SoCalCoaster's Theme Park Adventures (MANTA: In depth!)

[SoCalCoasters]

This year has been quite an exciting year for me as far as amusement parks go. So I guess I should begin with Six Flags Discovery Kingdom back in July...

 

We arrived at the park around 9:30 to find the parking lot already half fully and filling fast. We managed to buy our tickets ahead of time and we were able to get a decent place in line while waiting for the park to open. V2 of course was still being fixed so it was closed, and still remains my only missed credit at the park. The park opens, and of course, we can't get our Flashpasses till 10:30 so how do we kill 1/2 an hour? Medusa of course! After two circuts on Medusa, the line began to fill, and we went to get our handy Flashpasses. Medusa: 10/10

 

After watching a pointless video about how to use our line skipping devices, we headed of to Roar, which was already sporting a good 40 minute wait. Using our trusted Queue skipping devices we skip the line and head for my personal favorite row on the ride: the front. It delivered some pretty strong forces, all and all, the coaster is aging pretty well. Roar: 9/10

 

Next we do two runs on Tony Hawk, getting a perfect balance to spin crazily the entire ride. The ride can either spin a ton, or spin practically none, depending on the weight distribution. I still think that the ride could use a little more theming...I mean come on! All they have is a 2-D Tony Hawk figure that just sits near the top of the ride... THBS: 6/10

 

For the rest of the morning we looked at al the animal life that the park had to offer, mainly we saw all the sea creatures.

Sea Life: 8/10

 

Of course the place we eat launch is right across from Hammer Head, the one decent flatride at the park. So naturally, we do it BEFORE lunch. It my first time on it and all I could say was...Awesome. Hammerhead: 10/10

 

After an overpriced lunch, we head out toward Zamperla Land aka Hammerhead, Monkey Business and Thrilla Gorilla.

Monkey Business: 1/10 Tear it out and put in something that actually SPINS!

Thrilla Gorilla: Due to the new smoking area right next to the queue, the wait was unbearable, and capacity was horrible due to our incompitent ride operator who spoke extremely broken southern English. We could not understand this guy one bit and he spend 10 minutes loading one set of riders! This was how he spoke: Heyaallwelcomtodatrillagorrillapleezkaepyurhundzonurmsinsodtavehocletattalltomes. Yeah...we could not understand anything

 

After waiting in the line from Hell for thirty minutes, we decided to go see the great outdoors. It was nice to see all the species out and about.

Land Creatures: 9/10 No Ten? Baby Tiger Were Gone

 

Next we saw a a few shows:

 

Elephant Show: 4/10 Curse You Six Flags Management For turning the best elephant show ever into a horrible one!

 

Shuka Show: 7/10 Hey! It has a better storyline than Believe! Education, not random kid's strange ocean dream show crud!

 

Odin's Temple of the Tiger: 4/10 Ther were so many things they could have done with this show, too bad they they didn't do any of them.

 

After that, we hit up the infamous Boomerang, and I discovered that the front seat is actually the worst seat. Strangely enough, as the car was rising, we cell phone few out of my pocket. It actually stayed in the car for the entire ride. It seems Vekoma knew what they were doing when they designed it. Boomerang: 3/10 The clown cars were revolting, ruining the original aqua/yellow paint job.

 

Ok I'm not a big SLC fan, but I figured since I was here, I had a Flashpass, and there were two trains running on Kong, I figured what the heck. Guess it paid off because the ONLY headbanging I got THE ENTIRE RIDE was in the half cobra roll and the helix (yes, the helix too). Clown Cars actually looked good here, complimenting the yellow train's paint job. This thread is going to explode in 3...2..1...Kong: 8/10

 

We then proceeded to ride Cobra, a classic ride in the park's lineup. I really hope the rumors are not true and that this coaster is staying because it has a special place in my roller coaster riding history: It was the first ride I took an onride POV of. Save the Cobra! Don't let WCB Credit Whores settle for that stupid Roadrunner Express!

 

Following my nostalgic rides on Cobra, we rode Medusa over and over. As soon as we got on on run, I reserved for another. Total Coaster Count for the day was:

 

Medusa: 9

Tony Hawk: 2

Roar: 1

Cobra 1

Kong: 1

Boomerang: 1

 

Of course my Flip video camera decided to die after I took one video, and my camera was at my house.

 

Enjoy the finale of Shamu's twin, Shuka:

 

 

Forgive me, I have poor video camera skills when I am sitting still.

 

 

Up next is Pacific Park!

Edited June 11, 2012 by SoCalCoasters

[SoCalCoasters]

Pacific Park

This is is basically something you could hit up in a 1/2 hour or so when you're in the LA area. There are about 2-3 major rides, and the rest area kiddie rides. The main reason I went was to ride the Santa Monica West Coaster of course. Every movie that has ever been filmed in LA has West Coaster in it. So now I can say I've been on it.

 

Got to the park around 10, got on West Coaster. Now here's a little thing I haven't seen mentioned about West Coaster.

 

The Back Has Airtime!

 

Just a pop, but still, nothing beats even just a little bit on a coaster. THe ride itself is pretty boring, but it does pick up speed by the end. Something I would recommend for young kids. The ride ops were nice enough to let me take a POV. I would recommend thi coaster for Kidtums, but I cannot remember the height requirement. In fact basically ever inch of the park seemed to be aimed at families with young children. West Coaster: 7/10

 

Next I hit Pacific Plunge, a pathetic Moser Drop Tower that slightly larger than frog hopper drops. Seems weird since the park already has a frog hopper. Pacific Plunge: 3/10

 

Then I got a ride on their scrambler. Ran a pretty good cycle, nothing really stood out though. 6/10

 

The bumper cars were PERFECT for a TPR takeover! They even had a smaller Kidtum's sized version of the ride right next to the real version. 8/10

 

The real highlight of the day was the dragon ship. The scream sheild they put on the ride actually made it heavier, making the swinging more intense than on a normal swinging ship. Ride it in the backs only. 10/10

 

Altogether, the park is directed towards LA families with young children and is basically, at most, at half day park. Coupled with the beach and BINGO fully day of family fun.

 

Ride Count:

 

West Coaster: 6

Scrambler: 1

Pacific Plunge: 3

Dragon Ship: 4

Bumper Cars: 2

 

Overall Park Rating: 7/10

Just add on more thrilling ride and the park is set.

 

Oh and here is a video of West Coaster:

 

Listen Carefully at the beginning to the song in the background!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u_YxRRvgjE

 

Up Next: Castle Park!

[SoCalCoasters]

Well, as I was about to be on my way to Knott's Scary Farm I found our backyard had been over taken by:

 

PEACOCKS!?

 

 

If you watch the camera movements, you will see me jump around 0:30...those things are loud!

 

Yes, we live near a place called Leo Carillo Ranch. The famous actor Leo Carillo brought about eight of them to California as pets on his ranch...now there are about eighty, and a few have decided our backyard = safe to sleep in. Our pine tree now is a peacock tree!

 

Thought you guys would get a kick out of this!

[SoCalCoasters]

I really enjoyed this small little park in Riverside. The overall atmosphere of the park was great. I had several rides that I had never experienced before and enjoyed every one of the new ride types.

 

We arrived about 2:00, and the park had a very light crowd, the ride with the longest line was Screamin' Demon. I did the Demon first and was not impressed at all. The thing spun very little, was heavily braked, and the track buckled under the weight of the train.

Overall the Demon was more fun to look at than ride. 2/10

 

Next was my first ever Flyers. Yes, I have never done a Flyer before, and I must say...They. Are Awesome. Flyers are amazing and I rode this one over and over. Such a simple concept, yet it works incredibly well. 10/10

 

Then a headed for a milestone. My 80th Credit. Merlin's Revenge, a Vekoma Roller Skater was a bit bumpy, but overall a good solid coaster. 7/10

 

You want a POV? Here you go:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYY0l2U1m_4

 

 

After my Milestone credit, I headed for the best attraction at the park: Dragon's Tower, a S&S Mini Launching Tower.

All I can say is: Oh My God. That thing had the single greatest moment of airtime I have ever experienced. You never see it coming! It is on the second launch, not the first and is very unexpected. 10/10

 

Next I hit my first Yo-Yo Chairswing...it was pretty fun, nothing awesome, but fun. 8/10

 

Did my first Falling Star...loved it. 9/10

 

Now here is the biggest WTF!? moment I have ever had at an amusement park. It was getting hot out, so we decided to go in the arcade and cool off. What did we find in the back of the arcade? A Ghost Blasters Darkride!? Quite an interesting one too. You start by going down into a forest scene, followed by a graveyard scene. Then you head into Breakstone Manner, encounter some animatronics, and then the biggest WTF moment of the ride happens...A pitch dark...spiral lift!? It happens right in the middle of the ride, and is completely unexpected. You re-enter the manor, complete the ride, and go down a hill back into the arcade....

 

See the WTF Ghost Blasters here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7TimOR0vXo

 

I talked to Sally Corp about the ride, and they told me that the spiral lift was added because of a lack of space. This was the second Ghost Blasters ride they made. The shooting is really inacurate though.... 8/10

 

Attempted to ride another new ride, Fireball, but the restraints were having problems and it was closed...It opened up later, and it was really fun.

8/10

 

My final ride of the afternoon was the Little Dipper, a Miller Kiddie coaster. It was really fun and has an amazingly fast chain lift.

9/10 POV? Here you are:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP6rU8MZzBE&feature=related

 

The log ride had decided to break down, so we didn't get to ride it.

 

This is a great park that has a ton of potential and I hope to see it grow larger in the future:

 

Ride Count:

 

Dragon Flyers: 6

Screamin Demon: 1

Falling Star: 2

Ghost Blasters: 3

Fireball: 1

Merlin's Revenge: 2

Little Dipper: 1

Dragon's Tower: 12

 

One strange thing about the park is that it is made of half carnival trailer rides, and half built in rides. Just found it odd...

[Dietcokevan]

Kong 8/10?

 

HATED that ride. Thanks for the reviews on some of the shows. I will need to check out the Land Creatures show next time I am at SFDK.

[SoCalCoasters]

Legoland Waterpark

 

This is a great new waterpark for the San Diego area and a great addition to Legoland.

I was there three days after the opening of the park, then returned three more times throughout the summer.

 

Let me start by saying the the park has an amazing atmosphere to it. The entrance in the Fun Town area of the park really stands out and gives a perfect view of what this aqua paradise has to offer. The entrance plaza contains three water "tables" that have water running through them, and enable kids to use Duplos to create boats and dams for the water and other fun things. They don't hinder the entrance whatsoever, and add to the LEGO atmosphere the park creates.

 

The kiddie area looked FANTASTIC! A 3-4 foot raised cement platform had about four slides for kids, one being a mini tube slide. The area also contained giant Duplo animals that sprayed water everywhere. One of the most unique aspects of the kiddie area was that it had a mini lazy river made just for younger children. I think more parks should embrace this concept for their parks. Kiddie Area: 9.5/10 It is missing one more attraction of some kind (construction shows that my wish may come true).

 

Next up was the highlight of the park. The crowning jewel of water based attractions. The ultimate LEGO fanboy dream.

 

The Lego Lazy River. Awesome is the only word I could use to decribe the experience. You can grab a single or double tube and then...create your own Lego Raft. The possibilites are endless. I saw everything from a castle fortress, bluebird, human to a dragon. I myself created two giant towers that had miniature dragons mounted on top (it was destroyed before a staff member could take a picture of it). Then you board your Lego creation and begin your journey around the small yet action packed park. First, you counter a giant Lego firefighter figur holding a firehose which is squirting water. Followed by a lifeguard figure with a water squirting megaphone. Then, you go through a minifig surfe'rs "wake", which often destorys your coveted Lego creations (mine met this fate). Finally you go by a fisherman who has caught a Lego shark, which, of course, squirts water. Overall, this is the highlight of the park, and I think that it was intended to be the main draw for the waterpark. Lazy River 10/10

 

I decided to go up into the main water section and check out what it had to offer:

 

Defend Your Water Spewing Clock Tower Thingy: Not the real name, but it best describes what it is. There is a small clock tower esque stucture in which there are ther water cannons mounted. Around the tower there are also three water blasters so you can fire back at the defenders. Every five minutes, the roof of the clock tower opens and spews water all around the structure. 8/10

 

Twin Chasers: A set of dueling White Water West tube tube slides. It seems they were slowed down, but are still fun to ride, and race in. The starting point is in a small Lego Tower next to the main slide tower. 5/10

 

Splash Out: The slide on the main tower, it features a winding coure with several helixes. According to park staff, the slide was closed for several weeks after opening due to a sharp object guests were being hurt by...yeah ow. 8/10

 

Orange Rush: This is the park's most intense attraction, but is very fun and enjoyable for people of all ages. It is a raft slide that picks up decent speed and has a great buildup before the splashdown. 10/10)

 

Theming: 100/10 It's Lego, and really good.

 

The park has tons of potential, and I hope to see the park expand (staff confiremed that another expansion would be on it's way very soon).

 

The only problem I noticed is that it's an upcharge from the main park, not a whole new park. Not a big deal, but it seems like they chased off potential customers but it may just be me.

 

Legoland Water Park: 9.5/10 It still seems to be missing a few more attractions. Appeals most to season pass holders like me.

 

I highly recomend this waterpark.

[SoCalCoasters]

BELMONT PARK

Every since I heard the park go bankrupt, I've been needing to get to Belmont and I was able to make a trip to it yesterday. It is the off season right now so most rides were a one cycle wait. The park was by no means deserted, and there was quite a line for the High Ropes Course, Blacklight Golf, Vault Laser Maze, and the Mirror Maze, all of which were up-charge attractions. So Belmont is still a very popular attraction, don't get the idea that they were going bankrupt from loss of guests.

 

Altogether the trip was a very pleasant surprise. Because of one thing:

 

 

CONTROL FREAK WAS OPEN!

 

Yes, that Moser Prototype was behaving and I was able to get four rides in on it. Contrary to popular belief, the ride is not an up-charge. The ride works quite simply. There a three buttons on your grab bar. Two on the right, one on the left. The two on the right control the ride arm's rotation, forward, or backward. The button on the left holds the car in place, allowing you to set the car up for some amazing flips. Some how I managed, while sitting still, to flip fives times. This is one of the best compact attractions I have ever seen. More parks need these.

 

I talked with the ride operators who told me the ride is open for good now, but still suffers from major downtime.

 

 

But less talk, more video:

 

 

Car #1 provided a much more intense ride than car two because the brakes were off. The second car had the brakes too tight, and it inhibited spinning quite a bit. Altogether, I have to give this ride a great score.

 

Control Freak: 9/10 If the second car had been the same as the first it would have been 10/10.

 

 

The Tilt-A-Whirl has already been moved into its new spot (Chaos's old location)and was testing all day when we were there. Chaos is gone, and Octotron construction is well under way.

 

Beach Blaster is still my favorite ride at Belmont because of it's location. It's a very strange feeling looking staight down it the people below you. Still a great ride and very fun at night.

 

Beach Blaster: 8/10 Tsk Tsk rides operators were very slow.

 

I also managed to get a few rides on the Dipper in. I'm not going to post my POVs from YouTube because they are bad...if you really want to see them, go through the link next to my avatar...

 

Giant Dipper: 7/10 The front was starting to get a bit rough, though the back is still pretty good.

 

 

Overall Park: 8/10 Great Park, still very popular, but fix Control Freak's second car, get Octotron open as well as the Tilt-A-Whirl, they'll have a winner on their hands.

 

I will be returning to Belmont in December for the opening of Octotron, so expect opening day videos.

 

-SoCalCoasters

[let1gre]

Nice TRs. I enjoyed reading your report of Pacific Park... even though I only spent about an hour there last year and only rode the West Coaster once, I do remember it having some airtime on that first hill after the helix! It also did pick up some speed at the end, especially going around that last turn. Maybe it was a slow day, but the ride ops let us go around twice and just coast through the station, whereas it looked like you guys had to stop.

[SoCalCoasters]

Nice TRs. I enjoyed reading your report of Pacific Park... even though I only spent about an hour there last year and only rode the West Coaster once, I do remember it having some airtime on that first hill after the helix! It also did pick up some speed at the end, especially going around that last turn. Maybe it was a slow day, but the ride ops let us go around twice and just coast through the station, whereas it looked like you guys had to stop.

 

Yeah, we were there on a day with a ton of small children, followed by a very large group of mentally challenged kids. The rides ops had to stop it every time because someone would want to get off of it...it also killed the ride's capacity, most likely cutting it in half, making the wait about 45 minutes when we went to leave...

 

It is a great park, all they need to do is replace Pacific Plunge with a better drop tower and they're set. Like I said in another forum, the world needs more S&S Double Shots!

[SoCalCoasters]

Wellm, I went down to Belmont today to ride Octotron which was supposed to open... It didn't...The rain is to blame I'm told, and construction went longer than planned. The ride is scheduled to start testing next Monday. Soemtime after New Years I'll be back with a full report.

 

I have the footage of the ride here!

 

[SoCalCoasters]

Sea Life Aquarium Full Walkthrough Tour

 

The Sea Life Aquarium is located right next to Legoland California, and opened in 2008.

 

Please Enjoy this full walkthrough of the attraction!

 

 

Sorry, the screen at the beginning was too bright for my camera.

 

 

Hope you enjoy!

[SoCalCoasters]

I'm Back!

 

I managed to get back to Legoland for a few hours on Sat. for the monthy Master Build-Off, and to get a construction update. Technic's line had actually entered the switchbacks, a rare sight during the off-season (I was glad to see them busy though).

 

But first, one of the more unique features of Legoland CA.:

 

Years ago when Legoland was being considered, people were worried about Legoland CA causing traffic jams. Their solution? Built a long winding road leading to the park's entrance. If you look carefully, on either side you can see Lego letters, and at the end of the video you see what they spell.

 

 

I actually visit Legoland once a month for the Master Build-Off (I have yet to win). Basically you build a model on a small baseplate, using a specified theme. This month's theme was Hero Factory, in honor of the opening of the new HF building area, which replaced the Bionicle one. RIP Surprisingly, there were only about 20-25 models completed by people, when usually there are about 50-60 by the end of the first day. My model is featured at the end.

 

 

I also did a lap of the park to get video of construction....to my surprise, the giant dirt hill behind the Pirate Shores area of the park was slowly being hauled away (or appeared to be) evidenced by the large ammount of construction vehicles...future waterpark expansion?

 

 

Also, the Lego Art area, above the Master Builder's Building in Miniland has been removed...Unknown if it will return to the park.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this month's VTR from Legoland CA!

[SoCalCoasters]

Took a short trip to Legoland Today, check it out:

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

[the ghost]

Nice, Lefoland must be bigger than I thought!

[SoCalCoasters]

MASSIVE LEGOLAND UPDATE!

 

FEATURES:

 

-POVs of rides and Offride Footage

 

-A 6 Minute Tour of Minland Los Vegas

 

- And Coming Soon: The Big Test (Full Show)

 

Hello everyone! Last Monday I had the chance to bike to Legoland on my day off from School. I took over 50 videos and have compiled the footage into several volumes (most of the clips were Coastersaurus offride footage).

 

Updates from around the park:

 

COASTERSAURUS: The ride recently added new larger lap bars... sadly, they're not an improvement, as I was pinned to my seat. When I tried to move, I couldn't... and it screwed up my back.

 

Here's a large collection of offride footage:

 

I'll have the rest of the footage up tonight so stay tuned!

[PSiRockin]

You can bike there? Nice! Too bad the new lapbars aren't too great.

[GeorgeT]

Coastersaurus totally rocks ! MUST...GO...TO...AMERICA...NOW

[SoCalCoasters]

HUGE LEGOLAND UPDATE

(Part 2)

 

The day sarted off in Miniland USA, aferwards, I planned to hit up Sky Crusier, which I asssumed would have a short wait. As soon as that idea popped into my head, I heard the speakers in the line for Sky Crusier announce that the current wait was two hours...

 

SO... Instead, I took a long construction update from around the park, Adventurer's Club is still closed, and I'm a bit surprised as this is the longest rehab it's ever gone through... A big surprise though, FUN TOWN POLICE AND FIRE ACADEMY is now half open. The police vehicles look fantastic, as well as the models going into the Star Wars Miniland Area!

 

[the ghost]

^ Ha... kids and their horribleness at strategy... the first car with the parents hauled ass. This was a pretty cool TR. I have never been here and probably wouldn't really go here on my own as I totally do not fit the demographic, but the park itself looks very nice. That last ride thing is awesome though... its so simple, yet I've never seen a competitive ride quite like it.

[SoCalCoasters]

Huge Legoland Update

 

Third And Final Update

 

here are the rest of the videos I took, excluding the footage of the Big Test Sow, which could take a while...

 

Miniland Los Vegas

 

Sky Crusier

 

Safari Trek

 

Future Site Of Legoland's 2012 Project?

 

That it from me for now!

 

-SoCalCoasters

[SoCalCoasters]

Conclusion Update: The Big Test Stunt Show

 

 

 

 

Hope You Enjoy!

[SoCalCoasters]

WCB 2011 COVERAGE

 

Hey everyone! This starts my updates from West Coast Bash 2011, my first ever TPR event! I only attended the KBF day, but I'm glad I did! I had a fantastic time and hope to do it all again next year!

 

I'll start out with the footage from the Windseeker Construction Tour!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCYe6CLHd0

 

Up next:

 

Log Ride Backstage Tour!

[SoCalCoasters]

WCB COVERAGE PART 2

 

Here's the obligitory Xcelerator launch video:

 

 

And could this be... THE MOST UNACCEPTABLE AMMOUNT OF WETNESS EVER?

 

 

That was drive home from WCB!

 

That's it for now!

[SoCalCoasters]

I did a quick trip down to SWSD to see one Ocean and Riptide Rescue. Sadly, Riptide was getting some additional theming installed and was not open...

 

 

Part 2

 

[SoCalCoasters]

I got all my Magic Mountain Day Videos Posted! Check out the Batman one especially because it's the best offride and queue walkthrough footage I have!

 

Green Lantern

 

 

Batman

 

 

Revolution

 

 

And I caught a few TPR members getting the credit on Roadrunner: