The Great Zo Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) CONTENTS: Part 1 -- Intro / Knott's Berry Farm (Page 1) Part 2 -- Six Flags Magic Mountain (Page 3) Part 2.5 -- The The Angels Angels of Anaheim (Page 4) Part 3 -- Disneyland Day 1: Disney California Adventure (Page 5) Part 4 -- Disneyland Day 2: Disneyland Park (Page 6) Part 5 -- Disneyland Day 3: Disneyland Odds and Ends (Page 7) Part 6 -- Disneyland Day 4: Disneyland Grand Finale (Page 8) Part 7 -- Heading South... (coming soon) --------------------------------- Hello TPR! Time to get started with a new trip report from my first-ever adventure to southern California! Yep, just like it says on the image above. So glad they built that sign just for me. Admittedly I haven't been on the forum that much in the past couple months, with things just getting really busy with travel -- TPR-related and otherwise! But I've tried to catch up and read some of the things I've missed. Let's see, there was... * That guy who was totally obsessed with traveling fair rides (my favorite since that wave pool pressure chamber guy...) * Another round of absolutely useless golden ticket awards... * The big news that the Long Beach Cyclone Racer is coming back! Super excited! Oh, and I caught up on some of the other trip reports that have been posted along the way. A few favorites I want to give a shout to -- Erik and Smisty's Vancouver Oddventure, Rai Fox's week at a Knoebels cottage, and The Ytterbium Analysis. Give 'em a read if you haven't already! Oh, and I'd be remiss not to mention the 2018 TPR US trip reports by Zach and Bert, which chronicle two busy weeks from my summer. Those of you who were on the trip with me might be wondering about this, but for now I'm not planning to write a trip report from it. I'm focusing my efforts on this one, and can't wait to share a ton of great photos from a really fun journey. If you've read some of my other TRs, you'll know what to expect from this one -- a mix of theme parks and other adventures, and sixteen metric tons of pictures. Hope you enjoy it! --------------------------------- First, a little about how this California trip came about, because it's been in the works for several years. I'd been wanting to make my first trip to California at some point, and was hoping to time it out for West Coast Bash. Meanwhile, I'd settled into a once-every-three-years schedule for taking a Walt Disney World trip with my family, and the last one was in 2015. We'd discussed visiting Disneyland at some point, and eventually decided to shoot for 2018, during our favorite time to travel in September. So, the challenge -- could I get the stars to align and do West Coast Bash, a family trip to Disneyland, and a lengthy period of time for my own vacationing, all on the same trip? Well, if you're reading this, then I guess it worked out. Before I go any further, a huge thanks to John (coasterlvr) who put me up ... or put up with me? ... for the first few days in California. After two years of TPR trips, I knew John wasn't going to try to kill me or anything. And he didn't! John, you're a hero! Here's a short intro to chronicle the travel on the first day. If you're looking for Knott's, just scroll down a little bit! September 7, 2018 I departed from Columbus. I'll be sure to tell Zach it's because it's his favorite airport -- but really it's just because they had $5 long-term parking, which is too cheap to pass up. Goodbye to cow-town. Creative cropping. Oh, and I got delayed on my flight out. So what's a weary traveler to do? Find the Jeni's vending machine... ...and eat ice cream for breakfast. The statue of George H W Bush means I'm in connecting through Houston. New airport credit. You know how airports have public art displays all over the place? I'm so glad that I ran across this nightmare fuel. Oh, and now it's storming, and I'm delayed /again/. THANKS ANDY. But, there's a rainbow at the end of every rain cloud. Finally, my first view of the mountains of southern California. Boy, that tall one on the left side of the picture looks interesting. Another statue -- this one is John Wayne, which means I flew into Orange County so I wouldn't have to deal with LAX. More airport public art. Here's a Pikachu made out of groceries. vWhat's a visitor to do on their first day in California? Find the Pacific Ocean! John and I headed to Huntington Beach. HB stands for Huntington Beach. I spell things out like this so they can be easily understood. A long walk on a long pier. ZOLTAR SPEAKS! It's an ocean I've never seen before! That's kind of a big deal. Oh, and we timed it out for sunset, which I figured would be great. Yep, first day of the trip and I'm already doing cheesy artistic shots like this one. Platforms and boats way in the hazy distance. Catch the fish. Well, maybe this isn't the most beautiful stretch of beach in the state... Waves heading to shore. Another one of my trip report staples -- birds. Wind/surf on the choppy ocean. An orange glow on the shore. Notice that few people are really swimming. Maybe it's because the ocean is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, I know that's not really possible, but whatever. Surfing, the right way. Surfing, the wrong way. The sunset starts to reflect off the beach! It's almost as shiny as John's head! Not the only ones there watching it. Sunset sequence, part 1. Sunset sequence, part 2. Sunset sequence, part 3. Sunset sequence, part 4. Clouds on the horizon, so didn't exactly get to see it go over the water, but not bad for the first day in the state. Oh, and then we headed up to Buena Park and went to Porto's for dinner. And that's the second time I have to thank Zach in this post, isn't it? Ugh. Well thanks, Zach! You steered us right! Porto's is magnificent, even if I'm still confused as to how a business like this is so stinkin' busy all the time! Edited February 1, 2019 by The Great Zo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) Part 1 -- Knott's Berry Farm / West Coast Bash Day 1 September 8, 2018 Knott's Berry Farm is a park I've heard about for a long time -- Xcelerator's groundbreaking launch, the well-themed mine train and log flume, GhostRider's prevalence on coaster TV shows many years ago, and boysenberry everything. I'd have to miss out on GhostRider, which was down for maintenance, but the rest of the park was open for business. I'll start by showing off the design on the shirt we got at the event, plus our lanyard / schedule for the day. Yep, we started things off with a full two hours of ERT, and did most of our rides on HangTime and Xcelerator -- in my opinion, the two best coasters at the park. After ERT was done, we started to make a loop to pick up the rest of the coasters, before realizing ... oh wait, we're about to be late for the TPR group photo! Where the heck is the wagon camp? Well, we were late, but somehow we snuck into the photo just in time. From there we actually did go through the rest of the big rides at the park, exempting a couple of the coasters that would be on the evening ERT. With so much already knocked out of the way in the first few hours, we opted not to get Fast Lane passes, which ended up working out fine. Some of the big rides had decent lines in the middle of the afternoon, but we just skipped 'em until later. I got my boysenberry fix in the form of a stuffed Churro. It was tasty, overly expensive, and looked kinda grotesque. We also got evacuated off the brake run on Mystery Lodge ... do I have that right? Or was it the lift hill, John? Well, something broke, and we didn't get to watch the show. Our group lunch was entertaining, mainly because we learned that over-enthused young teenage kids would pretty much do anything to win a used coaster wheel. I wouldn't recommend following their example. John was sad he didn't get a wheel, but personally I'm glad he wasn't willing to do what was necessary to win one. Did you know that if Jeff Tucker tells someone to pick up a glob of cole slaw with their bare hand, and stuff it in their pocket, they'll actually do it? Jeff is one powerful, powerful guy. With most of the rides out of the way, the afternoon and early evening was mainly spent doing photography, wandering around, and just enjoying the day. We did finally get to enjoy the magical wonders of Mystery Lodge, which ran successfully in the early evening. Oh, and we finally rode the train, which we'd missed twice already due to downtime. Evening Exclusive Ride Time was very, very exclusive. We used that time to finish the run on the coasters, ending on Silver Bullet. After two rides on the most intense B&M Invert ever built, we were totally exhausted, and ready to call it a night. How was Knott's? I really liked the park. I was surprised at how well the park feels insulated from the outside world surrounding it, despite being enclosed by the gridded streets of a very busy area. The theming is very nice, especially by Cedar Fair standards. I'd say it's the nicest looking Cedar Fair park on its own merits, though Cedar Point has to win when the surroundings are factored in. Knott's isn't a huge park, and you'll definitely only need one day there, even for a first time visitor. However, the slate of attractions is very well rounded, even when considering family attractions and the park's kids area. In fact, I really loved the cohesiveness of the kids area, right down to the ride signs that all shared the same branding. Put simply, despite being a corporate park, Knott's does a really good job disguising that fact. I do think there's room to improve the dining options, which is a pretty typical complaint about any Cedar Fair / Six Flags park. We've seen some small steps in the right direction at places like Cedar Point and Kings Dominion, so hopefully that's a sign of things to come. Alternatively, I probably should have thought about actually eating at Mrs. Knott's to get some fresh fried chicken -- perhaps that might have changed my opinion. I do love the proliferation of boysenberry-flavored items, though. It's a unique thing for Knott's! How were the rides? Xcelerator -- I was not expecting this ride to be this good. I looked at it and figured it'd feel like Storm Runner's launch with a less-interesting second half. Wow, was I wrong about the launch. The initial jolt on this thing is absolutely crazy -- way more intense than even TTD or Kingda Ka. It messed up my insides every single time I rode, and I think I rode it at least 7 or 8 times. The curves on the second half of the ride were more intense than I was expecting, too. This was my favorite ride at the park, and probably slots just into my top 30 overall. HangTime -- When I first saw this ride's layout, I wondered if it'd be sort of like a mini-Kärnan, given the presence of a few similar elements. Kärnan, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is probably the most underrated coaster on the planet simply because no one ever talks about it, and it's insane. Well, HangTime is not Kärnan, and its name should have been a clue. Kärnan takes its elements at speed, to produce an crazy-intense ride. HangTime takes them slowly, to provide ... well, hang time. That's not a bad thing -- this is a really fun coaster! It's got a fun first drop, some cool twists and turns, and it's the only coaster that I know of that ends with a cobra roll. I can't believe there are people out there who don't think of this as a "major" coaster. It's a big deal if you ask me, and it's definitely worth multiple rides. Silver Bullet -- Alright, this ride gets too much grief due to its ramp of a first drop. I forgot about that part pretty quickly, because the rest of it is quite fun! It's far from my favorite B&M Invert, and maybe I would have liked it a little more if I weren't so dead tired, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Sierra Sidewinder -- I've been on D'wervelwind at Toverland, another ride of the same type, so I knew what to expect out of this one. It spins, it has a more creative layout than a lousy spinning mouse, and it's well worth your time for a ride or two. Montezooma's Revenge -- My third Schwarzkopf shuttle loop! I really like these, though the backwards inversion keeps me from loving them, since I just don't love backwards stuff that much. Jaguar! -- Yes, I do believe the exclamation point is part of the ride name! I love these Zierer super-long-train coasters! Frankly, I found the trains rather uncomfortable, but I enjoyed going all around that part of the park and checking out the views on the way! Exclamation point! Another one! Pony Express -- Meh. Just glad to get this out of the way before the line got too long. Coast Rider -- It's a mouse. A really, really tame mouse. Supreme Scream -- It's an S&S tower. Sky Cabin -- Ooh, an ob tower with windows that make it almost impossible to get good pictures out of? Of course I had to ride it twice, take about 300 pictures, and then use maybe 5 of them in this trip report because they all came out so awful. Mystery Lodge -- You know what, I was impressed with the special effects. When that cloaked guy appeared, I had no idea where he came from. The best part was getting to see the intro twice in one day! Voyage to the Iron Reef -- Eh, I liked it, but it felt a little over-complicated, I guess? The ride vehicles were weird, and a couple of the screens weren't allowing any shots to be fired. That was odd, and it probably hurt my score. I'm glad Cedar Fair decided to try a ride like this, but I can't help but feel that the next day's park had the better shooter... Timber Mountain Log Ride and Calico Mine Ride -- Absolutely loved them both. I was really excited for both of these rides, especially with the work put in to restore them in recent years. There's simply no reason to expect to find dark rides as good as these at a Cedar Fair park, but these are outstanding. If the lines were a little shorter I'd have loved to ride each of these again, and they'll be a priority for whenever I visit next. Edited October 15, 2018 by The Great Zo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) Pictures from Knott's -- Part 1! Knott's Foggy Farm. Can barely see the top of the S&S tower! The fog was gone pretty quickly, though. More bird pictures. What's with all of them hanging out near the Knott's parking lot? The TPR group gathers! Single file line, please. And now, we enter the park. It was not yet time for Knott's Scary Farm. Those berries are everywhere. Nature shot on the way into the park! Where to begin? How about with HangTime, the new hotness? Yeah, so here's about where I realize that a TPR bash is not a TPR trip. When I hold up my camera to a coaster full of riders on the brake run on a TPR trip, everyone goes crazy and smiles and waves their hands. When I hold up my camera to a coaster full of people I don't know at a TPR bash, they just kinda ... sit there. Oh well. Anyway, back to HangTime. Or is it Hang Time? Or does it matter? Silhouetted in the morning light. The big non-inversion near the start of the ride is fun. This is what ERT looks like -- plenty of room on the HangTime cars! A bit of twisting at the top of that element! Oh, and there's James, who I hadn't seen since the 2013 TPR trip. Hi James! Now we're inverting. Here's the ride's first "hang time" moment -- hanging off the top of the lift. Almost everyone with their hands up. Guy in the front row is all "ok, so when do we drop?" More happy WCB riders! And now they're upside-down! Flat view through the supports. Alright, let's head past these mini-lakes on over to Xcelerator. Quite the reflection. Almost looks like someone painted the coaster on the sidewalk. A ha, this is the spot for some Intamin awesomeness! The big launch up! The big drop back down! Nice paint job on these trains, too. This is a pretty speedy ride, and it shows. So, how about some facts about the coaster? It was the original Intamin hydraulic launch coaster, opening in 2002 -- two years before Dragster destroyed Cedar Point's maintenance budget. Trying to figure out why there's no one in the front row ... oh, there it is! A GoPro! Yep, there was filming being done, and I can't wait to see the footage. More WCB riders. I'm posting a lot from the morning ERT because I hope TPR people find themselves in the pics! Oh, and this ride has the classic Intamin T-bar restraints, which are very comfortable. Cresting the top hat. A selfie-rider-cam in the making! Xcelerator is ... very pink. Not that there's anything wrong with pink, it's just ... wasn't it red at one point? For those wondering, most of these pictures were taken from the queue, which was basically empty during our ERT. Very easy to get some nice angles of the ride. For those of you who need to catch your breath and/or contemplate existence after a ride on Xcelerator. Oh, hey John and Zach Z! And some other guy I don't know in the middle. Sorry, other guy. Palm trees, roller coasters, and the LA Lakers. Must be in California. No editing needed to get these crisp blue and green colors. If only the coaster weren't so faded, lol... Spying HangTime through the Xcelerator track! Alright, moving over to pick up a case of Montezooma's Revenge... Launch through the little ring of lights. Heading up the back spike! A little bit of airtime if you sit in the far back. Funny that this is sort of a Mexican-themed shuttle loop, when I've also been on a shuttle loop /in/ Mexico. Our final ride on the morning ERT was the S&S tower, Supreme Scream. It's a tall tower, which I believe was running a drop program. During the afternoon, I caught it running all three towers. Just one for the morning, which was plenty enough for the ERT. They are supremely screaming. Inappropriate picture up the leg of the tower. With morning ERT done, we began our loop of the park's other rides, starting at the low-capacity Coast Rider. Yep, it's a mouse, and it had to have been the tamest mouse I've ever been on. Even the hairpin turns up top were pretty forceless. Voyage to the Iron Reef was an interesting ride. I scored 123,900. I didn't even come close to matching that guy who has 4 of the top 5 high scores of all time. But whatever. I tried to hit a lot of those golden compass things. Is this any good? Let me know! The Calico Logging Company... ...home of the Timber Mountain Log Ride. It has a drop! It has a lift hill! It also has lots of cool stuff on the inside that I didn't try to take pictures of. But enjoy a few pictures of people on the drop, because these are always fun. The selfie-boat! The scared-couples-boat! They all made it through alright. And now, the TPR boats! We are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...Robb is on a log flume... ...Robb and two fanboys are on a log flume... Moving across the midway to the Calico Mine Company. This is a fantastic dark ride! First, you board a little train. The vehicle is set up like little mine carts with seating around the edges. Just one picture from the inside, where we stopped in this big cave of wonders, which was pretty awesome. The Knott's train (officially the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad) had itself a busy day. When it was running, the lines were pretty long. It also had some downtime. Baldwin Locomotive Works, this thing outlived all of you! Taking a look at some of the theming around the park. Don't go crossing this half-dead outlaw. Pumpkins and small animal skeletons! A huge Halloween display appears to have taken over this fountain. I love observation towers, but as for the Knott's Sky Cabin, well... I got a few good pictures, but it was a struggle. Hey, getting Xcelerator at the top is pretty good timing. Especially because it was one of a few rides that weren't exactly dispatching too quickly. A look down at Silver Bullet, the final coaster credit I'd pick up late that night. Just a bit of hang time. Kind of a neat view of HangTime, basically flush with the two big elements after the drop. Knott's history! Walter Knott had a farm! They had berries! How could anyone have guessed? So, I got a boysenberry-filled churro. I took this picture and immediately laughed because, well, um, it looks kinda funky. I really should have named this 'hello.jpg'. ...and if you get that reference, have mercy on your soul. Anyway, back to the coasters, here's some Pony Express. It's the second one of these I've been on, after Steeplechase at Coney Island. People seem to love to "ride the pony" on these rides. The gimmicky seating arrangement is, to be honest, a little uncomfortable. Hey, look! A better coaster in the background! Bigfoot Rapids! It's a rapids ride! Which means I didn't go on because I didn't feel like risking a soaking. I did try to take pictures, though. It wasn't easy -- there aren't a lot of good places to get pictures of this one. It didn't look like the best rapids ride in the world, anyway. Well, these guys look like they're about to tip over. Not a ton of big splashes -- sort of have to hit the waves just right. We headed on over to Mystery Lodge, where we were absolutely mystified. Edited October 15, 2018 by The Great Zo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) Pictures from Knott's -- Part 2! Holy crap, this is a lot of pictures! No pictures allowed in the main show at Mystery Lodge, so I got this one before the pre-show began. I think this was from the first time we went through it. I was probably catching up on Twitter the second time. Like any western-themed park, there is a graveyard. Ha! It's an earthquake joke! Knott's has some history, too. This building is the Rivera School. It's a registered historic landmark dating back to 1868! Nearby, the Old School House is almost as old. "In recognition of the value to our nation of the education provided by the one-room schoolhouse, this plaque is placed on an original one built in 1879, near Beloit, Kansas." Woah, cool, back when our nation valued education! Class was in session! One ride I didn't get to go on was the stagecoach. I'm still kind of bewildered that a major theme park has a horse-drawn stagecoach ride. This is something I'd expect to see in Europe, but much less so here! Here's the post office, and the general store... ...and the jail, which I dared not enter. The "Shootin Gallre" at the Silver Dollar. And Judge Roy Bean's office, which sold bottles of coke instead of handing out jail sentences. These cowboys are just a'waitin' for someone to take their picture. Aw, but GhostRider, you were missed. Someday I will return to tame your wild curves and drops. Mrs. Knott, that's one fine chicken you have there. Hey, our photo lap has made it back to the front gate! These two just kept dancing all day long. A map of indian homelands, which should probably serve as a reminder that we weren't the first ones here. Snoopy clock! So, I got a picture of the Sierra Sidewinder sign! And then I realized I didn't actually have any pictures of Sierra Sidewinder. Sorry. I do have a picture of the park's tiny Ferris wheel. Here's what all the ride signs look like in Camp Snoopy -- it's the best cohesive theme I've seen at any of the Cedar Fair parks. Yep, it's a kiddie coaster. Nope, I didn't ride it. Jaguar(!) though, I did ride. And it was good. I mean, this is pretty impressive -- there's a lot of detail on the top of this pyramid. Not exactly Epcot World Showcase quality, but quite nice. Fun fact: this train can hold 400 riders at once. I love that Jaguar! has an exclamation point! right in the name of the ride! Oh, hey, I guess I did get a picture of Sierra Sidewinder. And I remember being really upset because Montezooma ran like 3 seconds after I took this picture, meaning I was /that/ close to getting a three-train shot. The Mexican-themed area was cute, and very colorful. Anyone want to Klobber a Kat? Alright, where's Bert and Laura? I got some carousel pics for you. It's a goat! I think! This carousel was originally at Hershey! Then it moved to Ohio! Then, like anyone with half a lick of sense, it moved out of Ohio! Hey, it's Silver Bullet! Which isn't actually silver! Well, alright, the supports are silver. Actually, I thought the ride looked great -- bright colors against a crisp blue sky. And green palm trees, because California. I kept wondering, though -- why are the first five rows teal and orange, while the last three rows are teal and yellow? The big helix near the end over the water. This is a good way to end an invert! Looking at you, Great Bear! After that photo lap, it was about time for our group lunch. West Coast Bash! 3:00pm - 4:30pm. That's us! Prizes! AKA "crap the maintenance department was about to throw out but decided to give away instead!" We've got wheels! We've got more wheels! But John doesn't have wheels! Poor John! And we've got Jeff Tucker, who kept the crowd engaged with stories and jokes and banter. You might even find his voice on one of the attractions in the park! So, how do you win a wheel? You ... win a "best Owen Wilson impression" contest? Seriously. I'm not even joking. And here's your winner, putting all those youngsters to shame! If that doesn't work, you can win the official WCB dance-off! I think this is ... some kind of interpretive dance? Perhaps "pitcher on the mound with a broken elbow?" This must be the "pretending I'm on Tatsu at SFMM" dance. Boy, that whole prize session was, uh, something else. Yeah. It was something else. Anyway, let's head back to the park, where the green flag is flying at HangTime! Palm tree / coaster juxtaposition #207... Just dropping by the boardwalk... Palm tree / coaster juxtaposition #462... Love the curvature on the track in this one! Are we flashing some signs at the top of the lift? John, what say you? HangTime first drop reaction shots are where it's at! This is the photo goldmine at Knott's! Even if I never got anything as good as Griffon Lady (may that picture never again see the light of day, lol) I was quite happy with the results here. The calm before the drop. Tough shot -- I think this was the little double-down bump above the queue entrance, and the cars are moving pretty fast at that point! More crazy hairtime and fun reactions. Oh, and I think I got Zach Z in this shot! Different angle -- this one from the queue, right under the drop. Those are some screams, I tell ya. A few of these people appear to be in some kind of pain. The weird angle of the hang at the top of the first drop sometimes presents a bit of a "Cousin Itt" effect. I hope Gerstlauer makes more coasters like HangTime. It's a lot of fun, wasn't overly expensive, and doesn't take up too much real estate. Alright, last HangTime pic for now! Finally got on the train in the evening. It was a good ride. We got robbed. That part was funny. Edited October 15, 2018 by The Great Zo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) Pictures from Knott's -- Part 3! And now, the long-exposure night pictures segment of the post! I had enough time before ERT that I was basically able to do a full lap of the park with my Gorillapod, getting long-exposure pictures of anything I could find that looked interesting. I couldn't ride GhostRider, but I am pretty happy with this picture of it. I think there's actually a train going by on this Silver Bullet picture, but you can't see it. You can kinda barely see it on this one. Let me continue my crusade that all coasters need running lights. The yellow really stands out nicely against the dark blue sky. Last Silver Bullet shot -- the lift hill and the super-steep drop! Colorful lights in the Mexican section of the park. The Jaguar! pyramid is lit up! in soft blue! Sol Spin -- a Top Scan -- is basically made for long-exposure shots like this. Here's one at the end of the ride cycle, as the arms of the ride are settling back down. The only problem was that several of Knott's flat rides (including this one) were running very short ride cycles. Not great for the riders, and it made photography a little tricky. I basically could only get two pictures of Sol Spin per cycle. Xcelerator is lit up for the evening. Oh, and so is HangTime, and wow... ...this is a beautiful ride at night. The full-track lighting package is stunning. Not that it's evident in these pictures, but the lighting changes color as the coaster vehicle goes through each section of track! It's a really awesome effect. The strings of lights from under the ride look fantastic. RESTRICTED AREA. DO NOT ENTER. Avoiding the crowds in pictures like these required some careful (and lucky) timing. A back view of HangTime, with the SkyCabin tower behind it. The dark rides were looking fantastic at night as well. The rock work was all done up in orange and red. Very rustic. The on-ride photo flash made for an odd effect on this log flume picture. The train is steamin'. I even got a picture of the entrance to Mystery Lodge, because why not? I went looking for any more "spinny" rides I could find, because you get weird effects like this one -- it's the Balloon Race ride in Camp Snoopy. The concentric circles of the Ferris wheel. The bright yellow of the Wave Swinger. The odd conic shape of the flyers. It's not easy being green. Alright, it wasn't all photography -- we rode some coasters, too. I caught John and Zach Z on HangTime! (because they stayed on an extra cycle without telling me, while I walked out the exit!) Meanwhile, plenty of empty seats on Xcelerator. Fun fact -- on my first Xcelerator ride, I didn't realize you launched right from the station. Boy was that quite the jolt. A view of HangTime from the Silver Bullet station, and that's the last picture of the day! Man, this was just what I needed -- a super-fun stress-free theme park day. Great people at a great park. Thanks for reading, and Part 2 at SFMM is coming soon! Edited October 15, 2018 by The Great Zo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThemeParkJunkie51290 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Loving it already! I'm sure the pictures are going to be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) these are some fantastic pictures! I know what i'm gonna be doing tomorrow instead of paying attention in work meetings. glad you had a great time, and will be back to comment more once I go thru all your pics!' EDIT: tho of COURSE this one caught my eye right away (beautiful, thank you for taking pics of it!). . and tho I'm tempted to say that is, indeed, a goat in the front. . . the Knott's write up of this classic Dentzel Carousel -- *which they call a Merry-Go-Round* mentions lots of other animals on it. . . doesn't mention goats. But it's gotta be a goat, right? Fun fact! this Carousel was originally located in Hershey Park, in Hershey Pennsylvania! In 1936, it moved to a park in Ohio, and moved to California by Walter Knott in 1955. (from a sign at the front of the Carousel when we were there 8 or so years ago ) Edited October 15, 2018 by bert425 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 First Impression: I am so in LOVVVVE with that t-shirt design for Knott's WCB Day! That's all I got for now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And now after reading through the whole TR.... WOW! Awesome report on your day at Knott's for WCB! So many wonderful shots. I am so looking forward to all (most/any) of this, when I return next year. I hope. Great TR, awesome photos and group shots, an engaging TR to read through, for sure. Thanks! And definitely looking forward to your take on the Magic Mountain, on the Sunday. FYI, when I attended WCB in 2016, it was the reverse.... MM on Sat. Knotts on Sunday. And it was a heatwave (90+F) up at MM, for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Awesome report! I agree 100% about Xcelerator's launch. It's one of the few that are so forceful that it causes my stomach to drop. And that's cool you got a picture with all three Supreme Scream towers going. It's rare to see all the towers open on the multi-legged S&S towers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prospekt88 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Great report! Unreal photos. Can't wait to see more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 So much hype for this trip and now we get a photo trip report, awesome! I'm so happy you got to Porto's. That place is heavenly. Love all the photos of the boardwalk and Knott's at night. It's a great park and even though you missed Ghostrider you got Xcelerator and that's definitely a win. Can't wait for the next update! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 But it's gotta be a goat, right? If it looks like a goat, acts like a goat, quacks like a goat... And it was a heatwave (90+F) up at MM, for myself. I think we bested that! Santa Clarita is basically in the desert! It's one of the few that are so forceful that it causes my stomach to drop. Almost like the most intense airtime hills do, but with the force in a different direction. So much hype for this trip... So much hype! I'd been waiting to get out to California for the longest time. It's just the craziest mix of things I look for in a vacation destination, all in one place. Parks, cities, mountains, beaches. Maybe not the traffic, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 This is a great start to this report Andy! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelwee Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Great report and pics! I'm in a few of these pics, so I hope you don't mind if I save them. It's too bad Ghostrider was closed this time around, as it's my second favorite coaster at KBF, behind Xcelerator. Hopefully, you'll make it back out here again to ride it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatekeeper Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Andy - as always, an awesome trip report! I love all of your photos and they're getting me hyped for next year's West Coast Bash. If TPR has it again in 2019, I will make every attempt to attend! I look forward to the Magic Mountain report as well. Take Care, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 Thanks guys! Great report and pics! I'm in a few of these pics, so I hope you don't mind if I save them. Not a problem! If you want bigger versions of any of them just let me know, these are obviously way sized-down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrlittle Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Andy, as always your photos are amazing. Great TR so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 Andy, as always your photos are amazing. Great TR so far. Thanks Ryan! Working on the next batch right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanthonyam Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I rode Hangtime for the first time a few days ago. I did not think I would be nervous at all, but when you just hang there in the front seat at the top with just that lapbar, I was freaking out! The rest seemed like a blur, too many inversions back to back, but still fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 I rode Hangtime for the first time a few days ago. I did not think I would be nervous at all, but when you just hang there in the front seat at the top with just that lapbar, I was freaking out! The rest seemed like a blur, too many inversions back to back, but still fun. The lapbar restraints definitely make it feel way more open than the B&M dive coasters! To me, that's one of the things I liked the most about HangTime -- the trains are very comfortable and open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) Part 2 -- Six Flags Magic Mountain / West Coast Bash Day 2 September 9, 2018 I've spent my whole life going to Cedar Point, a park that has billed itself as "America's Roller Coast" and the "Roller Coaster Capital of the World," among other things. Yet in those great days of the coaster wars, it was a property on the other side of the country that always seemed to be the foil to my midwestern home park's claims. In recent years, you probably won't find many arguments as for which park is the more well-rounded, or has the better overall collection of coasters. Still, when I'd heard even recently of people who considered this Californian destination their favorite park, I just had to see for myself. How would Six Flags Magic Mountain hold up? Did we have a Six Flags day? Welcome to Day 2 of West Coast Bash. Let's start with the agenda. So, this one was a really, really early morning -- a solid hour of driving to get from John's place to Six Flags in Valencia. Or is it Santa Clarita? Eh, whatever. It's in the desert north of LA somewhere. Before we even got to the gate, I ran into an issue. In six years of traveling with a Gorillapod for my camera, and going to tons of theme parks every year (usually with TPR) I ran into some overzealous security who wouldn't let it in. "We don't allow selfie sticks." "That's not a selfie stick." "Well, we don't allow, um, anything that connects to a camera." Whatever. With the West Coast Bash event ending at 8PM, I probably wasn't going to get many night pictures anyway. I took the Gorillapod back to the car. We're gonna dock a flag for that, so we're down to five. Check-in was next, and man, Robb and William have some epic levels of patience. "No, the registration table is not quite ready yet, we'll let you know when it is!" So, once we got in, it was off to begin our ERT! What better place to start than on Twisted Colossus? Very good ride. Best ride in the park. We even dueled for most of our ERT rides, or at least came close to it! It looks like it's tough to get the drops to match up exactly, but for the most part it was within a second or two. We got a spin on New Revolution -- or is it Revolution? Or Revolution Classic? I can't keep track of what they're calling it. Anyway, it was a perfectly fine ride on an old Schwarzkopf. Not the most exciting thing ever, but smooth and enjoyable. We headed over to Chop Six where the park was serving breakfast. Donuts and juice, not orange chicken and general tso's, just to clarify. And you know what, their donuts were quite enjoyable. X2 had just gone down for a break in the action, so we headed up to Tatsu, which was probably my second-most anticipated ride at the park. It delivered! So, uh, if I'm reading the Kings Island thread correctly, there are actually people who prefer Vekoma flyers to B&M flyers? You folks are insane. X2 opened back up, so, well, we experienced that. Yeah. It was an experience. I'll save that for the coaster review section below. With ERT complete, we headed to the front of the park and then began to make a lap around the place to take out the rest of the rides. John and I did not get Flash Passes, and this would work out just fine -- the park was not very crowded. It was a Sunday, which is a day you might expect to be somewhat busy. However, it was also close to 100 degrees. That might have kept some people at home. We started out by riding the Helpful Honda Express to the top of the hill. If that sentence doesn't make any sense to you, well, now you know: it's a funicular that sold out its naming rights to a car company. You're welcome. Ninja was running one train, so as we were already at the top of the magic mountain, we hopped on that first. From there, we hit up Superman, Gold Rusher, and all the coasters at the north end of the park. We basically walked right on to everything, maybe waiting a cycle or two for seating preferences. John headed back to the car for a break, Zach Z went to ride a few more things, and I did some photography. Then, John tried to get his meal plan put on his season pass, and had to run back and forth between two or three guest services locations while they tried to deflect responsibility to someone else. Yep, that was entertaining! Docking another flag. We're down to four. At 2:30 PM, we all met up for lunch. For this special lunch event, we were treated to a Q&A with park president Neal Thurman. Neal was a great speaker, and took a barrage of questions from the WCB attendees. Let me just suggest that this might not be the most advantageous time to complain for a solid two minutes about how you lost a dollar at the X2 fluffy-bunnies. Also, John did his best to get me an invite to the top of the long-closed Sky Tower, but despite his immense charm, the efforts were unsuccessful. If you want a little more of what Neal talked about, check out John's trip report. Oh, and there was a photo contest! Which I wasn't even really trying to enter (that's my story for why I didn't follow instructions!!!) but apparently won anyway. So, I got a prize. Want to see what it was? It's in the pictures below! Robb said some stuff about how I'm a good photographer (aw shucks) and that people should follow me on Twitter. I checked and I gained exactly zero new Twitter followers on that day. Them's the breaks. Thanks for trying, Robb! After lunch, I continued my photo lap of the park, as it was hot and I really didn't feel like riding much. Oh, but I did get on the log flume, even though I had to ride that one by myself. It had a bit of downtime, but the line was not too long. Random: in my Knott's report, I made a mention about how TPR bash crowds are different than TPR trip crowds. That came up again at SFMM! Because TPR trip crowds know how to not lose their keys on Tatsu, and TPR trip crowds know not to stand on the exit platform of Twisted Colossus for a full minute, talking to your friends across the train, delaying the dispatch and screwing up the dueling rides that the employees were honestly trying really hard to get right. Don't do that, friends. Don't do that. Evening ERT was good. Even though it was shared with another group, the added crowd was hardly noticeable at all, because ERT extended to the entire park. We got in line for CraZanity right as ERT started, and had to wait a few cycles as the general public finished going through. That was really the only wait we had all day, and it was maybe 25-30 minutes. From there, we rode Lex Luthor (which was somehow cycling both sides with only two or three ride ops) and took a few more spins on Twisted Colossus. Oh, am I forgetting something? YOLO! We finished the day on Full Throttle, or -- as John puts it -- "where's the second half of the coaster?" Two rides on that and it was time to head home. How was SFMM? Well, what's my tally at? Four out of six flags? I think that's about right, honestly. Look, this is a Six Flags park. It's full of advertising, concrete, and roller coasters. I knew what to expect going in. The good news is that this is a comparatively good Six Flags park. It's honestly one of my favorites in the chain that I've been to. It can't beat Great Adventure (my #1 SF park by a long shot) but for the overall experience, I'll put it in the next tier with Georgia, Fiesta Texas, and maybe Over Texas. How was the coaster collection? Well, there's really no competition here with Cedar Point at all. Cedar Point has better coasters in virtually every category, and Cedar Point has 4 or 5 coasters I'd rank above the best coaster at SFMM. Also, we all know that SFMM is a park that inflates its world-record coaster count with kiddie coasters. But here's where I'll give them some credit -- compared to a lot of other theme parks that aren't Cedar Point, their second-tier of coasters is actually pretty strong. Batman, Scream, Goliath, even Ninja and Revolution. These are legitimately good rides. And sorry, Cedar Point, but in the battle of 1976, Revolution is a million times better than Corkscrew. Do they need more flats? Yes, but they're clearly working on that. Lex Luthor, Justice League, and CraZanity are all very good rides -- and all are recent additions. SFMM is big. There's a lot of terrain. Combine that with the sheer number of rides, and it's an exhausting park to get through. West Coast Bash was the way to do it. My thanks go to John and Zach Z for the coaster rides, and Robb and friends for setting it all up! How were the rides? Twisted Colossus -- My fourth new RMC this year! How did it stack up? It's so different that it's tough to say. It's definitely weird basically having the ride split into two halves, with a break on the lift hill in the middle. I love the first (blue) half, but I'm kind of indifferent on the second (green) half, which isn't among RMC's more inspired designs. When dueling, this coaster is a ton of fun, and most of our ERT rides were dispatched correctly. Give the crew some credit, because they were working their hardest to make sure that happened! Overall, although this is a really good coaster and probably my favorite at SFMM, it'll probably rank near the bottom of my RMC list. That will still put it in my top 30-40 overall, out of over 400 coasters, so that's nothing to sneeze at. Tatsu -- Tatsu is really good. The pretzel loop is crazy, yes, but I think the overall layout and progression of elements is the best of any flyer I've been on. Manta's close, but Tatsu takes the top spot for me. X2 -- Um, well then. This was a ride, alright. I was genuinely kind of not sure what to expect from this, and I was a bit nervous going in. The first half wasn't that bad. I actually enjoyed the drop. Then it gets rough, it gets crazy, and it flips you around in ways you aren't expecting. My head was jackhammering against the seat back. At one point, both of my legs were flying over the seat divider onto the right side! No, I wasn't in any danger of slipping out, but that's not a very comfortable position to be riding in. I just don't know what to think of this thing. I just remember that when I got off, John and I looked at each other and were like "nope." So, we're gonna go with that. Full Throttle -- The infamous YoloCoaster was not a favorite of mine at all. The launches aren't that strong, and it's way too short. My biggest complaint, though, is the speed at which you hit the brake run while you're still coming down from the top hat. That was very uncomfortable. Sorry, YoloCoaster, but I'm just not a fan. Batman The Ride -- It's a Batman clone, so you know what to expect. Lots of fun, and very intense -- a little more intense than I prefer. Riddler's Revenge -- Probably one of the best B&M standups, but it's still a standup. It's a good coaster, but I only needed to ride it once. Scream -- A good floorless, though not to the level of Dominator or Superman Krypton Coaster. Still, you can do far worse than this for a mid-tier coaster. Goliath -- I've been on Titan at SFOT, so I sort of knew what to expect. Still, what a weird, inconsistent ride. It's got a huge drop, but with such a shallow angle that it's basically forceless. It's got what may be the best perfect floater airtime hill on the planet. Then, it's got the crazy grey-out helix near the end. I'm still not sure what to make of this one! New Revolution -- Really enjoyed this one. It's nothing special by 2018's standards, but I'm all for keeping pieces of coaster history like this one around if they still ride well. Ninja -- A pretty good Arrow suspended coaster. We didn't hit any branches, but I swear we came close. Gold Rusher -- It's a mine train! The only thing I remember about it is the giant pile of hats and shirts laying underneath the track about halfway through the ride. Superman Escape From Krypton -- This thing was a big, big deal when it opened. I was pretty unimpressed. It's hard to ride something like this when you've been on TTD and Kingda Ka and, heck, even Xcelerator the day before. Lex Luthor Drop of Doom -- It's a giant drop tower with killer views, and sometimes that's all that needs to be said! Honda Express -- It's a funicular! At an amusement park! Best funicular I've been on since Hillbilly Golf in Gatlinburg. (hi, Russ/Jared/Nathan!) Jet Stream -- I know people like to talk about Log Jammer, which looked like a pretty awesome flume. But you know what? Jet Stream is pretty good in its own right. Better than I expected, for sure! Not too wet, either. Pretty much exactly what I'm looking for in a standard log flume. Justice League: Battle for Metropolis -- I think this is the first time I've ever seen the pre-show for one of these. I also think it's the first time I've had all the effects working properly, but this one's just a year old, so that makes sense. I really enjoyed Justice League, and have to say that it's a lot more fun than Iron Reef. CraZanity -- This thing takes a while to get going, but once it does, it puts the Huss models to shame. It runs a pretty long cycle, too, so you get several big swings once it hits full speed! Every park needs one of these. Edited October 23, 2018 by The Great Zo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) Pictures from SFMM -- Part 1! Six Flags! 365 Days of Thrills! So some poor schmuck has to work on Christmas! The view from the parking lot. It's a skyline of coasters. Scream: The Parking Lot Coaster. Superman kind of towers over everything else. It's twisted, it's big, and it's white. I got a picture of the high-five! Unfortunately, it was before the park opened, so there are no trains. Sorry. At the gate. The park's about to open, and our ERT is soon to begin. Starting off on Twisted Cycl... no, that's not it. Wicked C... no. Try again. Yeah, that's it. The future of thrills -- today! A map of the coaster, though I'm not even sure that I know what an "outward banked floater" is. Stats! Nerd yourself away. ...and now I know that "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" is a thing that exists. "All by myself..." "...don't wanna be, all by myself..." Ah, that's better. Twisted Colossus was dueling intermittently during the day, but more consistently during ERT. Some action from the blue train and the orange train. Airtime on the second lap. It's not a huge drop, but it's steep enough to pack a bit of a punch, especially in the back. The orange train makes a big curve. Next up, it's the New Classic Revolution on Fire! It's ... a roller coaster landmark. This picture was taken during ERT, which means 80% empty trains! This drop is revolutionary. Hey, people in the front, show some excitement. There, that's a start. On the way up to Tatsu, I passed these frightening mushrooms, which reminded me of that famous rock formation at Kentucky Kingdom. OK, this is what we're looking for. But what, if I may ask, is the speed of fear? Tatsu takes an inversion during ERT, with -- as far as I can tell -- not a single rider on board. Later in the day, it was a popular attraction. Tatsu could probably use some paint. Tatsu opened in 2006, and is the only flyer with a zero-g roll. It's also got the very intense pretzel loop, which is the best part of the ride. With Tatsu's position at the top of the hill, and the way it interacts with the terrain, it gives the best views of any B&M flyer by far. "Are you going to stand by the side or ride?" Zach Z opts to ride -- twice. John rides once and bows out due to possible brain damage. You are now free to get thrown around like a rag doll. It's a very exposed feeling going up that lift, facing backwards. Hard to get good pictures of the riders on X2. So, instead, have a picture of the back of the train. As the train comes back into the station, it doesn't even look like a fun roller coaster -- it looks like some kind of industrial-grade torture device. Which, well... Helpful Honda Express! Best ride in the park! Look at how helpful it is! It was built in Austria! You know what isn't built in Austria? Hondas. At the top of the hill, Ninja was our next ride. A piece of artwork hanging in the Ninja station, which I just had to share with everybody. Not too many of these suspended coasters still around. Ninja's interesting, with two lift hills -- one at the start and one at the end. Super nice thing I can say about Ninja: it's better than Iron Dragon. Also, it didn't derail. Superman! Escape from Krypton! Pretty cool queue / station, actually. Only the right side was running, probably due to the light crowds. The coaster credit completionists out there would be sad. But, they weren't even filling full cars, so it made sense. There's a really great photo spot near a glass-enclosed restaurant at the base of the tower. LOL! This is a classic! Beginning the drop. It's funny to watch people go from terror on the way up... ...to delight on the way down. Now, for an overview from the top of the park. There's a lot of construction going on to the west. Oh, and there's poor Apocalypse, not operating yet again. Just off frame: John Wayne about to ride into the shot on horseback. Have I mentioned I love the landscape of southern California? Mountains make me happy. Ninja, Jet Stream, and some of the DC coasters in the background. Two-train shot on Batman and Riddler! Coasters in the foreground, mountains in the background. I like. A Rip Roarin' mine train! Only picture I have of Goldrusher is a train pulling out of the station. Not an easy ride to see from the park pathways. Sally Corp Is Awesome: The Ride. It's hot as heck outside, so we're gonna step inside the Hall of Justice. Our mission: rescue the Justice League. I scored a 120,582. Yep. Is this ... the Riddler's Revenge? I'll never complain about a park being empty, but admittedly it's not great for coaster photography. When I rode, I almost got stuck "sitting" because the seat was too high. The ride op wasn't too anxious to help me out. Nonetheless, my "seat" was fixed, and the ride ended up being fairly comfortable. Coaster / palm tree juxtaposition #643. The Ride. Kick the Sky! [gets sued by Cedar Point] By this point, your feet feel like they weigh about a hundred pounds each. Oh hey, you know what coaster I didn't ride? This one. Because it's horrible. And, well, because it's broken. I did ride CraZanity! With a capital Z in the middle of the name! Ride / palm tree juxtaposition #754. CraZanity gets pretty high, which is obvious when comparing it to the Superman tower. As far as pendulum rides go, CraZanity is probably the best I've been on. Oh, hey, I caught Superman running too! It's intense, fast, and lots of fun. See, look at these people having fun! Some interesting photo angles against a crisp blue sky. The benefit to waiting 30 minutes for a ride? Some genuinely nice photo angles from the edge of the queue! Also: nice lighting from the sun. Edited October 23, 2018 by The Great Zo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 Pictures from SFMM -- Part 2! Rock on, park guests. Like, woah, dude. I feel stupid every time I have to type out CraZanity. Girl in middle: screaming. Guy to the left: not impressed. It's Lex vs Superman in a giant drop tower showdown! Those aware of the situation in New Jersey should have no fear: neither Lex or Superman were dispatching fast enough to worry about simultaneous rides. Everybody enjoys these things a little differently. Hold on to your hat! Alright, giant steampunk spider thing, what's next? Scream! The Parking Lot Coaster! It's a scream eclipse. This ride looks like it was painted pretty recently. The colors were nice. Hey, that guy from Lex Luthor is /still/ holding on to his hat! 90 degree drop, or photo trickery? You decide. That's a very large vertical loop. So, I made a big deal about Jaguar! at Knott's having an exclamation point. I guess I should do the same for Scream! Or, maybe even call it SCREAM! in all caps. SCREAM! has seven inversions, which is a lot. It also has a few fast bits near the ground, but these aren't used as well as on Dominator, in my opinion. Corkscrew, part 1. Corkscrew, part 2. The turnaround, as seen from the parking lot. While I was taking pictures, a brief dust storm whipped up out of nowhere. That was amusing. Goliath's defining characteristic is it's absolutely ridiculous ride sign... ...and the giant foot in the pavement, which I guess counts as "theming." Spoiler alert: the wait for Goliath was not 2 hours. Coaster / palm tree juxtaposition #807. Coaster / palm tree juxtaposition #841. A long-distance view of the top of the Goliath lift. Hey, nobody said this was a water coaster! Meanwhile, we've got this super genius at the front of the park. And now, lunch is served. Welcome, us! What's hidden on the table? My prize! My ... shock / piston thing! Yeah! ...so, um, what is it? Truth be told, not even the maintenance staff at our group lunch knew for sure! The best guess, after talking to a few people, is that it's a shock or a piston from the restraint system on one of the big coasters. The most likely culprit was X2. Seeing as X2 tried to kill me earlier in the day, I'm gonna go ahead and declare myself the winner in this battle. Take that, X2! Alright, so here's the problem. This prize is cool and all, but it looks like a weapon and it weighs about 20 pounds. How was I to get it home to Ohio? We'll get back to that at the end of the post... John also won a prize. He got a Superman hat. Robb asked him to do the Superman pose. John did ... this. I don't think John is familiar with Superman. No, John, that's not it either. Seriously, go watch the movie or something. We had a good Q&A with Neal Thurman! Neal told us about how they spruce up sections of the park when they put a new ride in. He also told us that West Coast Racers is going to get a new object-storage setup that sounds similar to some of the more efficient options that parks have used in Europe. With lunch complete, I went to finish my photo lap. Viper was not operating, but I got a picture of the faded ride sign. What's this??? Markers on the pavement! This must be for ... well, probably that new coaster they just announced. But maybe it's for John's parking lot tunnel T-Rex gigacoaster! You never know! OK, speaking of John one more time, you see that guy in the middle of the picture? In the blue and lighter-blue striped shirt? Yep, he's world famous -- on an advertisement at Six Flags Magic Mountain. At least he's not looking straight at the camera in this one. Heading up to the bridge that leads to X2, which has a few good views. Curse you, Sky Tower. Maybe some day... Goliath, in all its oddly-shaped-lift-hill glory. It's not so much a drop... ...as it is a really long ramp. I mean, it's steeper than Silver Bullet, I guess. Rest in peace, Giovanola. It's really, really hard to get a shot of Twisted Colossus from up here, but I tried. No dueling this time, but here's one train heading to the second half of the ride. You say you want a revolution... Jet Stream! Log flume time! So, what happens if you put too many people in a boat, and can't even get out of the station? A ride op hangs on the tarp and, with all his might, forces your boat into the trough. This entire process took about 30 seconds. I was really tempted to just caption every single photo in this section with that line from the log flume song. You know the line. It's literally the only line in the song. Plenty of good photo spots for Jet Stream, especially from the bridge that leads to the station platform. Oh, and this does still count as a log flume, even though the boats aren't shaped like logs, right? Splashdown reactions. Pay no attention to the rusted supports. More people on a flume! I didn't notice it at first, but the right-side trough is blocked by a pipe shooting out a ton of water. The boats tended to skip a bit on the shallow pull-out. I think these are TPR people on this boat! Hey, if you're reading this, hope you like the picture! Alright, I'm out of ideas for captions, so... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are on a log flume... ...we are filming the drop on the log flume! (See, I mixed it up there.) I don't really trust going hands-up on a flume. Because I still remember when I almost flew out of the one in Guadalajara. More people with their phones out! Kicking up a splash. The end of the flume pics! Oh, one more coaster to go! It's Chick-fil-A! The ride! I was expecting it to be closed, since it was a Sunday, but it was not. I don't hate YoloCoaster, but it's just ... weird. And seriously, vertical loops and top hats shouldn't have the same shape. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for the other. Full Throttle went full-on dance club after dark! Yep, this is the only time we rode during the day, and two rides was enough for me. But this picture is meant to illustrate the awesomeness of ERT -- nobody in line at all! So, here's one phone-quality picture on the way out of the park. Nothing fancy like at Knott's, for reasons mentioned early in this trip report. That's it from SFMM! ...but wait, there's one piece of unfinished business. My X2 restraint piston thing? John found a mailing tube, we shoved it in and packaged it up all tight, and I mailed it home to myself! Ta-da! It made it home safely! What am I going to do with it? Absolutely nothing! Alright, /now/ that's it from SFMM. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Fantastic report! I actually remember Twisted Colossus being one of the better RMCs, but I have ridden almost all the other ones since then so I need to reride it. I really need to get out to West Coast Bash one of these years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Thanks for the shoutout! I totally agree with you on Jaguar! That ride is underrated. It's not at all intense, but it is fun. And I kinda love the faded colours on Xcelerator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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