West Coast Bash 2011 Photo Updates!

[coastercrzyjames]

This year I brought my mom and sister along and we all had such a great time, despite the insane amounts of rain we experienced. Thank you to Robb & Elissa, and the parks, and everyone that helped to organize such a fun event. I really enjoyed participating in TPR Quest, such a great game!

[Brandy524]

Looks like everyone had an amazing time! Really makes me look forward to Deep South Bash!

[simaand]

Heres our pictures from Saturday, March 19th at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Sorry about the date stamp in some of the pictures, its says 2010, but the camera was wrong.

 

Enjoy!

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXOR8uc-yPk&feature=player_profilepage

 

YouTube says this video is Blocked, Because it contains copyright works.. Oops!

[the ghost]

Awww... worst picture of me ever... lol. I'm right next to SoCalCoasters, but I'm looking down trying to get my shoelaces off my shoe, so I look weird as hell cause the pic makes it seem as if I am just staring at the ground. Oh well... at least I'm in the picture,lol... despite the fact that I'm wearing a BRIGHT YELLOW jacket, causing me to look kinda like a duck.

[6flagsbrad]

I want to thank Knotts for a great day in the rain and for my new Sidewinder road wheel now sitting in my room. Wonderful day!

[SoCalCoasters]

Figured I'd Make My 500th Post A Big Thanks To TPR!

 

I want to thank Knotts for a great day in the rain and for my new Sidewinder road wheel now sitting in my room. Wonderful day!

 

My Sierra wheel is also sitting in my room! (look for a pic of it here in a few hours)

 

Once again, I want to thank Robb,and the Knotts staff for making the best day of this year so far happen! TPR Quest by far is the most insanely awesome game ever created by coaster enthusiasts! (I especially loved the ride crap prizes!) The log ride tour was fantastic, and morning ERT was awesome! (cept Ghostrider In The Back Row, I had to use Xcel as a Chiropractor to straighten my back out )

 

I honestly think the rain made this event better, as we practically had ERT all day due to the rain! The Q&A and Haunt Presentations were awesome and the History of Knott's was even more so (and I learned a few things). Interesting to me was that KotD is still there, intact, but most of the theming removed for props for Haunt... (hint hint) Knott's should really do something with all that unused space *cough*. It's too bad that building is not structurally sound enough for them to just put new scenery in, and fix up the still-intact ride system.

 

 

Thanks for an awesome event, and I can't wait for next year!

 

EDIT: Me and my Sierra Road Wheel!

TPR Rocks!

Edited March 21, 2011 by SoCalCoasters

[Jhcbiinoc]

I would have posted this last night after I returned home, but once I got in and dried off, the tired hit me and I was down for the count for some much needed rest. I am still in my "recovery mode" from what was one of the most thoroughly enjoyable weekends I have had in a very long time, and will post my full TR's and thoughts as soon as I can, but I did want to take a moment to express my sincere thanks to everyone who helped to make WCB 2011 one of the best ever! TPR, Robb, and everyone at SFMM and KBF truly went above and beyond and did an absolutely outstanding and exemplary job of showing everyone a fantastic time despite some challenging weather (especially yesterday evening, that was one of the worst rainstorms I have seen out here in a while) and all of them deserve a huge round of thanks and applause for doing so.

 

From the fun that started out at SFMM on Saturday, with the great ERT, the highly entertaining comedy stylings of Neal and Tim at the Q&A, the backstage tours and the opportunity to hang out with old friends and meet new ones-plus the opportunity to have some ERT on SFMM's latest "transformation" with Superman:Escape From Krypton (a vast improvement which to me is as impressive as the transformation from X -> X2), getting intimately up close and personal with Tatsu, and all of the other actions the park took to make the event special for us, to the great time we were shown by Knott's yesterday (the awesome backstage tours of Xcel, the Log Ride, and the giant hole destined to become Windseeker, the custom T-shirts they made for us, the fun of participating in my first "TPR Quest" at lunch, the exclusive sneak preview of what looks to be a fantastic and extremely creepy new maze for Haunt 2011 and a very well done presentation on Knott's history, the hilarious Q&A with KBF staff with Jeff Tucker as the MC, and finally the joyous insanity of ERT on Supreme Scream, the Log Ride and Sierra Sidewinder in the midst of a torrential downpour-something that the park was very gracious to do for us after closing to the GP) to just hanging out with other like minded people and making new friend, having a great time and not allowing anything to dampen our spirits or ruin our good time, the entire weekend was nothing short of being one of the most awesome and memorable ever.

 

I have been attending West Coast Bash every year since 2005, when it was just morning ERT at SFMM on the post Sunday Solace and each year, it just continues to grow better and better than ever. If anyone reading this has not yet attended this event, you are seriously missing out! Although the perks and the ERT are all awesome, the tours, the openness and hospitality and the going out of their way to show us a good time regardless of the weather conditions or whatever other challenges might arise that the parks show us, and just the overall spirit of pure fun that permeates the whole event combine to make this something I eagerly look forward to every year. Although I am blessed to live in So Cal, I would travel from wherever to do West Coast Bash every year.

 

So once again-my sincere thanks to everyone for such a great time! WCB 2011 was a huge success and I can hardly wait for 2012!

 

I will post a full TR and what few pics I was able to get as soon as I can, just wanted to say my thanks to everyone.

[the ghost]

^^ Ghostrider in the back= bad idea. Oh well... we'll know that for next year, lol.

 

I may right a REALLY long tr later, but I may not as I have no pics and I have so much to say. Once again, thanks to the Alvey Family, Knotts and Six Flags management, tour guides, ride ops... pretty much anyone that had anything to do with the previous weekend. Awesome meeting everyone and hanging out with everyone. Cant wait for next year!!!

[jbottgen]

Looks like I missed out on another great WCB. I am jealous. But on the other hand, I got enough SoCal rain in December to last me a while. Maybe next year.

[rcdude]

Once again, I've had a great time at West Coast Bash. Thank you to Robb & Elissa, as well as everyone involved at both parks that did something to make this event awesome, including the event planners, Q&A panelists, tour guides, and ERT operators. I can't say how much I enjoy this event, and I can't wait to see what happens for WCB 2012.

 

Here's a summary of my thoughts on each day.

 

Six Flags Magic Mountain

 

Morning ERT was great. It was unfortunate that Riddler's opened late, but I got to do everything else. Also, surprise Superman ERT was outstanding, especially with racing trains and multiple runs. I told my brother he didn't need to run up the hill to get in line an hour before park opening, but he went up there early and ended up being one of the first to ride (he, my sister, and my dad are all in the S:EFK race team photo. I was stuck on Tatsu at the time ). I still got to ride it several times, and I have to say that it is THE BEST possible improvement to the ride. Going at 100 mph and up 400 ft is what really made the difference for me, and the backwards cars also have two advantages: you don't know exactly when you're going to reach the tower, and you can actually see how high up you are relatively easily. It will be difficult for Green Lantern to top this as best new coaster experience.

 

The backstage tour of Bite II was also really good. Now that I've seen how much work really goes into some of these mazes, I'm really leaning toward going to the Knott's haunt event if it happens again. I've never actually been to Halloween Haunt/Horror Nights/Fright Fest, but with a Six Flags pass and the Knott's event I might try them out this year (Universal is a little pricey for me). The Tatsu photo tour was also neat, but wasn't especially exciting. It is fun to see attractions from areas you can't normally visit, so I enjoyed it, and knew what it would be like, but this was the least exciting bonus in my opinion.

 

The Q&A session was great as always. Unlike previous years, I think Revolution and the Metro have been retired as common questions, and Road Runner Express replaced them. Neal and Tim are great, and come up with some pretty good answers on the spot (as well as having prepared answers). The Revolution skit was funny and I hope it is foreshadowing, as were their responses to a couple of questions (although I'm not getting my hopes up yet).

 

Night ERT was fun, and wasn't spoiled by the rain. Everything that could be run was operated once again, and this year we had a few bonuses as well. Batman: Foggy Nights was probably my favorite of the three "special" rides. It is surprising how much dense fog and lighting add to a ride. There are moments where it is difficult to tell what is going on, and the ride also looked awesome from a distance. I really hope they bring this one back for Fright Fest. Psychedelic Scream was honestly a little bit of a disappointment, as it consisted of one strobe light and one speaker setup. I like Scream, so it was still fun, but the special effects didn't really make a difference in my opinion. Finally, X2: Ripped Off Rocket was fun, but difficult to hear. I caught some parts of it, but others I couldn't tell what was playing. I hope somebody recorded this audio track, but if not I guess parts of it will be lost.

 

Knott's Berry Farm

 

Both morning backstage tours were great. It was really neat to see the inner workings of Xcelerator, as I am fascinated with that kind of thing. I guess if I want to design thrill rides one day, I should be. The real highlight, however, was the Timber Mountain Log Ride tour. I knew we'd get to see inside the ride building. I did not know we'd actually get to walk in the flume. This was much better than last year's Calico Mine Ride tour (which I enjoyed as well) and I hope the park continues to offer these or similar tours in the future.

 

Morning ERT was fun, but at Knott's I don't find ERT much different than a zero crowd day. There were about five other people on the Silver Bullet train when I rode, and about three at Sierra Sidewinder, but the crowds picked up toward the end as people finished their tours. The rides all shut down due to rain for a short while in the middle of the session, but I still got all the rides in I wanted to get. I couldn't stay for night ERT, but I hear that was fun as well.

 

Windseeker construction tour...meh. When I saw hard hat tour, I thought we'd actually be allowed to walk around the entire site. Unfortunately, we were confined to a small area. It was more interesting listening to the guide than looking at the hole in the ground. Well, whatever, I guess it is what it is.

 

Lunch was good, and TPR quest was a lot of fun. I was one of about three or four people who played this at ECB (I was on the IntimidaTour) so I knew what to expect. Beer or no beer, it is a ton of fun. This game needs to be played at ALL TPR events in the future provided the crowd is the correct size.

 

The presentations were really good, especially the Knott's Preserved talk. I never realized that Bud had so much to do with the early years of Knott's. I enjoy his attractions there, as well as the attractions he created at Castle Amusement Park (a couple of which came from Knott's). The Q&A session was hilarious. At SFMM, they try to come up with serious, yet comedic answers, but the Knott's crew seemed like a true comedy performance. I don't remember how many times one of Jeff's responses got the entire audience to crack up. Even though it contained a lot of joking around, there were some serious answers in there.

 

Overall, both days of WCB were outstanding. While I don't think SFMM surpassed last year for a number of reasons (most of which are understandable, and the event was still on par), KBF certainly did. As long as TPR continues to run this event and I remain within reasonable distance, I plan to contine attending. Once again, thanks to everyone involved for one of the best weekends of the year.

Edited March 22, 2011 by rcdude

[robbalvey]

 

The official photo & video updates have been POSTED!

 

Six Flags Magic Mountain:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=23&linkid=10107

 

Knott's Berry Farm:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=345&linkid=10108

 

Highlights of the weekend include...

 

SFMM - The grand opening of Superman: Escape From Krypton and TPR members rode it first! The updates to this ride did NOT disappoint! It was amazing flying down the track at 104MPH backwards! SFMM also re-themed THREE coasters for West Coast Bash. (How often does a park re-theme an attraction for a coaster event? Let alone THREE!) Batman: Foggy Nights, Psychedelic Scream!, and X2: Ripped Off Rocket. Batman was a HUGE success with everyone. It looked freakin' AMAZING. The photos don't do it justice! X2's new audio was both ROCKIN and hilarious! So many coasters open during ERT, great backstage tours, entertaining Q&A session with Neal & Tim, and a shout out to the new Apocalypse sign!

 

Knott's - The park pulled out all the stops including an incredible backstage tour of Timber Mountain Log Ride where we walked through the actual flume! We walked inside Xcelerator's hydraulic room, Jeff Tucker's Q&A session was funnier than most shows on Comedy Central (and there is video!) and both he and Daniel Miller gave us lots of Haunt 2011 news including an exclusive on a brand new maze! If you are a Haunt fan, you'll want to watch those videos. There were no injuries during TPR Quest, everyone got a bonus WCB T-Shirt, Eric Lynxwiler's Knott's presentation was mesmerizing, Xcelerator & Silver Bullet ran great, and Catawampus was happy to see TPR again this year!

 

Thank you to both of our hosts for a FANTASTIC West Coast Bash weekend!

 

If you want to jump straight to the videos, check them out TPR's

CoasterTube! http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/

 

Thank you to everyone who attended! Now go check out the updates, then come back here and

POST YOUR COMMENTS!!!

 

--Robb Alvey

Edited March 22, 2011 by robbalvey

[dandaman]

...So, who asked the "in the rear" question at KBF?

[robbalvey]

^ Probably Dan.

[dandaman]

I was almost CERTAIN it would've been Cam!

 

Also, I know it wasn't answered on FB, but who exactly was the voice for Ripped Off Rocket?

[the ghost]

Ripped off Rocket fricken RULED! I was yelling Wayne's World references when the "headbanger" part of bohemian rhapsody came on for the split second it came on. I heard play that funky music white boy as well as some Yo Gabba Gabba at the end, but as usual I don't really notice the audio on the ride. By the way, I don't even know if it's possible, but TPR quest at the generally much larger SFMM event would be insane... hell... I'd gladly do quest at both days. I like something like Quest a lot more than the GIANT SFMM scavenger hunt, cause I dont know if I'm just lazy or something, but half way through I end up thrown off by the puzzles and just look for a coaster to ride. Either way that is an INSANE game... I hope it's next year with new items and better than ever, cause if not I've got my shopping list for what to buy. Also... I still want the squishy ball, lol.

 

The Squishy Balls rule... so do double entendres Ghost

[freefallXL]

ok, i want to try, to write down my expressions as a follower at the WCB via TPR and facebook. I hope it´s understandable, i tried google in combination with the feeling in my stomach ..well, let´s go

 

Thank you TPR, WCB fans, Robb, Elissa, and the fabulous team behind.

This was the first time I was able to follow such an event live on the Internet.

And even if I can not be there, it was a lot of fun (!) to follow the live updates on facebook and in the forum.

It must have been a very beautiful WCB. Of which, talk the wonderful pictures.

I see many new young faces. I like that. But the old hands with her ​​fabulous facial expressions and poses, triggered some good laughing attacks.

Thanks also for the videos. This made ​​me a little more feel, at least virtually to have been there. And they are really interesting, too!!! I'm looking forward to the next meeting.

TPR since your just awesome!

 

Oh and last but not least, a *big thank you* to the parks, that this all could be happend!

 

With kindest greetings, freefall *had fun with google* XL

[chadster]

...So, who asked the "in the rear" question at KBF?

 

That would be me.

[Gmaster562]

I thought the softer restraints were the ones for "The Green Lantern"

[ILoveRides]

Knott's really upped their game this year despite horrible weather. It seemed like they took the feedback from the previous year and used it to make the event a lot better. The tours were really unique and informative this year, the "save" of night-time ERT was unexpected and maybe even more fun than the scheduled ERT would have been, and even the little details like the custom West Coast Bash shirt for Snoopy and attendees didn't go unnoticed. Seriously - great job Knott's. And not to leave Magic Mountain out - their event was the same great event it always is - neat tours and tons of awesome ERT with really unique and creative bonuses that you can't usually experience. Thanks to both parks, Robb, and all the other people involved with the event. As always, I'm watching the calendar counting down the days until next year.

[freefallXL]

*my full respect*

Even as an "only" TPR "reader" .. *you feel* .. this amazing atmosphere!

[fatdaddy]

I found it rough last year but still enjoyed it.

 

Why do you keep saying things like this? LOL!

[gdoggy1678]

Here is a short video i made of the behind the scene tour of Xcelerator!

For me this was the highlight of the whole event and was truly awesome! The smell of the hydraulic room alone would have been worth it! (LOL i love the censor for "x D" without the space)

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=720p_7lxq[/coastertube]

Edited March 23, 2011 by robbalvey

[chadster]

^ youtube doesn't like your music, won't play embeded.

[gdoggy1678]

^ youtube doesn't like your music, won't play embeded.

Arrg i hate youtube sometimes.... Weird though because the embedded video works for me

Were you able to watch it at all?

[robbalvey]

Here is a short video i made of the behind the scene tour of Xcelerator!

For me this was the highlight of the whole event and was truly awesome! The smell of the hydraulic room alone would have been worth it! (LOL i love the censor for "x D" without the space)

Why don't you upload it to CoasterTube? http://www.coastertube.com