pianojohn Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Just returned from a great 5 days in San Francisco. I was there to play piano for the SF Improv Festival as well as one in Santa Cruz. The shows went great! If you are interested, they are uploaded in their entirety on YouTube: The first show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy3aaQCud-0 The second show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkjr7uep8oY The final show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY7nadaa_2k Anyway, on to the parks! Thursday I took public transportation to Great America. Relatively quick, inexpensive, and convenient! I wish all parks were accessible this way. Not much in the way of crowds. I got all my credits pretty fast. The park is very pretty, well laid out, but small. And although there are a lot of coasters, they are all pretty forgettable. I was going to get my 400th credit today, and I wanted it to be something special. Unfortunately, the Grizzly did not open until noon which meant IT would be my 400th. See video below. On to the pics! Thanks for a fun day! Luckily a few short blocks away was a great restaurant called TOGO. Cheaper than eating in the park! My 400th coaster....not looking forward to it. More characters Did this used to be an IMAX theatre?It was not on the map. Flight Deck....by far the lamest B&M inverted. I mean...come on! How about adding another loop or something! The new top spin had great fire effects The Psycho Mouse was good. Better than a spinning mouse IMHO. The Demon was ok....but the loops were friggin rough! Invertigo...eh, it was ok. Just like Illinois! Yup, a Cedar Fair park for sure Spongebob and I hanging out! This way to the fun! Finally after 2 hours on 3 trains There is my stop Ready to ride Choo choo time Hollywood Studios Epcot again Pop Century Wide World of Sports On my flight out of Orlando, I was able to get some shots of Disney. Here is Epcot San Fran 2008 979.avi The pride of my 400th coaster...and the shame that it had to be on The Grizzly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianojohn Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 Whereas Great America was a mere 3 trains from San Francisco, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was 3 trains and 2 buses away. And I ended up missing the 2nd bus! Oh well, I made it! The park was a lot nicer than I thought it would be! I assumed when Six Flags bought it out that they would tear out the trees and shows and just add coasters. However, the park was beautiful with lots of landscaping and a TON of shows. Very impressive. Also impressive was the HUGE crowd including the General Mills company picnic. Since my time was limited I went ahead and bought the Speedpass for $20 which got me front of line access for 7 rides. I ended up only using 3 of them but it saved me about 2 1/2 hours in line. Quick recap and then the pics: Vertical Velocity: fun ride, strange inline twist Roar: still pretty rough even with the GCI trains Tony Hawk: fun but too much spinning for my taste Cobra: fun kiddie coaster with a LOOOONG train Medusa: good coaster with TOO long of a line Kong: horrible Vekoma hang and bang Boomerang: typical Vekoma Some other observations. Roar only ran one train since the 2nd train was in pieces near the station. Seriously? This is peak season and they didn't have both trains going. Same for Kong with the 2nd train just hanging there and Medusa with the 3rd train in pieces on the transfer track. Enough ranting. Here are the pics! The main entrance sign Medusa from across the street More Tony Hawk Roar Shouka the whale Some of the animal exhibits Hmm...Shamu and Sylvester...sorry....Shouka I think is the whale'sname Medusa More characters V2's crazy inline twist Tony Hawk's Big Spin The animals did the YMCA before they opened the rides. Cool animals on display everywhere. I think this was a bunny rabbit : ) Waiting outside the gates with a throng of people The gas prices in Northern California Here I am! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianojohn Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 PART THREE: SANTA CRUZ BEACH BOARDWALK WOW! I had not been to SCBB since 1989 so I did not know what to expect. It was great! Very crowded but manageable. Actually, the longest line was for Hurricane and not Giant Dipper. I was able to get 4 rides on Giant Dipper, and each one was great! By far the best coaster of the entire trip. Here are the pics: The entire boadwalk Loving the Giant Dipper The S&S Tower The kiddie coaster The First Drop The fan curve In the station Yeah! The Giant Dipper Aerial view from the Drop Tower Hurricane Laughing Sal The crowd on a sunny Sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Heh heh heh...Congrats on your 400th coaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darklingscribe Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I was at the boardwalk on Friday and I'll say that just recently the Dipper had been running insane. It has never had as much airtime on it on Friday than any of my previous trips to the boardwalk. Good trip report, and let me express my amazement that you were able to use public transit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laqueefa Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I was at the boardwalk on Friday and I'll say that just recently the Dipper had been running insane. It has never had as much airtime on it on Friday than any of my previous trips to the boardwalk. Good trip report, and let me express my amazement that you were able to use public transit. What section of the train were you riding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darklingscribe Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I rode both in the front and the very back. The back offered much more airtime. Of the two trains I thought the blue one was running faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haiderodes Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Whereas Great America was a mere 3 trains from San Francisco, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was 3 trains and 2 buses away. And I ended up missing the 2nd bus! Oh well, I made it! Where did you start your trip in SF? There's the Baylink Ferry from SF Ferry Terminal to Vallejo Terminal (1hr boat ride). Then the bus directly to the park (picks you up from the ferry terminal and drops you across the street from the park). I've also tried the train/bus version as well as its a little cheaper...but as you mentioned there are so many chances to miss a bus or train if something is delayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland303 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Nice TR! You were at SFDK the same weekend I was! I have to agree with your ride assessments except I didn't do Kong (oh hell no) and I thought Roar! was not too rough. Medusa was only a 25 minute wait on a Sunday afternoon. Now I need to get us over to Santa Cruz to the Boardwalk! And Santa Cruz is a great town for just cruisin' and chillin'. Of course, there are too many damn vampires.... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts