Photo TR: Matt Goes to California!

[mightypotato]

Another coaster season has descended upon us and as always, that old familiar feeling of wanderlust came crawling back. Unfortunately, there was no TPR trip in store for me this year. But, a good friend and I decided to make the trip out to California to ride some rides for this year's adventure (we also did trips together in 2010 and 2012). What lay ahead were some ups, downs, positive g's, but not a lot of airtime. It was a great (albeit rushed) week and I'd definitely go back if I had the chance.

 

But enough of that! You're here to read about parks and look at pretty pictures!

 

THE DAVE THOMAS DISCLAIMER: I like to write my full park experiences the best I can, so be prepared for some word reading.

 

Part 1: Pacific Park/Disneyland (you are here)

Part 2: Knott's Berry Farm (Page 1)

Part 3: Six Flags Magic Mountain (Page 2)

Part 4: Disneyland 2: Electric Boogaloo

Part 5: Disney California Adventure

Part 6: Universal Studios Hollywood

Part 7: Gilroy Gardens

Part 8: California's Great America

 

Part 1: Pacific Park/Disneyland

 

After making the trip from Toronto to LA, we got in our rental car and made our way to the first park of our trip, Pacific Park located at the scenic and world famous Santa Monica Boardwalk. Originally when we were planning the trip, we didn't plan on going here this day. But, we noticed how close it was to LAX and said "well, what the hell". The beach itself was pretty busy, so the parking lots were rather full. We ended up parking quite a ways down the beach, but it was a nice walk to the pier, so we didn't really care.

 

Upon entering the boardwalk area, we immediately got our ride cards and queued up for the Santa Monica Westcoaster. For years, I've seen Westcoaster in just about every movie, TV show or commercial where they need a roller coaster. Hell...it was even in GTA V as Leviathan. The ride itself is good for what it is, a family coaster. It's not intense or mind alteringly fast, but it's enjoyable and has a couple of really fun moments. The third hill in particular gave a surprise bit of airtime. We also got a two for one deal apparently because they decided to send us around a second time when we got back into the station. No complaints from me!

 

The only other ride we rode at Pacific Park (because it's small and such) was Pacific Plunge. This ride can best be described as an adult frog hopper. It ran a decent length cycle and provided more than its share of laughs.

 

We wandered around the pier for a while, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the ocean. I love the smell of the ocean, and it had been far too long since I've been to one, so this trip was most welcome. We had a late lunch/early dinner at The Albright which was delicious and made our way back to the car so we could head out to check in at the hotel.

 

OK. So...LA traffic. Holy crap. I thought I had seen bad traffic in Toronto and Montreal, but those towns have nothing on LA. It was definitely frustrating going from Santa Monica down to Anaheim where we were staying. But we got there, which is all that matters. Since we were staying in Anaheim, we were conveniently located about 10 minutes from the Disneyland Resort. Once we checked into the hotel, the obvious choice for what to do that night was clear.

 

We made the quick trip to Disney and hopped on the tram to the park. It was about 7pm when we got there and we figured we'd be there until 10 or so before leaving. But, apparently we didn't research this well enough because Disneyland was open until midnight. It was definitely the best news we had heard all day...just not for our internal clocks as we were still 3 hours ahead.

 

When we walked through the gates and into the main entrance of the park, I was instantly transported back to my childhood and the first time I stepped into the Magic Kingdom at WDW. I felt the same feelings of overwhelming happiness making my first steps into Disneyland. There's just something about a Disney park that you can't really put your finger on. Everyone there is just a little bit happier, a little more friendly and everything seems to have its own special touch.

 

Our first stop took us to Pirates of the Caribbean, one of my all time favourite rides. Even though the queue was overflowing into New Orleans Square, it only took about 15 minutes to get on. Hurray efficiency. I still love the ride with all it's wackiness (and slightly terrifying ghost ship). I thought I wouldn't enjoy the Jack Sparrow stuff, but it was done so it didn't really take away from the classic feel of the ride. Plus, "WE WANT THE REDHEAD" and the dog with the key are still gold.

 

Next up since we were in the neighborhood was The Haunted Mansion. I really liked the exterior of the mansion, with it looking like a creepy old Louisiana plantation. Granted, I prefer the exterior of the Orlando one, but this was also pretty darn good. The interior of the ride is the exact same (that I can remember, it's been a while since I've been to WDW) and the effects are still impressive, especially the ballroom scene. I have always thought though that the hanging body in the stretching room is a bit much for little kids at a Disney park, but whatever.

 

We decided to skip Splash Mountain for now and went over to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Which to be honest...wasn't that good. You just kind of bobbed around listlessly while going through the various scenes. I was expecting a bit more life or action out of the vehicles, but it just didn't happen. At least it was a walk-on, so I can't really complain too much.

 

From there, we decided to make our way over to Tomorrowland where we hoped to ride Space Mountain. Again, our faulty research did us in as it was down for maintenance until July 4. It was a bit of a downer, but since there's nothing we could do about it, it didn't dampen our spirits. We instead took a spin on Autopia during the fireworks display. It was neat to be driving the cars while staring in awe of the sky and clearly not at the car in front of me. Autopia was also a lot longer than I was expecting it to be, with more turns and actual stuff to do, driving wise.

 

Since we were in Tomorrowland, we decided to hit up Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear. This was the first time I've been on Star Tours since they made all the changes. I really liked what they did with the movies, especially with them being different each time. Don't get me wrong, I liked the original with the Death Star run, but the new ones felt like there was an actual story rather than "hey remember this from the movie?". There's not really much to Buzz Lightyear, but it's still one of my favourite shooting rides. The spinning controls make it a little more chaotic when you're fighting the person you're riding with for control.

 

After getting off Buzz Lightyear, we wanted to go ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds, but they went down while we were in line. So, we decided to ride everything in Fantasyland instead. We started with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride which made me so very very happy. I loved the WDW version of this and was actually really sad when they took it out. It made me happy to be able to ride it again. Snow White and Pinocchio were...ok I guess. Well ok, they're actually pretty boring if I'm being honest. But, I'm not exactly their target demographic now, am I? Our final ride of the night was Peter Pan. We got in line at about 11:45pm, but our bodies thought it was 2:45am. The line is mostly a blur we were so tired, having been awake since 5:30am. Once we got on the ride, we were able to wake up. I enjoyed Peter Pan and I still really like the suspended dark ride system. It's something you really don't see a lot of.

 

After leaving the park, we went back to the hotel and instantly fell asleep. It was a long day, but a very good one. But, it was only day one, we will had a full week ahead of us.

 

Here are some various photos from the day!

 

Wow...what a hole!

 

Santa Monica Boardwalk!

 

The area is actually pretty gorgeous

 

Hurray roller coasters! Fun is apparently here as well.

 

Going through the long helix

 

Going up...

 

Slowly coming down. It's always weirded me out that the trains are essentially hypercoaster trains, but it's a family ride.

 

I think this is where the surprise air was

 

Roaring back into the station

 

Hey look! An ocean!

 

An adult sized frog hopper

 

See? It's even made by Moser!

 

The backside of Pacific Park

 

Hail Hydra

 

Quite literally the end of the road

 

Famous!

 

One last look at the boardwalk and ocean

 

Yaaaaaay

 

I was so happy at this point

 

What is this? A castle for ants?

 

It all started with a man and a mouse...

 

Yo-ho! Yo-ho! A pirate's life for me! Also...I need to figure out how to get into the Dream Suite.

 

Yarr

 

There are 999 ghosts here apparently. I hear they're looking for one more.

 

Everybody has a laughing place.

 

Fireworks after getting off Autopia

 

Oooh!

 

Aaah!

 

Oooh and aaah!

 

OK, this is so not canon. Between Episodes III and IV, C3P0 and R2D2 belonged to Wedge Antilles. *adjusts nerd glasses*

 

Flights from Alderaan being cancelled? Better get used to that.

 

RAWR

 

Stuff from the Snow White queue

 

Sleeping Beauty Castle by night

 

Looks like Walt is still home

 

Up next: Knott's Berry Farm!

Edited October 17, 2014 by mightypotato

[The49er]

Nice report! Sorry to hear that Space was down...in fact, my last visit was my first Space Mountain-less visit since before I had ever ridden the ride. There's always next time, though

[mightypotato]

Part 2: Knott's Berry Farm

 

After recharging our batteries and getting used to the Pacific Time Zone, we made the quick trip over to Knott's Berry Farm for another day of fun. Our first stop of the day was the recently re-opened Calico Mine Ride. I'm a huge fan of quirky, old school rides and this one most definitely fit the bill. Knott's did a fantastic job with the renovations as everything looked great. The glory hole room was actually really impressive as were some of the animatronics. I also appreciated that the ride has different narrators so there's always a little bit of variation each time you ride.

 

Speaking of old made new, our next stop was the Timber Mountain Log Ride since it was right there. Much like the Calico Mine Ride, this was recently redone by the park. I can honestly say that this is now probably one of my favourite flumes. You don't get overly wet and there's only one drop, but the atmosphere and theming of the ride are great. Better than that, it's just really fun. I still think I like the flume at Knoebels a bit more, but it's real close.

 

With those done, we made our way over to the reason we were even at the park, Xcelerator. Holy. Crap. What a ride. It absolutely exceeded all my already high expectations. The launch was by far the best I've come across and provided a nice forceful kick. Coming up over the top hat, there was definitely some airtime to be found and the ride kept a lot of its speed through the two overbanked turns. This is what Dragster really should have been. The only criticism I can come up with is that it was too short. But, since it was the prototype and therefore expensive as balls, I can give it a pass. Still though...wow. It probably found its way into my top 10-15 or so overall.

 

Up next was something that unlike Xcelerator, I was not looking forward to: Boomerang. At this point, I've lost track of how many I've been on. They're all the same, painful and aggravating. But, I'm not all negativity. Here to help us out is Swedish supergroup Abba, singing about what I presume are Vekoma Boomerangs. Take it away!

 

 

Thanks, Abba!

 

Right across from Boomerang you'll find our next stop, the park's wild mouse coaster, Coast Rider. The ride is a mirrored version of the large park model Mack wild mouse rides (e.g., The Fly, Ricochet, etc). I've never been a big fan of wild mouse rides, but this one was decent enough. The brakes weren't on too hard, so you got some fun laterals going through the hairpins.

 

After getting a quick but non-snappy ride on the park's flyers (seriously...I've been spoiled by Knoebels), we found our way over to Pony Express. I remember hearing the announcement for this ride and then it just kind of disappeared from any conversation. To be honest, I can see why the ride has faded into obscurity. It doesn't really offer too much in the way of thrills and I've never been a fan of the Zamperla motocoaster trains. But...this is a good ride for younger kids who are starting to ride roller coasters or for those who don't want the intensity of either Montezooma's or Xcelerator.

 

We continued on and made a stop at the ride I was looking forward to the least today: Ghostrider. While Xcelerator found its way into my top 10, Ghostrider found its way into my bottom 10. In fact, were it not for Hades 360, this would be dead last...and even then it's close. I HATED this ride. There was no good part about it. It was overly rough, incredibly painful and jerky as all hell. I never wanted to see a brake run as badly as I did on this ride.

 

After that "experience", we grabbed lunch at Mrs. Knott's for some fried chicken. The food was great, but holy insanely large portions! The only time I've seen that much food on a plate in front of me was at Lambert's Cafe last year. Needless to say, I didn't eat all of it. I don't even think I got through half.

 

After lunch, we made our way over to the "steel clusterf*ck" portion of the park. Seriously, the area is a giant mess with rides overlapping and twisting through one another. Our first stop was the park's Mack spinner, Sierra Sidewinder. Like Pony Express, after this ride was announced, it fell completely off everyone's radar, so I had no idea what to expect. It was...ok. We didn't really get too much in the way of spinning, which seemed to be standard watching the ride go through a couple cycles. If it had been a bit spinnier, it would have been a good ride instead of "meh".

 

Continuing on, we came to the best surprise of the trip, Montezooma's Revenge. I had never been on a Schwartzkopf shuttle loop before and I was hugely impressed by this one. The launch packed a surprisingly good punch and the loop was full of awesome Schwartzkopf forces. We ended up riding this over and over again, which was a big (although pleasant) surprise. It's a real shame these are so far and few between these days. It was a real winner.

 

Up next was Jaguar! (the punctuation coaster). I know it's a family coaster, but oh man, was this a boring ride. It just kind of meanders through the course and doesn't really do anything special, interesting or fun. The ride also seems to love long pointless straightaways. Though, that may be due to its excessively long train more than anything else.

 

Our final credit (because we're not whores enough for the kiddie) was Silver Bullet. Silver Bullet is a ride of two halves. The first half is boring and is everything bad about modern B&M rides. The second half was a lot of fun and provided some surprising forces and thrills. That last helix was fantastic and so is the weird double wing-over thing it does before getting there. Basically, once you hit the zero-G roll, its a fun ride. Before that? Meh.

 

With all our credits in hand, we hit up the S&S towers, the observation tower and re-rode Montezooma's, Silver Bullet and Xcelerator until the park closed. All in all, I really enjoyed Knott's. I had come in thinking it would be a typical "chain" park like Cedar Point (not that there's anything wrong with that), but was pleased with the theming and the attention paid to the park's long history. If I ever make it back out to California, Knott's is definitely on my must visit iist.

 

But, enough of my rambling, here are some photos!

 

Arriving at Knott's!

 

I think this sums up Knott's well...old park charm, but with a hint of corporate.

 

It's a house. Made of bottles. So, that's accurate then.

 

New and improved!

 

Loved this ride. It was a blast from the past.

 

Train!

 

Also new and improved, this was a great log flume.

 

You may get wet!

 

Yeah. They got wet.

 

LOVED this ride.

 

Even with it being rather short, it's still a top 10 overall ride.

 

I think I'd put it *slightly* ahead of Storm Runner.

 

But both of those are waaaaaaay better than Dragster or Kingda Ka

 

And now for something decidedly less awesome

 

Ouch ouch ouch

 

This coaster's name is a pun. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

 

Something about wild mouse rides just don't excite me. I dunno.

 

Maybe it's one of those "been on one, been on all of them" type things

 

Oooooh...fountainy

 

Ride your pony, ride your pony

 

Ride your pony come on, come on

 

Mony Mony

 

Surprisingly, there was an acceptable amount of wetness on this ride. We didn't get drenched!

 

Great. Now I miss Silver Dollar City.

 

Boooooooo

 

OH GOD MY SPINE

 

Pretty sure one of my kidneys shot out during this ride

 

Sort of spinny, but not really

 

Now that said, it was pretty fun

 

I also like the crazy UFO-esque train design

 

Only who can prevent forest fires? You have selected you, referring to me. That is incorrect. The correct answer is you.

 

Well here was a pleasant surprise!

 

They sure don't build loops like that anymore...

 

It was surprisingly far up the spike too...wasn't expecting it

 

Punctuation!

 

Unnecessarily long train is unnecessarily long.

 

I see why this is used for GKTW at Knott's. You can probably easily do 8 hours on this ride.

 

Lame first drop

 

But this part kicked a lot of ass

 

It does have a really vibrant paint scheme, I will give it that.

 

This is part of the "fun half" of the ride

 

Really Knott's? You have a bunch of coasters at your own park you can put on your shirts, but you still go and choose Big One? *sigh*

 

Observation tower fun!

 

Bleh.

 

Boooooooooo

 

It really is a giant mess down there

 

The S&S tower was pretty typical. Nothing really too exciting.

 

Hurray for Xcelerator

 

With a train...and dirty window.

 

Here's some more Xcelerator because why not

 

It seriously needs a new paint job though

 

We rode the train and got held up by bandits!

 

Up next: Six Flags Magic Mountain!

[Meteornotes]

Nice Knott's photos. My spine still automatically hurts whenever I see Ghostrider, though.

 

dt

[DoinItForTheFame]

Awesome photos! I do agree though Xcelerator really needs a new paint job. Can't wait to see your SFMM photos!

[WFChris]

Cool report! So you know, it's standard operation on the W e s t C o a s t e r to run the circuit twice.

 

Can't wait for more! Love seeing impressions of my little corner of the world!

[redfoot12]

Ahh... Seems like I was there just last month.

Well, I was, in fact. I really enjoyed Knott's myself and my visit to the Pier. Can't wait to see more.

[Gnome]

I think you summed up SB perfectly. Over time I've been able to accept it as it is for a fun and reridable looper that mixes up the coaster collection at knotts. Montezooma's Revenge, back seat going through the loop backwards STILL gives me butterflies. While I hated it as a kid, love it now.

 

Also, why so much hate on GR? I know its rough but come on, she's old and has been in the hands of a corporate park! I still rank GR in my top 10, but then again the boss is my number 1 ahead of even timber terror and tremors. Suppose I dont mind the pain so much or Im just very nostalgic.

[Kyle Coleman]

I was getting ptsd from looking at those pictures of ghostrider and remembering riding it in the back last time I rode it for some reason. It really needs some rmc loving to bring it back to its glory days when it was one of the best coasters in the world.

[coasternate]

Great pictures, although I didn't mind Ghostrider all that much. Sure, it was a bit rough, but there was airtime!

[mightypotato]

Part 3: Six Flags Magic Mountain

 

So...it had finally come to this. SFMM was the park I was looking forward to the least on this trip after hearing many negative comments. I was expecting it to be Six Flags America, but with a slightly better selection of roller coasters. Did I have a good day? Did something derail and/or catch fire? Read on, and find out!

 

We got to the park for 10am, which was when the website said it was opening. However, the park didn't really open until about 10:30 for...reasons. On the plus side, this gave us some time to look at the park map and plan out our day. Our first stop was to the most important part of the park...the Flash Pass office. I will never not buy one of these things when I travel. It's money well spent. Since we had heard horror stories of SFMM's operations, we decided to be high class and bought the Platinum Passes. It turned out to be a great idea.

 

Our first stop of the day (along with most of everyone else) was X2. X2 has been a bucket list coaster for me ever since I first saw X in RCT2 way back in the day. I was not disappointed in this ride. It was everything I was hoping it would be...crazy, intense and disorienting. The first drop is probably my favourite drop on any coaster ever. I didn't even find it to be rough, and I was sitting on the outside seat. To make matters better, we managed to get a front row ride which I think just made it better. I'm sad there is only one of these rides in North America and that it's so far from me.

 

Since Viper is right next door, that's where we went next. Viper was my first of the now mostly dead Arrow megaloopers. I can see why they're more or less an extinct species. It's not that it's overly rough or uncomfortable...it's just...boring. There is no imagination in the layout. It's basically the same Arrow multilooper I've been on countless times, but a bit taller. They didn't even use the height/speed appropriately since Arrow didn't learn to make bigger loops until Tennessee Tornado. It's a shame too, because with a bit more imagination, this ride could have been something special. Instead, it's same old same old.

 

Next up was a ride with some definite historic bonafides, Revolution. Now, let's get this out of the way...the OTSR's suck. We all know that. Let's not talk about it further. I actually enjoyed my ride on Revolution. It had a real graceful feeling when it was going through the big sweeping turns that I really liked. Also, the run in to the loop is something that builds anticipation and momentum. Plus...it was the Whippersnapper in National Lampoon's Vacation. That automatically makes it awesome.

 

Continuing down the front of the park, we came to the park's newest hotness that's not a kiddie coaster, Fu ll Throttle (YOLO!). I love Premier and pretty much everything they do. Fu ll Throttle is no exception. While the launches aren't particularly foreceful, there is plenty of hangtime to be found in the loop. And with only the lap restraint, that's pretty fun. The backwards bit I was a bit skeptical about, but it was still fun going back up the inversion and stalling before going into the last launch. There is definitely some airtime to be found on the top hat, but you hit the brakes so quickly, it ends before you can enjoy it. As much as I enjoyed Fu ll Throttle, it has a major drawback: it's too short. It feels almost...incomplete, like they had something else planned for after the top hat but Six Flags couldn't afford it, so they just ended the ride there.

 

Now, from here we had a choice. We could either keep walking all the way around to the side of the park for Goliath, or we could be lazy and take the Orient Express up to Ninja. So...Ninja wasn't too bad of a ride. It seemed to carry its speed throughout the course rather well and provided a couple of really good swings. Now that said, I'd still take Vortex and Big Bad Wolf over it, but it was enjoyable. Plus, we didn't hit any trees (too soon?). I'm still a bit confused about the placement of the second lift. It reminded me of Adventure Express at KI, but except without the awesomely lame animatronics. That said, when going up the second lift, both my friend and I were chanting "YOU WILL PAY". Because we are nerds.

 

After this, we hit up probably the best flying coaster I've been on (not that that's saying much), Tatsu. I love the B&M flyer seats and restraints. They're probably the most comfortable out there. As for the coaster, it was pretty good. But, what really set it apart from the other flyers I've been on is the pretzel loop. Holy f'ing crap was that thing intense. I had a rough idea of what to expect, but it still caught me off guard. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but...damn. The rest of the ride felt like more of a graceful wander with the odd inversion thrown in for good measure. Still, I'd take this over any of the Superman clones.

 

Continuing our journey through the back part of the park, we came to the park's newest woodie, Apocalypse. While we could no longer take the tunnel, I still really enjoyed this ride. It carries its speed really well and provides good little pops of air all along the course. GCI has been doing some really good work lately and this is just another example. Also, Millennium Flyers are super comfy and I love them.

 

Our next stop was the park's mine train, Gold Rusher. There's not really much to say about this one. It was your typical mine train. Fun, but not something you'd really want to ride more than once. In fact, I remember very little about the actual layout or course of the ride. It's kind of just vanished in the ether of my memories.

 

After Gold Rusher, we wanted to ride Superman. No big deal right? Well...not if you foolishly decide to climb Samurai Summit. We must have taken a wrong turn or something because we just started climbing...and climbing...and climbing. I thought Magic Springs was excessive on the hills...but damn. As we were going up, another group came up to us and asked if we had also made a wrong turn going to Superman. Damn you, Samurai Summit!

 

Anyway...Superman. What a complete and total letdown. Much like X2, Superman had been a bucket list coaster for me since I first saw it on TV. But, unlike X2, Superman did not live up to my expectations. Sure, it goes 100mph (though in reality, I'm sure it's far less than that) and has a 400 foot tall tower, but it was just so boring. The launch did not do a thing for me. It just felt like I was in a car pulling on to a highway. Even going up the spike, I didn't get the same sense of "holy crap, I'm high up" or hang time that I've felt on other rides. Even launching backwards seemed to be pointless. I'd take either of the Mr. Freeze rides over this any day of the week. Now, all that being said, I think this ride has just been overhyped having been on every TV show about roller coasters since 1997. Maybe I was expecting something that was never there. Or maybe I've been on so many more extreme rides over the years that what would have been mindblowing in 1997 is common place in 2014.

 

After Superman, it seemed like a good time to get lunch, so we went back down the mountain and hit up the Full Throttle Sports Bar. This was for two reasons. One was to get a break from the sun and the other was to watch the US/Ghana World Cup match. To my surprise, the restaurant was actually pretty full of soccer fans cheering on the US side. When they scored the first goal, the place went crazy. It was a fun experience.

 

After lunch, we made the trek around to Goliath. I don't know what it is about the Giovanola hypers, but there's not a lot going on with them. The first drop has that weird constant angle thing going on that doesn't really give you the same thrill as the B&M or Intamin hypers of the same era (e.g., Nitro, Ride of Steel, etc). I did appreciate the tunnel at the bottom of the drop though, that gives a great head chopper effect. I'm also a fan of the helix of death, even though the MCBR makes it not as deathy as it could be. Like most of the rides here, I liked it, but it could have been so much better. Maybe a bonus helix like Titan has would have made me like it more (even though I had the same thoughts about Titan).

 

Up next was something I had been looking forward to for a while, Lex Luthor Drop of Doom. I'm a huge drop tower fan, so getting the chance to ride a 400 foot tall one made me very excited. I loved this ride. The suspense slowly building as you go up the tower only to be replaced by adrenaline as you fall for what seems like forever was great. I don't know if it was a purposeful decision or not, but the overhang above the car so you can't see how much farther until the top was a great touch. It's probably my favourite drop tower now. I can only imagine Zumanjaro is just as good.

 

Heading down into what seemed like a forgotten corner of the park, we encountered Scream, the coaster with authentic parking lot theming! The ride itself is decent enough, even though it's B&M Cookie Cutter Model 105. I didn't think the parking lot would have been as noticeable as it was, but it really took away from the ride. It just looked ugly and cheap. Like Magic Mountain said "WE NEED COASTER! COASTER GOES HERE NOW!" without any real thought. I mean...how hard is it to put down grass or do some basic landscaping? Bah.

 

Across the way from Scream is (was? will be?) Colossus. However, it was closed on the day we were there. We ended up getting to Magic Mountain the day after Batman and Colossus finished their backwards runs and both rides were down. Why they didn't just put the forward trains on and have the rides opened is beyond me. But, it is not for us to know, it is only for us to wonder why. Anyway, two missed credits. Kind of crappy, but what are ya gonna do.

 

However, there were still open coasters in DC Universe for us to ride! The first one we got to was Green Lantern. While I had heard some not very positive things about this ride, I was giving it the benefit of the doubt since Insane is so highly praised. But...oh god. This ride wasn't just painful or horrible. It was horribly painful. I think a lot of the pain was having my shoulders and collarbone reamed into the restraint every time we went down a drop, perhaps going too fast or something, I dunno. Maybe if the ride actually spun more than once or twice it would be better. But as it stands, this one is in the bottom 5 of my list.

 

Our final credit of the day was Riddler's Revenge. Now, here's a ride I loved! I'm not a fan of stand up coasters at all. I couldn't stand (no pun intended) Mantis, despised Shockwave, danced a dance when I found out Skyrider was leaving Canada's Wonderland and the less said about CGA Vortex the better (because that part is still coming). But, this one was awesome! The layout was really good and didn't allow you to really catch your breath until the brake run. I loved the back to back dive loops into the inclined loop. And who doesn't love a Kumba style loop around the lift? This was one of the best surprises of the trip. I wasn't expecting much from it, but it came through big time!

 

So, after a marathon day at the park, we got in all our (open) credits. We stayed for a while longer and re-rode a few things before leaving. So...what was my take on this park? All in all, I had a good day. But, that was entirely due to the Q-Bot. For the most part, operations were pretty poor at the park. Without the pass, we wouldn't have come anywhere near finishing the credits. If I would have been waiting in the lines, I would have been annoyed and aggravated really early. The whole vibe of the park seemed to be "um...put a coaster here or something. No, I don't care if it fits. Just do it. We need this record! WE MUST BEAT CEDAR POINT!" and "Operations? Capacity? LOL NOPE" which are to the detriment of the rest of the park.

 

To be honest, if I were back in LA, I don't think I would go back to Magic Mountain, even with Twisted Colossus unless I already had a Six Flags season pass.

 

On that depressing note, here are some pictures!

 

Arriving at Magic Mountain! But, the real story here is the age of that school bus. Damn.

 

Retro-Futuristic!

 

This was insane and awesome

 

The whole time, my body never really knew what was going on

 

I will give Viper some credit, it does look nice.

 

Normal sized loop placed insanely high because why learn something new?

 

At least it wasn't too rough

 

Historic!

 

It's actually a fun ride if you look past the OTSR's

 

Failed attempt at a fancy picture

 

YOLO!

 

Airtime!

 

It's a shame it brakes so soon

 

Hi-ya!

 

Look ma! No trees! (side note: the accident happened after the trip)

 

It was definitely refreshing to ride a flyer that wasn't a Superman layout

 

Huge pretzel! Huge forces!

 

Definitely enjoyable

 

There were tunnels. Though we were never told to take them.

 

I love the curvy layouts of GCI rides

 

And hey, it's way better than Psyclone would have been.

 

RIP, Terminator Salvation

 

Pretty much the only picture I got of Gold Rusher. I told you I forgot all about it.

 

*gasp* Just give me...*wheeze* a couple minutes.

 

*sigh*

 

It only ran one side, which was kind of lame.

 

Meh.

 

The sign for Goliath is better than the ride. That said, I still liked the ride.

 

That is one loooooong drop

 

Hahaha, do your fart. I am 8 years old.

 

Are you screaming? Because that would be appropriate here.

 

Gorgeous area the park picked for it

 

Though nothing can dampen my love of interlocking corkscrews

 

Awww...denied.

 

Green torture machine

 

If Hal Jordan can make anything his mind desires with the ring, why couldn't he make a good roller coaster?

 

I'll also blame Ryan Reynolds. Because...reasons.

 

Denied: Part 2!

 

Riddle me this...

 

What weighs six ounces, sits in a tree, and is very dangerous?

 

A sparrow with a machine gun!

 

What does a turkey do when he flies upside down?

 

He gobbles up!

 

Bonus Fu ll Throttle pictures!

 

I love those trains. Very comfy.

 

Twisty!

 

Ooooh, scenic!

 

Pretzel looping as the sun goes down

 

Mandatory picture quota filled!

 

See you later, Magic Mountain!

 

You too, Scream! I also like how this one turned out.

 

Up next: Disneyland Part 2: Electric Boogaloo!

[rcjp]

Nice pictures. I know the park gets a lot of negative comments but I would really like a chance to go there due to their coaster collection. They might not have a lot of AWESOME rides (well, maybe next year that will change) but there are plenty of coasters and that does it for me.

[coasterbill]

Great pictures. I don't know how I missed this thread but I went back and read through both pages and really enjoyed your updates.

[TBpony414]

I also somehow missed this TR but am really glad I saw the latest installment on SFMM. Because I enjoyed your great details on each ride and your thoughts on the park experience, I just went back to the first page to read all about your other park visits. Bonus points for turkey jokes and Zoolander references mid-TR!