rcdude

Like a lot of other people here, I saw Alice in Wonderland over the weekend. So far, it is probably my favorite movie of 2010, but it is the only movie I've seen this year so that doesn't mean much. The movie is probably my favorite Alice adaptation of the three I've seen, but I would still say it is only a 7/10. The film's beginning makes the movie almost seem like another version of the story, but it quickly turns out to be something quite different. I really liked how they managed to create a unique story involving all of the characters everyone knows without making any characters seem like they were just thrown in there for screentime. The overall feel of the movie works with Tim Burton's dark style, and most of the scenes have some type of dark quality to them (except at the White Queen's castle). Most of the actors/voice artists did a good job, and I really thought Johnny Depp created a completely different version of the Mad Hatter from previous versions. It works with this story well, especially since he is in more than the two or three scenes the character typically appears in. However, the dance was a bit weird and unnecessary, and I'm very glad that none of the other characters participated (when watching the film, I thought for a few seconds they might all begin dancing). My only other complaint about the film is that it seems to be a bit too short and rushed, leaving some concepts to be inadequately explored. Overall, Alice in Wonderland is a good family movie, and is definitely worth seeing. I don't think there's anything else out right now that is better, and, although it probably won't win any awards, Alice in Wonderland is a pretty entertaining film.

Unless it is too windy, Sky Tower has been open every time I visited the park in the past three years (I usually visit 2-3 times a year).

That just reminded me of something. As far as I know, Knott's has a 69" maximum height restriction on Timberline Twister, but it is listed on the ERT schedule. Does this mean that they will not be enforcing this restriction during ERT, or will it only be for the shorter people?

^It is $5, but if you go early or on a low crowd day they may have a 2 for 1 special (usually first two hours in my experience). If you have never been on an S&S Screamin' Swing, it is worth $5 to ride it once. Unfortunately, when I rode it I had already been on Skyhawk at Cedar Point and found it a pretty boring ride by comparison, so don't bother if you've been on a different S&S Screamin' Swing.

I've been to a decent number of parks, but they are all pretty much in the west coast region. Note that not all of these may qualify as parks depending on your definition. California: Adventure City Belmont Park Boomers (three locations) California's Great America Castle Amusement Park Disneyland Disney's California Adventure Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park Knott's Berry Farm Legoland California Pacific Park Pharaohs Lost Kingdom Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Scandia Amusement Park SeaWorld San Diego Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Magic Mountain Traintown Universal Studios Hollywood Nevada: Adventuredome Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino MGM Grand Adventures Nascar Cafe New York, New York Hotel & Casino Stratosphere Tower Ohio: Cedar Point Washington: Fun Forest Amusement Park I will be adding at least five or six parks to this list this year due to the IntimidaTour.

17/20 I thought SFMM had a sign stating how many gallons of paint were used on Colossus. I guess not! At least I still got better than I expected.

Man, I haven't been to Scandia in years. Maybe I should convince my dad to stop there so I can ride the tower and Screamer on the way back from Mammoth on Sunday. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to get there anytime soon, especially since it is about an hour away from my house and isn't really worth driving out to for only two or three hours.

Was it the Hi Miler? http://www.themeparkreview.com/sandiego2004/dm56.jpg Since my grandparents live in Costa Mesa, I go to Orange County fair every year and have been on that ride a number of times. It looks unsafe, but I've never thought it was going to fall apart on me. Although I don't think any of the fair rides are particularly unsafe, the lines can be. I've nearly been hit several times by loose articles lost by riders (most commonly cellphones) while in line for the Zipper or Speed (KMG Booster). The best one of these was when the phone hit a fence and exploded after flying off Speed when it was rotating at maximum velocity, requiring about ten people in line to duck or dodge the pieces.

An employee told me the same thing. He said it currently goes about 75-80 mph. No wonder the launch doesn't feel like a 100 MPH launch and the weightlessness doesn't feel like 6.5 seconds. According to my knowledge of physics, a 75 MPH launch only gets the car about 200 feet up the tower, which results in about 3.5 seconds of weightlessness. It also reduces the g-force at the bottom of the tower from 4.5 to 2.5 or somewhere around that. Now I have an excuse to justify not waiting more than 15 minutes for the ride even if I'm with people who want to ride it. I'll just tell them the actual statistics are quite a bit different from what they've heard. If they insist on riding, I can just go do Tatsu and come back.

I've never been to Six Flags Magic Mountain during spring break, but I've been to three other major Southern California amusement parks during this time, and I assume it will be similar. Going to any park during spring break is usually a bad idea, as lines are outrageous (1 hour or more for all major attractions) or the park is understaffed and not operating at capacity (1 train per coaster). My guess is that if you get a Gold Q-bot you might have an okay day, but still not as good as you would a different time of year. My personal policy on amusement parks during a school break (excluding summer) is to only visit minor amusement parks and/or show-based parks (Universal Studios and SeaWorld). These are parks where it is usually not too difficult to do everything in one day even if the park is packed. I would never go to a park like Six Flags Magic Mountain during a school break (outside of an event such as West Coast Bash), but if you do go hopefully you will have a good time.

^^Based on past experience I would say Superman before Ninja, but other than that this order is pretty good. Last time I went to the park on a Saturday (Saturday after Memorial Day 2008), I managed to get twelve rides in twelve hours. X2 was around two hours even though we went there directly, mainly because it wasn't ready until an hour after opening and it then took another hour due to a breakdown. Goliath was around an hour and a half with a two trains running, and most of the other coasters on your list were fifteen minutes or less (didn't ride Superman). Riddler's Revenge and Tatsu were around an hour and a half each, and Batman and Scream were 45 minutes. From what I could tell, the lines for water rides were all around a half hour and the lines for most flat rides were about 5 cycles (approx. 15 minutes). However, since I only did coasters I'm not a hundred percent sure about those rides. Visiting the park without a flash pass on a Saturday usually doesn't work, but due to the rides you want to ride I'm guessing you'll be fine. Don't expect any re-rides on coasters without significant waits, but otherwise you should be able to do everything you want to.

If there will still be a sign-up table at West Coast Bash, I'll certainly be in line. Otherwise, I'll make sure to send a little extra money with one of my trip payments (probably the April one) and sign up then.

I think that if an investor is found in the next couple weeks, the park will probably be able to have a Memorial Day to Labor Day season like they did last year. However, the chances of that are small, and if they can't find an investor I doubt they'll open, so I voted no. If the park does close down, I wonder how many of the roller coasters will end up being relocated. The B&M will definitely find a new home, and I'm sure plenty of places could use a Vekoma roller skater, but I'm not so sure anyone will want the other three coasters (especially Round About due to the numerous problems that ride has had).

Okay, maybe removing Viper isn't the best idea. I guess more people like it than I thought. It's really not a bad ride, just an older one. Now that I think about it, Six Flags Magic Mountain doesn't really have any coasters that aren't worth keeping. While they aren't all the best rides, each one is different and somewhat unique for Sothern California with only a couple exceptions. There's probably a reason I think the park has a better set of coasters than anywhere else I've been (Cedar Point has better individual rides, but as a set their coaster selection isn't as good).

Getting a second GCI at Six Flags Magic Mountain makes about as much sense as La Ronde getting an SLC. Why build a similar/identical coaster when you've already got one of equal/better quality? If Six Flags Magic Mountain gets a new woodie, it better be a Gravity Group or Intamin Prefab. Anything else would be too similar to Colossus or Terminator. However, Magic Mountain doesn't need a new wooden coaster, at least in my opinion. I think what Magic Mountain could use most is a complete circuit launched coaster, perhaps something similar to Maverick or Blue Fire. It would be really neat if the park could find some way to make use of the natural terrain, but I don't know how much room they have on the actual hill for a large roller coaster (they've already got about five using it in some way). Also, if they need to remove a coaster, I would say that Viper might be a good choice. It never seems to get a line anymore, it isn't exactly unique compared to what else the park has, the ride is somewhat rough (though not too bad by Arrow standards) and out of the park's major coasters it would clear up the most room. Sure, Viper is a good ride and everything, but it does seem a bit dated.

Coaster Expedition 13!!! I've been wondering how long it would be before this actually got released. I'll be sure to place a pre-order tonight or tomorrow.

Hmm, you live in California, so doesn't that particular comment apply pretty much equally to all the trips offered for 2011? When flying to the East Coast, a flight is often broken up into shorter connecting flights. It's not 5 hours total, but 5 hours without a break that I don't like. Basically, anything longer than a flight from California to Hawaii is too long for me.

Let's see... Australia-Not interested since I don't like long flights (5+ hours), there aren't very many coasters, it is right in the middle of my school year, and I don't think I'd be able to afford it. Best of Japan-If I had the money I would probably do this one, but unfortunately I don't. Japan looks interesting, and certainly seems to have some pretty unique attractions. Main problems are the long flights (again), language barrier, and price. Spain-Moderately interested, but probably can't afford the trip without a full time job, which I don't want to have with a full time school schedule. North East USA Trip-This was fourth place for me on the 2010 survey but I think it is probably my first choice for a 2011 trip. The Road To Cedar Point Tour-When I first heard about this, it sounded awesome. However, I don't think I'll be able to afford it and Cedar Point won't have added anything significant since I visited in 2008, so I don't think I'll be doing this one. Even though it does have several other parks I'm interested in, I worry that it may conflict with my school schedule. Overall, I will probably go on the North East USA Trip if it is offered. If it isn't, I probably won't be doing a trip in 2011 (unless a similar budget and/or length trip is offered in the same general timeframe).

16/20 with no correct guesses. I'd consider this a pretty good score, but this quiz was pretty easy as well.

Registered earlier today for both days. My brother's going with me on both days as well, and then I've got a couple other family members joining me at Knott's.

This is just as dumb as Knott's building Pony Express or raising the height restriction on Jaguar, both of which are targeted for families yet have a 48" height restriction. No, wait, it's worse since Pony Express is somewhat unique while this is the third coaster of the same layout within a two hour drive. Disneyland's is 35", Castle Park's is 36", there is no reason this should be 42". I could name a dozen coasters in Southern California alone that someone of that height could ride that are all significantly larger. This addition makes absolutely no sense. Edit: I just found out that the height requirement for Merlin's Revenge is actually 40". Still doesn't make sense why the exact same ride needs to have different height requirements at different parks, or why parks will install a ride that can't be ridden by that ride's target audience.

^I'm pretty sure Toy Story Midway Mania also has a single rider line, but most people don't use it because it's more fun to compete directly with your friends and family.

This looks like it will fit in perfectly for the park. It will be a good bridge between Canyon Blaster and Gold Rusher. Although it is the third roller coaster in Southern California with the same layout, I doubt anyone will notice since most people who take the time to wait in line for Gadget's Go Coaster are either riding for the credit or have a child in their group likely too young for Six Flags Magic Mountain. Besides, if X2 isn't X and Terminator is Psyclone, we might get people who think Six Flags Magic Mountain purchased Gadget's Go Coaster (the track is red after all). I don't know when I'll end up getting to the park to ride this, but when I do I want to see which Vekoma has the better capacity. Maybe TPR should do a Termination Day-style event after this ride opens, but have ERT on both Vekomas to answer that question . No, it probably wouldn't have enough interest.

^Just based on my experience. I've been three times since X2 opened when it was operating: 1st-Shortly After X2 Opened: Went straight to the ride. Didn't open for an hour, then was still over an hour wait despite three train operation. Messed up the rest of the day (only got on 12 of the coasters). 2nd-Termination Day: Was one of the first in line for X2, but still had to wait fifteen or twenty minutes for the ride to open, then was on about the seventh train. 3rd-Last Month: Didn't ride X2 until the afternoon, and it had a ten minute wait (thirty due to a breakdown). Only time I've ever managed to ride it twice in one day. Maybe running to X2 is a good idea, but I've never tried it. When it was just X, I found that running to the ride immediately got you on in about a half hour, and riding it later on took a little under an hour for a summer weekday (the one summer weekend resulted in a three hour wait when we got to the ride fifteen minutes after opening, in part due to one train operation and a couple breakdowns).

Disneyland Resort: Crowded, but not as bad as middle of summer/Christmas break. You will need two days to fully explore both parks, but I'd recommend two and a half if you can. The most popular rides might have a hour wait, so you will definitely need fastpass if it is available. Knott's Berry Farm: You'll be able to get everything done in one day. On a weekday, nothing should have more than a half hour wait. Universal Studios Hollywood: More crowded than Knott's but less crowded than Disneyland. Six Flags Magic Mountain: This one can be variable. I've been when everything had a forty-five minute wait and I've also been when everything was under fifteen minutes (except X2). I'd say plan a day and a half for this park. These are the plans I typically use. They are good if you want to get on as many rides as you can in one day (in my experience) but they sometimes require a bit of walking. Remember that at any park it is a very good idea to get there at opening. Disneyland-Grab a fastpass for Indiana Jones Adventure, then go to Tomorrowland. Ride Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Cross over to Frontierland and ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Go use the fastpass for Indiana Jones. If it is not the return time yet, ride the Jungle Cruise while you wait. Go to Splash Mountain and grab a fastpass. Ride Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, then return to Splash Mountain (if it isn't your return time yet, come back when it is). Go to Fantasyland and ride Matterhorn Bobsleds, It's a Small World, and any other dark rides you are interested in. Go to Toontown and ride Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin and Gadget's Go Coaster (if you need the credit). You can then explore the rest of the park in any way you choose. If you have two days for Disneyland and want to ride everything, the best thing to do is break the park in half and do everything in one half one day and everything in the other half the other day (I would do Fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland and Toontown one day and Adventureland, New Orleans Square, Critter Country and Main Street USA the other day). Disney's California Adventure-Grab a fastpass for Soarin' Over California, then head to Paradise Pier. Ride Toy Story Midway Mania, followed by California Screamin', then anything else you are interested in for that area of the park. Return to Soarin' Over California, riding Grizzly River Run on the way if you feel like it. Then go to Hollywood Pictures Backlot and ride anything you are interested in there. This can be done in a half-day (4-5 hours) if the park isn't that crowded. Knott's Berry Farm-It doesn't really matter what order you do this park in, but remember that the Boardwalk doesn't always open at the same time as the rest of the park. Universal Studios Hollywood-The Simpsons Ride, Lower Lot, Upper Lot. Can be done in half a day if the show schedule works out and the park isn't very crowded. Six Flags Magic Mountain-Do not go to X2 first. It is usually not open right away and everyone runs to it. Instead, go to Tatsu first. Then go down to Cyclone Bay to ride Terminator Salvation: The Ride and Deja Vu (and the new family coaster). Climb the hill and ride Superman the Escape and Ninja. Go back down and ride Gold Rusher and Riddler's Revenge. Head to Gotham City Backlot and ride Batman The Ride. Continue to Colossus Country Fair and ride Scream, then Colossus, then Goliath. Go through Bugs Bunny World and ride Canyon Blaster (if you are sad and pathetic), then go back over to Baja Ridge. Ride Revolution, then Viper, then join the line for X2, which hopefully won't be more than a little over an hour. Unless you plan on spending a significant amount of the second day at Hurricane Harbor, you only need one day for Six Flags Magic Mountain. If you go on a weekday, you can do everything in one day without a Flash Pass, although you may not get very many re-rides. On a summer weekend, you will definitely want a Flash Pass.