Bay Area Bash 2010 Photo TR

[XII]

Well last week, an awesome event occurred called Bay Area Bash. After some anxious waiting around, I headed down to Valencia to get on the Party Bus and head up north for Bay Area Bash. Anyways, here are some photos to document this awesome weekend.

Our chariot awaits.

Sorry SFMM. I love visiting you and all, but I've got better things to do today.

Like asking Robb a question.

I can't ask Robb a question if I cut off my own tongue with this TPR Fan.

Driving down the 5 on the Party Bus.

Mountain Dew + Crystal Light = Awesome.

What are we supposed to do here for 30 minutes?

Luckily, Robb and Elissa are also professional dustbowl stoppers and managed to stop this dustbowl so we could stand here for 30 minutes,

I have discovered It's It. (Which is pretty good.)

3 hours later, we reached our final destination.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Unfortunately, Hurricane was only open for a Grad Night.

Same goes for Double Shot. But oh well.

We got 2 hours of ERT on the Giant Dipper. Take that Grad Night.

Well, we've got an hour before our Giant Dipper ERT starts.

Giant Dipper ERT > Hurricane ERT.

Coaster enthusiasts can't play volleyball.

Some Haunted Castle Construction.

Our Giant Dipper ERT has begun.

Now this is how ERT should be.

Since It was 10 years ago since I last rode Giant Dipper, I had forgotten how it was.

Giant Dipper was kicking ass.

The ride was filled with airtime and laterals.

Who needs on ride photos when our facial expressions have been perfectly painted right here on this wall?

That's enough filming and photographing. I'm staying on this baby for the rest of ERT.

This is what 17 rides on Giant Dipper does to your hair.

All right. Dinner time.

They served lots of great food here.

And unlimited soda as well. They also had an open bar where a certain friend of a certain talking goose had too much to drink.

The food was quite awesome.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk at night.

Later that night, we stayed at the Avatar Hotel, where they had these awesome coaster pictures on the wall.

SFDK Photos will come soon.

Edited May 31, 2010 by XII

[atem122]

Awesome start to the PTR so far. And thanks for posting a photo of an It's-It bar. Those things are both amazing, and bring back memories of the camp I used to go to. Great work!

[24]

So far so good! Oldie but goodie woodie. Can't wait to see more.

[robbalvey]

Love it! Thanks for posting!

 

--Robb

[fatdaddy]

Great pictures, i didn't get many pictures at santa cruz, or on the bus going out. So its cool to see these, all i remember is there was an open bar and the dipper. Post more.

[dino]

Its-it...? I have no idea what that is, but I must have one now!

 

Cool TR

[XII]

Ok. Part 2 is now up. After an early morning and a great breakfast, we got on the bus and drove on to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. And the pictures can explain the rest.

Hello California's Great America. We'll see you tomorrow.

Today, we'll be going to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

Park Map Photo.

I really enjoyed my visit in 2005, so I was really looking foreword to returning to SFDK.

Aww. Poor mouse. He should've avoided the mouse mafia.

"Can you toss me that dead mouse before I roll back down my lifthill please?"

All right!! The park has opened up to us!!!

First, we got to go see Shouka.

"You're not Shouka!!!"

They may not be Shouka, but these dolphins can do some pretty cool tricks.

"Hey Kevin!! Come on down here and give me a great big hug!!!"

"Syke!!!"

Ok. Now here's the real Shouka.

"Na Na Na Na Na Na!!!!! I got all the coaster enthusiasts in my stadium!!!! Take that Shamu!!!!!"

Up next, Medusa ERT.

Medusa was hauling ass today!

I don't know what I was smoking in 2005, but this was way better than Scream.

After Medusa, I took a ride on Kong.

These Axe ads really looked nice on Kong.

5 years ago, Kong seemed pretty smooth for an SLC.

Today however, it just beat the crap out of me.

Well, on the bright side, at least I didn't have to wait to ride this piece of sh*t.

Up next, Cobra.

"Holy Crap. That's a long train."

We got our own private Elephant Show because we're special.

"MINE!!!!!"

Hmm. Feels like leather.

Lunch Time.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom still has one of my favorite settings in any park.

"Holy Crap. It is crowded."

Joining us at lunch today would be Mr. Otter.

I see 1 human in a dolphin suit and 4 dolphins in human suits.

After lunch, I went to get a ride on V2.

But it broke down.

Just in case you mistook Six Flags Discovery Kingdom for Six Flags Over the Moon.

And now, a series of Medusa Photos.

Cobra and it's longass trains roll on by.

All right! Time to get a new credit.

To be honest, I prefer Sierra Sidewinder to this as it has a better flow to it, and much better brakes.

But Tony Hawk was still fun and I'm definitely looking foreword to riding the St. Louis Tony Hawk in August.

I'm looking foreword to riding this later tonight with a cup of water.

And now, some Roar Photos.

Roar vs V2. FIGHT!!!!!!

Speaking of V2, it has opened back up.

The good news is that V2 is as awesome as I remember it.

V2 is one kickass ride.

V2 has some great hangtime.

And while I wish it had the holding brake, it's not that big of a deal.

After Kong, I was really dreading this.

But unlike Kong, which is now on of the worst SLCs, this Boomerang remained one of the best Boomerangs.

Smooth as glass.

The Stride Ads here actually look nice. (Unlike on a certain Intamin Woody in New Jersey.)

Up next, Tiger Show.

Aww. It's so cute it makes my head want to explode.

Screw the meat. I want to eat that guys head right there.

Kong from the Tiger Show.

More Medusa Goodness.

For dinner, I got the Kingdom Fries. Now here's the thing. Why hasn't anyone said anything about these? Everyone talks about Kennywood's Famous Potato Patch Fries. Well these are just as good, if not better. So how come no one has said a damn thing about them!!?

Hammerhead rocks.

Later, we went to see the sharks.

Aww Crap. We've got sharks in our Ventura Waters.

No caption needed,

If your lunch is launched, then does Jeff Johnson count it as a credit?

Hello Scream. I do not miss you.

Ok, Credit Whoring Time.

Luckily I got the credit back in 2005, so I didn't have to put myself throught the humiliation. (Though I wouldn't have, even if I didn't have the credit. So it really doesn't matter.)

Cha Ching.

"Hey Bugs and Daffy!! Hop on the Party Bus!! I'm sure Robb won't mind."

Up next, the Frisbee.

"This is just an ordinary frisbee. Right?"

Nope! This Frisbee is f*cking insane!!!

One last ride on Medusa before Night ERT begins.

We got some great ERT on Roar.

And V2.

I managed to get 5 rides in during ERT.

And of course, the Tony Hawk Water Challenge.

The Water Challenge was awesome. I didn't get too wet as I was one of the lucky ones that Robb didn't dump a cooler of water on. Well, today was awesome. CGA will be up soon.

[WFChris]

That 'Launch your Lunch' shirt looked like something people have posted from the Japansese Parks

Nice PTR.

[cedarpointfangirl]

Nice Photo TR. ITs IT ..saw those thing in the tv show "Unwrapped". They looked really good. I heard they were a SF thing, can you find them in L.A. ? IF so, I would love to try one when I head up to next years "WCB"

[robbalvey]

OMG! Where did they have this??? I just gained a pound looking at that picture!!!

[XII]

They sold them over at some fries place by Medusa that also sells Garlic Fries.

[fatdaddy]

Great shots of V2, i could never get a good one. Those fries look deadly, i wish i was still young and didn't know what cholesterol is.

[24]

mmmmmm kingdom fries! I wish I enjoyed them more before eating them fast to ride Hammerhead.

 

Nice trip report! Those coaster pictures are incredible (especially medusa)!

[XII]

All right. Here is Part 3. The final update. After sleeping in and rushing to make the 5 minute bus ride, we made it to the final park of the trip. California's Great America. Now onto the pictures.

California's Great America. The final park of the trip.

First up was Vortex ERT.

While it was running better than on my last visit, Vortex still remains my least favorite B&M Stand Up.

"Dude! Shut the f*ck up! This ride is awesome!!"

That's enough Vortex for one update. Let's get onto the good B&M in the park.

Top Gun. Kicking ass since 1993.

And let's not forget about Drop Zone.

It didn't seem nearly as awesome as when I first rode it. (I'm spoiled by Kings Island's Drop Zone.)

Aww. ERT is over. But that's OK because the park is empty today. So we could get as many rides as we could get on many rides. Like Psycho Mouse.

The more I ride Arrow Mice, the more I like them.

New Credit for me.

It's pretty big for a kiddy coaster. I just wish the cars were bigger as Cody and I spent about 10 minutes trying to fit into the seats.

I finally got on a breakdance. It wasn't that good.

Delirium was good. But not as good as Tasmanian Devil yesterday.

I HATE these ypes of rides. I managed to give myself some room to avoid my nuts from becoming squashed, but then it just began to hurt my stupid chest. This contraption came straight from hell.

Speaking of hell.

The good news for CA Demon is that they turned off the trims in the tunnel so now it has some speed during the second half. Chicago Demon is still better though.

Time for a real crappy ride.

While it's not the worst coaster I've been on (That would be Wild Beast), and it's certainly not the worst wooden coaster in the world, this ride definitely sucks.

Do you know someone suffering from Insomnia? Take them to California's Great America and have them ride Grizzly. By the time the train gets back to the station, they'll be sleeping like a baby.

Grizzly. Destroying the Sleeping Pill Industry since 1986.

Let's run over to Invertigo.

Ahh Dammit!!

The good news is that Invertigo is testing. So at least I know that CGA won't pull a Two-Face.

In our lunch area, they had a bunch of great Top Gun (AKA Flight Deck) Shots. So here are a bunch of Top Gun shots.

During the trivia, I won and got an Invertigo Wheel. As you can see, it is now a part of my collection of various things.

And now begins our awesome backstage tour. (As you could tell, many of the earlier pictures were from backstage tours.)

Backstage Vortex.

Stop mocking me!!

Hey Arnold!! Get out of here!! This is a Cedar Fair Park!!

Backstage Tour Awesomeness.

The backstage tour took us to a lot of cool places.

Here, they showed us Nickelodeon Jail. The place where they lock up all the Nickelodeon Characters who show their faces at Cedar Fair Parks. (Hey Darwin, Cheer up. Soon, Arnold will be here to keep you company.)

Why are there fangs on that pig?

This Demon train has been very naughty and has been running badly. So we are taking him to rehab where we will fix him up for good.

Don't move a muscle. If you don't move, the Psyco Mouse can't see you.

Nope. Cedar Fair changed that.

Hey Angry Beaver! Don't think that running across the Compressed Air pipe will keep you out of Nickelodeon Jail.

And now for the grand finale, Backstage Top Gun Shots.

I think I heard from one of the ride operators that if you manage to drink the water in the pond, you'll be teleported onto Maverick.

Backstage Top Gun is awesome.

After the backstage tour, I took one last ride on Top Gun.

And now, it's all unfortunetly over. This was a fantastic weekend. I am really glad I got to see the Bay Area Parks again and am looking foreword to returning to every single one of them.