Skycoastin' Steve's 2010 Season Extravaganza!!

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Ha, that's crazy you were in the station at Mindbender, I was about 3 trains away and had just gotten up there. I never heard the ride op singing that, but it probably would have annoyed me like everything else they were doing yesterday.

 

I also agree that Goliath and Monster Mansion were the best parts of my day. My friend and I were singing the Monster Mansion song the rest of the day. "You're invited, to a picnic, monster picnic!"

[usctrojansrock11]

Wow, you are a great photographer! I hope to be at SFOG someday.

[coastercrzyjames]

Wow, great pics! Seeing these made me begin to miss SFOG. Really great and fun park, I had a good time there last summer. I'd love to make it back there sometime.

[99er]

Seriously? I've never heard anything like that before...do you know how this works?

Last November while we were out west for IAAPA we thought it would be a good idea to spend some time in LA to visit some parks. We stopped by Legoland on our way to Belmont Park just to see if they were even open. We got there around 3:45 and they closed at 5. We didn't want to pay the full price for that short of time so my friend stopped at the Guest Relations window to the right of the Front Gate. The guy in there said that if we just wanted to "see" the park, we could get a 'Shoppers Ticket'. You basically give them your credit card to scan, they do not charge it though. They print you a receipt and you have one (1) hour from the time on the receipt to go in and "shop". As long as you are out within the hour and return to the window, they do not charge your credit card. Don't return and you get charged the full ticket price.

 

Since we didn't know about this, we really didn't plan it right. We just went in and started looking for coasters not realizing there was a coaster right inside the front gate and to the left. We just ran to the right, straight to the back of the park. We figured we could still get 3 coasters in with the park clearing out. Well we were wrong, the place was packed right up till 5pm. I could not believe how busy it was for the last hour on a Monday. We only got one coaster but now that we know about this option, we will return.

 

Hope that helps for anyone that wants to just grab the 3 coasters. I still want to go back though and spend some time at the park just to look around. It was a very beautiful park from the little bit I saw.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Thanks for the clarification!

[Mozart67]

Awesome TR! The weather looked completely bipolar, though. Seeing Mindbender and Scorcher makes me want to shoot for a gig down south now. Thanks for the pics

 

Scott

[coasterbear30]

Me and some friends went there on opening day and I can attest to the "getting the crowds pumped" thing. It made me so mad because all they were doing was wasting time when there were a lot of people waiting in line and they were only running one train operations that day too. Add on top of that that they did not open any of the coasters until 2 hours after the park was open and when a train would pull into the station, they would not open the airgates until the train was completely empty and the riders had left the station. It was so infuriating. Six Flags is not setting a good record for themselves if they are trying to impress anyone or up their reputation.

[Skycoastin Steve]

At the risk of sounding like a Cedar Point/Cedar Fair homeboy, I wish some SF and BGA (basically just for Gwazi) operations managers would take a day to observe CP's operations at their coasters. There's absolutely no unnecessary wasted time, and they still create a fun atmosphere with the guests in the station. And they run at near maximum capacity all day, every day. It's really not that difficult.

[triggernel]

Good luck with your entire Mid-America tour, your going to have to haul some serious tail around some of those parks.

[carolinacaniac]

I know someone mentioned that this applies to the Busch Parks, does that include Sesame Place? I have been thinking of venturing to the Eastern PA area for a couple days sometime in the near future, and have been wondering how I would go about visiting it, and if they do the same deal with the hour for free, I might consider just getting the credit and run.

 

-Gary T.

[99er]

I didn't know that the Busch parks had a deal like that too. I have heard that Sesame has/had a deal similar. I would call just to double check unless someone else here knows for sure. I have only heard about it there but do know that Legoland does it for sure.

[PortugePunk]

Man, Goliath and Scorcher have some wicked turns on there! They look super cool. That helix on Goliath looks RADDDDTASTIC! GASM is sure pretty, too. Great pics. Thanks for sharing!!

[Skycoastin Steve]

^In my most humble opinion, the ridiculous helix of death is the best part of Goliath. Sure, it's got some wicked airtime, but that helix is SO much better than the hammerhead turns. It's like the difference in filet Mignon and chopped steak. And the fact that it's the only B&M hyper without a MCBR is another plus.

[Guy T. Koepp]

Does Apollo have a MCBR? I can't remember. I just rode it at the end of last year too. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? My memmory is fading.

 

Guy "So what else is new?" Koepp

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Yep, and the drop off of Apollo's MCBR gets you some wicked airtime in the back row. Back row of Apollo is by far my favorite ride experience on any B&M hyper, and it's only behind the ejector seat on Magnum for my favorite hyper ride period.

[dlaushey]

I love coasters and only live about 30 minutes from this park. However due to the poor operations and lack of service I refuse to go there. I know I'm doing my kids a disservice because they love Theme Parks and this one is so close. However, I would rather take a long weekend (or even a 2 day weekend) to drive to Orlando and visit Disney or US/IOA. This year we are getting the 2010 passes at Busch and will spend a few weekends there instead. It's only $20 more per pass compared to the SFOG pass for $50.

 

I've lived here all my life and long for the days when SFOG was worth visiting .

 

Keep up the updates on this park so I'll know when it is safe to return.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^I'll be going back on April 11, but that will probably be my last visit of the season due to work and other trips. Who knows, maybe enough complaints will cause some change to occur in the next few weeks, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Skycoastin Steve]

Ok here it is, my West Coast Bash experience!

 

Since it would take me wayyyy too long to include everything from the trip, I'll just try to highlight the parts of my own experience that were unique to everyone else's. Most everyone here knows the big stuff that happened at WCB, so I'll show you guys the stuff we did away from WCB and then a few of my favorite shots from the two fun-filled days of the Bash.

 

On Friday, we went to Belmont Park, Scandia, and Pacific Park, as well as the Hollywood sign. I also had my first taste of In-N-Out Burger, which was AMAZING!!! The Giant Dipper was a pleasant surprise and a quality wooden coaster for being so old, and the Scandia Screamer was NUTS! Back row in that thing was one of the more terrifying ride experiences ever, if only for fear of losing my head! The Santa Monica Pier was a very nice setting for sunset, and we had dinner at Ye Olde King’s Head Shoppe, which served probably the best fish and chips I’ve ever had.

 

Saturday was obviously Magic Mountain day, and despite a chilly morning, the ERT was fantastic! We got two cycles on X2, which was a mind-blowing coaster in my opinion (it’s now my #3 steel coaster). After that we got a donut and went to Tatsu for a couple cycles. Then we went back and grabbed our only cycle of the day on Viper, which really wasn’t as rough as I expected. Then we finished ERT with three straight cycles on Terminator (after seeing the preshow, of course). Once the floodgates opened and the GP poured in, we did what we could to get credits during the day, and if memory serves, we were able to get everything except Déjà Vu and Superman during operating hours. Our behind the scenes tour around the Déjà Vu, Terminator, Riddler’s Revenge, and Batman areas was a great opportunity to take some terrific pictures.

 

The Q&A session was great, I always like hearing about behind the scenes stuff at other parks, and I was rather surprised at the candor showed by management on both days (as well as some pretty good humor thrown in there). For dinner we left the park and went to El Torito, which was pure Mexican awesomeness, but it tore my stomach to shreds for the rest of the night. But in true enthusiast form, I soldiered on for the last four hours until midnight! Nighttime ERT was excellent, we picked up the Déjà Vu, Superman, and 2nd side of Colossus for our last credits of the day, and also rode Terminator, Tatsu, X2, Revolution, and Goliath one more time each before leaving for the night. All in all it was an unbelievably fun day, and I couldn’t have been happier. My only criticism is still the operators doing a little too much pumping up of the crowd after the trains are ready for dispatch (as they did at SFOG), but since by all accounts they are cycling faster than they used to, I suppose it’s still a work in progress.

 

Knott’s was also another fun day, albeit a different kind of fun than Magic Mountain was. Since they don’t have quite the coaster selection that SFMM does, we were able to enjoy the park a little more than on Saturday when we were credit whoring to the max. After a small alarm clock snafu, we got to the park a little later than planned, but still on time to get some ERT on Montezooma’s Revenge and Jaguar, which was a nice way to wake up. I really love shuttle loops. They’re so simple yet so awesome! After picking up a few more credits and riding the log ride, we went to the bakery near GhostRider and got a cinnamon bun, which was undoubtedly the culinary highlight of the trip for me. That thing was like cinnamon sex on a paper plate! Anywho….we got every credit except Silver Bullet before lunch (for good reason), and after our delicious fried chicken lunch, we left the park to run over to Adventure City and get their two kiddie credits. It was a pretty silly little park, but it was all about the credits! After getting back to Knott’s, we rode Silver Bullet, which would be my friend’s 100th credit! Excitement!

 

As with SFMM, the Q&A session was very interesting and informative, and once again I was impressed with management as they were both VERY funny and serious about the more serious matters. Although I’m admittedly not a big Haunt person, the Haunt presentation was neat to see. After that we basically just jumped around from ride to ride getting extra cycles. GhostRider was running AMAZINGLY that day, almost to the point where I don’t get what all the hate is for. They did a spectacular job rehabbing the track, as I can only recall one really rough patch (no worse than any other wooden coaster). Silver Bullet was also another big surprise, and I’m not exactly sure why people call it forceless, because there are two overbanked turns WITH AIRTIME, and a ridiculously intense helix at the end. It’s now my #3 invert behind Montu and Alpengeist. We got two rides on Silver Bullet, one on Sierra Sidewinder, and four on GhostRider during nighttime ERT, and it was time to say goodbye to Knott’s!

 

For this being my first trip to the west coast and obviously my first trip to these parks, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience than what I had. It’s one of the best weekends I’ve had in ages, and I wish I could go back! Thanks to Robb, Elissa, SFMM and KBF management and employees, and anyone else who had a hand in the wonderful success that was West Coast Bash!

 

Pictures to come in the next post!

[haiderodes]

Steve, just so you know, you have to be in a Coaster club to get into Adventure City without a child and will probably have to show a membership card if this is the case. This is what I had to do when I went there in November.

 

When was this? I visited Adventure City twice in 2009 without kids and didnt have that issue.

[99er]

Same here. We all got in just fine back in November.

[Skycoastin Steve]

Alright here are the pictures, and as before, they are just the highlights. I've made my facebook albums public for anyone who would like to look through all of them (in two albums, there are 288 pictures). The pics for Friday are here, and the pics from both days of WCB are here. Enjoy!

Belmont was the first stop of the trip!

My first time in the Pacific, it's REALLY cold!

Pretty setting for Giant Dipper, or as I like to call it from this picture, Palm Tree: The Coaster.

Artistic. Or autistic?

Fun old woodie, time to leave!

Couldn't make my first trip to California without stopping at an In-N-Out Burger!!!

OM NOM NOM NOM!!!!!

Park number two, Scandia!

Credit!

Scandia Screamer goodness, quite a surprising coaster.

Nice first drop action, but look closer at the little girls' faces......

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Quick stop at the Hollywood Sign, the most difficult place EVAR to get to.

Park number three, Pacific Park at Santa Monica Pier!

Brought to you by Cedar Fair's coaster naming department.

I suppose this makes the ride look intense, but in reality, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was more exciting than this.

Small pop of airtime, so it wasn't a completely worthless ride!

Mmmmmm.....sunset.

Current desktop background.

Nighttime on the pier.

See ya later!

Yay! Now where's the moose?

X2, first credit at SFMM and also the best!

Pretty Sky Tower shot.

Tatsu, another very high quality credit on the trip.

I suppose the only way to get away from killer, bloodthirsty robots is to ride a GCI coaster. Works for me!

Sexy fan turn.

Note the guy in the 2nd row giving me thumbs up. If that guy is reading this trip report, you are awesome!

Flying above the trees.

Looping sun action on Viper.

Dirt: The Coaster!

Track for Dirt: The Coaster!

Déjà Vu, in all of its closed glory.

Double lift tower action.

Not a typical view you get to see of Batman.

Monstrous looping action on Riddler.

I think my head was about 4 feet below the track, and it was REALLY loud.

More loop action on Scream!

I like shots like these.

B&Ms always look beautiful, even ones that sit in a parking lot and have a putrid color scheme.

A photo of the on-ride photo cameras.

Even a lame ride like Superman can look good with palm trees in front of it (wait for the Boomerang pictures).

Parking Lot: The Coaster!

Revolution doing its thing.

Had to wait till almost closing to ride Riddler, the line was nuts!

GOLIATH

There I am with the Skycoaster!

Great shot of Terminator.

People can fly!

Taken before going up in the Sky Tower.

Loved the skyline.

Double Arrow lift hill action FTW!

A series of sunset pictures.

Pretty.

Goliath almost looks like Millennium Force in this shot.

And X2 looks like Eejanaika. Strange.

Foggy morning at Knott's!

Knott's is a place where dinner walks around the parking lot area.

LOVED the entrance.

Overbanked turn on an invert, what a great element.

Chain lift of the Calico Mine Ride.

Part 2 of "Palm Trees Can Make the Lamest Coasters Look Awesome"

S&S tower inside of Boomerang, coaster porn!!

Supreme Scream during morning ERT.

Upskirt shot of Supreme Scream. S&S tower porn!

Back spike awesomeness.

Spinning coasters are always great fun.

I mean look how much fun they're having!

Pony Express, not fun like Sierra Sidewinder. In fact, I think the question from Q&A that said kiddie coasters were more forceful was dead on balls accurate (to quote My Cousin Vinny).

My favorite logo at either park.

Seriously, this coaster kicked so much ass it wasn't even funny. Had some rough spots, but nothing too bad. I approved!

The cinnamon bun from heaven.

OM NOM NOM NOM!

Wonderfully intense helix.

Wonderfully smooth corkscrew.

Upskirt shot of the first drop. More coaster porn!

Launch track goodness. So bummed that I couldn't get this credit, but now it gives me reason to go back!

SKLOOSH!

 

I wonder if that's an acceptable amount of wetness......

100th credit for Jen!!!! I will now type 100 invisible letters in honor of her 100th credit

Finally, a little sun to make my picture taking life a little easier

A cool view of the cobra roll, and the last picture. Check out my facebook albums for the rest!

[austinlee]

Steve, just so you know, you have to be in a Coaster club to get into Adventure City without a child and will probably have to show a membership card if this is the case. This is what I had to do when I went there in November.

 

When was this? I visited Adventure City twice in 2009 without kids and didnt have that issue.

 

It was on 11/7/09. I'm glad the two of you had better luck than I did. I now wonder why they hassled me so much. It's not that big of a deal since I am never going to go there again, not because of what happened but just because I have no reason too. It still seems strange to me though.

[Skycoastin Steve]

Steve, just so you know, you have to be in a Coaster club to get into Adventure City without a child and will probably have to show a membership card if this is the case. This is what I had to do when I went there in November.

 

When was this? I visited Adventure City twice in 2009 without kids and didnt have that issue.

 

It was on 11/7/09. I'm glad the two of you had better luck than I did. I now wonder why they hassled me so much. It's not that big of a deal since I am never going to go there again, not because of what happened but just because I have no reason too. It still seems strange to me though.

 

I was getting ready to tell the guy about how we were enthusiasts who flew 3,000 miles to ride as many coasters as we could, but I never had to. He was actually unusually excited to give us our tickets.

[austinlee]

Steve, glad you got the credits with no hassles. My opinion of the park is starting to go downhill since, in my opinion, it is starting to seem like I was singled out and hassled for no reason. I wonder if the policy they told me they were following even exists.

[CreditCrazy]

Great pictures, glad you enjoyed the SoCal parks. I'm guessing the Legoland thing didn't work out?