rcdude

I voted for Harry Potter but will probably also go see Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation in theaters.

On Tuesday, December 9th, I visited Disneyland park. Since the visit was for a performance with my school orchestra as part of the Disneyland Community Arts Showcase, I got to skip school to go. For anyone who doesn't know what this program is, the Community Arts Showcase is a program where various school programs (usually bands and orchestras) can perform on stage at Disneyland. My high school orchestra has been going every year since 1994 and at its current size (over 150 students) it is the largest group that performs at the Plaza Gardens Stage. Since our performance time was 10:30 a.m., everyone had to be at school at 7, which was an hour early for most people. About a half-hour later, the busses showed up and we left school. It was a little after 8:30 when we got to Disneyland. Before entering the backstage area, we had to go through a security inspection where the busses are inspected. By about 9 we were all in the backstage area. We then took a photo of the group (a greenscreen photo where they photoshop the castle into the background) and warmed up for the performance. At 10, we began walking from the backstage area behind Mickey's Toontown to the stage on Main Street U.S.A. The performance started at 10:30 and was a standard half-hour performance. Afterwards, everyone went back to the backstage area and changed clothes. Finally, at about noon, we got into the park. I hung out with my friends all day. We decided to get lunch first thing. While eating lunch, I made up a plan to get on as many rides as we could. We didn't stick to the plan very closely, but still managed to get on 13 rides before the park closed at 6:00 p.m. (a new record in rides per hour at Disneyland for me). I will review each ride in the order we did them. Space Mountain-This is my favorite ride at Disneyland, although Indiana Jones Adventure and Splash Mountain come very close. Since all my friends said this was the best ride in the park as well, we rode it three times. The first time the ride had a 15 minute wait, but the wait had doubled by our third ride. To me, this is the one roller coaster at Disneyland that I consider a (semi-)thrill coaster. If the ride was outside and lacked the soundtrack, it would be nothing but a family ride but the darkness creates a great thrill. Not to be missed if you don't suffer from motion sickness. Matterhorn Bobsleds-When I went last year, this ride was closed. It is the original tubular steel coaster and is a great family ride. We rode this twice (once per track). I personally prefer the Tomorrowland track over the Fantasyland track, but only slightly. Both tracks are really so similar that there is little difference between the ride experience. However, Tomorrowland seemed to have more drops while Fantasyland had more turns. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad-This ride only had a ten minute wait, so we decided to ride it even though none of my friends were crazy about it. I think this ride is a great family coaster, and is the least intense of the mountain rides. It is a good ride, just not worth doing more than once if there is a wait. Pirates Of The Caribbean-This is a classic Disneyland ride. I have heard rumors that the effects added from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies may be removed due to a lack of popularity, but I hope they are false. I do not think that the Jack Sparrow animatronics take away from the ride at all, although they don't really add anything. The Davy Jones effect is also one of the best effects on a Disneyland dark ride. Pirates of the Caribbean is a not to miss ride, even if you are not a fan of the changes. Haunted Mansion Holiday-I have always liked the holiday version of this dark ride better than the regular one. I don't know why, but it seems more Disney with the holiday overlay. The one thing I don't like about it is the wait to get from the stretch rooms to the loading area. On this visit, that was actually longer than the wait to get into the stretch rooms. Splash Mountain-The best log flume I have been on. This ride is a great ride, and is one of the few dark rides with a thrill factor. If you sit in the front of the log, you will get soaked (as one of my friends found out) but the rest of the riders remain relatively dry. I got into a debate with one of my friends as to whether this ride qualified as a roller coaster or not due to the one section in the middle of the ride where the logs drop, rise, and drop again. I also had a debate with my brother when I got home as to whether the ride had three or five drops. I said it was a water coaster with five drops, but not everyone else shares this opinion. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters-This is a pretty good shooting dark ride. It is a little on the short side but is still fun. I managed to get a score of around 35,000, which is about average for me (I usually get 20,000-50,000). One of my friends beat me (he plays a lot of first-person shooters and scored over 50,000), but the other two got lower scores (10,000-20,000 because they didn't know that you could spin the cars. One of my friends asked me how high of score you could get in one ride and I said that I've heard stories of people getting over 500,000. I've never heard of anyone getting a million, though. Indiana Jones Adventure-We were going to go on this earlier in the day but it was broken down during the two previous times we went to it. On one of those times it looked like it had just broken down since the wait time was still displayed and the line for the Jungle Cruise was huge. We finally got to go on it on our third try. This is the best dark ride I have been on, although it is not a traditional dark ride. Instead, it is basically a motion simulator on a track. When we got in line, the sign said 35 minutes. We were given something to monitor the wait time that we were supposed to give to the person assigning rows. When we left the ride, the sign had been changed to 20 minutes, so the wait was a bit shorter than we were expecting. Snow White's Scary Adventures-I was the only one who wanted to go on the Fantasyland dark rides, so I rode this and the next two while my friends had dinner (it was only 4:30 and I wasn't hungry). Since I went during the parade, I was hoping the line would be short. When I got to the ride, there was absolutely no one in line so I thought it was closed. However, the entrance wasn't blocked so I got in line and rode. It turns out I was the only person on the whole entire ride and they actually had to cycle the cars empty so I could get off. Although this is a short ride, it is still decent but is the worst of the Fantasyland dark rides. This is also the only one that may scare small children. Pinocchio's Daring Journey-When I heard a rumor that this was going to be removed after next summer, I made it a priority to go on it since I probably will not get another chance. I have always liked this ride, and although it isn't the best dark ride in the park it is still decent and usually has the shortest wait. My wait consisted of about 5 people. Something I notice more on this ride than on Snow White is the way the cars drift as they go around corners. I think this is a neat feature and makes the ride a little different for the people in the back. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride-Although this isn't the greatest ride, I go on it every time I go to Disneyland. It also happens to be the only ride I have ever had to be evacuated from. It may be just me, but this ride feels like it runs a little faster than the other Fantasyland dark rides. It's also a Disneyland exclusive and worth riding if the wait is only ten minutes or so. It's A Small World Holiday-The one ride that I really wanted to go on but didn't. When we got to the ride to go on it, all we saw was a massive line. It filled up the entire permanent queue, stretched across the pathway, went through a temporary cattle pen, then went back across the pathway and arced along it to the Toontown bridge. The sign said forty-five minutes but it looked like over an hour to me. None of my friends wanted to ride so I decided that I'd just skip it as well. I did manage to look at the new boats and have to say that they are a capacity nightmare. While the old boats could hold at least sixteen riders (I forget the exact number) the new ones have a maximum capacity of twelve. During the holiday version of the ride, which always has over twice as many riders as the normal version, this means that the line will be extremely long. I don't know anyone crazy enough to wait an hour for It's A Small World. Although the park closed at 6 p.m., the school busses weren't supposed to arrive until 7:30. During that time, I got some candy at the candy store and watched a magician in Downtown Disney. I arrived back at the busses with my friends around 7:25. Due to a combination of a late bus and at least 20 later orchestra students, we were unable to leave until after eight. My teacher is so mad at those students that he said they probably won't be going next year. Anyway, by the time we got back to school at 8:45 about half the people on the bus were asleep. After putting my instrument away I went home. Overall, I would say that this was probably one of, if not the best, trips I have done to Disneyland with my orchestra (out of 5). I am always amused by the people who complain about going on a Tuesday, when in reality we haven't ever got to stay much later when we have gone on a Friday and I do not think I would be able to go on as many rides since the crowd level is much higher. This year none of the rides listed on the ride board had over a half hour wait at any point I saw, but last time I went on a Friday I always saw at least two of the major rides (usually Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain) with upwards of a forty five minute wait. Personally, I would rather perform at a different amusement park (the orchestra has done Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm in the past, plus they may have done others I don't know about) but Disneyland is still a great park to play at (in both meanings of the word).

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was my favorite movie of 2008. In addition, I also liked (in no specific order): Twilight Valkyrie Hancock Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Quantum of Solace Unlike most people, I didn't think that The Dark Knight or Iron Man were outstanding. Of course, this could just be because I am not a huge fan of superhero movies.

The Screamin' Demon has traveled with Butler Amusements since 2005, when it was known as Pole Position. It was just sold to Castle Amusement Park this year.

They didn't originally charge for Ghost Blasters, but they do now because you can actually win a prize. If you are the high score of the day, you will win a free season pass. I forget when they started this, but it was sometime between the ride's opening and last year. I remember going at least once before they charged for the ride.

I went on Tony Hawk's Big Spin at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom over the summer and the cars on that thing spin about three times as much as the ones on Screamin' Demon. I rode with my brother and cousin using similar weight distribution on both rides, and Screamin' Demon got a constant spin going for the first couple switchbacks, but completely died afterward, while we had a good enough spin during the entire Tony Hawk's Big Spin ride that it felt like a gravitron. During the off season, Castle Amusement Park only operates the rides on weekends, so if you are going out there check the hours on their website (www.castlepark.com) before you go. If you want to do everything, the best value is the royal pass. It is $32 and gets you unlimited rides, a ride on Ghost Blasters, a game of golf, five dollars of tokens, a bag of popcorn and a coupon for any food purchase. Also, if you are going for credits, call ahead and see if the Little Dipper will be open. It has been closed on my last two visits, but I had gone on it previously so the only disappointment was for my younger cousin.

Over Thanksgiving, my cousins came down from San Francisco to visit. They decided that they wanted to go to an amusement park while they were down, so I suggested Castle Amusement Park. We had gone with them to the park last year and they liked it, so we decided to go again since the park had added two new rides for the 2008 season. We left for the park at around 11 on Friday, November 28th. Since my aunt and uncle had plans, we knew that we had to leave at 5. After stopping at a Taco Bell for lunch, we headed over to the park. When we got there, we found both good news and bad news. It turned out that the park was having a special on all-day wristbands, and they were half price. However, about a third of the park's rides were scheduled to be closed (it ended up being the Little Dipper (kiddie coaster), Flying Saucer (gravitron), Ferris Wheel, Ghost Blasters, and two or three kiddie rides). After buying wristbands we headed to the rides. Unfortunately, only about half of them were already open (the park opened at noon). It was close to two hours before all of the remaining rides opened, but they did all open (except for the ones listed as closed). We went on most of the operating rides, in addition to playing a round of mini-golf and arcade games in the five hours we were there. Ride Reviews: Bumper Cars-The bumper cars here are a bit strange. They don't accelerate very fast, but if you drive around for a bit without bumping anything you can get going faster than most other bumper car rides. My younger cousin liked this ride a lot and rode three times in a row since there was no wait. Scrambler-Just an ordinary scrambler, but it seems like it runs for twice as long as most of them. Fun ride but nothing special. Kings Crown-This is a chairswing (I think it is a yo-yo, but I'm not sure). It was fun, but again, nothing special. Merry Go Round-I didn't actually go on this ride, but I watched it. It looked pretty typical. Dragon's Tower-This is an S&S double shot. It is probably the best ride at the park. The first launch is pretty typical for an S&S ride, but the second one gives an extreme amount of airtime when you hit the top of the tower. I rode this twice during the day. Falling Star-A standard falling star ride. Was fun but nothing special. Merlin's Revenge-This is a Vekoma Junior Coaster. It is a great ride for a family park like Castle Amusement Park. On Merlin's Revenge, you get two circuits which is something I haven't seen on other Junior Coasters. I rode this ride a grand total of four times throughout the day, including one ride where me, my younger cousin and my aunt were the only people on the entire train. Spider-I didn't ride this since these types of rides make me sick, but my cousin, brother and sister all had a great time on it. The ride consists of cars on the ends of arms that move up and down while they go around and the cars spin freely. Dragon Flyers-This was one of the new rides for this year. It is a flying scooters ride, and didn't seem as fast as the other one I have been on (Flying Eagles at CGA). I did ride twice, however. The graphics on the ride (a fire-breathing dragon) are worth the ride and the Lord of the Rings music doesn't hurt either. Screamin' Demon-This was my main draw for coming back this year. It is a Fabbri Spinning Madness, and Castle Amusement Park's new coaster for this year. I believe it just opened this month and I heard somewhere that this is the first Fabbri coaster in the U.S. However, it seemed to be having difficulty, since it didn't open until about 1:30 and broke down in the middle of the day. The ride seemed like a great family ride, but I wasn't too impressed by it. The cars didn't spin very much and there were spots in the ride that were a bit jerky. I rode three times and on each ride I was slammed into the bar at the exact same two spots in the ride. Not bad, but not that good either. At least it is probably the best coaster at Castle Amusement Park, although Merlin's Revenge comes very close. Antique Cars-This is a car ride. There is some neat landscaping around it. Unfortunately, the cars are a little small and are tight for adults, although most people can still fit if they ride by themselves. This was the only ride my uncle went on. Sea Planes-One of the kiddie rides in the park, and the only one that I actually saw running. Very generic just like the park's other kiddie rides. Riverside Railroad-The park's train. It is a nice relaxing ride around the park, although it only lasts for 3-4 minutes. Log Ride-This ride didn't open until late in the day, so it was the last ride we did before leaving. The log ride looks like a portable layout, but is a permanent structure. It also has one of the steepest drops I have seen on a log flume. Castle Amusement Park's second best ride. Arcade-The arcade at Castle Amusement Park is two stories, and contains at least 150 games, including redemption games, skeeball, air hockey, shooters, racing games, DDR, and several crane machines. It is also the location of the Ghost Blasters shooting dark ride, which is an upcharge and was closed during our visit. I managed to win over a hundred tickets with less than five dollars of tokens in the arcade (over a third of them came from the Deal or No Deal game). Mini Golf-Castle Amusement Park has four mini-golf courses, but one was closed for resurfacing when we were there. The courses are kept up well for the most part, but we lost four of our seven balls in the pipes on one hole and had to finish the last two holes on the three remaining balls. The courses are ranked in terms of difficulty, and are pretty fun. Overall, Castle Amusement Park is a great family park. It is probably the best minor amusement park in California except for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and is definitely worth visiting if you are within an hour or so drive of Riverside. It is also pretty cheap as well, and has enough for four to six hours. However, it is unlikely anyone will need an open to close visit.

I saw this movie yesterday and thought it was a good movie. However, most of the action sequences seemed more like something out of the Bourne trilogy (especially in the first half hour or so) than a traditional Bond action sequence. As the movie went on it shifted more toward a traditional Bond movie but is not quite the same as Casino Royale. The biggest problem with this movie is that it has way too much action for its running time. The movie is only 106 minutes but it has the amount of action you would expect from a movie with more than a two-hour running time. It addition, some of the action sequences were confusing and hard to follow due to the camera work. As I said to my brother after seeing the film, it was a good movie but I doubt it would make it into any best of James Bond collections.

The only SLC I have been on is Kong at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. I didn't think it was that bad, it was just a bit rough. I think the Boomerangs tend to be rougher than most SLCs. After the ride, my brother said that if B&M built an inverted coaster with the SLC layout, it would probably be one of the best inverted coasters out there.

Q1) Male Q2) 17 years old Q3) Steel roller coasters. Wooden coasters can be fun as well if they are relatively smooth. Q4) Sit down trains, because they don't usually cause any discomfort. Any type of restraint is fine if it is comfortable. Q5) Maverick at Cedar Point Q6) Large, steep drops, launches, ejector airtime Q7) On most rides, the lift hill. On launched coasters, the time from when the restraints are locked until the ride actually launches. Q8) The more you ride a ride, the less scary it gets each time. The ride usually doesn't lose its thrill unless it is ridden many times over a short period of time. Q9) It depends on how extreme the ride is. I believe that at a certain point roller coasters can get too intense that people won't want to ride them. Q10) The more intense the ride is the less theming is required to make it a good ride. Q11) I think that parts of a ride should be visible from the queue but the best moments should be completely hidden. Q12) I prefer medium length rides with a medium length wait. Q13) I would like to see parks try to see how long of a ride they can fit into a small area.

Since I have not been on too many roller coasters(97, but all in California except for Cedar Point), I was able to do both ballots in about a half hour. Top Wood: Ghostrider Bottom Wood: Giant Dipper Top Steels (in no particular order): California Screamin' Silver Bullet Xcelerator Deja Vu Goliath Scream Tatsu X2 Medusa Maverick Millennium Force Top Thrill Dragster Bottom Steels (in no particular order): Big Thunder Mountain Matterhorn Bobsleds Gold Rusher Cedar Creek Mine Ride

I didn't say that Montezooma's Revenge was my least favorite ride at Knott's. I just said that out of the park's five thrill coasters (Boomerang, Ghostrider, Montezooma's, Bullet, Xcelerator) it is my least favorite. It is still better than most of the non-coaster rides in the park and all three family-oriented coasters. I am just not a very big fan of shuttle roller coasters and I prefer twisting rides over linear ones so Montezooma's comes in last. I have been on Flight Deck, Batman The Ride, Raptor, and Silver Bullet, and out of the four Silver Bullet is my favorite because it is the most re-ridable. Sure, intense roller coasters are fun, but they are usually not good rides to re-ride over and over. For example, my favorite roller coaster is Maverick, but I don't think I would want to do an ERT session on it. Same with a ride like Tatsu, it is really fun, but not good for repeat rides. It is sometimes good for a park to have a thrilling ride that isn't too intense, as it is not as draining on endurance and is actually something most people feel up to doing again. I doubt there are very many people who would want to ride something like X2 for an hour straight.

On Sunday, November 2, I went to Knott's Berry Farm with the rest of my family to celebrate my stepfather's birthday. In total, there were nine of us. Since Knott's runs a veteran's promotion in November and my grandfather and stepfather are both veterans, we were all able to get in for only $75. We have gone every year during the veterans promotion since it is the cheapest price for any major theme park that I know of. When we got to the park, it was drizzling. Unfortunately, this meant that Xcelerator was closed. I was hoping that it would open later in the day, but it never did. The drizzle didn't last very long, and by 11 the sun was out. I don't know if this is an accurate number, but it appeared that there were only about 3,000 people in the entire park. The longest wait we had all day was for Sierra Sidewinder due to one train operation, and that was only about 15 minutes. Every other ride in the park was either a walk-on or less than a 5 minute wait all day. As usual, I'll review each ride individually and then say a few things about the park in general. Ghostrider-This was the first ride we went to in the morning. I don't know if it was the rain or just because it was running cold, but Ghostrider was running a lot smoother than it has been in years, at least in the morning. It felt like what I remember it being from the early 2000's. I went on the ride a second time later in the day, and it was running a lot rougher. It could have just been the other train, but I think it was because the ride had warmed up and was running faster. I went on for a third time and got on the last train of the night, and the ride was really intense by this point, but it left me with a bit of a headache. Ghostrider still maintains its status as my favorite wooden roller coaster. Pony Express-This is Knott's new for 2008 ride, and a new credit for me. When we got there in the morning, there was literally no one else in line. As our train came to a stop in the station, the operator asked if we wanted to go again. Everyone on the train then cheered, and the operator sent the train around again once the track was clear without even opening the restraints. I rode this ride twice more later in the day, although it isn't a thrill ride. Pony Express is probably the best ride I have been on for introducing children to larger roller coasters, but it doesn't really have any thrilling or intense points in it. The ride is also over quicker than Xcelerator, and has an incredibly small footprint. I do not think this is a must do ride at Knott's, but I would say it is worth a ride if you are in Ghost Town and the line is under ten minutes. Sierra Sidewinder-Since this ride was only running one train, it had a bit of a wait. We only rode this ride once due to its low capacity, although I usually like to ride twice. This is a good ride for families, and is even exciting enough that most coaster enthusiasts probably won't be bored on it. However, it is not worth more than a half-hour wait at any time. Silver Bullet-In my opinion, this is the best roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm overall (Xcelerator is more thrilling but is too short). It is also my favorite inverted roller coaster. Throughout the day, I ended up riding Silver Bullet a total of four times. Unlike some older B&M inverted coasters, this one isn't as intense so it isn't as draining on endurance, but it still gives a thrill. The ride also usually has the most entertaining microphone guy. Timber Mountain Log Ride-A Knott's Berry Farm classic. I went on this three times during the day, although it got kind of boring by the third ride. Since the Halloween Haunt had just ended, the ride was decorated for it and was not as great as normal, but it was still fun. A must ride at Knott's Berry Farm. Calico Mine Ride-This is another unique Knott's attraction that has to be experienced by anyone who hasn't done it before. The ride is the only dark ride at Knott's and is actually a roller coaster at its most basic level, although most do not qualify it as such. This ride was also decorated for the Halloween Haunt, so it was boring since most of the traditional narration didn't apply and the driver simply didn't say the lines (except for the dynamite driving line). Mystery Lodge-One of the two shows at Knott's that runs every day. This is a presentation to honor the Pacific-Northwestern Native Americans. It consists of a storyteller and some special effects. The show is kind of neat if you haven't seen it before, but I usually don't see it every time I visit. Bigfoot Rapids-Knott's river rapids ride. Unfortunately, this one is fairly dry and is not that long. Fun if the line is short, but otherwise not worth it even on a hot day. Riptide-This is one of the few top spins I actually go on since the restraints are more comfortable. The ride has a pretty good program, but doesn't feature any long periods where the seats are unlocked but not flipping. The ride also no longer uses the water effects, so it is only fun if you like flips. Boomerang-A standard Vekoma Boomerang. I actually go on this ride once every time I go, as I don't find it to be too bad. However, the roughness means that I usually don't want to go on it twice. To date, this is the only boomerang I have been on, but I probably wouldn't mind trying other installations, especially if they were smoother. Supreme Scream-This is the world's tallest S&S Turbo Drop. I went on three times during the day. As far as drop rides are concerned, Supreme Scream is not too intense, but is taller than most of the other ones I have seen. I like it better than Intamin's giant drop simply because it gives a longer ride. On Supreme Scream, the best way I've found to increase the thrill factor is to ride at night, close your eyes, and extend your arms and legs straight out in front of you for the entire ride. Jaguar-This is Knott's family coaster. It is quite fun, and definitely worth a ride if there isn't a wait, but I don't think you need to ride three times like I did. The ride is long but is tame, and is split in the middle by an almost unnecessary second lifthill. Montezooma's Revenge-Although this is my least favorite thrill coaster at Knott's Berry Farm, it still beats some other ones I have been on. This is a classic shuttle loop, the oldest still in its original location. The ride is short but thrilling, and it is worth going on even if you have been on every other shuttle coaster in existance. Knott's Wild West Stunt Show-This show is a slapstick comedy show, and is all played for laughs. If you have nothing to do, it is enjoyable, but is by no means a must see show. It is also not very wild western, but some of the things they do in it are pretty funny, as well as a couple of the lines. (Good Guy: You're going where all bad criminals go. Bad Guy: No, I don't want to go to Six Flags.) Overall, it was a pretty good day at Knott's. Since this is the cheapest park in Southern California, I usually go about three times a year. I hope anyone going on the West Coast Trip in August enjoys the park. Although it is not the best in the world, Knott's has the second best set of roller coasters in Southern California (after Magic Mountain). Some positive things about Knott's: -The park is usually relatively empty, and hour-long waits are very, very rare. The last time I saw more than a half-hour wait was Silver Bullet with one train operation in the summer a couple years ago. -Although Cedar Fair has taken over the park, the one area that doesn't feel too corporate is Ghost Town. Most of the original buildings are still present, and the four traditional Knott's rides (Butterfield Stagecoach, Calico Mine Ride, Calico Railroad and Timber Mountain Log Ride) are still operating without major modifications. Silver Bullet is far enough away from the main part of Ghost Town that it's impact is relatively small. The only thing that actually looks out of place is the Screamin' Swing. -Knott's usually runs their rides with two trains if possible (except Sierra Sidewinder). Usually, the only time I see one train operation is when the wait is just from the point where you pick a row. -The food is not too bad inside the park, but Chicken to go is right outside and serves Knott's famous chicken dinners without the hour-long wait. Plus there are plenty of tables to sit at outside and eat before returning to the park. Knott's does have a few drawbacks, however: -Knott's doesn't always post all their closed rides on signs outside the park. During this visit, both Perilous Plunge and Xcelerator were closed all day. Perilous Plunge was testing later on in the day but looked like it was having problems with the lift. Xcelerator had a train in the station as if it was ready to go when the rain stopped, but I didn't see anyone in the station all day. Given the crowds, Xcelerator would have been fine running one train (the other was in rehab). -Knott's will sometimes run two trains on the track but only load one train. I know Jaguar does this all the time since I don't think it has a switchtrack, but Silver Bullet certainly has one and they were doing this all day. I have seen Silver Bullet run without stacking with the four man crew they had (two restraint checkers, one dispatcher, and one operator), but they were only loading one train. I also saw the most pathetic thing I have ever seen on a roller coaster when they caused the loaded train to stack because the dispatcher was distracted talking to the audience while the unloaded train sat around in the station. I don't know if it is a Knott's policy to put two trains on the track since I have never seen it done anywhere else, but I think it is unnecessary if that is the case. -Over the past couple of years, Knott's has built too many coasters and has not built anything else. Given the amount of land Knott's is on, I think the park should have about six coasters. However, the park currently has nine, and I have heard that a tenth one may be going in sometime in the next couple of years. This is too many coasters. There is a spot in Camp Snoopy where it is possible to turn 360 degrees and see every coaster in the park. To me, this just says that the park has too many roller coasters. Overall, Knott's is a decent amusement park. It isn't one of the best there is, but it certainly isn't one of the worst either. It is true that Cedar Fair has kind of destroyed the traditional Knott's, but that doesn't make the park bad. It is worth a visit if you are in the area, but is not worth any kind of special trip to visit.

I would say my top five for Magic Mountain are: 1. Tatsu 2. Scream 3. X2 4. Goliath 5. Riddler's Revenge However, Scream and X2 are really close. I think it is mainly the roughness of X2 that makes it slightly worse in my opinion.

The first or last Sunday during break is probably your best bet. I went for my brother's birthday on the first Sunday of break in 2006 (the 22nd) and we were able to get on every ride in the park except the rapids (too cold) and go on most coasters at least twice. I think we rode Tatsu three times in a row in less than a half-hour at the end of the day. However, X was closed at the time, so I don't know what the lines for that will be. Out of the rides that were open, Deja Vu had the longest wait because it wasn't open when we got there, although Superman The Escape broke down while we were in line. Nothing else took more than ten minutes in line, and all of the older coasters (pre 1990s) were walk-ons all day.

Since I live in southern California, all the parks around me are open year round. Most of them are open every day during the traditional off-season as well (except major holidays). However, I think it would be better if they had a partial off-season between early Jaunary and mid Febuary. The park wouldn't necessarily need to close down completely during this time, but could be open just weekends or only have part of the park open while work is being done on the other part. This would probably reduce downtime during the season dramatically.

Arizona California* (live here) Hawaii Illinois Indiana (passed through) Nevada* New York (passed through) Ohio* Pennsylvania (passed through) Utah Washington* *ridden a coaster in that state

I think that in the next ten years parks will begin to focus on the thrill factor over the size factor. In other words, they will build smaller but more intense coasters. This reminds me of an idea I had for a sixth grade project where we had to invent something, and I chose to invent a new type of roller coaster. It was basically a B&M inverted coaster combined with a B&M floorless, meaning that at certain points in the ride the train would switch from riding above the rails to below them and vice-versa, but the layout was similar to a smaller Intamin twister like Maverick. In this design, there are no trains but instead individual cars with four across seating. The ride had a station that allowed loading and unloading similar to a skilift to improve capacity. The ride started with a vertical lifthill though a tunnel where it was attatched to track above and below the vehicle, then went over the top in a way that it was an inversion. Afterwards, the car travelled through numerous twists and turns, as well as inversions, while switching between inverted and floorless several times. The end of the ride also had an interesting finish. At the end, the car would come to a stop on a level piece of track high up in the air. It then slowly went over the edge and came to a stop facing straight down, most likely into a tunnel. The car would be on both sets of rails at this point. Then the brakes would release and the car would basically perform a vertical heartline roll and stop at the bottom. The car then leveled out and returned to the station. I don't know if this ride would actually be built, but it certainly seems plausable. It would just have to be engineered percisely so the trains would be able to switch tracks. It also doesn't sound like it would be outrageously expensive to build.

I will usually get in line for the next coaster immediately after eating. The only rides I try to avoid for a little while are looping shuttle coasters, since those get to me more. However, I will never go on a flat ride until its been an hour or two since I last ate.

I am currently a high-school senior and am taking AP Physics C. It is a second year course after AP Physics B, which I took last year and did really well in (5 on the AP test). Mechanics is really the only part of any physics class that deals with amusement rides, but I have seen all types of amusement-park related questions. In addition to roller coasters, which are force and energy questions, I have seen ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, and gravitrons in the circular motion unit and bumper cars in the momentum unit. Both of the physics classes I have taken had more than one unit (last year it was newtonian mechanics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, waves, optics, atomic physics, and nuclear physics, while it is just mechanics, electricity, and magnetism this year) and the only other unit that could possibly deal with roller coasters easily would be magnetism (LIM/LSM motors). However, if you are in a multi-part physics class, you will probably finish mechanics and not do anything else that has to do with amusement rides. I just remembered that there was a gravitron question and a roller coaster question on my test today. On the gravitron you had to find the minimum speed to keep people from sliding down the wall. On the roller coaster you had to find the speed at the bottom of a hill and what speed it needed to go over the top of the next hill to generate a weightless feeling.

If you'll be going to a park on a Thursday, or for only a couple hours, go to Knott's Berry Farm. Disneyland will be way too crowded and Six Flags Magic Mountain will be closed. At Knott's, you will almost definitely be able to get on the five must-ride attractions in the time you have. Just don't go to Knott's at night, as there is a two hour line for everything during the Haunt (or so I've heard). At Disneyland, it will take you an hour just to get on one ride, and there are more than a few that I wouldn't recommend missing.

I got 18/20. I could have gotten 19 but I accidentally clicked the wrong choice on one of the questions.

I have only been on two floorless coasters: Medusa at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Scream at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Of the two, I prefer Scream because it is more forceful and has better operations than Medusa.

I like Gerstlauer's spinning coasters. They seem to be like a wild mouse. If those don't qualify, I would say that the Mack wild mouse rides (especially the large park model) are the best.

I can't think of one thing that applies to all parks, but I can think of something for each of the major amusement parks (I've been to) to get rid of. Disneyland Resort-Charging extra for the park hopper ticket. $70 is enough for both parks for one day, especially with the usual crowds. Knott's Berry Farm-Parking charge. I don't think they should make you pay $10 to park and then you have to walk all the way to the entrance. Six Flags Magic Mountain-Parking charge. $15 is too much to pay to park for a day at an amusement park. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom-Parking charge/slow employees/flashpass. All three of these things make the park not worth it to visit unless you go on a day where there is literally no one else there. The parking charge is seriously overpriced when it is a long walk and they run one tram, the roller coasters (except Tony Hawk's Big Spin) have five minute dispatch times and usually run one train, and the flashpass people get priority seat choice, making everyone else wait longer. Cedar Point-75% of their trash cans. It looks like a park on RCT with a trashcan on every path tile.