Angry_Gumball Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) First off, YOLO!!! YOLO was definitely the key to this weekend's events as this was my first ever WCB. It was quite an adventure and definitely put my energy up to the test with the early wakeups and late sleeps. COMPLETELY WELL WORTH IT! We ended up staying at the Knott's hotel (My cousin, neighbor and I) which was highly convenient for the KBF day. I'll keep my writeup short and let the photos tell the story but I do want to point out a few highlights in the coming posts. I'll start this first post off with the "Zero Day" as I call it, which was the adeventure heading down. I learned something valuable: LA traffic sucks! It makes the Bay Area look like a cakewalk. Next post will be Day 1. 'Later Hayward/Bay Area/NorCal! See you in a few days! As good as the view gets coming down the I-5 Tracy/Central Valley: The Devil's Mouth Carthay Circle Restaurant? DCA? Can't be... Coalinga...Translation: Smelliest place in CA. Surprisingly it did not smell as bad when we went through. Devil's intestines... Nothing completes a group photo without one being asleep Devil's Butthole, where my phone was endless searching for signal, where we almost got hit by a car cutting over in front of us, nearly missing a truck...not to mention it's insanely hot and stuffy outside. Looking ahead, we had this to look forward to. Grapevine's butthole as I say..skies are now blue! SFMM! See you tomorrow! Sorry X2... Yea, nothing's changed. Our little friend will be joining us for WCB... Traffic...traffic...and traffic...What should have only been an hour from SFMM took more than double the time. ....getting there....slowly..... .... Yay! And we have arrived at our destination! And a great way to top off the day is a little Mrs. Knott's legs and thighs And my recharging station for the next few nights... Time to call it a night, see you all tomorrow morning! Edited September 11, 2013 by Angry_Gumball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Fire Guy Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 That near crash you had in the Devil's Butthole proves once again that doing anything in a park (even the most OMFG extreme rides) is way, WAY safer than getting to a park. Looking forward to the rest of the TR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) Day 1: SFMM...AKA YOLO Mountain. Keeping it simple, here's some highlights: -YOLOcoaster....amazing. I still think SFDK's Superman Flight kind of wins over YOLO, but YOLO is one of the best rides in the park. YOLO and Tatsu are actually my favorites there. Only complaint is how abrupt the moment of airtime is killed with the hard slams into the brakes. If I don't brace myself, I feel like I get donkey kicked in the stomach. I actually got nearly elbow punched by a friend/fellow TPR member when hitting the brakes. The area surrounding YOLO is lacking, unfortunately. It feels very incomplete and thrown together. The rope lights on the YOLOring tunnel entry looks like someone bought Xmas lights at Walmart and strung them on. I also don't know if all of the effects in the tunnel were working, just saw flashing strobes. -Group takeover on Canyon Blaster! The 6 of us completely took over the ride and actually, I find this kiddy ride very fun! Again brace yourself if you don't want to get donkey kicked in the stomach. -Crazy Green Lantern ride...Blue Fire Guy and I ended up having a moment where we were taking in one of the dips while being inverted...ultimate head rush! We did a nice flip approaching the station and when we hit the bottom, we did an unexpected flip that almost stayed...slowly righted ourselves. Unloading times on this ride are absolutely ridiculous though...thankfully we had ERT on it. Worthy X2 ERT replacement! -Apocalypse...why bother? This ride's gone to waste and is running rough...It actually left me with a throbbing headache even moreso than Revolution (which surprisingly I *almost* enjoyed...shouldn't have to ride defensively though to enjoy a ride) -SEFK at night was amazing...even moreso when there's raccoons in the queue. -Lastly, the plague of broken rides during ERT was afrustrating but understandable that things happen as rides are machines after all. Thankfully YOLOcoaster got back up and running but sadly didn't make it to Tatsu for ERT...glad we hopped on it earlier in the day. Good bye Knott's region, off to pick up a friend and head to SFMM... see you tomorrow! X (x-x-x-x...) 2 (2-2-2-2...) SFMM's headliner attraction not quite headlining for a while. Us TPR members weren't the only ones lining up for Bash...so was Gertrude and family YOLO! YOLO and YOLO again! Our event pass Little rubber fetus dude is also ready for WCB! Robb making his YOLO-rific announcement...YOLO!!! X2 is closed today but that did not stop us from having a great time regardless of. YOLO!!! Credit 70...nerd! The line for ERT YOLO!!! Let's do this! YOLOdonuts...why? YOLO! And who doesn't like vertical videos of SFMM rides? Speaking of, 2 friends who were quite worried about LL:DOD. See, now they don't look too worried All we're going to do is go up over 400 feet and plummet straight down. While X2 was down, SFMM gave us the 4D experience on GL For you lift hill enthusiasts While this ride can smash your balls, that's part of the experience! In all seriousness, I'm one of those who enjoys this ride. I can see where there's a love/hate relationship with GL though. Now that ERT is over, time to hit Colossus And the ride we broke...that is...Scream! Little did we all realize that after our lap, we would be stuck in the station, overshoot the retractable floors, then reverse to line back up. The ride op asked if we broke it While I stated back in April that I preferred Medusa at SFDK, we actually found this to be more forceful. Too bad it was still only running 1 train. Lunch time with Sylvester! Robb, asking if Sylvester wants to rock YOLOswag After lunch and brief surprise Q&A, it was time to hit up some kiddie coasters! ... ... Time to take over Canyon Blaster! And then to take on one of my least favorite steel coasters as I have to ride defensively to enjoy it. And I came prepared! But yet this ride's setting is amazing...flying through the woods! Hii-yah! Cog/lift porn for you lift enthusiasts, once again. Now for some SEFK, or "namrepuS" (pronounced 'nammer-poos')... Once again, YOLO! And somebody's butt YOLO'd and expelled some gas in a stuffy area...it's definitely my kryptonite... Funky arm shields...dislike! Ironically, this image shows the end rider with the ability of sticking their arm out Wishes he could be Superman Taking a quick daytime ride on Orient Express. If the drive cables snapped, this could very well be a credit. Who doesn't love vertical videos of Full Throttle? I actually like this shot, one of my favorite photos from the day. YOLOstilts...what do they have to do with anything? In the end, what does Full Throttle's theme really have to do with anything? It makes no sense! YOLO! I YOLO'd and tried some of SFMM's YOLOwings...which turned me into a fire-breathing dragon! Blue Fire Guy just might actually expel blue fire after eating these! YOLOdogs And YOLOplaza. Since I'm currently a fire-breathing reptilian being, why not fly as well. Poor water dummy was sitting down below Tatsu. We're all green...why? YOLO! Colossus...a fun ride and is SFMM's best wooden coaster! ... namrepuS at Night, with LL:DOD A final, extremely forceful ride on Goliath before ERT. Until we found out Tatsu was throwing a dragon temper tantrum...We spent the evening doing a few laps on SEFK/namrepuS and finshed it with multiple YOLOlaps G'night YOLO! Upon leaving SFMM, we saw that their palm trees come excessively close to their Venom Drop slide. If one reached up, they could play "Grab the Tree" YOLO! And apparently my hotel thought it were SFMM ride ops..."Enjoy your stay at the Knott's Hotel! Whoop-whoop!" Edited September 10, 2013 by Angry_Gumball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Is LA traffic always that bad or did you happen to be there around rush hour? Nice trip report, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmTree55 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Is LA traffic always that bad or did you happen to be there around rush hour? Nice trip report, btw. It is ALWAYS BAD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 ^Thanks. I haven't been to LA since 1988 so I don't remember what traffic was like. I do know that I was driving one of these down I-5 and everybody stayed out of my way. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kailisun98 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Seems like such a great event. I would definitely be there if I wasn't in friggin China learning Chinese for 10th grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) Day 2: Knott's Berry Farm! I just want to point out that after WCB, I've fallen in love with Knott's even more so than I have in the past and have learned to really appreciate the park offerings. Also to compare and contrast the duo thrill parks...Knott's felt like I was visiting the friendly independently owned "Mom 'n Pop shop" with their friendly ride operators and staff while SFMM felt as though I were visiting your typical Walmart...had rather helpless/useless park employees when trying to find where something was...either ignored us or ditched us. Not at Knott's, they were more than willing to answer any of my questions asked, were often greeted, and even had some staff who weren't fully familiar with WCB asking me about the happenings and such. In the end, this is the day that really shined and I was actually pretty sad to leave the property today. Highlights: -Flume Tour was awesome! After taking the tour and taking a ride on it, everything came together and I fell in love with the ride. Was quite neat seeing what were "sleeping" show rooms come to life when it came time to ride. Walking in the actual flume itself was quite the experience, that is until one baptizes their phone in a small puddle in the flume (luckily it's alive again). I think we marathon'd this thing 6 times during our evening ERT session after marathonning Xcelerator several laps. Another highlight on our last few laps: One of the members in our group raises her hands to stretch or something in the saw mill area until I hear "SIT DOWN!" I then realized/remembered that this ride can detect if one is standing up, and then realized if we raise our hands we can trigger the "SIT DOWN!" voice. When we got to waving our hands around, it actually began to stutter! "Sit-si-sit-si-si-siddown!" We found the sensors to be in 3 areas: Saw mill at top of initial climb, just before the dark drop, and climbing the final lift. Was quite hilarious! -Calico Mine Ride with special narrative and bad jokes was a must do and was worth missing our initial flume tour time as we got the first ride on this custom narrative. Fortunately, the standby line for flume tour was quick and those in our group that had different times all got to go together! -Coast Rider, fun ride but nothing really amazing. Just another credit. I do like the sound the lift makes though! -Surf Side Gliders - I find these actually more responsive than CGA's flyers and seemed to be able to snap without really trying. I can only imagine what would happen if I seriously tried. But, I didn't think it would be a good idea. -Xcelerator...love it, never get's old! -Pony Express credit (finally, was closed in April when I went). Again, nothing special, just another credit. Watch your back though when you slam into the brakes. -Over at Jaguar, we made ourselves and the GP behind us complete idiots as we walked in a complete circle on the first floor of Jaguar's queue...initially thinking ramp up was a dead end...LOL! -Had an intense ride on Wipeout. This thing runs an insane program, have never ridden a Wipeout as intense as this. I rode it in April as a single rider but doubled up with a friend this round...I sat on outside and practically had the life squeezed out of me! Yes I'm actually still sore from it but it was worth it! Why? YOLO! (wait, wrong park!). -Lastly, I found out the hard way what side not to ride when doing Riptide...basically, you should face Boardwalk when riding otherwise, your balls can and will be smashed in the hardest way possible! Those 7 total flips were brutal! -Hat Dance Ride...Evil! Yet I did not get sick! -Oh, and can't forget the Haunt maze tour! I'd love to see this thing in action! Side note, but a highly important one: I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to R&E, SFMM (despite some of the customer service issues I experienced), and most definitely Knott's (who really went way out of their way to give a complete experience) for an amazing and unforgettable weekend! I will definitely be doing WCB next year, and would like to visit Knott's again just more in general as this place really grew on me. Again, thanks to all parties who made this happen! Rise 'n Shine, time to check in! Checked in and ready to roll! (Photo from TPR) We're all ready! Bright and early! This is the earliest I've ever been at park gates Part of the rest of the gang SoCalCoasters joins us Starting the day off, we take in the Calico Mine Ride with custom narrative (full of corny puns!) Taking in Calico Mine Ride...some of the scenary as we were allowed (for this ride) to take flash photos. Climbing up the lift...Low clearance! Climbing up the lift, I nearly fell backward onto other riders Clench 'n Squish cavern! Coming out for a brief moment...painful on the eyes! Backside of a waterfall And, heading back in...Take the tunnel! And this concludes the Calico Mine Ride...take the station! We just missed our flume tour so we figured we'd get some ERT rides in...one of our group members needed the credits and I was craving some Xcelerator! Boardwalk Pier...fun to be had here And something you probably shouldn't ride early in the morning...jaw puncher! After Blue Fire Guy gets his needed credits, we all got in the standby line for the flume tour! Timber Mountain Log Ride...one of the oldest log flumes in the US. And Wind Seeker...how's it going? Ready to go inside! Headed into maintenance room Layout of the flume, was neat to see! ... Bear animatronic! Going further into Timber Mountain! For you power box nerds Going upstairs so we can enter the flume! Where we entered. Just make sure that you have a good grip on your phones when taking pictures Climbing in Donkey! From here, we enter the top of the lift/saw mill area. Where the conveyor belt area ends and logs roll into flume Looking down the lift toward station These guys are creepy realistic! Log flume porn for you... NERD SHOT! Hmm...I think we found Xcelerator's next replacement cable! This guy's always grinding his axe...been at it forever! Exiting saw mill area... And here's a roller coaster photo! And we just made it for the group photo! And off for our Pony Express credit! Lines were building up behind us. Robb and company on Timber Mountain Log Ride Edited September 11, 2013 by Angry_Gumball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 More photos! Boot Hill Haunt museum, completely forgot they had this! Jaguar's queue, which was a bit confusing! Where are we supposed to go?!? Time for some Monte action now that it finally opened! Whee! (Last row is a must ride) And I've always liked it when parks do these kinds of things! Q&A... Anyone up for "Charlie Brown: Drop of Good Grief" attached to Xcelerator? I certainly am! Lots of people in here! And of course we couldn't end presentation without Windows X(tra) P(roblems) crashing Powerpoint Waiting for the next event: tour of Forevermore! This was the only area where we were given permission to take photos...for a certain reason: Photo op! After the tour, we were all in agreement to hit up TMLR yet again (Ride #3 or 4, before ERT session) Evil Mexican Hat Dance ride... Taking a cruise on the train... Xcelerator ERT! And that was Knott's visit! Train robbers are always fun! Good Night KBF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Fire Guy Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Great TR Gumball, and man that day at Knott's was amazing. Apart from my phone getting "baptized" in a small puddle of holy water (and thankfully surviving), the Log Ride tour was really awesome, and walking in the flume itself was a big highlight for me. Seeing the entire attraction burst into life afterwards was the icing on the cake, and got me instantly hooked. I am DEFINITELY going back to Knott's next year, be it during another WCB, summer West Coast Tour if it happens, Haunt if possible, or just any trip down there. And one can NEVER, EVER have enough Mrs. Knott's fried chicken and boysenberry punch! (same with Xcelerator, now my #2 steel) Lastly, I simply cannot express enough thanks to R&E, SFMM, and especially Knott's (KBF really went out of their way for us) for pulling this off. Now that I think of it, the amount of stress and effort that goes behind WCB is simply Herculean. Once again, I cannot express enough thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 ^Glad to hear the phone is alive again after it being temperamental! Random last bit of photos on my "heading back home" day. I had some time to kill in the morning and decided to head back towards the KBF market place to do some last minute shopping (gifts for family). The rides were all teasing me and had I had a Platinum Pass or even a KBF pass, I would have most certainly went in even just to catch 2 rides before heading back home. Was certainly sad leaving probably my favorite theme park. Upon heading towards the marketplace, I peeked through the fence...Ghost Rider laminates! Hopefully this will somewhat help with the ride. Haunt stuff When shopping I found this...still plenty of them so if you want one, I'd go and snag one before they're gone! I actually got a little pin happy upon my shopping As I said...I got pin happy. More Ghost Rider from outside...I wouldn't mind riding this coaster again, I actually enjoyed it! Hard to see but upon heading back to my room to check out, I heard drills and such... They're already working on the coaster! Ghost Rider from across the street, right behind my favorite place to eat. Why does this place have to be over 300 miles away? Closer look at work going on. One last look out my window before checking out. And off to SNA to catch a flight back home... My neighbor is continuing her trip this week and hitting up Universal and Disney...Insta-jealousy commence! Being as this was actually my first time flying I was actually pretty excited. I know to many it's nothing special and I'm sure after doing another flight it will not be as special. Waiting...delayed flights are always fun Was to depart at 3:35. Finally on the B-737 And off we go! Due to fires that have been going on, the air quality has been very "Chinese" if you know what I mean. ... Upon heading to Oakland and taking shuttle to BART, I found some Intamin-like track, a future tram between BART and OAK. And that's a wrap! Had a blast with this trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Great PhotoTR! Hope to visit Knotts and the LA area someday again but my next overseas destinations are a) the parks on the line Chicago-CedarPoint-NewYork and b) Mexico City, a city park with two Schwarzkopf coasters is a must do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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