West Coast Bash 2009 - Six Flags Magic Mountain

[Jhcbiinoc]

I wasn't sure how TPR, RideWorld, and SFMM could top last year's West Coast Bash.....but did they ever! What an absolutely awesome event, all the way around. Despite some of the strangest weather challenges I have ever seen, this turned out to be the best coaster event I have ever attended and the most fun I have had in a very long time.

 

I had attended Solace the day before (which was fun, but nowhere near as much fun as WCB) and although I awoke at 6am Sunday to look outside the window of my room at the Holiday Inn Express across from SFMM and have my spirits dampened at the weather, I maintained hope that no matter what was going on, things would still turn out an carried on.....and did they ever!

 

I'm going to post a TR in a separate thread, so for now I just want to give major thanks to:

 

-Robb, Elissa, Chris and Natalee for putting this whole thing together. You guys are amazing, and you have created THE premier coaster event of the West Coast. Organizing this whole thing was no easy task, I'm sure and it is much appreciated. Even if I were living in another state I would fly out here for this every year.

 

-Jay, Neal and Tim and the entire staff of SFMM-wow. Everything was just fantastic-even with the weather the way it was. I was amazed that even with the rain pouring as we waited outside the park yesterday morning, Neal was standing out there in it with us giving us a rundown of events and maintaining a great attitude, and less than 30 minutes later we were all enjoying ERT including some of the best rides on X2 I have ever had-and not only that, when the weather seemed to be causing issues, maintenance was right there fixing the issues as needed to keep ERT going. Tim was out there on the Terminator site giving presentations when the formidable (although thankfully short) hail started mid morning. And the Q&A was one of the single most entertaining events of the day-I have not laughed that much in a while, and once again, your attention to the questions just reconfirms that you listen to and care what people have to say. The night ERT was very impressive, even if X2 could not be a part of it-(when I felt how cold it was getting and saw the wind gauge spinning furiously when riding Viper about 7pm, I had a feeling it might not be able to but I feel sure you tried your best to get it open!). Finally, at the very end of a long day-Jay and Neal were out front wishing everyone well. Through rain, sleet and very cold and windy weather, everyone at the park worked hard and put in a long day and made a great event happen anyway. Thanks again, you all deserve nothing but success.

 

-Another note to William, who put together the Scavenger Hunt-nice job!!! I was one of the members of Team 16, who took second place, and this was both a lot of fun and extremely challenging. It took all of us putting our head together to figure the challenges out. A very entertaining way to spend the afternoon!

 

-All the SFMM employees who put in a lot of extra time and hours-from the mechanics who were fixing the X2 issues during ERT in the morning, to the all the ride ops who stayed late last night and those who kept Flags and the Funnel Cake place open until 10 right along with the ERT-thanks for helping to make it a great time.

 

-Finally, thanks to Ron, Ryan/G-Force and everyone else on Team 16, I had a great time hanging out with you guys yesterday and last night. I end up coming to most of these events solo, and it is always great to see familiar faces as well as to meet new people and make new friends!

 

Again, I will post a TR here shortly (unfortunately, my still camera went dead mid day, and I did not get much video, so not much there).....I just wanted to say thanks to everyone involved and tell everyone else that if you only attend one coaster event next year, do NOT miss this one. It is truly a class act!

[shpm5150]

Once again thanks to TPR, Rideworld, and SFMM management for making WCB such a blast. I had a great time and even got to ride Goldrush in the hail. It was awsome. And I finally got my De-Ja Vu Credit!!!! About time. Thanks again for making it such a blast and until next year!!!!!!!!!

[thrillerman1]

Can we please have Jay Thomas back at SFKK NOW?! He is the best in the industry.

 

Glad to hear the event turned out as good as it did despite the crazy weather!

[CoasterKings908]

I had a great time yesterday, except for the bad coughing near lunch time(Had to go to First Aid ). During the Terminator Tour I was extremely shocked! Also, at the Q&A session I almost fainted when they told us they'll give us our own piece of Terminator . (I got mine signed by Jay and Neil) Does anybody know Neil's last name

[Mr.Six]

Neal Thurman

[Nisshoku]

My friends and I would like to say we had an excellent time at Six Flags Magic Mountain. We felt everything was planned out perfectly. This was our first TPR activity and it was insane. We are all officially hooked. Thank you again Robb and Six Flags for putting together an outstanding event!

[travanx]

That was really fun. My GF and I were the first in line for Deja Vu. I am jealous she road in the front while I had to wait at the exit. I remember last time riding it I was really scared since I was over the height limit. I now remember where my feet can hit on the ride. Sorry for holding up the line asking them about it.

 

The weather was so strange, but somehow the sun came out during the park being open just for us. That was pretty awesome!! The feel to the park was like going to a midnight showing of some Sci-Fi movie. All the rides became that much more fun. And I loved how diverse the group was!!

 

I think we were the last train to have the flame effects on for X2. I was scared since after we went through the flame I saw them blow right across through the tracks. We were the last car. And we came back into the station and they were looking at the box on the back. The next ride didn't have flames.

[robbalvey]

Hey everyone!

 

I just want to say thank you again to everyone who attended last night's West Coast Bash! I never thought we would ever see attendance numbers in the 700 area and it was great that Magic Mountain handled the crowd so well that lines were non-existent throughout all our ERT. (We ended up having 6 coasters open in the morning and 13 coasters "in the dark" at night.)

 

In case you missed it, the event made the front page of our local newspaper. The article is also posted here:

http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/10966/

 

And special thanks to the Magic Mountain staff and management for working with Ride World and Theme Park Review to make this event even better than last year!

 

We will have a full update for you all to check out very soon!

 

--Robb Alvey

www.themeparkreview.com

[Rcp123190]

I just want to say that yesterday's event was a blast!! My friend and I had a lot of fun... I just want to say thank you to Robb, Chris, Tim Burheart, and Neal Thurman for putting this event together. I was able to say thank you to Jay Thomas last night when I was leaving

[Jew]

Awesome to hear everyone had such a great time! Kudos Robb and Elissa for organizing an awesome event!

[mummyjohn]

I really cannot say enough good things about Magic Mountain management, as well as maintenance and sanitation - all getting better all the time! I made sure to get Neal`s card as we were exiting (at about 9:45) so I could send the fellas a letter.

 

GNARLY STORY ALERT: After the Q&A session, my group was considering going to dinner outside the park and then returning with a handstamp. We asked the first employee we met if we could get the car back in without paying for parking. Turns out the guy was the director of parking at Magic Mountain, and he said `Just show your lanyards when you come back, tell em you are with WCB, and you should be good. If not, show them this and tell them I said it was O.K.` He was referring to his business card, which he handed us.

 

GNARLIER STORY ALERT: By far, the best part of the day, no question, was at about 9:00 p.m. during evening ERT. We had just hit Scream! 2x in a row (I coulda gone for another dozen rides on her, but a few folks in my party wanted to move on...lightweights...). In fact, it was SO uncrowded that the main ride op asked the train if they wanted to all stay on; if so she was just gonna skip the load/unload sequence and just keep the train going through the station and up again! Anyway, as we walked away from Scream, I noticed how it was SUPER DARK at Colossus, so we made a detour to go on it. Of course, we ran into Mr. Six there...and asked him to ride with us...and he did. Mr. Six was literally riding Colossus IN THE ROW BEHIND ME! Not only that, but he was going hands up the whole time. It was pretty much the greatest thing I have ever seen. Cheers to WCB and TPR! I hope I will be able to be in town next year and make it (going to be away at college by that time!).

[towerhill]

Is there an official TR from West Coast Bash?

[HEADCHEEZ]

^Robb says there will be one on the previous page.

[towerhill]

^Thanks I over looked his post. lol

[Mechanic]

I would like to echo the sentiments of everyone that posted what a great time they had. It was also very nice to meet a few more people from TPR this year. On behalf of my family and our 2 guests, I want to say a very sincere THANK YOU to everyone involved in putting on this great event. We most definitely will be back to SFMM soon, and for next year's WCB as well.

[some_imagination]

I actually havent posted here before, but Ive been an enthusiast for AGES, and I really felt the need to sign in and say that this was honestly the BEST coaster event Ive ever been to. I LOVED IT! Every single part of it (except the morning rain) was amazing.

 

I think that Jay and the rest of the park's management are doing a FANTASTIC JOB with that park. Our group got to chat with him and Neal at the end of the night. We actually had a bit of a problem but they assured us it would get ironed out THAT NIGHT (impressive), but the rest of the chat literally just turned out to be us praising them on the DIFFERENCE we've seen in the park. I was VERY IMPRESSED. Jay, if youre reading this, I cant even say enough good things about you. haha.

 

Anyway, thanks to EVERYONE who put on the amazing event. I've kinda fallen out of being a hardcore coaster fan like I used to be, and I really used to not like going to SFMM but this event has really grabbed my attention and shown me what good events and parks can be like.

 

Thanks for a great event.

[Thelegendarymatthew]

Sounds like a good event, I wish something like that come to the east coast, but doubt it. I'm glad you guys had fun and got to have a peice of a coaster. I almost had one form Ohio, but that failed.

Well glad you had fun.

-Matthew.K

[robbalvey]

Is there an official TR from West Coast Bash?

Working on it! I collected something like 5,000 photos from yesterdays event so it's a lot to go through! I should have it done by tomorrow.

 

--Robb

[newrollercoasterlover17]

^ I also want to say thank you for letting me help out earlier in the day for registration, it felt good to be the "wristband guy".

 

-Paul

[Allison_Kimbell]

GREAT EVENT!! I HAD A BLAST!!!!

[jray21]

Wow, this event was incredible. Once again, the night ERT was the greatest. We rode most of the rides 2-4 times, and almost every single time we didn't even have to get off the ride. And at the very end we triple rode batman and riddler, and only saw people 2 out of the six times!

 

Ditto to everything else that's been said. This was my second bash and it still amazes me how great this event is. The only downside is that I am so sore! We drove 8 1/2 hours on Saturday, rode coasters from 8:30-10 yesterday, and then drove another 8 1/2 hours today. I will try to sleep standing up but I don't think it will work.

 

Rob, Elissa, and crew, you do an incredible job, and this is one of the highlights of my year. I have no clue how you do it, but just keep on doing it. I can't wait until I am able to go on a real TPR trip (This years timing won't work). Thanks to TPR and Ride World, and kudos to SFMM and the management team on a great park and event. Can't wait for next year!

 

My only question is: What were the wristbands for? I never once had to show it, just wondering.

 

Can't wait to see the pictures!

[wrs28330]

Here are some of my pictures from Sunday. Enjoy!

Participants pick out their WCB 2009 souvenier! As I stated before: If you thought this year was great, just wait until WCB 2010!

The most spry octogenarian I know!

WCB takes over Magic Moments Theater.

Team 22

(A quick thank you to my fellow Hosts and Hostesses who assisted with the scavenger hunt: Lindsay, Brandon, and the Guest Relations staff.)

Team 13

Team 06

Team 21

Team 07

Team 09

Team 14 received the distiction of most spirited!

Team 14

Team 05

Team 05 heads toward Magic Moments Theater.

Team 15

Team 12

Team 08

The next group of photos are team photos. I was able to take team photos when there were only a few teams returning at once.

Team 16

Team 06 finds Dangerous Bill.

Team 22 stayed in the picnic area to complete all the puzzles before heading out into the park. They hoped to solve all the quests with only one trip around the park.

Teams look over the 25-question SFMM trivia page before the Scavenger Hunt.

Hail OR Robb sized dandruf...

...you decide.

Would you like some hail with your BBQ beef?

Tim Burkhart shows his newest baby to park guests for the first time.

Entering the Terminator Salvation: The Ride backstage area.

So THAT is what 180 dozen donuts looks like!

Katy's Kettle served as a midpoint for the morning action.

Why yes! This IS where you check-in!

It's BIG MIKE!!!!!!!!!!!

Al and pals from AZ show off their WCB badges.

And their off!

All 700 WCB participants wait to start the day!

[SharkTums]

My only question is: What were the wristbands for? I never once had to show it, just wondering.

 

You may not have noticed, but they were used! They were a way for the group to be identified and get rid of people trying to crash the event! Lanyards are tucked away for rides, sometimes under clothes, and can also be transferred easily. We wanted to make sure the event stayed exclusive for you guys, so the wristbands were the way to go!

[hotstreak]

Would someone be able to post the team scores from the Scavenger Hunt? I was on team 30.

[rcroques]

Team 16 REPRESENT!

 

So, I officially cleared off the top of my TV and, from left to right, have my piece of wood from Ghostrider I got years ago, the wheel from Sierra Twist, and the piece of wood from Terminator.

 

I'm still in awe of how amazing yesterday was.

 

Sincerely,

R.C.