes late. They just don't want people with 10:00 to 11:00 A.M. Fastpasses returning at 7:00 P.M., as that causes problems with the wait times. So far, I've seen a lot less backups of the Fastpass line, so if return time enforcement makes the line move more smoothly I'm all for it.

Yes, they started enforcing them earlier this year. Signs have gone up at a number of Fastpass machines informing visitors that early or late arrivals cannot be accomodated.

I occasionally run into the no single riders rule, most commonly on rides with a very simple restraint system (such as a single position lapbar). I'm pretty sure it's for safety reasons as usually the seat is long enough that an average rider could turn sideways and slip out of the restraints if there isn't anyone with them. In my experience, the rule is most common on Falling Stars, Zippers, and Ferris Wheels, but I've occasionally seen it on other flat rides (though I've never seen it on a ride with individual restraints). For roller coasters, I've only seen a no single rider rule three times: -The Hi-Miler (travelling coaster owned by Ray Cammack Shows) requires two riders per row due to very strong lateral forces and a shared lap bar. -Funtown Splashtown U.S.A.'s Wild Mouse requires at least two riders per car, although not necessarily two riders per row. -Six Flags Magic Mountain requires at least one rider on each side of Green Lantern to prevent excessive rotations.

Yes, many times. I've been on a majority of the coasters in Southern California that operate in a rain, as well as a few others. I generally try to avoid riding anything that goes faster than about 50 MPH in the rain due to the discomfort, but sometimes I have no other choice. The best rain ride I've had was Mystery Mine at Dollywood, as the rain really added to the atmosphere of the attraction. Thunderhead at the same park was also significantly improved by the wet tracks. The coolest rain ride I've had was Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I rode at night, and it was very neat to see the raindrops falling while looking straight down from 400 ft (although reentry was not a pleasant experience).

It's fast enough to make the loop, but it will probably be going fairly slowly over the top. For reference, Viper has the same max speed after a 171 ft drop.

Coast Rider looks like it's running pretty good, and the video description said that's slightly slower than it will normally run. I'm not expecting anything amazing, but I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being the best of Southern California's Wild Mouse coasters. It may be only a family coaster and a couple of flats, but I'm actually really looking forward to checking out this new area in a couple weeks. Knott's has started to feel a bit stale lately so hopefully this is only the first of many new things to come.

Outstanding article! I like articles like these, ones that give a quick glance to a number of top tier coasters all over the world. This is very well written and features a better selection than almost all the other similar articles I've read. It sounds almost like it could be your top fifteen list, and if the few I've been on are anything to go by that is an outstanding list.

I just noticed this posted on the Knott's facebook page... So I guess the new area will officially open on May 30th now. In the comments it was stated that the rides would still open May 25th, however. Perhaps the park wanted a soft opening period or they just found it more convenient to wait a week before the official opening. Anyway, the Timber Mountain Log Ride will be having it's grand reopening on the 30th as well, so it sounds like this would be a great way to check out the new for 2013 attractions before summer crowds arrive. I'm certainly planning on going.

When I visited a couple years ago, Scream had two towers early and late and all three in the middle of the day. While all three were operating, the ride operated in turbo drop mode (probably because one tower can only do that and the cycle is shorter, reducing the 60 minute wait), but when only the two were running they put it in combo mode. I rode it once with each setup and the combo mode is much, much better. When Scream runs different programs on multiple towers (especially if one is turbo drop and another is space shot), do they let you pick which one you want to ride or are you just assigned whichever is available? I don't know about most people, but I'd be annoyed if I waited an hour and got assigned to a tower that was just running the space shot program (in my opinion the weakest of S&S's various rides by a significant margin).

One last one.

Another...