Billy Hill

I've only been to SFMW and SFMM, but in at least those 2 cases I could tell I was in a SF park because English seems to be a 2nd language to the majority of the park staff. I do my best to ignore whatever doesn't appeal to me in a park and try to enjoy myself anyway. That's entirely possible at SFMW, but sadly it was quite impossible at SFMM. Maybe we just hit the park on a bad day? I don't know, nor do I ever intend to find out because the exceptionally poor experience we had there was enough to make me have no desire to ever come back. So to those that say, "great, stay away" I will gladly fulfill your request. You can have all the gangsta' wanna-be clientele and staff of that fine park all to yourselves. I'll be at Disneyland instead.

Cool video. The Cher song was perfect.

I've got a rare day off in the middle of the week and I was thinking of heading to PGA to check out the Boomerang Bay water park and of course ride some coasters too. Any idea what kind of crowds we should expect? My kids don't go back to school until later in the week. Just wondering (and hoping) that maybe a lot of the schools in the South Bay area are already back to normal operation. Any input appreciated. Thanks, Billy "I finally get to go to a park on some day other than Saturday or Sunday!" Hill

Hmmm.... Samurai Summit area... Other Asian themed rides: "Orient" Express, "Ninja"... A defunct Asian themed garden area... Speculation about a fence... How about, "Great Wall of China: The Ride!". After all, the great wall of China is basically a "fence", no? It's fits with the Asian theming and all this "fence" talk.

Space Mountain at Disneyland this past Friday.

Rode it yesterday. It was awesome. Thanks for the tip on July 1st.

SFMW is about an hour-1/2 away. PGA is about 2-1/2 hours away. (Can be longer depending on traffic) BFG is pretty close to 3 hours away. (Same thing on the traffic) SCBB is about 3-1/2 to 4 hours away. We hit the first 3 several times each during the season, with most of those trips to SFMW since it's fairly close. We only go to SCBB once in while. DLR, although it isn't exactly "local" is usually a once a year deal and by far the trip that we look forward to most. We'll sneak back down during the Xmas holiday season if we can swing it. We're leaving tomorrow morning for our week of summer vacation there.

Well, here it is time to go and now things have changed. I couldn't make a convincing enough pitch for USH, so it looks like it'll be another year before I'll get to check the place out. The kids are dead set on riding every coaster they possibly can at SFMM. I can't imagine that'd be any sort of fun task on a June Saturday like we originally planned, so... We'll leave not quite so early (about 6-ish should do) tomorrow morning and go to BFG first instead (Consolation to me for having to miss USH, and... our PGA passes get us in for free). We'll get there when they open and maybe spend 4 or 5 hours there at the most. From there we'll drive to SoCal and spend the night somewhere fairly near the DLR so we can get there bright and early Sunday morning. We'll make a quick pit stop at the PP hotel to drop off our bags and then hit the parks. The place is probably going to be a zoo on Sunday, so we'll leave the parks at about 3 or so and go back to the hotel to get our room. After a dip in the pool, or a nap, or both, we'll go back into DL in the evening to see the fireworks, etc... Instead of hitting USH on a weekday, we'll drive up to SFMM so the kids can ride all these coasters that they're so convinced they just HAVE TO ride. Then it's back to DLR to carry on with things as we had originally planned. My fingers are going to be crossed that Space Mountain really does have a soft opening on Friday the 1st. Trip report with pics on our return.

That's sounds great. Thanks for the info, particularly the detail on the order of attractions.

Neither myself or anyone else in the family has ever been to USH before so I really don't know what to except from this park. I'm kicking around the idea of spending a day there during our DLR vacation at the end of this month. Could we do most of the attractions in a single day, or would we leave feeling like we missed a lot? In addition, would you have any tips on discounts, promotions, etc? Is there anything else we should know about USH? The plan would be.... Drive down from the Sacramento area early (like 4AM early) the morning of the 25th. Get to SFMM about the time they open and spend most of the day there. Arrive at DLR Saturday afternoon/evening. (I'm not really expecting much of SFMM, and we'll likely leave fairly early. The kids are the ones that want to go, not me so much.) We have 7 nights at DLR and 5 day park hopper passes, so I'm thinking DL and DCA off and on, and back and forth, and a trip up to USH on one of the weekdays in between. That'd have us back at DL on Friday the 1st of July so that we MAYBE can sneak in on the rumored soft opening for Space Mountain. We'll drive back up 101 on Saturday, stay at a motel somewhere along the way Saturday night, and go to BFG and PGA on Sunday. Then drive home from there and have Monday the 4th as a day to rest up before going back to the daily grind. Does that sound like it'd work? Thanks, Billy "I'm going to need a vacation after this vacation" Hill

Any news?

I try to do my part to support the place. I really do hope that things work out. It's a sweet little park. I can't help but think that attendance will continue to suffer until they add some better rides though. I'm thinking along the lines of a terrain hugging log flume or river rapids ride for starters. Given the hot summers in the area, I think a water ride would be the ticket. You gotta' spend money to make money.

Got a weird pic? Let's see it. I'll start:

I've been to Disneyland several times, and DCA twice. I do someday hope to make it to other Disney parks. At least WDW for sure and hopefully to an overseas park.

That looks sketchy. Am I the only one that thinks the dude in the light colored jacket looks kinda' like Jimmy Kimmel?

The family and I picked up both Grandmas and headed off to Gilroy today. After a nice breakfast out, we got to the park about 10:30. That was no problem since we were still only about the 20th car in the lot. It was drizzling very lightly when we got there. The forecast called for off and on showers that would likely get more steady as the day went on, so we donned our rain ponchos and entered the park. Since both grandmas move pretty slowly these days, we knew we'd be taking things at a leisurely pace. After stopping for a while on the entry path bridge to take in the views, we hit a few of the rides on the first path to the right of the main hub. There were no lines at all, for anything. It seemed like there may have been only a couple dozen people in the park besides us. It was almost like having our own private park. The rain never amounted to anything more than light to moderate showers, and it even quit raining entirely several different times. The weather did seem to be enough to scare off most of those that may have otherwise made their ways to the park though. That was good, and bad. Good because, as I already mentioned, we had the park basically to ourselves, but bad because they decided to close up just a little before 3PM. It actually ended up working out just fine for us that way. I think the grandmas were maybe a little relieved that things were closing up earlier than we expected. Even a small park like BFG is more walking than they're used to, and we didn't have any need to be running them into the ground. We got to ride anything we wanted, and to stay on the ride as long as we wanted. The Quicksilver Express coaster is a fun little family mine train, but about 3 go-rounds at a time was enough for me. I think I rode it a total of 9 of 10 times just because I could. The kids continued to ride it so many times that they lost count (or never even bothered to start counting) while my wife and the grandmas went through the green house garden and otherwise generally relaxed in spots shielded from the showers. We had just completed a loop of the park when they came over the PA system to tell us to get on our way. We let the kids play a few "toss to win" games while the staff were shepherding everyone toward the exit. One nice thing about BFG is that they've got several "winner every time" toss games. Yeah, I let them blow $20 tossing the bouncing balls, but at least they all came home with a decent sized stuff animal for the money. Lord knows we've thrown away considerably more money for less swag at other parks. Since we had time to kill, I decided that a drive to the coast on highway 152 might be a nice way to end the day. I'd never been that way before, so it was at least worth checking out. That decision turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. The drive from BFG up over Hecker Pass is absolutely beautiful. Many of the coastal mountain forests are nice and scenic, but I'd rate this short drive right up there with some of the best ones I've taken. I probably could have taken some pics to show you of the drive, but it was kind of nice to be in the warm car. Getting out in the rain to take pics just sisn't seem worth it at the time, but now I kind of regret not having done so. I'll have to make it a point to get some pics the next time we go that way. Anyhow, before I ramble any further, I'll just end by saying a good time was had by all. And another... Another shot from the spinning boat. This ride is ho-hum, but the scenery is very nice. This is where Bonfante Falls runs on down into Coyote Lake. Bonfante loves their waterfalls. So do I. This was pretty well representative of the "crowds" for almost the whole time we were there. Some nice flowers Ballon Flight ride. (For no particular reason, other than it's colorful.)

Sitting in puddles is a bummer. The washcloth idea is great, and honestly something I hadn't thought of. No wet seats for us! I am hoping that the attendance will be light because of the weather. More rides for us that way! Thanks for the tips. I'll take the camera and snap a few soggy pics.

We're heading out to Bonfante Gardens in the morning. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the weather is going to be very likely to cooperate. I've got rain ponchos for everyone, but I was curious to see if anyone might have any other tips about making the most of a rainy day at the park. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Witness the sickness. That thing LOOKS awesome.

Is there anything recent about why this blasted coaster isn't running anymore? A post in another thread mentioned that it's going to be closed all season. I don't know if that's official information, but this is getting really old. I actually want to ride this thing someday.

The height limit on V2 is actually 75". I know because I'm just barely over 6'2" (74") and I can just barely ride V2.

Our family will be going to Bonfante Gardens on Mother's day. We'll have both of the Grandmas and my wife, a mother of 3. Of course, we'll also have the kids along with us. I sometimes joke with the kids that the only reason I ever had kids was so I'd have an excuse to go to theme parks. I'm looking forward to it being a fun time for all.

It really depends on the coaster for me. Given the opportunity, I like to try front, back, and middle. If I know that I'm probably only going to ride the coaster once or twice because of a long line, then I'll usually go to the front seats first, then if I ride it again, I'll go to the back seats if the line isn't too ridiculous. If the lines are long for front and back, then I'll just go wherever the shortest line is. Coasters certainly do have a very different ride in different seats, and different seats on different trains. For example: I rode Demon at PGA several times Saturday. For the first couple rides, I went straight to the back since there basically was no line. The ride was bumpy and shaky, but I got that nice whip over the first drop that I really like. Later in the day when the line was longer, I went to the back of the 4th car since that was the shortest line. To my surprise, the ride through the vertical loops was as smooth as butter. (The corkscrew was just an bone jarring as ever though.) Then, we went back around for another go. I had my wife ride with me in the back of the 4th car to show her how smooth it was through the loops. Problem is, we were on the other train this time. It banged and rattled its way through the course the same way the back seats do on both trains. Go figure...

We just got from PGA this past Saturday. We'll be taking the family and both Grandmas (sadly, both Grandpas are dearly departed) to BonFante Gardens on Mother's day. We'll head back to SFMW with a couple of the kids' friends some time between now and Memorial Day. Then we're planning on going back to BFG on Memorial day weekend. (I really like that park and can visit it over and over again) After that, we'll rest up for 5 days at the DLR the last week of June.

I can't give an informed answer to all of your questions, but here's my take on a few things: The exploratorium at the palace of fine arts in SF is a must do (since you have kids along) IMO. The 49 mile scenic drive signs will lead you around on a self guided tour to most of the more interesting places. Through Golden Gate park, down Lombard street, to the wharf, etc... The SF zoo isn't too bad, but nothing anywhwere near as extensive as the SD zoo. It's worth a couple hours of your time if you have some time to kill. The Jelly Belly tour is ok and all, but I don't know if I'd take time away from any of the parks for it. Your call. 10-6 is enough to do SFMW, unless you're planning on taking in all the animal shows. Personally, I'd make sure to see the dolphin show. As for the rest of the shows, it's pretty much "take your pick" of whatever interests you the most, and will fit into your day there. Since you're going on a Friday, hopefully the ride lines won't be too bad. I'd hold off on buying a "Fast lane" pass myself. You might not need them. I hope Zonga's running for you. It's been down every single time I've ever been there. If you're just going for the rides at Bonfante Gardens, then you could kill that place very quickly. If you're into checking out the gardens and what not, then you could spend a lot more time there. That'll have to be your call. I can spend all day at that park with no problem at all, but I do spend quite a bit of that time in the various gardens. Personally, I don't care much for SCBB. Way too many gangsta thug wanna-be types hanging around there the last few times I've been. Maybe hitting SCBB in the morning, and the BFG in the early afternoon/evening would make better sense? (Just thinking that maybe the low-lifes don't come out until later in the day) I dunno... It's your trip. Just a thought though. I'm not in much of a position to give out hotel advice, since my last choice for a hotel near PGA was pretty pathetic. I hope maybe something there helps at least a little bit. Have a fun trip. Maybe we'll bump you into you at BFG. I was thinking of possibly heading down there that weekend.