Photo TR: California Dreamin' starring sfriday1998

[sfriday1998]

So, I'm heading to SoCal in two days with a friend of mine. Anyone wants to say hi, my itinerary is below. Will definitely be posting TR's from each park after I get back, so:

 

June 9: Arrive, Warner Bros Studios Tour

June 10: Universal Studios Hollywood

June 11: SFMM

June 12: Disney's California Adventure in the morning, Disneyland in the afternoon

June 13: Leave

[sfriday1998]

So, we arrived in LA on June 9th and, regrettably, did not do amusement park stuff that day. I have a connection at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, and she was able to a) give us a little private tour of the studios on a golf cart and b) book us on the official studio tour for FREE!!!!! Kudos to her, the studios were awesome. We saw a lot of cool sets, most of which I took pics of, so this is going to be a lot of pictures.

 

After the tour, we ate at a Mexican restaurant in the area: Don Cucos. Great place, but my stomach couldn't eat everything. Good grub, though! After that, we drove about an hour back to our hotel in Anaheim (Dolphin's Cove Resort) and settled in for the night.

 

Photos....

Parking at Logan Airport

Rental place photos

Good burgers, CA. Well done.

People were right. SoCal traffic can get pretty sucky

We're here!

I like blazing saddles

A lot of tour photos will follow. All sets on the studio lot

Oh baby!

[sfriday1998]

Even more photos...

And that's a wrap for Warner Bros! Next: USH

[bert425]

the LA traffic actually doesn't look too bad, in comparison to what I've seen in the past

 

glad you had a good time, tho wish you had some captions on the tour pics -- I only recognize a handful of stuff (tho the display things from BvS, SS, and HP I know right away).

[sfriday1998]

^^ Sorry, I didn't remember what the tour guide said about everything, I'm only posting all this post-trip.

 

Doing USH pics tomorrow

[sfriday1998]

So, after a nice rest, we embarked the next day to Universal Studios Hollywood, back in Burbank-ish.

 

The day started with a breakfast at Burger King, which actually wasn't bad. Had a good sandwich. After that, we headed out on the hour long voyage north to a land of movies. We arrived at about 8, an hour before the park was due to open. Josh and I got dropped off at the valet circle, and we walked through the entire city walk, about 15 minutes, to get to the main entrance. The park was supposed to open at 9, but the nice employees let us in for early entry anyways, despite the fact our tickets did not have that added bonus. That helped SO much, as we got on some really good rides before crowds started piling in.

 

I wanted to do Mummy first, but since the Lower Lot didn't open till 10, we decided to hit up Harry Potter first, and get on Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff. Forbidden Journey had roughly a 15 minute wait, so that was totally epic. Same for FOTH. After completing our Harry Potter tour, I bought myself a frozen butterbeer (awesomeness), and then we hit up the Simpsons ride near the lower lot entrance. When we got off of that, it was about 9:30, so with time to spare, we got our credit on Despicable Me.

 

FINALLY, Lower Lot opened up, and I booked it to Mummy. We got on with a 20 minute wait, and then proceeded directly to Transformers. Once we got through that, I took the single rider line for Jurassic Park, which, surprisingly, was not all that wet. Finally, we dined on lunch at Krusty Burger (I got a Krusty Burger), and spent the rest of the day re-riding Simpsons, Transformers, Mummy, Forbidden Journey, and Hippogriff, as well as completing rides on Shrek and Walking Dead. Finally, we left the park, ate dinner at Taco Bell on the City Walk, souvenir shopped, and drove back to our hotel in Anaheim.

 

Side notes: that was my first dinner at Taco Bell, and I approve. Also, on the drive to Anaheim, I got a distant view of the S&S tower at Knotts as we drove through Buena Park. Still low-key semi-disappointed in Josh for not choosing to go to Knotts.

 

REVIEWS

 

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (x3): 10/10 This is by far my favorite dark ride. The seat rotations are smooth and well-timed, the ride paces perfectly, and the dark ride elements are perfect. Best part by far is when you attempt to avoid the Whomping Willow. Cut-scenes are great, and restraints are comfortable. Why can't more parks get this kind of dark ride?

 

Flight of the Hippogriff (x2): 5/10 Family coaster, nothing spectacular. No real airtime, but a small amount of gs on the turns. Something calm and fun after Forbidden Journey.

 

The Simpsons Ride (x2): 8/10 I just like the Simpsons. Storyline is great, the water effects are nice, and it's funny to see the characters put in this situation. Just a fun ride

 

Despicable Me (x1): 6/10 Eh, it's okay. There are no real effects on this ride, no water or anything like that. You just twist and turn through Gru's lab. Nice to ride, not something I'm desperate to keep re-riding.

 

Revenge of the Mummy (x3): 10/10 Holy crap, what a coaster! The launch is forceful, the airtime and gs are there, this is nuts! I love the Mummy movies, so the Imhotep theme is great. If this were outside, it wouldn't be as fun, but the indoor element, the theming, it makes this so much more insane! Backwards part is fun, but ending is kinda subpar. Front row is best by far.

 

Transformers (x2): 8/10 Great dark ride. Love the theme, the elements, the heat effects. It all works well. Perfectly paced, great motion in the vehicle, not too tight on the restraints. Rerideable with a nice theme.

 

Jurassic Park (x1): 5/10 Kinda underwhelmed by this ride. I got more wet when getting spritzed before the drop than I did on the drop itself. Not the best water ride I've been on. Fun theming, bad execution.

 

Shrek 4D (x1): 5/10 Eh, an okay 4D show. Long lines easily form for this. Like the Shrek theme, not really the show itself. Much prefer Muppet show at Hollywood Studios at WDW in Florida.

 

The Walking Dead (x1): 5/10 My first walk-through attraction, and I was underwhelmed. Never got jump-scared, kinda scary in general, but not as cool as I imagined. I never watched the show, so IDK maybe it's me.

 

Studio Tour (x1): 9/10 Loved this thing. The shows and effects work perfectly, there's a cool storyline, the sets are fantastic. Line moves fast, and it's long. Great way to take a break.

 

On to the photos........

Entering City Walk!

I shopped here

That's Josh at the globe. Very scenic

It's 8am and the park is dead

Le France

Hogsmeade!

Wait, where are the people?

Snow in CA??? Also, steam train

More train

Butterbeer!!!!

Ooooh, candy

Cameo Josh head

So much Hogsmeade!

Hogwarts, yay!

Also Forbidden Journey.......

Oh, and this is next door.

Meh

You have to get a locker for this ride, but it's free and locked with a fingerprint.

:/

Hi Hagrid!

Oh, is Fang there?

Lift hill porn

Hot

Awww it's baby Buckbeak!!

Tasty butterbeer! (No alcohol)

Is that Peter Griffin....?

Wait, wrong place

Pre show stuff

Love this view

That's Warner Bros in the distance, Universal at the bottom

Trams for the tour

The line for Shrek

AHHHHHHH

It's showtime!

Me on the right, Josh on the left

Eh...

All aboard!

Good eats

And that's a wrap for USH! Tomorrow, SFMM.

[sfriday1998]

So, the pilgramage voyage of the trip: the park with the most roller coasters of all. On. The. Planet.

 

I have to say, this place is pretty big. I did a lot of walking to and from places.

 

So, the day. We started off with a breakfast at Denny's before heading off on our longest drive of our adventure: one hour, twenty minutes. We got to the park about 9:15ish, and were dropped off before heading to the main entrance. We got our bags checked and hit up the front of the line. Couldn't use our gold passes to get special entry because we got them at SFNE not MM. That kinda sucked. After an hour's wait, we were let in to the park and immediately went to FP processing to cash in our vouchers. I had purchased them online, but the people working the registers had trouble processing them. It took a while, but we got it all sorted out and I headed to TNR. I decided to go non-VR, and since I didn't know about the single rider line, I wasted almost 45 minutes waiting in line since it wasn't covered on a gold FP. After my ride (and first Schwarzkopf credit), Josh and I took the tram up the mountainside to fill our drink cups and ride Gold Rusher.

 

Following that, we walked towards DC Land as I cried internally over Riddler's repaint and closure. I started my DC Tour with my first ever ride on a Batman: The Ride clone, followed by Green Lantern (guess which one I liked better, I dare you!). Following that, we departed DC land and headed into Screampunk. I have to say, this was a cool area. There were no actors, regrettably, but it had some decent theming around the area. I got my credits on Scream and TC before getting a turkey sandwich for lunch. After we ate, we walked the hill up to Samurai Summit and did my second non-FP line for Superman

 

Can I take a minute here to appreciate the sense of humor these operators have? Like, when we were launching on Superman, instead of a countdown, the op pointed to the ceiling and said "Look!", like there was something important there. Half of my brain said "Ooooh, what's there?" while the other half said "Oh crap". Later, on Full Throttle, the op asked us "Okay, do you want a countdown or a surprise?" Me, being naive, shouted out "Countdown!" and two seconds later, thought, "You idiot" as we launched.

 

Okay back to the day. So, I had the seat on Superman on the far right of the right side track where the right side of the seat has a hollow cap that comes down with the restraint, essentially trapping my right arm inside it. It wasn't uncomfortable, just strange. After Superman, Josh and I did two rides in a row on a walk-on Ninja. Front row was like a 3-min wait!!! Kudos to two train operations on this baby. Quick story, when we did front row, my arm got jammed while pulling the restrain down, and I had to deal with that the whole ride. Not fun. After Ninja, I walked down to my first ever flying credit: Tatsu. Yeah, I took a biggie and baddie for this one. After that, I walked past the rapids ride to my first GCI: Apocalypse.

 

Following that, I headed to conquer the double-whammy Arrow package up front: Viper and X2. I had a one-time FP for X2, so I practically walked right into the station. After almost graying out on X2, I rested for a bit and ate a Chicken Strips package for dinner. Finally, to round out my day, I summoned all my last remaining strength and courage to tackle the Koaster Kids #bebravechallenge on Full Throttle. No regrets, I liked it. I could've done Goliath, but my friend's dad was close to picking us up, and the wait was going to be too long. So, regrettably, I exited the park, still happy with myself. 13 new coaster credits in 8.5 hours, including meal and bathroom breaks.

 

REVIEWS

 

The New Revolution (x1): 7/10 I now understand why people like Schwarzkopf coasters. He definitely knows how to make smooth track. That said, over time, these things do develop a slight rattle. Nothing crazy, I just felt a little something as the train went about its course. Like how it uses the terrain and the loop is great. Lap bars make for a much better experience. Went non-VR, so can't rate that experience, but it is a sort of introduction to inversions kind of coaster

 

Gold Rusher (x1): 5/10 Not the best mine train I've been on. It's got a rattle (Arrow, duh), but it does use the terrain pretty well. Not overly impressed, but calm ride to relax yourself during the day.

 

Batman The Ride (x1): 9/10 Holy crap, Six Flags cloned a good ride. This thing is forceful. Those loops are fast and furious, you are tossed around nonstop, and some of those turns shove you into your seat. Fast and Furious (*cough* Vin Diesel *cough*). I love this thing, and am looking forward to riding another at Great Adventure. Could be a bit longer, though....

 

Green Lantern (x1): 3/10 Going into this, I did not see the problem with ZacSpins. Now, I realize what the issue is. First word I said to Josh upon exiting: Ow. The forces when you flip under yourself slam you forwards and backwards. Not comfortable like on an S&S Free Spin, but jerky and uncomfortable. Not Intamin's best idea. I'll ride for a credit, but I think that's it.

 

Scream (x1): 8/10 This is just a fun floorless coaster. I haven't done Gr.Adv. Bizarro yet, but I'm looking forward to it since it's a mirror image of this baby. I love the inversions, the dive loop is so fun, and this is all around a great ride. No real B&M rattle to it, either. I'm a fan of floorless.

 

Twisted Colossus (x1): 9/10 Blue side is better, I got to say it. More airtime, more fun. This thing is INFINITELY better when it races. On the blue side, my train raced almost perfectly. When we got to the green side, the ops were super slow, so no luck on the race. The stall is fun, but it's so much more underwhelming when there's no racing. Still a great RMC, though. I don't not like it at all.

 

Superman: Escape From Krypton (x1): 7/10 It's short. That's kinda the worst part. Other than that, I am a fan. Pretty decent hangtime when you pause before descending back down the tower, fun launch, comfy seats despite no cushions. I approve.

 

Ninja (x2): 7/10 Favorite suspended by far (I've only ridden this and Iron Dragon, so.....yeah). Great forces during the turns, love the setting over water, sometimes you get spritzed by Jet Stream which can be kinda fun. Legroom on these things is SOOOOOOOOOOOO relieving. Nice family cool down ride. Better than Gold Rusher.

 

Tatsu (x1): 10/10 HOLY CRAP WTF JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!?! I've never ridden a flying coaster, even a Superman: Ultimate Flight model, but this thing is NUTS. Those inversions flip you everywhere, the view is great, and that pretzel loop. WTF?!?! It is enormous. I grayed out when the train curved through the bottom. Those forces are nuts as they shove you backwards into your seat. Restraints are comfy, layout is great. I see practically no wrongs with this beast.

 

Apocalypse (x1): 7/10 First thing first, I know the rattle people talk about, but I didn't have too much of a problem with it. Granted, I've never ridden any other GCI, but this was pretty fun. No real airtime, so to say, but you are flying from start to finish. Great pacing, fast ride. I like this woodie.

 

Viper (x1): 6/10 I'll come right out and say it: I felt barely any rattle on this Arrow looper. No, I am not crazy. This didn't have a rattle. The inversions were kinda forceful, liked the hangtime on the corkscrews, and I got a pop of ejector air as we left the MCBR to get into the, batwing, I think? Not a bad Arrow coaster.

 

X2 (x1): 9/10 Yep, I'm a fan. This is forceful and fast. Sure, the seat rotations are controlled, but oh my god, S&S/Arrow got it just right. At the bottom of the first drop, you are shoved into your seat as you curl upwards into................whatever that is. Great color scheme, fun ride. Could be longer. I felt no rattle at all, AND I grayed out a bit. WTF?

 

Full Throttle (x1): 7/10 This is just a fun ride. I hunched myself in at the loop, so I forced myself to feel zero hangtime, but I'm pretty sure there was plenty. The dive loop and backwards launch are great. If you sit in the back, you not only get airtime at the dive loop during the backwards launch, you are yanked over the top hat at the end into a quick pop of ejector air. It is insane and awesome!

 

PHOTO TIME!!

Look in the distance.....

I was trying to get a pic of Knotts

Landscape

Recognize a certain tower?

We're here!

X2!

I didn't ride you.

I rode you.....

More X2

Traffic

Not a fan of the metal gates

Why did I even take Goliath pics?

That's better

An enthusiast's best friend at Six Flags

Yay Scream!

Fun loop

I approve of SFMM

Lex Luthor broke down during the day, and I couldn't get back to it. :'(

I'm a sucker for dive loops

Hi-ya!

Revolution

Trees obscured Tatsu pics

I like you

Loop de loop

Obligatory MM pic

Second attempt

That's big.....

That's a wrap for Magic Mountain! Tomorrow: Disneyland

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

GREAT REPORT! I'm looking forward to the rest of your journey!

[SoCalJasonland]

Nice trip report and I agree with you assessment that there are some great coaster there. Tatsu is nuts.

[sfriday1998]

So, for the last day of my California Trip, I embarked, armed with a park hopper pass, to the one, the only, Disneyland Resort. I mean, I was staying in Anaheim. This was kinda obligatory. I couldn't take a lot of pics because of crowds and desire to get in a lot of rides, so here we go.

 

After a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, Josh and I left on an Anaheim Resort Transportation (ART) bus to Disney's California Adventure. That's the smaller of the two parks, and it closes earlier, so we can get credits there first and have more time later at Disneyland. We arrived shortly after opening, and therefore got caught in a long line to get our tickets checked. After getting that done, we headed all the way to Paradise Pier so I could ride California Screamin'. The line was insanely long, so I hacked the system, so to say, and went in the single rider line. Only a 15 minute wait, totally worth it. Following that, we got on Toy Story Mania.

 

After that, we went and rode a swinging gondola on Mickey's Fun Wheel, which is basically a carbon copy of the Denos Wonder Wheel at Luna Park. After that, we waited in a longer line than necessary for Goofy's Sky School, before eating lunch (Good pizza) and hitting up Jellyfish Drop. Sue me, we wanted to do it! Anyways, we then went to Cars Land for the Mater tractor ride, whatever it's called, and single rider on Radiator Springs Racers. We then left there and waited 75 minutes for Guardians of the Galaxy. Gotta say, this was fantastic!

 

Following that, we departed California Adventure and crossed over to Disneyland, immediately encountering tough crowds. We shouldered through them to the single rider line at Indiana Jones. After that, we waited an hour for Big Thunder Mountain when the sign had said 35 minutes. We were not happy. Then, we immediately booked it to Tomorrowland for a 90-minute wait for Space Mountain. By the time we got out, it was about 7, so we dined at the nearby cafe. Good spaghetti. After, we had a 20-minute wait on Star Tours, followed by a mad dash over to Matterhorn. However, the single rider line was not open, so we decided to go to Splash Mountain. But, we got blocked by the electrical parade, which wasn't a big deal. That parade is awesome! After they passed, I rode solo on Splash Mountain, waited for the fireworks to pass, and then Josh and I got our last rides of the trip in the single rider line for Matterhorn. Finally, we shopped at Downtown Disney, took an ART bus to the hotel, and went to sleep.

 

NEXT DAY

We got up, ate a breakfast at iHop, returned our rented car, and then took a 6-hour flight back to Boston. I said my good-byes, took a Logan Express to Framingham, and my mother drove me home

 

REVIEWS

California Screamin (x1): 10/10 I loved this ride. Smooth, great launch, good airtime moments. As Robb said in his California Screamin' video, "Airtime at Disney!" This was just fun. The operations are fast, the seats are comfy, I have no complaints here.

 

Mickey's Fun Wheel (x1): 7/10 A lot more swinging than I expected. This was very rocky, yet smooth. Calm yet intense at the same time. Strange in a good way

 

Toy Story Mania (x1): 8/10 First of all, I got creamed, score-wise. Other than that, I liked this. The shooting mechanisms are odd and can cause your score to falter a bit, but the animations, the settings, the ride itself, all great.

 

Goofy's Sky School (x1): 6/10 It's a Wild Mouse, nothing too spectacular. This was my first Mack Wild Mouse, and I approve much more than Maurer.

 

Jellyfish Drop (x1): 4/10 Kiddy ride, no explanation needed

 

Mater's Tractor Thingy (What was it called again?) (x1): 5/10 Like the spinning aspect, but just mediocre "eh"

 

Radiator Springs Racers (x1): 8/10 It's the theming. The indoor element, the racing, the cars, all of it comes together nicely.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout (x1): 10/10 SO MUCH FLOATING! I don't want to call it "airtime", but it was airtime. You are always either shoved into your seat or floating up above it. The theming, the forces, OMG this is awesome!

 

Indiana Jones and the Forbidden Temple (x1): 9/10 Indy's the man. I really enjoy the darker portions of this ride, especially the snake temple.

 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (x1): 6/10 Personal favorite mine train. It's a fairly smooth Arrow, nothing fancy except the Disney theming

 

Space Mountain (x1): 9/10 The indoor aspect really helps, as you fly through the stars. Kid in front of me filmed the whole ride on his cell phone, and Disney didn't flip at him for it. Kind of odd, but whatever.

 

Star Tours (x1): 7/10 Just plain fun. I love the storyline, the Star Wars cut scenes, etc. It's short, though.

 

Splash Mountain (x1): 6/10 Not that wet of a water ride. Great theming, though

 

Matterhorn Bobsleds (x1): 4/10 Yeah, this was a rough ride. It's old and rattly. The only good part is the Yeti, flying through the mountain, and the splashdown.

 

 

FINAL PHOTOS!

Sorry for lack of pictures. I was busy riding a bunch of stuff.

Cool Ferris Wheel

Yeah, most of these are of California Screamin'

Scream tunnel

Shady

And that is it for California! Hope you all enjoyed. Stay tuned as I am tentatively going to Six Flags Great Adventure for the first time this summer!