Back from coastering at SoCal!

[BarryH]

Well, I'm back from coastering at SoCal and I've got 33 more credits, bringing my coaster total to 270.

 

Here's a brief overview of what I thought of the parks:

 

ADVENTURE CITY

This reminded me of a Six Flags looney tunes play area, but cleaner and with nicer employees. Treetop Racers was one of the best wild mice I've ridden. It has some serious headchoppers. Freeway Coaster was like Taxi Jam, but you didn't need to borrow a kid to ride it. It seems to have been built around a tree. The branches and leaves hand down to make killer headchoppers! I also rode the train.

 

The park gave me the ACE discount and I got in for $6.00. I forgot to bring my membership card (well, my membership expired long ago), but they still gave me the discount. I guess wearing a FLCC t-shirt is good enough.

 

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD

I did the VIP Experience tour. It was pricey, but well worth it. The backlot tour was almost twice as long as the regular one. We got our own trolley tram car. We also talked to a foley artist, walked through the prop department, and walked around the "Crossing Jordan" set. We got front of the line access to the major rides and even rode the esclator ride! Florida has the far superior Mummy coaster. Hollywood's isn't half the fun of Florida's version.

 

KNOTT'S BERRY FARM

People dis Knott's a lot, but I had a good time there. It didn't sprinkle, so they didn't shut down. They were running two trains on every coaster except for Boomerang and Montezooma's Revenge (obviously). I didn't get stapled in Xcelerator. In fact, I had some airtime while going down the 90 degree drop!

 

Some things annoyed me about Knott's. The head of the Xcelerator crew was saying over the speakers who could go on break. Such things need not be announced. But it was a better park than I had read.

 

LEGOLAND

I was the only childless adult there! Still, the day was very quiet and I did the coasters several times and a few other rides. Technic Test Track was one of the better wild mice I've rode. The Dragon coaster had a neat dark ride portion at the beginning. Coastersaurus was a good kiddie coaster. The ride ops gave me two laps! When the line was shorter, people were getting three! Legoland had the friendliest employees outside of Disney.

 

SEA WORLD SAN DIEGO

I thought it was a pretty good Sea World park. I still think Florida has the better Clyde and Seamore show. I thought Journey to Atlantis was better than Florida's version. The storyline was more coherent and was more fun. It had more coaster track than Florida's too. A cheap shot on JTA is that during the drop, they dump a waterfall on you. So if your mouth is open during the drop, you will get a tasty treat! It doesn't taste like Evian, folks.

 

SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN

I'm going to say a lot of bad things about this place. But first, here's the good...

 

- Batman: The Ride and Riddler's Revenge was fun

- The park is nicely landscaped

- Deja Vu was running (don't faint!)

- The nicest employee there worked Canyon Blaster

- I met Elissa there!

 

Now the bad...

 

X was bumpy and a terrible ride. I was looking forward to this coaster, but it really was a big letdown. Who cares if it is cutting edge or yada yada...the coaster is just plain bad. Many of the coasters gave me bruises and headaches. Scream, er, the Parking Lot Ride, was forceless. And why is the Revolution an ACE landmark? The OTSRs beat my ears to death. I guess it was a better ride without the OTSRs. There was also a one train wait for everything and SFMM employees aren't the most expedient. X could have used another train, but I ended up waiting 1 hour, 10 minutes to get beaten up. I wanted to ride X first thing, but it didn't open until 11:00.

 

The employees weren't the peak of efficiency either. For example, when Deja Vu opened, a few employees were taking a test on ride operations. The Supervisor was reviewing the test before taking it. Couldn't this have been done before the ride opened? Oh wait, I forgot...I'm at Six Flags.

 

The crowd at SFMM was about as heavy as Knott's on Sunday, yet Knott's had a better operation. I got all 14 coasters at SFMM in one day, but I still felt like it was a bad day.

 

When I talk to people about SFMM, most give me a look on their faces like they bit into a lemon or smelled a nasty fart. When someone asks me about SFMM, I will have the same expression. SFMM is one of the worst SF parks I've ever visited. It made SFWOA look like Disney!

 

DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

Say what you want about this park...I enjoyed it. OK, Florida TOT is way better than CA TOT. Some of the rides seem off the shelf. But I still managed to have fun. The Block Party is one of the best Disney parades I've ever seen. It gets the crowd so involved and is high energy all the way. I rode my favorites many times. I even rode Hemlich's Chew Chew Train twice!

 

DISNEYLAND

I had a good time at Disneyland. I was able to do everything I wanted and my favorites several times. I decided to hit the rides around Fantasmic. I was able to do most of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland during that time. I even got rides on Big Thunder Mt. Raiload and Indy Jones during that time. The parade was pretty good, but the Remember fireworks were excellent!

 

That is all from me about SoCal!

[SharkTums]

Nice TR!

 

Good to finally meet you!

 

Elissa "silly California!" Alvey

[What Now]

Sounds like you had fun. I agree that Knott's isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

[maliboomer]

Nice TR, don't agree about JTA though!

[CoasterFanatic]

Good TR. Your trip actually sounded a lot like mine this spring.

 

Personally, I kind of enjoyed JTA at San Diego, but it is definately a much "Different" ride than it's Florida counterpart.

 

// What? No Belmont Park?

[BarryH]

^I forgot to mention Belmont Park! I visited there after Legoland. Belmont Park was pretty dead. I got the $16.95 armband and rode the Giant Dipper 5 times. I rode Chaos, which I had never rode. It looks scarier than the ride. The Giant Dipper was fun, but it gave no airtime. The front is the smoothest. The back will just toss you around! I also ate the big calzone. I saw it in a photo with Elissa and I just had to eat the calzone! It was huge, but not to filling (oddly enough).