rcdude

Looking through these pictures again just reminds me of how much fun the entire trip was. With only a couple minor exceptions, I really enjoyed everything that I did on the trip. Robb and Elissa really know how to put together a great trip and I can't wait to do another one next year.

Let's see... On my own: Six Flags Magic Mountain (twice) Knott's Berry Farm (four times) Knott's Soak City Buena Park (waterpark) Boomers (family entertainment center) (three times) Raging Waters San Dimas (waterpark) IntimidaTour: Carowinds Dollywood NASCAR SpeedPark (family entertainment center) Go-Karts Plus (family entertainment center) Busch Gardens Williamsburg Kings Dominion For the remainder of the year, I do not think I will go anywhere other than Knott's. I will definitely be going at least once more, and may end up going as many as three (I hope not). There is also a very slim chance I may visit the Disneyland Resort at some point, but that isn't really very likely due to the price increase and having classes five days a week.

Now for a non-park update. August 1st-5th, 2010: Pismo Beach, California Pismo Beach is a small community located in San Louis Obispo County about four hours north of Los Angeles. It is right along the coast and is a very popular place for the people of inland Central California. I had never been there before, and likely would never have ended up going there if it wasn't for my grandparents on my dad's side. This year was their fifty-fifth anniversary, so they decided to hold a family reunion in Pismo Beach, a town they really like. In total, there were twenty-two of us, consisting of me, my dad, my brother, my sister, my grandparents on my dad's side, as well as four uncles, three aunts, eight cousins, and one cousin-in-law (if that is the proper term). A few people didn't stay the entire time, but most of us did. Day 1: Sunday, August 1st On Sunday, my grandparents had made dinner reservations at an Italian restaurant (called Giuseppe's) in town for 5:30 P.M. We decided to take a scenic route through Malibu. Unfortunately, we didn't leave until after noon and there was about twice as much traffic as we had expected, so we ended up with an ETA of 6:30 P.M. Due to the restaurant being late with the reservation and my dad driving as fast as the law will allow we managed to be able to make dinner. I'm not much of a fan of Italian food, but it was decent (I just had Pizza). After dinner we went to the hotel, which was a Best Western located on the top of a cliff (pictures below). It ended up being a really nice hotel, but since it was getting dark I didn't really explore it until the next day. Instead, I joined some of my relatives in the downstairs lobby to play a game of Taboo while some of the others went in the hot tub. At about ten I returned to my room for the night. After browsing TPR to check for IntimidaTour news, I got ready for bed and just read my book until about midnight. Day 2: Monday, August 2nd I got up at 8:45 A.M., the time my alarm would be set for most days of this trip. After getting dressed, I went over to the breakfast room to find that everyone was gathered around a table out in the pool area. We ended up doing this every morning so we could figure out what everyone was going to be doing that day. On this day, my dad had made rental reservations to rent ATVs for a couple hours. We had to leave at ten so we could be ready to ride when our timeslot began at eleven. We were the only ones doing this activity, with the rest of the group doing other things ranging from wine tasting to relaxing on the beach. After stopping by the rental shop to fill out paperwork, we headed down to the beach. Although the shop is in the town, the rental pickup is on the beach about two miles down it. Since my dad's car has all-wheel drive, we were able to just drive straight down there instead of waiting for a shuttle. When we got there we were told the ATVs weren't ready yet because they were still in use. Ten minutes later the previous riders returned. After the ATVs were refueled, we were given instructions on how to ride and the safety rules, then were turned loose. ATV riding was actually a lot of fun. We spent the two hours riding out on the Oceano sand dunes. Since none of us had done it before, we had a little trouble at first (especially my sister) but by the end of the rental period we seemed to be getting the hang of it. Unfortunately, both my sister and I got friction burns on our hands. Once our time was up we returned the ATVs and went into town to get lunch at a McDonalds before returning to the hotel. That afternoon I walked around the hotel and took the pictures that I have posted below. My dad left at some point to go check out some buildings my grandfather invested in, but ended up being delayed in his return. Since my grandparents had planned to have a picnic for dinner at a park in San Louis Obispo at 5:30 P.M. and he still wasn't back by 5:10, we decided to find seats in our relative's vehicles. My dad got there a little later. The picnic was okay, but not one of my favorite parts of the trip. We had barbeque hot dogs and sausages, and also made Smores. When we got back to the hotel afterward, a number of people decided to go swimming. Instead, I joined the group of people playing Mexican Train in the lobby. At about 10:15 one of the hotel staff members came downstairs to lock the pool up and told us the lobby closed at 10 P.M., but let us stay until 10:30. I then said good night to everyone and went back to my room. Day 3: Tuesday, August 3rd Tuesday began like Monday for me. However, my brother had gotten up early and gone with my grandfather on an outing for a good part of the day. Nobody in the group had any specific plans for this day, but a large group wanted to go ATV riding. This left me with two choices: go ATV riding for a second day, which I didn't really want to do, or stay at the hotel and go to the beach, which I wanted to do even less. Our group of eleven showed up at Steve's ATV rentals only to find a massive line. We then decided to go down to Angello's ATVs, which doesn't even take reservations and had a much shorter line. This proved to be a very bad choice. After filling out the paperwork, we were told that we had to watch a half-hour instructional video. This video consisted of five minutes of instruction and the rest of it was telling you about all the fees you could potentially be charged. After watching the video, we were told that all the ATVs needed for our group couldn't be brought down at once and we would have to wait for the drop-off truck to return for the extras. This was the point where I became skeptical and started to think this was a bad idea. We drove down to the beach and passed all the other ATV rental locations, each of which had a trailer and a number of ATVs present in a fenced-off area on the beach. We kept driving until we reached a signpost in the sand that said Angello's ATVs. There was nothing else around. After we got there, we had to wait about twenty minutes before the truck showed up. They had managed to bring all the ATVs at once by loading ten onto the normal truck and an eleventh one onto a pickup truck. After they were all unloaded, we were briefed on the controls and then set loose. Now, at this point it was about 12:30, and I wasn't really feeling like riding an ATV anymore because we had first shown up at the shop over an hour and a half earlier. Once we got going, it was okay, but I think I had a better time the first day. The ATV on day two was in worse shape than the one I had used the day before, and in addition it would stall if I allowed it to idle for more than a minute and a half. It also occasionally stalled when shifting gears. This happened at least twice when I was going up a hill, forcing me to reverse down and try again. By the time it was time to return ATVs, I was glad to be done. Unfortunately, we weren't quite done yet. When we got back to the return area, we were told that there wasn't enough room on the truck and that we would have to wait there for them to drop off their current load and come back. We told them we were in a hurry but I don't know how much good it did. While we were waiting, my dad and uncles fixed a couple broken flags, then we just sat there for at least ten minutes. Once we were finally free to go (which was about 3:15 P.M.), we stopped by the store to collect our deposits (which had to be in cash) then got out of there as quickly as possible. We stopped for lunch at the same shopping center I had the day before, and about half of us got McDonalds. The other half went to a Taco Bell a few parking rows over. We all decided never to rent from Angello's ATVs again and headed back to the hotel. During the afternoon I didn't do much other than go swimming in the hotel pool for about fifteen minutes. For this night's dinner, my grandparents made reservations at Jocko's, a steakhouse located in Nipomo, a nearby town. The reservations were for 7:00 P.M., but it was about 7:20 by the time we finally got seated. Since I am not much of a steak person, I went with a chicken sandwich, which was pretty good but was too big. After dinner, I was told that I had been made a designated driver (because I'm under 21 and have a license), and I drove back to the hotel. Once we got back, everyone went to their rooms for the night (it was about 10:30 by this point). Day 4: Wednesday, August 4th On Wednesday, my dad had made reservations for tours at Hearst Castle. Our first tour wasn't until 1:30, but we had to be there by noon in order to see the movie. The movie was pretty good, but seemed a little on the long side. After the movie we got lunch, then explored the museum until it was time to board the bus. Our first tour was the experience tour. This tour was a general tour that covered the pools, grounds, one of the guesthouses, and the ground floor of the main house. Since I had never been there it was pretty neat, but I wasn't overly impressed with it. It may have been partly because we didn't have that great of a tour guide, but I wasn't particularly looking forward to a second hour and a half tour after this one. Following a short break back at the visitor center, we headed back up for the second tour. This one was of second, third and fourth stories of the main house, as well as the kitchens and the pool areas. I was much more impressed by this tour, and thought it was easily the one I would have picked if we could only do one tour and I knew what to expect. I took a lot of pictures of both tours, but unfortunately my camera died half way through the second one so I don't think I'll post any on here. After the second tour, we went and walked out on a pier across the highway from Hearst Castle and watched a sea otter, then drove to Avila Beach where dinner was scheduled at a seafood restaurant called the Olde Port Inn. It was a nice restaurant located out at the end of a pier, and had glass tables that allowed you to see down to the water below. However, since I am not much of a fan of seafood and like it even less than Italian, I didn't have much. My brother didn't have anything since he doesn't like seafood at all. After dinner, everyone headed back to the hotel except us. We headed to Arroyo Grande, the largest town in the Pismo Beach area, to visit a cool ice cream store called Dr. Burnstein's. Unlike many ice cream stores, only about a quarter of the flavors were generic. The rest were all created by the staff at the store and were unique (although I'm sure similar things exist elsewhere). I got Extreme Chocolate, a mix of chocolate ice cream and chocolate fudge with chocolate chips in it. Even though I don't like ice cream much (unless it is soft serve), it was pretty good. We then drove through a McDonalds on the way back to the hotel. Once we got back, I played Taboo for about twenty minutes, then headed back to my room for the night. Day 5: Thursday, August 5th, 2010 This was our departure day. I went and had breakfast, then went back to the room to pack. We loaded up the car, said goodbye to everyone else, and left around 10:00 A.M. Most people would be going home, but my dad had planned a little add-on that a few of my family members (an aunt, two cousins and my cousin-in-law) decided to do as well. Instead of heading directly home, we were headed for Sequoia National Park. Hotel Pictures Best Western Shelter Cove, our hotel for the Pismo Beach part of the trip. Unlike a lot of hotels, this one isn't a single building, but is instead several separate buildings. All the rooms have an ocean view. Mine was the leftmost room on the lower story. Across a bridge there is a small gazebo built on top of a giant rock. This is the view from the Gazebo. Looking the other direction back toward town. Let's go see where this path leads to. First you go by this. It looks like it would be a nice place to get married. It's a giant rock. Noted. You first get to this viewing area right on top of the cliff. Good view of the ocean from here. Years ago there was a threat of the cliff collapsing. A construction company installed these concrete blocks to keep the hotel from falling into the sea. Next, you go by a turnoff that goes over to this overlook. The stairs heading down to it are not in the best shape. In some places they are even more overgrown than this. Once out here, you get a good view of the ocean and that's about it. If there were bigger waves this place might end up being a soak zone. Almost there. The lowest overlook isn't too exciting. That looks interesting. I came down here twice, and at one point the waves were much larger than this one. My dad thought it would be fun to swim through the cave, but since the water and air were both cold we never went swimming in the ocean. We're finally at the hotel beach. It isn't the nicest beach, but I guess it's okay. I spent a grand total of ten minutes down here during the trip since: A. I am not a beach person; B. It was cold; C. I didn't have a whole lot of time to kill. Time to climb back up to the hotel.

I really enjoy reading these updates and looking at the pictures, and they are just getting me more excited for the IntimidaTour. Those bottle holders are a great idea. I wish SFMM had something like that instead of requiring you to place them in lockers or letting you leave them at the edge of the station. I can't wait to see today's update from Holiday World, as well as the updates from the rest of the trip's parks.

Okay, time to get this up to date. I'll be adding something every other day this week because I need to get caught up before I leave for the IntimidaTour on Sunday. July 26th, 2010-Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain is, out of everywhere I've been so far, the best park for roller coasters. They do not have as many top coasters as Cedar Point, but on the whole their coaster selection is much better. There is not a single roller coaster at the park that I won't wait fifteen minutes for, while at Cedar Point there were at least two coasters I would never ride again unless I could get on the very next train. However, the biggest flaw of SFMM is the lack of a good selection of non-coaster rides. Other than their good selection of water rides, every non-coaster ride at SFMM is worse than similar rides elsewhere. Since it is coaster focused, this doesn't matter too much as I rarely take the time to ride these. Normally, I do not visit SFMM in the summer because it is hot and crowded. However, my sister asked me to take her friends to the park since none of the other parents wanted to go out there. I agreed on two conditions: we would be at the park from opening to closing, and we would be going on a weekday. She choose Monday, August 26th since she was able to get a full car of friends that day. One of them had to drop out a couple days ahead, so our group consisted of six people (me, my brother, my sister and three of her friends). We left late enough so we hit Los Angeles just after rush hour. There was not much traffic except for in the LAX area, so we got to the parking lot at a little after 10 A.M. My sister and her friends purchased their tickets (I got mine and my brother's online using a Club TPR discount, which I highly recommend), and we got in line to enter the park. At 10:30 the gates opened and within five minutes we were inside. Even though some of my sister's friends wanted to go to X2 first, I convinced them not to. We instead headed straight to Tatsu and got on the third train of the day. We then did Terminator, Deja Vu, Riddler's Revenge, and Gold Rusher with minimal waits, then had an early lunch to avoid the crowds. After lunch, we went around the park riding the remaining coasters and doing a couple other rides. We ended up getting on everything, but didn't have time for very many re-rides. Since I was busy acting as a tour guide for my sister's friends, I didn't really take any pictures, so there are no photos here. However, I'm sure there are plenty of photo trip reports of SFMM so mine would likely be nothing new. However, here are my ride reviews. Ride Reviews: Tatsu-Tatsu is my favorite B&M coaster and is the best coaster at SFMM. We headed to it first thing and managed to get on the third train of the day. This is a great ride that seems to be the favorite of quite a few people. It also has the most forceful element I have ever experienced (the pretzel loop). Unlike the park's other B&M coasters, Tatsu's line is somewhat slow moving and can take a while, so I highly advise heading here first. Terminator Salvation: The Ride-This is the best wooden coaster I have been on. Everyone else I know except my brother (who prefers GhostRider) shares my opinion. Terminator is fast, exciting, and features elements not commonly seen on wooden roller coasters such as mist, tunnels, and fire. The ride does feel a little different due to the lack of audio, but I'm sure I'll get used to that over time. If there is anything I have to complain about with this ride, it is the mandatory preshow. When I rode this later in the day, there was a forty-five minute line so the preshow didn't bother me and every train was full. However, when I went on at the beginning of the day the trains had an average of five people in them and we still had to watch the fifteen minute preshow. I don't dislike the preshow, but I wish the park would allow you to just walk through when there are less than two hundred people in line, which would be about a fifteen minute wait on a standard GCI. Deja Vu-Since this was closed for a good portion of the day at WCB it had been a while since I last rode it. I actually like this ride and while it isn't one of the best coasters at SFMM, it is my second favorite shuttle coaster and is in the upper half of SFMM's coasters. The ride is mostly smooth and has a much more terrifying initial climb, especially in the front car. Unfortunately, the line can get really long and loading is slow so if you don't ride in the first hour the park is open the wait doesn't justify the ride unless you've never been on it. Riddler's Revenge-This is by far the best stand-up coaster I have been on. It is one of the must ride coasters at SFMM and is worth the long wait it normally gets. Fortunately, we got here early enough that it was only a three train wait...once the ride reopened. When we showed up the ride was closed to transfer a second train onto the track. After about fifteen minutes, they began loading trains again. As usual, it was a smooth, fun, and intense ride. Gold Rusher-Even though this is the park's oldest roller coaster, it is not a bad ride at all. This ride isn't specifically mine themed, but it does have a pretty good setting due to the natural hillside of the park. It also rarely has more than a ten minute wait so you don't have to invest much of your day to ride it. A good ride, but not something you can't miss. Jetstream-I like this ride slightly better than the Log Jammer because it usually has a shorter wait and the final drop feels larger. Unfortunately, there is really only one decent drop and the ride is over really quickly due to the speed of the boats in the flume. They roll more than float on this ride, which makes it feel almost like a roller coaster. Worth riding if the wait isn't long, but there are better flume rides out there and this one can be skipped. Ninja-Last time I visited the park, this was closed due to the installation of a new programming into the ride system. I'm guessing they did some other work on the ride because it seemed to be running really well. Now that Big Bad Wolf and Eagle's Fortress have closed down, I'm guessing most people would say this is the best suspended coaster operating. I hope the park keeps it around for quite some time because this ride is really the only family coaster the park has. In addition, it rarely has more than a five minute wait if they are running multiple trains. Orient Express-This is the easy way up the hill and connects the top of the hill to the main entrance. It is good later in the day when you are tired and the crowd has dispersed, but if you use it in the morning you won't beat the rush unless you're going to Riddler's Revenge or Terminator. Basic funicular...enough said. Log Jammer-The park's original log flume. If the ride didn't take so long to get up the hill and didn't roll down a third of the course I might like it better, but it is still a good ride. The two drops get you soaked and people can also spray you with water cannons at the bottom of the second drop. Fun, but not worth a long wait. Goliath-This ended up being our longest wait of the day at over an hour. However, they were running the ride as efficiently as possible with two trains, often having the train in the station ready to dispatch before the train in front had reached the mid-course brake run. Even though a lot of people don't like this ride, I actually think it is really good, and it makes it into my top ten steel coasters list mainly because I have yet to ride a B&M or Intamin mega coaster (that will change in a week) and I like Goliath better than the Arrow hypercoasters I have been on (Magnum, which comes close and Desperado, which doesn't). Goliath features a long, although not that steep, first drop, the longest sustained air I have experienced, and the most powerful helix on any coaster in California. I'm pretty sure I would black out if the ride didn't come almost to a dead stop on the midcourse brake run. This is one of the coasters that is not to be missed at the park and, along with Terminator, was one of the only rides I rode twice on my visit. Colossus-Another ride that rarely has much of a wait, but is still a decent coaster. We ended up waiting ten minutes for this ride, which is pretty long compared to the usual two or three trains. It is fun, but pretty forceless. Other than one or two minor airtime moments, the ride is just steep drops and slow turns. It isn't that rough, but does have quite a bit of vibration at the bottom of the hills. I'm fairly certain that this ride would be very successful if it was re-tracked and reprofiled to give a ride similar to the original experience. Until then, it will remain a one ride per visit attraction for me. Scream-Why do people say this ride is rough? I find it perfectly smooth, and although it isn't extremely forceful it still isn't a bad ride at all. I think of this kind of as the Silver Bullet of SFMM; it is a good ride but doesn't have anything unique and is overshadowed by other attractions at the park. I'm sure this ride would actually be quite popular if it wasn't so far away from the rest of the park, but unfortunately it is out of the way so many people don't end up riding it during their visit, making it seem unpopular. Batman the Ride-For whatever reason, this is actually my least favorite B&M inverted roller coaster. It is a really good ride, but I actually think it is too much packed into a short ride. Maybe I'm just not used to old-school B&M intensity since I haven't been on very many of their early coasters, but Batman has always seemed like it was on the extreme side for B&M, who are generally fairly conservative. I still ride it, sometimes multiple tims per visit, and it is still in my top 25 coasters, but I don't get how it is considered one of the best inverted coasters of all time. I guess it is all a matter of personal preference, and maybe I'm just not one for high-g force rides. X2-We ended up going on this right before dinner and it was only a forty-five minute wait. This is my second favorite coaster at SFMM, although it would be the best there if it wasn't rough. I try to ride this in the first two cars, or the inside of the third car. Anywhere else the ride is just too bouncy for me. However, like a few of the other rides here, a visit to the park isn't complete without riding this even if you don't usually go for rough coasters. Viper-Not bad for an old custom looping coaster, but still on the lower end of SFMM's coasters. I do not know how much longer this ride will be around due to its lack of popularity and somewhat uncomfortable ride, but as long as it is there I will try to ride it once per visit as long as the line isn't more than ten or fifteen minutes. Revolution-This is the original looping coaster, but unfortunately it has uncomfortable restraints now. If the park removed the trim brakes and OSTRs on this ride, it would likely become one of the park's better coasters. As it is now, I consider this the least pleasant coaster in the park and will only ride if I can get on the next train. Ride Count Tatsu: 1 (car five) Terminator Salvation: The Ride: 2 (cars ten and three) Deja Vu: 1 (car one outside seat) Riddler's Revenge: 1 (car seven) Gold Rusher: 1 (back row of car two) Jetstream: 1 Ninja: 1 (front row of car four) Orient Express: 1 Log Jammer: 1 Goliath: 2 (back row of car two and middle row of car three) Colossus: 1 (back row of car four) Scream: 1 (car eight) Batman the Ride: 1 (car eight) X2: 1 (car two outside seat) Viper: 1 (front row of car three) Revolution: 1 (back row of car four) Total: 18 rides in 10 1/2 hours (1.71 rides per hour) We left at about 9:30 P.M. because of souvenir shopping. Overall, it was an okay day at SFMM. Although we didn't have very many long waits, the average wait throughout the day was over a half hour. I usually don't visit in the summer for this reason. Fortunately, it only got up into the mid-eighties during the day so it wasn't unbearably hot. I had fun, but I usually have a better time visiting in December or January (unless it is freezing cold). That's it for this update. Tomorrow or Tuesday I will have the next update posted, and it will include photos. However, instead of being an amusement park, this update will have photos of non-amusement park things I did on my most recent trip...a trip to Pismo Beach, California and Sequoia National Park.

1. If you've never been to the park, definitely. Cedar Point has a number of great roller coasters and a bunch of decent non-coaster rides. 2. I'm not sure because I stayed at Castaway Bay and only for two nights, but I'm guessing that's probably a good deal. 3. I went this time of year and with the exception of Top Thrill Dragster all lines were a half-hour or less, although I only waited in line for Maverick and Millennium Force during early entry. Top Thrill Dragster was a two hour wait, but that was likely due to four rollbacks and a closure to add a fifth train. I was able to get on all the roller coasters (other than the two kiddie ones) and about five or six non-coaster rides in the one day I had at the park, so with more than two days you will definitely be able to do everything as well as get plenty of re-rides. 4. I believe you only have to be 18 to rent a hotel room so it is unlikely you'll have any problems.

I remember seeing that one at the Orange County Fair in 2001 or 2002. It was promoted as being the first of its type in the world (if I remember correctly). Whatever year it was, that was the only year they had it. At the time, my brother wanted to ride it but didn't meet one of the requirements. All I remember was watching a couple people drop and saying I would never do that because it looked incredibly unsafe. Sure enough, shortly after someone died due to the net being improperly raised. Edit: As the news story below says, the person was actually only injured, not killed. I should have double-checked first. Sorry for any confusion. Either way, accidents are never a good thing even when they don't result in injury.

Orange County, California, where I currently live. You can get to seven major parks and a few minor parks with a two hour drive or less. For quantity of coasters, you can't beat that. Unfortunately, ten parks get boring after living here for nearly twenty years and it is really difficult to get anywhere else except the four Northern California parks. However, if I could move to anywhere in the US to find better conditions for a coaster enthusiast I would either move to the New York/New England area or to South-eastern Indiana. Both those places seem like they would have access to a number of good parks (New York would give you all the North-east parks, Eastern Pennsylvania, and down the coast to about Virginia, while Indiana would give you Cedar Point, Kings Island, western Pennsylvania, Holiday World, SFGA, and the Missouri parks).

^When I was at the park earlier this week the left track of the ride was testing for about an hour but it just had the regular car on it. However, it did look like the car was getting closer to the top of the tower than it usually does so they may be testing a new launch program capable of launching at full speed.

July 22nd, 2010: Orange County Fair The Orange County Fair is an event that occurs every summer in Costa Mesa, California. It runs from mid-July until mid-August. The carnival section of the fair, where I usually end up spending a good portion of the day when I go, is operated by Ray Cammack Shows, an Arizona-based carnival operator. They also operate the Antelope Valley Fair and Los Angeles County Fair in California, as well as a couple fairs (two each state) in Arizona and Texas. All these fairs use the same ride line-up, which varies from year to year, although not all rides are present at every fair. The Orange County Fair, however, uses at least three-quarters of RCS's ride selection. Normally I am not much of a carnival person, but since my grandparents live in Costa Mesa I have been going to this fair every year for as long as I can remember. Depending on the year, they run various promotions both for fair admission and for carnival rides. This year, we went on an unlimited ride wristband day. For $25 we got unlimited rides for eight hours, plus $1 for all games. There was no admission promotion on the day we went, but my grandparents managed to get two free tickets due to a special their Toyota dealership had going on. We got to the fair about twenty minutes before opening at noon. While waiting to get in, we all applied sunscreen as there is not much shade at the fair. Once we were let in, we went to the ride section and purchased four unlimited ride wristbands: one for myself, one for my brother, one for my sister, and one for my sister's friend. We spent a few hours in the carnival, then left to explore other parts of the fair and returned to the carnival after dinner. I will review all of the rides below, but first I'm going to talk about the non-ride attractions at the fair. The Orange County Fair is split up into several different areas. The first is the livestock area, which is where they have all the animal displays and shows. This includes livestock competitions, rodeo-type contests, and Alaskan Pig Races. This year we didn't really spend much time here, but in previous years I've spent a portion of the day in this area. The second area is the exhibit area. This is where they have all the displays of various things entered into one of the numerous competitions. They also have some unique stores here selling handmade products. The third area is the Centennial Farms, which is a year-round farm that grows produce and raises animals. It is used as an educational experience for many elementary schools in the area, and is open to touring during the fair. I rarely ever go over here anymore. The fourth area is the vendor section, which consists of a bunch of tents where people try to sell you stuff. I don't go here often at all because I don't spend a lot of money on random crap. The fifth area is the Pacific Amphitheatre, which is where concerts are held on a nightly basis. I've never seen a concert here, but I sometimes hear them when I stay at the fair until late at night. Ride Reviews: Crazy Coaster-This is a Zamperla spinning mouse, but is smaller than the standard version. It also has almost no spin to it. On the ride our car made about seven complete revolutions during the whole ride, with half of those being after it hit the brakes at the end. I'm not a huge fan of this ride but still ride it at least once when I visit. Creep Show-The older, but better, of the two cheesy dark rides at the fair because it is two levels. The ride begins with a spiral lift, then moves along the upper level balcony before descending back to the lower level for the main indoor portion of the ride. There are then four or five scare effects before the cars descend a small curving ramp back to the unload area. Fun, but not worth much of a wait. Dodgem-Standard bumper cars attraction. These cars are European-style and are difficult to drive, but they go faster than most other bumper car rides I've been on and are worth a ride if the line isn't that long. Euroslide-The largest sack slide I have seen anywhere. This attraction is at least sixty feet tall and features seven dips on the way down. Unfortunately, each year it gets a little slower due to the age of the mats they use, but it is still a fun ride. G-Force-This is the same type of ride as La Revolucion at Knott's, but has a much better ride cycle. Unfortunately, the ride is still a little on the short side, but at least the line is usually short as well. Haunted Mansion-The other cheesy dark ride at the fair. This one is very boring and just consists of a zig-zag ride in the dark past about eight to ten props that often don't work fully. Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is my favorite dark ride, but this may very well be my least favorite. I only ride to count how many effects are actually working and because my wristband is unlimited. Hi-Miler-This has been present at the fair forever but it is probably for a good reason. From my experience, this is the best portable coaster currently operating in California, if not the United States. The ride gives insane stand-up airtime and extreme lateral g-force stronger than almost all wild mouse coasters. It also feels like it is going to fall apart at any moment. My favorite coaster at the Orange County Fair by far. Hydro Slide-A portable log-flume attraction. This ride features two drops with the larger one being about thirty feet. It is fun, and gets you relatively wet, but isn't anything more than lift, turn, drop, repeat. La Grande Wheel-The world's largest travelling observation wheel. This ride gives a really good view of Costa Mesa and allows for great photo-taking opportunities. (Speaking of on-ride photos at the fair, only a few rides had signs saying not to bring cameras on-board. The rest didn't say anything and I saw a number of people taking pictures from some of them.) Mardi Gras-A glass house attraction where you find your way through a maze filled with glass panes and mirrors. It isn't all that challenging and is fun to do once. If you can't make it through in two minutes, you probably have no sense of direction as the path just zig-zags through the maze. I wish they would actually replace all the glass with mirrors to make it much more difficult to find the right way through, although that could probably cause problems. Mega Drop-A 115 foot drop tower that is my third favorite ride at the fair. Unlike most drop towers, this one actually uses compressed air to launch you downward, causing insane airtime. It also sits at the top of the tower for a variable amount of time, but it is often very long for a drop tower (usually 15-20 seconds, but sometimes as short as eight and other times as long as 40). Moscow Circus-The largest fun-house at the fair, this attraction features four stories of entertainment filled with bouncing floors, spinning platforms, sliding stairs and floors, tilting floors, conveyor belts, vibrators, punching bags, rollers, and the largest spiral slide I have ever seen. Definitely the must-do fun house at the fair. Re-Mix-I didn't actually ride this ride because it would probably make me sick, but I watched everyone else do it. The ride is basically an inverted sideways scrambler where the arms tilt up to the side as it goes around and there is no floor so your feet hang out. My brother and sister really like this ride. Silly Seas-This year's new fun house. It is a two story fun house that features sliding stairs and floors, spinning platforms, rollers, bungees, and a rotating barrel. Short but fun. Skyflyer-My favorite ride at the fair. This is essentially a swing ride on a 100 ft. tower. Not only does it go up and rotate, but it also slides up and down the tower during the ride cycle. Very fun, and one of the few rides I try to do more than once. Skyride-A Lift Engineering triple chairlift very similar to one you would find at a ski area. The 9-minute ride connects the two sides of the fair together and is great for taking pictures of the fair from sixty feet up. Just be very careful not to drop your camera. Speed-The second best ride at the fair. This attraction consists of a gigantic arm with seats on each end. The seats are free to rotate as the arm rotates. Unfortunately, due to only eight seats it is a very low capacity attraction, but is well worth the wait. Starship 2000-Standard gravitron ride where you get stuck to the wall due to centrifugal force. These are always fun as long as you don't try anything dangerous. Surf Shack-The worst of the three fun houses at the fair. It is very similar to the new Silly Seas, but is old and outdated. A number of the effects no longer work, making this barely worth the time it takes to walk through. Tango-I'll just say it right now...this is the most messed up flat ride I have ever been on. The ride spins on three axes at once seventy feet up in the air, and has a ride cycle that lasts for well over two and a half minutes. In addition, it is a stand up flat ride with no floor, so it is very uncomfortable for guys. I came off the ride very dizzy, but surprisingly didn't feel sick. According to the sign, this ride does movements no other ride can perform, so I would recommend riding at least once just for the insane experience. Zipper-If you don't know what a zipper is, you've obviously never been to a carnival. I've gotten sick on this ride in the past so I don't ride it anymore, but my brother and sister really like it. These are very standard carnival attractions, and if you haven't been on one yet it is something you really should try. Disk'O-Standard Zamperla Disk'O attraction. I really like these things, but this is one of the smaller models so it isn't as great. It's still worth riding, but is just not as thrilling as the Mega Disk'O or the Disk'O Coaster. In addition to the rides, we also saw Al's Brain, a 3-D movie about the brain hosted by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a pretty creative movie and is worth seeing, but it isn't a must-see attraction. Well, that's about it for the text section. Here is a video I shot while at the fair. This was all shot using the same camera I use for still photography so it isn't HD quality or anything like that, but it is much better than an average cell-phone camera. I also apologize for the occasional shakyness (I don't have the steadiest hand so you will never see a POV of anything other than a transportation ride from me). [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Orange_County_Fair_2010_2le7[/coastertube] Here are pictures as well. They aren't necessarily in the order I did the rides, but they do cover pretty much everything I did. Welcome to OC Fair 2010. This is a free pin you can get by going to one of the information booths. Here is a map of the fair. I wonder where we should go first? First stop...the carnival. You have one of these right at the entrance to the carnival. I don't think I've ever actually been to a fair that didn't have one. The first of the three adult coasters, and the only one I didn't ride (don't worry, I've been on it before). As you continue down to the far end of the midway you eventually spy this ride. It's the Crazy Coaster. Do not confuse this ride with the Crazy Mouse, which I have not been on before but have heard is superior in every possible way. The third (and best) adult coaster at the fair. This thing has probably been coming to the fair for longer than I have. Enough with the coasters for now, lets check out some of the other random stuff in the carnival. We begin with this totally random game where you race bananas. Creep Show, the only travelling two-story dark ride in California (to my knowledge). Standard Zamperla Disk'O. I like the larger models better. The European bumper cars. I have no clue why the ride sign says euroslide.com instead of simply Euroslide. I remember when this ride was new and it was a big deal. Now, it seems like very few people ride it. This ride sucks. Not only is it very dizzying, but it also has an uncomfortable plastic headrest you have to keep your head firmly pressed against in order to keep it from banging into the shoulder harness. As we were walking around, we randomly saw this sign. Fastpass? At a fair? What the heck!? Fortunately very few people were actually using them so the lines were short (for the most part). G-Force is better than La Revolucion but not as good as Tasmanian Devil. Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. If you don't know what these signs reference you need to watch some scary movies. This guy outside is actually a better animatronic than anything inside. Tombstone fun. Only two of them, but they are actually halfway decent. The best (and only) portable water ride I've been on. Sky Flyer is the best ride at the fair. It may only be a hundred feet tall, but it certainly feels a lot taller when you are on it. Time to take a break from the carnival rides and explore the rest of the fair. Since the carnival is located at one end of the fairgrounds, I guess we should head toward the other end. The wristbands include the Skyride, so we decided to take that instead of walking. Hydro Slide through the trees...wait...Deep Fried Butter? Yes, this place is really called the Heart Attack Cafe. You are reading that correctly. It specializes in Deep Fried Butter and Chocolate-Covered Bacon. Outside of the carnival area, the Orange County Fair pretty much looks like this. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has a couple of cavemen riding their chairlift. Here at the Orange County Fair, they use stuffed animals instead. It looks like the ride is coming to an end. Once we got off the Skyride we decided to tour the kiddie area for a little bit. We didn't ride anything but... My sister (right) and her friend (left) spent twenty dollars (combined) on the balloon pop to win these. It was eight pops for this size prize at one dollar per dart. Once we got back to the main carnival we decided to go for a ride on the La Grande Wheel. This is the largest travelling observation wheel in the world and is the same size (or possibly slightly larger) as the Sun...er, Mickey's Fun Wheel at Disney's...er, Disney California Adventure. Looking out one side of the wheel gives you a view of South Coast Plaza and the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The other side gives you a view of Vanguard University (which happens to be where my mom (Park Bench Sitter) works). Naturally, you also have a great view of the fair itself. View from above of the (likely) Elissa-friendly spinning coaster. Hi-Miler in all its glory. Now for my second-favorite ride at the fair: Speed. From a short distance away, the ride looks like a giant airplane propellor. It may be just me, but it seems pretty unsafe to be standing five feet away from an arm that is whizzing by at 60 MPH. Mega Drop is an amazing drop tower. It may not look like much but this ride will give you more (and stronger) ejector airtime than most roller coasters. I've been on this one before and I didn't like it. I still don't know how this old ride manages to draw a huge line when many of the new rides can barely get enough of a crowd to fill two cycles. I rode this ride early, but I didn't get around to photographing it until later in the day. I'm still convinced that I wouldn't have felt sick at the end of the day if I didn't ride this. Re-Mix waiting for its next set of riders. This ended up being my last ride of the day because my brother began to feel sick and wanted to leave. For whatever reason, I didn't actually notice this sign until I was on the way out. These are the rules of the carnival. I will end with a picture of what is probably the oldest carnival thrill ride still in operation. Hope you all enjoyed it and look for SFMM in the next couple days (sorry, no pictures on that one).

I think Six Flags Magic Mountain is missing only two types of coasters in their lineup: a wild mouse/spinning coaster, and a complete circuit launched coaster. Unless one of those two incorporates inversions I don't think the park really needs to add them. Possible, but unlikely. SFMM shouldn't try to just cram as many coasters into the park as possible just to say they can, and given the financial state of the company they can't really afford major new additions. My guess is that by the time Six Flags can afford three more coasters for the park they will have reached a point where one of their current coasters will have become too expensive/troublesome to keep.

After my recent visit and my first rides on Ninja, Goliath, and Deja Vu in over a year, I've modified my rankings slightly: 1. Terminator Salvation: The Ride (night) 2. Tatsu 3. X2 4. Goliath 5. Terminator Salvation: The Ride (day) 6. Riddler's Revenge 7. Scream 8. Deja Vu 9. Batman The Ride 10. Superman The Escape 11. Viper 12. Ninja 13. Colossus 14. Revolution 15. Gold Rusher 16. Canyon Blaster With the exception of Canyon Blaster (which I've rode twice in the past year and don't care about riding again for at least a couple years) I try to ride each of these at least once each time I visit.

I think the biggest problem with Scream is the lack of anything unique about the ride combined with its location. I went the summer the ride opened and it never had longer than a thirty minute wait while I was there. Unless it is running one train, the ride never has more than a ten minute wait anymore. Like others have said, the ride would have been more successful if installed somewhere else in the park. The lack of anything unique is the other main factor contributing to the lack of popularity with the ride. When it was installed, the park already had Viper, Batman the Ride, and Riddler's Revenge. Scream essentially combines elements of all three of those coasters, and didn't really fill a niche that wasn't already occupied. In addition, Scream doesn't have a unique element or some type of record-breaking claim, so it is difficult to market. When I go, it seems like about two-thirds of the people getting in line for Scream are getting off of Colossus because the right track empties directly into the entrance plaza for Scream. Personally, I think Scream is probably my favorite second-tier coaster in the park (6th overall). I try to ride it once or twice each time I visit, but don't worry much if I don't get to it. I don't find it to be rough at all, and most of my friends say the same. If they remove it, the park won't really lose anything but I'm guessing they'll keep it around for at least a few more years.

I currently have a pass to Knott's Berry Farm. From about 1993 until 2005 (with a couple one-year breaks) I held a Disneyland/Disney's California Adventure pass, and I also got a pass for Universal Studios Hollywood in 2004 due to the "buy a day, get a year free" promotion when I went.

I used to play carnival games a lot, but I rarely play them anymore. I will still occasionally play a few of the games I like, such as the bushel baskets, pop a balloon with a dart, and break a plate, but I tend to avoid most of the other single player games. I'll do the racing games if my whole group is doing them, and sometimes I'll join in the ring toss if we get a bucket of rings. I avoid most other games because they are usually rigged to be nearly impossible to win or are just too difficult or not really my thing. Also, I only play them at carnivals because even though the games aren't typically rigged at amusement parks I have more important things to do.

I'm guessing that given the recent trend for Intamin's coasters if the ride received new cars they would probably feature restraints similar to the current ones on Intimidator 305. This would probably solve the restraint issue for a backwards launch as they appear to be fairly snug on riders and would be able to prevent people from being thrown forward.

I committed to keeping this updated for the people who are interested so it's time to add another report. July 19th, 2010: Raging Waters San Dimas Raging Waters is generally thought of as the best water park in California. Although it may be the largest, I do not feel it is the best. I'll list my reasons later, but for now I will say that it is my least favorite stand-alone Southern California waterpark but is still not my least favorite waterpark period. However, due to the admission pricing and distance from where I live I generally only visit on years where they get a new attraction. We got to the park ten minutes before opening to find a crowd of around two hundred people waiting to get it. Fortunately, once they opened the gates we were inside within ten minutes. We bypassed the locker line and dumped all our stuff on lounge chairs, applied sunscreen, then headed over to the far side of the park. Unfortunately, unknown to us, the far side didn't open until 10:30, so we had a little bit of a wait. Once the far side opened, we headed to Thunder Rapids and were on the third raft of the day. We then did Raging Racer, Dark Hole, Dr. Von Dark's Tunnel of Terror, and Dragon's Den with minimal waits (less than fifteen minutes each). At this point, we had knocked out three of the four most popular rides in the park. We then rode Drop Out before stopping for lunch. After lunch, we took our time getting to the other rides in the park. Due to busloads of people and the nice weather, the park was very crowded, and some lines approached an hour wait. However, by 6 P.M. we had managed to do everything. After a few re-rides, we called it a day and left shortly before closing at 7 P.M. Ride Reviews: Thunder Rapids-This is not my favorite family raft ride, but is the better of the two at Raging Waters. The ride consists of a series of turns which send the rafts high up on the walls of the slide. There is then a small drop at the end of the ride. This is the single most crowded ride in the park, often reaching an hour wait or more, but since we went here first we waited only five minutes (once the ride opened). Raging Racer-This is a eight lane head-first mat slide. You race straight down the hill over four dips. It is a fun ride, and is the best mat-racer slide I've been on. However, it is still just a mat racer and isn't worth more than a twenty minute wait. Fortunately, we only waited however long it took to climb the hill (probably about two minutes). Dark Hole-This attraction is a pair of partially enclosed two-person tube slides. The ride starts out with a couple turns in the open before it enters the dark tube. It then has twists and turns, as well as a helix, in total darkness. The ride emerges from the tube at the top of a twenty foot drop under a bridge, which leads to the pool below. This is my least favorite of the three tube slides at Raging Waters, but it isn't a bad ride. We waited less than ten minutes since we went early, but the line for this can get really long later in the day. Fortunately, this and Raging Racer are the highest capacity attractions in the park. Dr. Von Dark's Tunnel of Terror-This is the new for 2010 ride at the park. Proslide calls the attraction a Tantrum Twist, which is basically a double helix slide with a small funnel in the middle. The ride is in complete darkness and riders use two-person Whirly Wheel tubes. I believe this attraction is supposed to have special effects inside the funnel, but they didn't appear to be working when we were there. I enjoyed this ride, but I do not think it is the best ride at Raging Waters. However, it is one of the few rides I rode twice despite the long line. Dragon's Den-This is a bowl slide, but instead of riding on your back you ride on a two-person tube. I much prefer this to the body bowl slides because it is a more comfortable ride. This is my favorite attraction at Raging Waters, although it had too long of a wait to ride more than once. I've found that the closer you are to the maximum weight limit of 400 pounds the better the ride is because you go down the chute faster and have more speed entering the bowl. For whatever reason, my brother and sister think this ride is a waste of time if there is more than a ten minute wait. Drop Out-This is the most extreme slide I have been on. It is just a single seven-story drop at an angle that looks just as steep as Perilous Plunge at Knott's. This is my favorite body slide at the park, but since I am not much of a fan of body slides that doesn't mean too much. The fun thing about is ride is it's location. Since the ride is built on top of a hill, the tower isn't that tall, and you can't see how large the drop actually is until you are at the top. This scares a lot of first timers away, which is a good thing because this (along with Dragon's Den) is one of the lowest capacity rides in the park. High Extreme-This is the tallest head-first mat slide in the world. It consists of two mirror-image flumes departing from a ten-story tall tower and working their way back to ground level. There are two large drops, one midride and one at the end, as well as a lot of twists and turns. I have found this is a lot of fun to race, as if you are good at steering the mat you can get going really fast down this ride. I enjoy this ride, but it isn't one of my favorites due to the amount of stairs you have to climb to get to the top. Amazon Adventure-This is a lazy river. Unlike other parks, there are no free tubes floating in the river. However, it is probably my favorite lazy river due to geysers, waterfalls, and fountains along the course of the ride. Fun for a lap or two, but after that it is too tiring. Flowrider-This is a stationary wave that you can bodyboard on. The park gives you one minute of time to show off your tricks or just attempt to ride the wave. It is fun, but often has a long line. Few people manage to last a minute on this without at least one wipeout, but I managed to get 45 seconds. Unfortunately, I spent the rest of my time trying to find my board, and couldn't find it until they shut the water off. Oh well, it was still a fun ride. Splash Island Adventure-This is the tipping bucket house, and is the largest of the four kids areas at the park. It is also the only one where adults are allowed to participate without children under 48 inches. This is much better than the Soak City bucket house, but is only fun for about twenty minutes. I enjoy these things because there are all kinds of fun things to play with, as well as little mini-slides that are often relatively zippy. Lily Pad Walk-I didn't do this because I can never make it more than three pads, but it is a series of ten floating pads people try to cross while holding onto a rope without falling in. My brother made it across but my sister didn't. Bermuda Triangle-Three enclosed body slides. The two outer slides are a single helix and the middle is a straight drop. I rode all three flumes throughout the day and I prefer the spirals to the drop. Neptune's Fury-This is similar to Thunder Rapids, but is dark due to being in an enclosed tube. I'm not a huge fan of this ride because it is tamer than Thunder Rapids. It was also our longest line of the day at 45 minutes. Vortex-A pair of mirror-image triple helix dark enclosed body slides. This is my least favorite ride in the park because it is a really simple layout and often has a wait of a half-hour or more. Fun to ride once, but otherwise not worth your time, especially since none of the original effects work anymore. I actually rode twice only because there was no wait when I walked by near the end of the day. Speed Slides-These are the oldest slides in the park. They begin with a couple turns, then there is a series of two or three quick dips that give riders a lot of airtime. Fun ride, but not one you can do over and over without an injury potential. Ride Count: Thunder Rapids: 1 Raging Racer: 1 Dark Hole: 1 (left flume) Dr. Von Dark's Tunnel of Terror: 2 Dragon's Den: 1 Drop Out: 1 (left flume) High Extreme: 1 (right flume) Amazon Adventure: 1 Flowrider: 1 Splash Island Adventure: 2 (once on each slide) Bermuda Triangle: 3 (once on each flume) Neptune's Fury: 1 Vortex: 2 (once on each flume) Speed Slides: 1 (left flume) Total: 19 rides in 9 hours (2.11 rides per hour) Overall, I had a decent day at Raging Waters. It wasn't the best day I've ever had there, but it wasn't bad and I actually had time to do pretty much everything. Out of my four visits to the park in the past ten years, I would probably rank this one second. Anyway, here are my reasons why Raging Waters isn't the best waterpark in California (at least in my opinion): 1. Crowds-I know this isn't really the park's fault, but this is the only waterpark I've been to (other than Hurricane Harbor) where it is nearly impossible to do everything in one day due to lines. I don't mind waiting in a forty-five minute line for a ride that is really popular and is the best ride in the park, but when rides just aren't high enough capacity to deal with the crowds it just makes lines longer. This goes along with #2 and #3. 2. Low Capacity Attractions-Too many of the rides at Raging Waters are low capacity attrations. When they can only send one or two tubes down per minute, that makes the line very long. At other parks, I have seen rides that can send as many as ten or more tubes down in a single minute. I do not believe a single attracton at Raging Waters has a capacity greater than 400 people per hour. At other water parks, I have seen rides with a capacity of more than twice that number. 3. Subpar Rides-Many of the attractons at Raging Waters just aren't that great. Of the rides at the park that also have similar rides elsewhere, only the Raging Racer is my favorite of its type. Bermuda Triangle is also pretty high compared to enclosed body slides, but the rest of the rides at the park really aren't all that great. Very few of them deserve the lines the get. 4. Line Jumpers-Raging Waters is probably the worst park I have ever been to for line jumping. I hate to stereotype, but I think it may be due to the groups of people that visit the park. More than once I saw one or two people get joined by six to eight others in line for the body slides, and on many of the tube slides one person would be joined by their riding parter near the top. The park does a poor job of enforcing this, but I wish they would. It just makes the already long lines even longer. 5. Parking-To put it bluntly, parking at Raging Waters sucks. First of all, it costs $15 to park. Now, this isn't unheard of, but when you look at the fact that you are parking in a gravel lot it is ridiculous. In reality, the lot is partially paved, but the actual spaces are all gravel. It is only the aisles between spaces that are paved. Also, if you don't get there early you have to park in a remote lot and take a tram to the entrance. I'm guessing that if this park wasn't over a mile from any populated area people wouldn't pay the parking fee and would just walk over from a shopping center. 6. And finally, Food Lines-On this visit, we ate early to avoid these. However, on previous visits it has taken an hour and a half to get food. Why? Well, there are only two or three food places in the entire park, and neither of them have more than four windows. In addition, it seems like they take about five minutes per person when serving food. The good thing is that it is slightly better than most other amusement park food, but it still takes way too long. Overall, Raging Waters isn't great, but it isn't bad either. If you've never been, and your in the area, and you enjoy water parks, I would definitely recommend trying it out. Just don't go expecting it to be the best water park you've ever visited and you'll have a good day. Anyway, that's about it. Once again, no pictures because it's a waterpark. My next update from the Orange County Fair, however, will have both pictures and a video. It should be up sometime next week.

If the park isn't too busy, I'm sure all my sister's friends will be happy. I agreed to take them to the park this summer, and we decided on next Monday, July 26th because it was one of the few weekdays I have available before school starts in late August (I've got two week-long trips scheduled in there). They will be glad to hear that they'll be able to get on everything in one day because most of them have only been to the park once or twice before.

^I think he also said that running Superman at 100 MPH increases the downtime by about 400%. I forget whether it was Neal or Tim that said this, but they said they were looking into reprogramming the ride system so it can launch faster without faulting as often.

^Almost non-existent. I've been twice on Mondays in July and on both times the longest line was about fifteen minutes. With the exception of Logger's Run, Barney Oldfield Motor Speedway, Invertigo, and the three large slides in the waterpark, everything was practically a walk-on for all but a two hour period in the midde of the day.

Time to update this thread. July 8th, 2010: Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is the park I tend to visit most frequently. This was my third visit of the year, and I will be going two-four more times before the end of 2010. Unlike some people, I do not think Knott's is a bad amusement park, but it is no longer unique enough to go out of your way for. I usually tell people to visit if they've got free time when they're in Southern California, but otherwise don't bother with it. On this visit, we had three visitors in our group, one of which had never been to the park before and the other two who hadn't been for over ten years. We got to the park a little before opening to find it was a cloudy and fairly empty day. However, after the first hour we began running into hordes of day-camp people. This made all the ride lines longer than usual, as well as caused quite a bit of general annoyance (more on that later). Our group remained together until after lunch, at which point we all split up. We met up again for dinner at 6 at the chicken dinner restaurant. Fortunately, it was only about a forty five minute wait. After a really good dinner, most of the group headed home while my brother, sister, and I spent the last two hours attempting to get to all the rides we missed earlier due to lines. We didn't get them all, but since we all have passes that's not a big deal. Overall, it was just an okay day at the park. I usually don't visit parks during the summer due to them usually just being okay days, but in this case it was worth it because I was visiting with relatives I rarely get to see. Ride Reviews: GhostRider-This was the first ride of the day, so there wasn't much of a wait. I rode in the front row of the second car and had a really good ride. If you want the smoothest ride, go on the ride in the front row of one of the first three cars in the first hour the park is open. I do this every time and still think this ride is the second best wooden coaster I've been on. As long as I avoid the last two cars, I really don't have a problem with roughness. Pony Express-This is my second least favorite coaster at the park (after Boomerang) because it is short and uncomfortable. However, when the line is short or I have other people in my group that want to ride it I'll still take the time to ride. Log Ride-This is a classic Knott's attraction that I try to ride every time I visit the park. It is my second favorite log flume (after Splash Mountain) and is something I definitely recommend riding when visiting the park. One of the few rides I did twice, although it did have a little bit of a wait. Xcelerator-The best ride at the park, as well as the best launched coaster in California. It is currently at #4 on my top ten coaster list. Unfortunately, the ride now only has one train and it had a bit of a line so we only got to ride twice. Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars-Slow bumper cars, but unfortunately they are still the best ones I've been on. Not worth it if you can't get on the next cycle. Mystery Lodge-This is my least favorite animatronic show, but is still something I tend to see once a year or so. I still haven't figured out how they do all the effects, but I'm guessing Pepper's ghost is probably the answer for most of them. Bigfoot Rapids-On average, this is one of the driest river rapids rides I've been on. It is still a fun ride, but isn't worth that long of a wait. Perilous Plunge-I like this ride, but it isn't quite as good as a standard shoot-the-chute ride due to the restraints. Still worth riding, especially when it is hot out. Supreme Scream-I used to like this ride, but now I find it a bit tame. When there isn't much of a wait, I still ride it, but Tower of Terror and any Intamin tower are better than it. Montezooma's Revenge-The most underrated coaster at Knott's. This ride is a classic and is probably one of the best shuttle coasters in operation today. Must ride unless the line is extremely long. Knott's Wild West Stunt Show-An ultra cheesy stunt show. My least favorite live show at any park, so I rarely watch it. Funny once, but not worth seeing again. Calico Mine Ride-Another classic Knott's ride that I enjoy. While it isn't the best dark ride around, this is above-average quality for a Cedar Fair park theming-wise. Stagecoach-The only reason I ride this is because it is a one of a kind attraction. However, it isn't really worth the line it usually gets. Jaguar-A decent family coaster that rarely has much of a line. I could skip this one, but if I'm in Fiesta Village I'll give it a whirl if I can get on the next train. Silver Bullet-Unfortunately, this ride was only running one train, causing it to have a massive line all day. We ended up riding just before closing and still waited forty-five minutes. Silver Bullet is a fun ride, but isn't something spectacular. This would be a good first inverted coaster for anyone, especially someone who isn't a roller coaster enthusiast, and is a good fit for the park. I think of it almost as a less-intense version of Cedar Point's Raptor. For lunch, we ate at Johnny Rockets, which is probably the best place in the park to eat. I also convinced everyone to try Knott's special chocolate-bacon funnel cakes, which everyone enjoyed (although a few of us got sick afterward). My complaints about unsupervised day-camp groups Throughout the day, there were a number of day-camp groups we ran into. These groups, for the most part, are generally annoying. They are typically impolite, obnoxious, rude, and are more likely to line-jump than everyday guests. However, when supervised they are not much of a problem. Unsupervised, however, I saw three separate incidents that should have resulted in ejection from the park. The first was at Bigfoot Rapids. We ended up getting in line two boats ahead of a group of day-camp people. There were about fifteen of them with one chaperone, so not all of them could be supervised during the ride. As we were leaving, I heard the operator in the control tower tell the deck operator to give them a talk about standing on rides because they were standing up for a good portion of the ride. I'm surprised people don't have more common sense than this, or at least that the chaperones don't tell the kids how to behave. I don't know what happened to them, but I hope they got in trouble with their counselor. The second incident was at Perilous Plunge. Here, the group was at the entrance deciding who was going to ride. About half the people who were riding ran down the line, than I and a couple other people entered, followed by the rest of the group and the chaperone. When I got to the point where the line was backed up to, the day-camp kids were twenty-thirty people ahead of me. It looked like they had line-jumped up to that point and were trying to keep going, but were being blocked by somebody ahead of them. Fortunately, their chaperone managed to get them to come back and made them sit out the ride. The third was one I observed while in line for Montezooma's Revenge. I saw a group of day-campers on Charlie Brown's Speedway, a whip-type ride. When the ride stopped, they all got off. However, one of them found out that pushing the cars will cause them to move. All twenty or so of them then ran back to the ride and began pushing it Nascar style. The operator didn't notice since they were busy with the gate until the ride made a weird noise. The operator then had to shout and pretty much drive the kids out to get them to stop. A few wouldn't stop period and the chaperone had to run in and drag them out. I don't know if it was related or not, but when I walked through the area later that day there was a sign out front of that ride stating that it was temporary closed. In my personal opinion, if you have a group of elementary-school aged kids at an amusement park, you need at least one chaperone for each ten kids, and you need chaperones that will constantly monitor them. I don't have a problem with other people enjoying the park, but when they can't obey simple rules (written or implied) they need to be constantly watched or just not come. End rant Ride Count: GhostRider: 1 (car two front row) Pony Express: 1 (back car) Log Ride: 2 Xcelerator: 2 (both in back car) Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars: 1 Bigfoot Rapids: 1 Perilous Plunge: 1 (back row) Supreme Scream: 1 (blue tower) Montezooma's Revenge: 1 (car three back row) Calico Mine Ride: 1 Stagecoach: 1 Jaguar: 1 (car nine) Silver Bullet: 1 (front car) Total: 15 rides + 2 shows in 12 hours (1.42 attractions per hour) Anyway, here are a few pictures I took during the day. I'm not a huge picture person at the parks around here because they are so frequently visited by me and others, but I'll post the ones I took. First ride of the day! I don't think this ride is that bad. Sure, it's a bit rough, but it is still an awesome ride. From here, the park doesn't look that crowded. Fortunately, we got back here when the ride only had a two train wait. Later in the day, the line was out the door. Oh no, scary day-camp people have arrived. This is where all rule-breakers should be forced to spend their day. I am really glad this ride is running well again. I rode it a couple months ago, but nobody else in my group had been on it in over two years. I still think this looks like one of the most unstable roller coasters ever built, but it is completely safe. This was closed all day so the cabin never moved. I wonder why they store it at the top instead of the bottom. From this angle, Supreme Scream looks a lot taller than it actually is. This is the coolest picture of the ride I have. I always enjoy standing in the middle of these towers. This is the only ride in the entire park that I haven't been on yet. Why? Spinning rides such as a chairswing or a tea cup ride don't bother me because all the axes of rotation are parallel. However, on a ride like Wipeout, or even a standard tilt-a-whirl, the axes are skewed which makes me really sick. At least, that is my theory and seems to be supported in my experience. Wipeout is still the best ride I've found for observing the ride mechanics. This is one of the wettest water rides in existence. It's hard to go down a drop like that and not end up completely soaked. Boomerang is my least favorite coaster at the park. However, I still ride it if the line is short enough that I can get on the next train. Fortunately, this is as close to the ride as I got during the day. Pay no attention to the lift of Silver Bullet. Instead, look at the sky. This is what the weather was like for a good portion of the day. And I will end with a picture of the second most intense helix I have experienced.

^^I've been back there when I went to the park to perform with my high school orchestra, so I've seen quite a bit of Disney behind-the-scenes. When I was there, they wouldn't even let anyone have a camera of any kind (video, still, digital, cell-phone, film, etc.) out of a bag at any time. We were warned that taking pictures would lead to an immediate ejection from the park and possible school discipline as well, so I'm surprised people being evacuated from rides aren't told not to take pictures as soon as a cast member sees a camera out.

Due to the potentially high number of parks I will be visiting over the next three months, I figured it would be a better idea to create one thread listing all of them instead of a bunch of separate threads. This thread will feature trip reports from any amusement parks, water parks, or other unique places I visit between the beginning of June and the end of August in 2010. For water parks, it will be mostly text-only, but anything else will have pictures and/or possibly a video as well. I will try to keep this updated as much as possible, but toward the end of August this may not be possible. Here is my current schedule: June 29th: Knott's Soak City Buena Park (see below) July 5th: Boomers (no trip report) July 8th: 1st Knott's Berry Farm visit (scroll down page) July 19th: Raging Waters San Dimas (below Knott's) July 22th: Orange County Fair (below Raging Waters) July 26th: Six Flags Magic Mountain (page 2) August 1st-5th: Pismo Beach, California (page 2 below SFMM) August 5th & 6th: Sequoia National Park (no trip report) August 11th: 2nd Knott's Berry Farm visit (no trip report) August 15th-23rd: TPR IntimidaTour (page 2-3) So, time to begin. June 29th, 2010: Knott's Soak City Buena Park Despite the cold temperatures and cloudy sky, I left my grandparent's house in Costa Mesa at around 9:30 A.M. to head to Knott's Soak City. Accompanying me were my brother and sister, along with my aunt and uncle, as well as my grandmother's niece and her grandson, who are currently visiting from Georgia. This was their first time to a waterpark, but the rest of us had been many times. In fact, I have been to Knott's Soak City between two and four times in the past five years. We arrived at the parking lot slightly after ten to find no more than twenty cars parked over by the waterpark entrance. After getting out of the car, we all headed over to the gates, entered, then proceeded to the wavepool. Only the lounge chairs in the front row of one of the center sections had been claimed at this point, meaning there was almost nobody in the park. The wavepool had about twenty people in it, and I couldn't see very many people on any of the slide towers. We took some lounge chairs in the back row for convenience, applied sunscreen, then set off to enjoy the park. Within an hour and a half, we had been on nearly every ride in the park, not waiting more than five minutes for anything. We then took a break to have lunch. After lunch, the sun came out and it warmed up, but the park never really got too crowded. I don't remember waiting more than ten minutes for any ride. We left at a little after 6:00 P.M. because everyone was getting tired. Overall, it was one of the best days I have ever had at this waterpark. Ride Reviews: Pacific Spin-This is one of those funnel slides and is my favorite attraction at Knott's Soak City. The ride is also better than the other funnel slides I've been on because it has a longer tube section before the drop into the funnel. You have the option of riding in either a two-person "Whirly Wheel" tube or a four-person "Cloverleaf" tube. I tried both and found that the four-person tube went higher on the sides of the funnel but the two-person tube spun in the tunnel, giving you no idea of how the tube would be oriented when it reached the drop. Also, on this ride, before you get in your tube your group steps onto a scale, lighting one of three lights on a stoplight-type pole. Green means that your group is below 400 pounds and you can use any tube. Yellow means your group is between 400 and 700 pounds and must use the four-person tube even if there are only two of you. Red means your group is above 700 pounds and must split up to ride. They had several two-person tubes on top in case groups needed to be split, as well as a couple four-person tubes. This is usually the most crowded ride in the park, and on weekends I have seen a forty-five minute wait just to get a tube (it can take up to twenty minutes after you get your tube to actually get on the ride). Banzai Falls-This is a six-lane mat racer slide. It is a lot of fun to do as a group, but is kind of boring when you are by yourself. I ended up coming in second place behind my brother when we rode this as a group, and on the other rides it was either just me and him or I went by myself. I found that the best way to ride is to lift the front of the mat and lift your feet as well so you have very little of your body touching the slide. Laguna Storm Watch Tower-This tower has three enclosed innertube slides that you can ride on a single or double tube. All three are very similar and feature a couple waterfalls mid-ride. I ended up riding all three of the flumes multiple times and in both single and double tubes. There really isn't any noticeable difference between different flumes, so it isn't worth waiting an extra ride to get a specific slide. Old Man Falls-This tower has three very different body slides. One slide is just a straight drop that is enclosed at the top and opens up part way down, one is a series of three successively larger drops, and one is a completely enclosed spiraling slide. I rode all of these and found the straight drop to be the best. There are two lines for this attraction: one for the straight slides and one for the spiraling slide. The line for the spiraling slide moved very slowly so it is a good idea to do this one early. Toyota Beach House-This is a water funhouse and is probably my least favorite attraction in the park because the water is very cold. It does seem to be very popular with elementary and middle-school aged kids, however, which I assume is more what it is geared toward. Go early, especially if you want to ride the slides on it. Malibu Run-This is a set of four very different single-person innertube slides. Two of them are enclosed the whole way, giving a pitch black ride, one is enclosed for the first half and open for the second half, and the fourth is open the entire way down. I found the half-open, half-enclosed one to be best, followed by the fully enclosed ones and the fully open one was worst, but all four were better than the Laguna Storm Watch Tower slides. This ride is the highest capacity ride in the park, and even if the line is at the bottom of the tower it still only takes about ten minutes to get on. Sunset River-This is a lazy river. I'm not a huge fan of lazy rivers, but I enjoy this one due to its length. Good for a break when the lines are at their longest. I did not go in the wavepool because I do not like wavepools at all, however a few members of my group enjoyed it at various points during the day. Overall, I think Knott's Soak City is a really good water park. It is the best of the three waterparks I visit regularly, and is my second favorite waterpark overall (behind Six Flags Hurricane Harbor). If you decide to visit Orange County and like waterparks, Knott's Soak City is definitely a place you should visit. Ride Count: Pacific Spin: 3 (2 on four-person tube, 1 on two-person tube) Banzai Falls: 6 Laguna Storm Watch Tower: 9 (3 on each flume; 6 on single tube, 3 on double tube) Old Man Falls: 4 (1 on straight drop, 2 on triple drop, 1 on spiral) Toyota Beach House: one ride down each slide Malibu Run: 9 (2 on each enclosed flume, 3 on half enclosed/half open flume, 2 on fully open flume) Sunset River: 3 non-consecutive laps Total: 36 rides in 8 hours (4.5 rides per hour) There are no pictures because I do not bring my camera to waterparks, but I will have pictures of my Knott's Berry Farm visit next week, so check back for those.

Don't forget about Tatsu. Almost everyone I ask that doesn't say X2 is their favorite ride names that one.

I say Toy Story 3 last night, and it was really good. It is not often that the last movie in a trilogy is the best, but I think this may be the case here. Toy Story 3 is currently my favorite Pixar movie, although I haven't seen a couple of them yet. I'm really surprised that the movie was only rated G because a few scenes seemed like they would be too intense for kids under 6 (especially toward the end of the film). 9/10, best movie I've seen so far this year