Money shots (lol) at West Coast parks!

[TopThrillTwister]

Hello all, new to this forum, but thanks for the feedback on my entry in the video contest (UK Parks vid).

In June this year, the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain will be touring the West Coast Parks, and I am going to be making a video of each of the parks.

Can anyone suggest where in the following parks I can get some really good shots, either quirky, or as close as poss to the ride, or maybe a really striking image of a coaster against a good backdrop.

We are going to:

SF Elitch Gardens

Lakeside Park

Cliffs

Knotts

Universal

Disney

SF Magic Mountain

Santa Cruz

Paramount Great America

SF Marine World

As well as 2 days in Vegas too!

I have only been to Magic Mountain, Knotts (years and years ago now!) and Santa Cruz, so any help you can all offer would be most welcome!

Cheers all!

[Sir Clinksalot]

Well, I can tell you from the parks I know:

 

Knotts - Boardwalk area is good for Boomerang, between Plunge and Boomer. Xcelerator Queue is good for Xcelerator footage, going up the top-hat, and through the turn arounds. The area around La Revolucion is good for Jaguar and the back spike of Monte. There are really not any "Secret" spots here.

Universal - On the tram tour try to get on the far side of the tram, the opposite from the side you enter. This side has King Kong and Jaws. The Other side has the Flood.

Disney - Big Thunder path has some good shots of Big Thunder on the last turn. You can actually have on-ride footage at this park, so again there aren't any "secret" spots that I can think of.

SF Magic Mountain - Scream Plaza is good for the Dive Loop of Scream, as well as the Parking lot for the rest of the ride. There is an area the the right of Colossus that gives good Goliath and Colossus footage. You can see it when you exit the ride. Riddlers and Batman's queues pretty much go through the ride, so you can get good footage here as well. Again, most rides here you can have your camera on, the exceptions being X, Deja Vu, Riddlers. I have gotten mine on the rest at SFMM.

[What Now]

SFMM: Ride Granny Gran Prix for a good view of Goliath's Drop. The Bus Parking Lot is a good place to get X footage.

 

Knott's: Most of Ghostrider can be seen in the parking lot. You can also get a good view of it from the Hotel next door. Silver Bullet goes over a good portain of the Ghosttown section.

 

Cliff's: NM Rattler takes up about half the park, so you shouldn't have many probelms getting good footage.

 

Vegas: You can actually walk under parts of Speed. Speed can also be seen from the Stratosphere Tower.