dougr Posted April 2, 2008 Posted April 2, 2008 Since we had Cedar Fair passes from last year from Knott's that expire April 10, I thought it would be cool to use them one more time this year. California's Great America opened this March, as well as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom-and since it was "only" a 2 day drive to the Bay area, that's where we headed. However, CGA was only open weekends at our spring break time-but if we left on Friday and got some driving in, we could probably make it to Santa Clara by the afternoon. Day One: After packing earlier, we head to the high school to pick up my daughter. Then it's the run to the border, after a brief stop to pick up some US cash. Best to avoid the fees as much as possible. Then it was goodbye to Canada for 11 days, rolling through Seattle around rush hour (is that bridge ever NOT clogged?) with the stop for the night at Chehalis, exit 83. 217 miles down, about 750 to go. Day Two: We leave Chehalis and head towards Portland. We would have to pass through Sith territory first, though, see the pictures: Saw this poor guy's truck smoking for a couple of miles on Day 2 just south of Portland: We are HUGE Simpsons fans, my wife and I giggle EVERY TIME we pass this sign... Must almost be in Portland... Once again, we DIDN'T stay at the $21/27 motel for some reason.... We just love this sign. The corporate mascot for a place that sells fireworks is pirate that lost an eye! I guess it's kind of natural that Cougar would hang out in Woodland. Heh Heh I said "Woodland" I think it used to be called Skywalker Ryderwood. Looks like we picked a good time to leave Richmond, BC for warmer, drier climes.
dougr Posted April 2, 2008 Author Posted April 2, 2008 More day 2: All of Oregon and a little California. We ended up spending the night in Redding Only 330 to go! In less than 27 hours... 640 miles down... Welcome to California. Is that snow? In March?
dougr Posted April 2, 2008 Author Posted April 2, 2008 Day 3: Bright and sunny California! Redding to Santa Clara. After getting a short taste of CGA-Flight Deck was closed! We thought, why not stay the night in San Francisco? We decided to walk from our motel on Market Street to the cable car line. Market has about 2.8 bums per block, and the cable car is $5 each. We took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf. The street car back was $1.50, 75 cents for kids 17 and under. She be pimpin' More on-ride goodness. My wife is a better photographer than me. She is teh awesome. On-ride goodness More Invertigo goodness. Invertigo! My favorite boomerang-the only one that doesn't make me feel like I'm in a Benny Hill video or a Stooge, take your pick It's Vortex! There's more pictures, but my card reader's a bit twitchy. In the meantime there's other coaster goodness... Yeah! Nothing like a reboot to get things working again. Check the bottom of this reply for more pics. Finally, after 970 miles in 48 hours...a Cedar Fair ride sign...is that a trash can as well? Bears Everywhere! More bears... We must be in California, the Golden Bear State. Our streetcar is a Red Car! This streetcar never served in Los Angeles, but it's a genuine Red Car circa 1940's. Pirates of Fisherman's Wharf * On-ride picture from Vortex.
dpxtreme Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 Unfortunately all of the stations at CGA suck. What's funny is the suckiest coaster in the park, Grizzly, is the only one at the park with a covered station.
dougr Posted April 3, 2008 Author Posted April 3, 2008 Yeah, that is a strange kind of peek-a-boo grill? fence? I understand the need to lock down a shuttle coaster's station, but even V2 station's gates were less restrictive. Gratuitous videos of V2 taken from just outside the park that don't prove my point but I include here because I took them: and
ebl Posted April 3, 2008 Posted April 3, 2008 A bit off-topic, but it does seem strange that San Francisco Municipal Railway would paint one of its Market St. trolleys in the old Pacific Electric Red Car scheme when that particular car didn't actually run in Los Angeles. I thought those trolleys were supposed to be actual cars from the various cities---sort of a rolling museum. Anyway, this is a very nice photo TR. The more I see about CGA, the more I feel like I need to go visit it again. It's been over eight years since my last visit. Eric
dougr Posted April 3, 2008 Author Posted April 3, 2008 It's 1061, bullt in 1946 that served in Philadelphia. Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pacific_Electric_1061_in_SFO_12-28-04b.JPG
dougr Posted April 4, 2008 Author Posted April 4, 2008 Day 4" We head out of San Francisco on the Bay Bridge. Out is free, but it's on the lower deck; besides, you gotta pay outbound for either of the bridges that go towards Vallejo-Fairfield. We got to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom around 12:30 pm. They were open every day April 15-30 this year. The season pass office would open at 2:30 pm-this year they have "free" parking for an extra $40-only for SFDK, of course. SFDK was wonderful. Medusa always teases us as we arrive-I have learned to take care of this by always riding it first. There was NEVER more than a 3 car wait for the front row, most rows were a walk-on most of the time. Medusa is my favorite coaster in the Bay area, and one of my top overall. V2, not to be outdone, likes to say "hi" as well just before you come in the gate... (Yeah, I know it's posted it upthread, but I filmed it.) There were lots of animals to see as well, real as well as mascots... Tiger video here: We had a great time, coincidently Boomerang was closed, but so was Hammerhead. After a few hours, we headed out for food, there's a brand new Carl's Jr across the street from the park with a fantastic view. ...3... ...2... Vertical loop goodness....1... More parking lot goodness. Afterwards, we ate at Carl's Jr. I love those "six dollar" burgers. This is their view from the parking lot. There were camels as well. That sign is true. Meow! for meat! swimming... Tigers.... We're all in on it now. Foghorn joins in on the action... Hello, dolphins. "Where is the earth-shattering KABOOM!" Hello Marvin! Why-HELLO Medusa. I will ride you soon.
dougr Posted April 7, 2008 Author Posted April 7, 2008 Day 5: My wife went to the Odin Tiger show with the camera while my daughter and I went to ride Medusa. Now they're not allowing collector cups on the big rides, you gotta stow your stuff in a locker. They are $1 apiece and in theory you are only supposed to put your gear in the lockers assigned to the coaster you will be riding, but I didn't read the fine print after we walked on to Medusa, then waited for Kong over 30 minutes, then walked back onto Medusa. Medusa is such a great, fun, efficient ride with two train operation, especially compared to Kong which is still fun, but slow loading with only one train. Then we met up, and it was on to the Walrus encounter, Shark Tube and Thomas Town. A lot of flats weren't running yet, Tava's Jungleland was pretty much shut down yet open (more rides opened in the next day or two), but Thomas Town was in full swing. Then on to the other back corner. You know, the corner with Roar, which you walk past and V2 which flies over you when you come in the main park entrance. We got some pictures of Roar, sorry about the lack of photos of V2, but you can check out the V2 videos upthread. Then we went back to our motel with some lame movie on tv-shot in San Francisco. One scene was in Golden Gate Park and featured a carousel-so we decided to drive into "Frisco and check it out... Future chopper pilot! My daughter figured out to reach over the seat and pull back the stick to go up. There's Harold's helicopter ride, like all helicopter ride except: 1) It's new, and 2) every helicopter is named Harold Still waiting for her train... Must be taking a break. Knappford Station? We must be in Thomas Town. There's a smaller tank with smaller fish. This puffer was just hanging... Here's a closer look. Cool... This is apparently a Pristiophoriformes Looks like he didn't see us. Zoom! We checked out the shark tank, some great views here... Maybe this giraffe has something else on his mind.... She's still keeping an eye on the tigers Didn't seem to bother the giraffes too much The lionesses had to check it out as well He's said what he wanted, now he's done. The lions could see the tiger show from across the wide pathway, the male decided to say something and then make his feelings known.... Cats are really just tigers in miniature, it's just that cats are so tiny they're not quite as scary. The handlers seem to be at ease with the tigers. While my daughter and I were riding Medusa and Kong, my wife took the camera to Odin's tiger show. She says the woman in the picture just kept standing there, so she took her picture along with the tiger's. Hmmm...... Then it was back to the motel. Here's a little preview of Day 7... Tower goodness for fellow bridge freaks. Then it was back the long way via the Golden Gate Bridge-free on the way out. Then it was back to the car. Giraffe and ostrich Stork Dragon There are some cool animals on this carousel. Lion. Here's when it's open, BTW. We found Golden Gate Park, which is further south than you'd think. When we got there, the carousel was closed But at least it's the top deck, so you get a much better view. Then it's back in via the Bay bridge. $4! Back seat goodness! Here's an artsy silhouette shot. Then it was on to the "back" corner of the park with Roar and V2. Didn't get too many pictures of V2, but you can check out a couple movies from upthread. My wife got some pictures of us on Roar, though. Here's a "smile". I think walruses actually enjoy interacting with visitors. Hello, Jocko jocko4.mov More Jocko action jocko1.mov He was responding to people on the other side of the 6 inch thick glass by tapping and making his own clicking sounds. If anybody has trouble viewing these videos, I will try to post some on YouTube. Here's Jocko. He was feeling more active... Then came Jocko's-the walrus experience. This girl was tired....
dougr Posted April 8, 2008 Author Posted April 8, 2008 Day 6: I promised my daughter I would take her to see CJ7, and it was playing in Berkeley. We saw a few squads of Berkeley cops standing around with riot gear on their belts and the plastic handcuffs. We also drove by a small protest, but didn't catch any riots. We had a delicious lunch of Pho Tai with Vietnamese iced milk coffee, then caught the movie. The theater was pretty cool, they even let my daughter bring in her bubble tea from our lunch! Day 7: Return to SFDK. This time we were determined to get some on-ride pictures of Medusa, along with the Dolphin show. Random Medusa goodness I think that's my daughter on the far left. I actually enjoy its spaghetti goodness. It throws you around plenty, but I didn't find it that painful. It's just that line is always relatively heinous.... Kong: There Is No Escape-For At Least A Half Hour-No Matter How Long The Lines Are Everywhere Else. Once again, my wife is teh awesome photographer Our train! Havin' fun. ...3 2... My wife took most of these Medusa pictures. Medusa corkscrew goodness.... 1.... You will love the sssnake. Ssssss. Medusa welcomes you. Raptor welcomes you. Hello raptor. I did get a shot of the pricelist. I saw a coupon for $5 off the attractions plus package on the back cover one of the hotel magazines Ah, SCBB Hurricane. We will ride you soon, very soon. Here's what over $600,000 buys you in California-this FABULOUS DECK! It says "Cheney Farm Team" Dumbass. This truck has a bumper sticker. My wife loves the bears. Then, it was on to Santa Cruz. Sylvester is cool. Suffering Suckatash! Even the rabbits There were penguins too. Almost all the animals at SFDK seemed to be interested in interaction with humans. The cougars were fascinated by the fuzzy marionettes sold at the park. YouTube video here: Then on to the Crocodiilian part of the park. I know Boomerang is in this area, I just don't remember whether my second ride was this day or another day...Shaken Daddy Syndrome, I think it's called. Splash! I think we all know what happens next.. One of them came over to talk to us. It is REALLY hard to photograph dolphins jumping with a digital camera unless you take LOTS of pictures. Here's a few.... Here's the family that paid lots for their special encounter. Then on to the dolphin show.
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