Trip Report - SFMM, KBF, & Pacific Pier - 8/14

[TheCoasterCritic]

Thanks for all of the tips and advice you all gave me before my trip. As promised, here's my trip report:

 

I landed at LAX at around 10:30 in the morning on Thursday, August the 14th. After finding out how close the airport was to the beach and Pacific Park I figured I'd start my adventure there. I wasn't expecting much from the West Coaster, but I had seen the park in so many TV shows and movies and I wanted to see a bit more of Cali. The park was really small and the West coaster was nothing to write home about, but at least the ride op ran us through twice. So with the view of the ocean, two consecutive rides, and the ride credit, I got my $5 worth.

 

While only diverting from Six Flags Magic Mountain for about 40 minutes, I was back on my way to the park. I got to the park around 1-ish. I knew that lines would be bad so I got a flash pass. Unfortunately, I waited until the night before my trip to buy one and they were sold out of regular flash passes. So I had to get a thrill pass.

 

My first coaster was Revolution at 1:30 after not being able to stomach X2's 2 hour wait. Next, I darted to Tatsu (1:40) and bypassed a pretty bad looking line with the flash pass. Then I climbed the hill and headed for Superman The Escape. The cool air inside the 'Fortress of Solitude'-themed station felt great, but after 20 minutes of waiting Superman broke down. I slipped out the wheel chair exit and headed over to Goldrusher (2:30) which was a walk on.

 

Riddler (2:55) was about a fifteen minute wait even with the flash pass. The station was about as unorganized as I've ever seen. I really enjoyed the ride. I put it right there with Chang as the co-kings of the stand-ups. Then I headed over to Colossus (3:10) which was a three train wait. It wasn't terrible on the spectrum of bad, rough woodies, but it wasn't that good either. Would've helped if they were running both sides, but with the low ridership I can see why they weren't.

 

Though I'd ridden Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure, I figured I'd tackle its clone Scream! (3:30). I blame this surprisingly rough parking lot looper for stealing my cell phone! Ok, so it was my fault for not putting it my cargo pockets with zippers like I had been all day, but the last time I remember having it was right before boarding Scream and with its surprisingly forceful ride it likely dumped the phone out of my pocket on that camelback inversion that really throws you.

 

Unaware that my phone was missing, or maybe I still had it this point, I quickly walked to Goliath (3:45 & 3:55). I was looking forward to it all day because I love hyper coasters. The gentle slope of the first drop really disappointed me. There's a little air on the third hill and the helices are okay. I will say the longest helix that was really low to the ground has blackout potential. All in all, Goliath was good not great.

 

At 4:00 I had lunch at the Mooseburger Lodge because I had a free buffet that came with the Thrill Pass. It sounded like a great bonus, but the food was sub par and I'm not really used to mounted moose heads serenading me while I eat.

 

It was getting late and I figured if I was going to squeeze in Knott's it was time to head to X2 (4:40) and face my long wait fate. Luckily, the wait was drastically reduced. Instead of over 2 hours it was only about 50 minutes. Halfway through my wait in the extreme-themed queue I realized I had lost my cell phone. I hoped that I'd find it later and stayed in line. X2 was quite an experience. The woman next to me said she saw her life pass before her eyes on the first drop and she was dead serious when she said it. She looked like someone had just robbed her at gun point as we pulled into the station. Read my full X2 review.

 

For the next 2 hours I searched for my phone, visited guest relations to file a report, bought some souvenirs, and rode Deja Vu, Batman, & Tatsu one more time. I never did find my phone, but I tried to make the best of my time and ride as much as I could before heading to Knott's. Ninja's line was too long, I knew I'd probably regret Viper having ridden Great Adventure's Scream Machine (read review) and countless other aging Arrow loopers. Plus, I figured I'd already given Superman 25 minutes of my precious time. I knew I could get right on Tatsu with the pass and I was glad that I did. I enjoyed it much more the second time with a more secure fastening of the restraints.

 

To Knott's!

By the time I arrived at Knott's Berry Farm it was 8:30. Parking was a bit confusing, but I found a lot and dragged my tired body to the guest relations window to pick up my media priced ticket. It was only a little cheaper than the twilight rate, but every dollar counts, right? I dashed into the park as best I could. My calves started locking up from all the speed walking and poor hydration. I heard 'sorry for the inconvenience' being announced as I walked near Ghostrider, so I turned around and headed for Pony Express. After about a 10 or 15 minute wait, I rode it. It was kind of a long wait for a short ride, but it was new for this year, plus it was cool seeing how it matched up to Darien Lake's MotoCoaster.

 

I moved across the back of the park toward Xcelerator. I hadn't seen a train running on it and started to get worried. Just as I entered the queue a train stormed by. Two or three trains later, I was enjoying a short, but thrilling ride. The starry and quiet experience towards the top of the top hat hill was awesome! I would've loved a re-ride, but there was no time. I worked my way over to Silver Bullet. It was a walk on for the front seat. After that I got turned around trying to get to Montezuma. It was 9:50-ish by now and I was jogging. As I had heard, Montezuma was fun. I'm glad that I had heard good things about it, otherwise I might've overlooked it.

 

I exited Montezuma at 9:56 and I tried to decide whether I should just re-ride someting nearby, call it a night, or make a run for Ghostrider. I figured it wasn't likely I'd make it, but I might as well try to find my way over there before they closed down the line. I ended up being the last rider they let in the queue. So, somehow I jammed five coasters into about an hour and a half. I left the park at about 10:15. Surprisingly, Ghostrider's station was easily the busiest at the park. Exhausted, I found my rental car and headed back to LAX for my 12:30 AM red eye flight back East.

Pacific Pier was a lot smaller than I expected, but worth the experience. Plus they ran us through West Coaster twice. Since the trip I continue to see this park on any tv show based in LA.

SFMM was much nicer than I expected. IMO it was easily on par with SFGADV as far as the atmosphere, theming, etc. Does the park just have a bad reputation from its past or did I miss something?

I'm glad that I rode Tatsu twice. The second time was much better b/c I tightened the restraint and didn't feel like I was falling out the whole time.

Let's not go overboard. How about California's Greatest?

X2 was pretty rough, I should have taken Alvey's advice and sat in an inside seat. It was still amazing.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

MMMMMMMM... I've never heard of a Knott's Twilight ticket? Would you be so kind to inform me on this

[TheCoasterCritic]

The twilight rate was $24.99 after 4PM. I'm not sure if they're doing it now though with Halloween Haunt going on.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

oh ok yea the "after 4pm" discount applies when the park is open after 6pm i believe, but thanks for clearing that up

[kamikazewatermelon]

I was at Pacific Pier over spring break and it wasnt really all it was cracked up to be. (not that it's cracked up to be that good) but the operations were really bad and Westcoaster kept breaking down every five minutes. I never did get to ride it.

 

Oh, and I love the site!

[dino]

Wow, I've got to hand it to you, this was quite a credit run you did. I don't think I would have had it in me to cover as much park as you did.