robinschroder Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Hello, Well - once again, I should have posted some of these pictures ages ago! But, anyway - a lot of people on the forum have either been to these two parks or have seen Robb and Elissa's SFMM updates, so I guess you weren't missing out too much!! In 2003 I heard about X @ SFMM (when I discovered that rcdb.com existed after having kind-of forgotten about my coaster hobby for a few years) and just had to get out there and ride it! So I did - and it totally rocked my world! After visiting SFMM for a couple of days (to minimise likelihood of downtime on X), I travelled via Amtrak up to San Francisco for a few days just to have a look around. 9 hours in to the Amtrak journey, I decided that travelling there by train maybe wasn't my best decision. But, anyway I had a great time on that trip overall! Then, last year (2005!) a good friend of mine went out to live in San Francisco and I travelled out to visit him for a week. Afterwards, seeing as I was 'nearby' (well nearer than I am when I'm here in London!), I flew down to LAX and made a trip on public transport up to SFMM again! (This still took the best part of a day to do!). After that, I made a trip down to Knott's Berry Farm (once again on public transport using the Disney Bus line) before finally departing California via LAX! Anyway, enough text from me, here's an amalgamation of pictures from the two trips! Enjoy... First SFMM: One of the many B:TRs! And everyone's favourite parking-lot-themed coaster! And S:TE which sounds like a plane taking off at close range! One of the many Goliaths!! A general view from the X side of the park over to S:TE, Goliath and Colossus. And another picture of Viper. Yay! Vertical loops x 3! eXperience the Xtremely long queues for X (best get there early!) and the Arrow loops of Viper too! Did I mention the raven turns? ...and some more! A bit of raven-turn action going on... It's X, of course! And this is what lies at the top of the hill! You're not supposed to walk up Magic Mountain Parkway, apparently. Obviously that's not what I did or what this is a photo of, so everything's OK. Well, no prizes for guessing where this is! That's right - SFMM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinschroder Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 And now Knott's Berry Farm: Anyway - hope you enjoyed this ultra-retrospective look back at what SFMM and KBF were like when I was there in 2003/5. All the best, Robin How about this? And, last but not least, is *this* an acceptable level of water?! A bit of helix action going on! I forgot to say 'Yay! Vertical loop!' a photo ago. Although I fear the moment has passed now! ...especially this nice airtime-y sort of element! It's Silver Bullet - not everyone's favourite new B&M coaster. Granted, there'll be no comparison between this and, say, Black Mamba, but I still enjoyed it... Let's not dwell on this picture for too long! ...or those S&S Screaming Swings! The larger one at Thorpe Park here in the UK is similarly good! (It's almost as if Thorpe is modelling itself on KBF!) Mmm... Supreme Scream! I can't get enough of those S&S Turbo Drops... Mmm... Xcelerator! I can't wait for Stealth to open at Thorpe Park here in the UK! It's Knott's Berry Farm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Is it me, or is that one element on Silver Bullet sorta like the coaster changed its mind about performing a Zero-G inversion? Very strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2pids2 Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 ^ I was thinking the exact same thing! Nice PTR though....detailed pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunslinger Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Is it me, or is that one element on Silver Bullet sorta like the coaster changed its mind about performing a Zero-G inversion? Very strange. Oh man. I was there a while ago, for the first time since Silver Bullet had been built, and I was so intensely confused by that, that I had to sit down. it made my head hurt. My brain saw it and said "Zero-G-Roll." but my eyes said "Hey wait. It....No. Haha. Don't be silly." So I looked away. But my brain said "No wait, look back." to which my eyes replied "WHAT IN GODS NAME IS THAT?!" And then I plopped down in the middle of the walkway and stared, tilting my head at every angle trying to figure out why it was.. the way it was. Then I ate funnel cake. I didn't bother riding it. To experience that drug-induced I-Swear-I'm-An-Inversion would probably give me a stroke. BTW, awesome photos. I didn't know you weren't supposed to walk up MM parkway.. I do it all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinschroder Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 Glad you liked the photos! 'That' element on Silver Bullet was definitely the highlight of the ride for me - more of those on future B&M inverts please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2pids2 Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 ^it's a confusing element...but looks fun. I got confused at first and thought it was a floorless coaster in that picture. messed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimace Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 When I was there last summer the ride op was making his safety speech on the microphone and made a joke about "can you find Silver Bullet's half inversion? Yes, this ride features 6.5 inversions!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 "...is that one element on Silver Bullet sorta like the coaster changed its mind about performing a Zero-G inversion?" (Erik Johnson) That overbanked turn is a fun element, and I get airtime in it every time. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of those on inverted coasters---at least I hope so! Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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