Trip Report: DLR, KBF, SFMM, USH, Pacific Park, LL, SWC, Belmont, Vegas

[rocketman23]

This report contains a Disneyland report along with plenty of other things.

West Coast Coaster Trip: 6/13-/6/24/2004

The plane arrived at LAX at around 9am on Sunday, June 13th. On the flight, a Thunderbirds episode featuring small gators attacking puppets caught my attention for about 20 minutes, but otherwise I was thinking about the parks ahead. After getting the rental, driving (no traffic) to the Disneyland Resort, and checking in, my Dad and I walked to the front gate of California Adventure with a 3 day park hopper in hand at around 12:00.

The plan was to get a Tower of Terror Fastpass and ride it, but it wasn’t exactly in operation when I strolled up. It looked to be closed for awhile so instead I got a Soarin’ fastpass and headed towards Screamin’ (they don’t like the letter “G” here). Screamin’ was about 40 minutes at the time, but since we have yet to ride anything, decided to wait. I really had no expectations for Screamin’ coming into the ride, which I suppose was a good thing. The launch is fun along the faux beach. In fact, on a later ride, I actually was splashed by a wave waiting for the launch. The run is long and filled with high points sparsely placed throughout. The bunny hills were the best part of the ride, and quite extreme in the front row. Fun ride, nothing spectacular. Best ride here ended up being in the front row; worth the wait if you are visiting for the first time. Next on the Paradise Pier was the unique ferris wheel patterned after the famous Deno’s Wonder Wheel. Obviously I picked a swin’in’ (no G’s) cabin. You basically get one spin on it after they load everyone, and they put you in cabins with other people. Luckily, we got paired with normal people. The ride was scenic and light-hearted fun. I’m surprised more parks don’t opt for this more original, and crowd pleasing, version of the classic. The Maliboomer looked like trash, so I skipped it for the time being and moved to Orange Stinger. This ride was ok, but the cycle was too short for swings and why they put it inside a giant orange is just confusing and slightly tacky with a dash of unnecessary. I know it’s supposed to represent something about California, but oranges could’ve been better used elsewhere as it blocked my view on the normally scenic swing ride. With the Zephyr closed, Mulholland Madness at 40 minutes, and about 20 minutes until Soarin’ Fastpass was good, I opted to visit the less visited DCA attractions.

The tortilla factory had no line walking up, so I got in for the next “show”. The preshow for the tortillas was annoying, especially the twitchy kid with ADD in the video. It was funny how they portrayed the Spanish as being nice towards the Aztecs though. The small factory that followed was somewhat interesting, but the free fresh tortilla at the exit made this well worth the visit. A little more time allowed for the sourdough tour. Since Rosie O’ Donnel nauseates me, I moved past the screens and gave myself a tour of the factory. Neat, but the free sample wasn’t as delicious or fresh. Soarin’ was next with the use of the magical Fastpass. The preshow here included swooshing locations in California as well as a preflight debriefing by David Putty, The Tick, and Joe (Patrick Warburton) which I thought was somewhat entertaining. The actual ride is incredibly relaxing. The seats were comfortable, the movement was fluent, the view was incredible, and the golf ball almost hit me. Soarin’ is an original and satisfying ride, but does not hold the same enjoyment upon multiple rides as any simulator would.

The Tower of Terror appeared to be open, so the hike over was made. The wait time was around 45 minutes at the time, so I got a Fastpass and waited in stand by, which would allow for essentially 2 consecutive rides. The lobby is similar to ours and I liked the abandoned doll on the lobby couch, nice touch. It’s nearly the same as the Orlando version until we get into the elevator load. There are two floors and three doors per floor. I liked the loading at this version better than ours actually and the boiler room is grander than ours. I was on the second floor my first ride. Once in, the doors shut and the elevator pushes back into the shaft with a narration by Rod. Our first stop is the room different from the Orlando version. It’s a room where we wave goodbye to ourselves as our images are washed away and replaced with an empty elevator. The room that follows is similar to ours with the beckoning hotel guest ghosts except that instead of a window breaking, an elevator door closes and falls. The neat part is that immediately after we see this door fall, we fall suddenly but abruptly. We rise to the top, drop, rise, and drop again. The elevator pushes back in and we unload at the same place we loaded. I liked this version about the same as ours, but it’s still hard to say which is better. I do like the traditional drop sequence that’s uniform. I’m not a fan of the subsequent drop sequences, especially random, on our Tower. The effects in ours are better, but I like the loading on DCA’s. There are pros and cons I could go on about, but they’re relatively equal and both very fun.

After a fastpass re-ride and getting another fastpass, I visited Muppets, which really isn’t any different than Orlando’s, but it’s still my favorite 3D show. I went across the street to check out the Animation set up they had there. The lobby is great and there’s a reasonable amount to do in there. I considered watching a show, but instead just went for the interactive area where I tried the “What Disney Character Is You” survey. I ended up being Timon, which isn’t entirely far off. I hadn’t done Grizzly River Run yet, and was reserved because I didn’t really want to get soaked, but it would be my only chance to ride it. So, the single rider line cut out waiting 40 minutes in stand by, and I got on within 5 minutes. The ride was scenic, but early the rapids didn’t really get the boat that wet. There were two drops, the latter of which spun the boat like mad making it a great drop, and the geysers towards the end appeared to be where most people got soaked (I lucked out though). I liked this rapids ride and would put it second only to Popeye.

Mulholland Madness still had a long line, but noting the singles line, we went for that. I got on in probably 10 minutes. This singles line was a longer wait because you had to essentially wait for a group of 3. I eventually got on and survived the crap wrath of Mulholland Madness. It was slow, braked way too heavily (and slightly painfully), and was just a bad addition. I rode Maliboomer after that mainly because of the giant sneeze guards which grace the restraints. This is a very small S&S tower; I almost think Disney would’ve been better off getting the Double Shot tower because of the smaller height here. Instead, it’s just a mediocre Space Shot tower. Getting a Screamin’ Fastpass and riding in stand by, we had time to waste until the Screamin’ pass was good as well as the Tower pass. As a result, we hit tortilla factory again, attempted the wine attraction but it was closed, and then went into Flik’s Fun Fair. I looked around and didn’t really do anything in there besides Tough To Be A Bug, but it reminded me a good deal of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground with rides. I still like Tough, especially the end effect, but it’s not the same without the tree of life. We ate at the Best Supporting Wiener (I think that’s what it’s called), which actually turned out to be a good dog and fries. After eating, I brandished my fist towards the closed Superstar Limo. I really wanted to see the badness legend of this dark ride. We ended the DCA day with Tower and Soarin’. Leaving before the parade started, we headed to Disneyland at about 9pm in order to get a few things out of the way for tomorrow.

Following the tail end of a Disneyland parade, we walked up to the relatively empty Matterhorn line. I took the right side for my first go and sat in the front row. After the darkness shrouded lift, we have our first encounter with the eyes and bellow of the yeti before setting off on a fast and jerky wind through the Matterhorn. The trip includes waterfalls, 2 more bellowing and clawing yeti encounters, and a water splash finale. I really like this ride and it became my favorite Disney coaster quickly. The ride is brisk and a tad rough (but it actually adds to the ride). The changing scenery keeps the ride flowing and amusing. Most importantly, the lovable yeti clawing and shrieking at you is just too much to resist. Every ride could benefit from a yeti like this… every ride. As the night wound, Fantasyland was the place to get several rides in. Storybook Land was there and I initially thought it was Pinocchio due to Monstro and no one telling me much about the Pinocchio dark ride. I quickly discovered it was not, but instead a Jungle Cruise of miniature fairy tale scenes. This ride didn’t really impress me, even for what it was worth, but it was a good ride for the kids.

Passing the slowed spin of the Mad Tea Party, I trekked for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. For those that don’t know, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in Orlando was and still is my favorite dark ride ever and is the ride responsible for my love of classic dark rides today. That said, I was extremely excited when I saw that stone façade of Toad Hall. I felt like that little kid again. The Toad statue just inside I was compelled to take my picture with. The reuniting! I got on, my first car was “Toady”, how appropriate. I took the wheel and drove through the whimsy and mayhem of the world of Toad once more. The first room we saw Angus MacBadger in the library before we burst through the fireplace around the corner to those troublesome weasels dangling from the roof. A visit with Moley was due as I just missed a collision with my humble friend. The police were on my tracks as they beckoned for me to stop. Ratty’s house was on the left, but no time to stop and have a picnic now. I bumped down the docks narrowly avoiding a splash. The dynamite shack I ducked into blew sky high in a moments notice. I made it out though with just enough time to catch ole Winky for a pint. One last run through town square with a beautiful statue of Cyril and Toad before I had my run in with the law. Guilty they said, but I escaped and ran down the railroad tracks. Unfortunately, I was hit and another judge sentenced me to hell. That’s no problem for me and Toady though because I dodged the green satan and safely warped back to Toad Hall. Helluva day.

I really loved this ride, but growing up on the WDW version, I favor that one slightly. This version has more 3D creatures, but I liked the wackier 2D creatures. I also liked the two different experiences our Toad had. I would get more Toad later, but for now I hopped over to Pinocchio, I ride I didn’t have many expectations for. Once through the ride, I loved it, third only to my 2 Toads. It was a beautiful dark ride simply put. The vast Pleasure Island scene, the catchy “Actor’s Life for Me” song, Monstro, and the great final scene all tie this phenomenal dark ride together nicely. I also like how this one more than the other dark rides follows the movie’s plot as accurately as possible within the given space. One last ride of the night led me to Pirates of the Caribbean. This is another ride that just blew me away and puts ours to shame. The beginning bayou is so realistic and drew me to eat at that restaurant on the third day. The progression into the live pirate world is gradual and builds to it better. The sight gags are all there and then some, but my favorite is the pirate with the agitated cats as well as “WE WANT THE REDHEAD!” Long and satisfying, Pirates is among my favorite dark rides. A great way to end the day. So we headed for the gates and geared up for a full day of Disneyland the next day.

The day began at 8am the next morning as Disneyland opened its gates. I headed right for Indiana Jones because of the lines and great reputation this ride draws. Riding in standby and getting an early fastpass was the way to go here. I learned to stock pile fastpasses early when you can get several consecutive fastpasses and use them at a later time when the crowds heat up. It’s a little loop hole in the fastpass system, and the smartest way to go. Anyway, the queue to Indy was great and reminded me a little of Tomb Raider at PKI (only much better). Once at the preshow, I discovered a quirky but funny old picture show starring Sallah from Last Crusade where not looking into the eyes of the idol was stressed a lot and would still be later. This led into the loading which was very similar to Dinosaur. The actual ride was nothing like Dinosaur, but a great deal more impressive technically. The majority of the ride takes place within the winding paths of the trap filled temple. The wooden bridge was a favorite of mine and the pure scope of this room was amazing. However, my favorite effect was the simple air blasts within the hallway of skeleton warriors. Something about it just made me feel as if I were narrowly dodging spears. The finale is neat with the giant ball and the ride is quite fantastic. I like Dinosaur more purely on the basis that it’s more cheesy and quotable (“They’re not gonna make it!”), but from a technical aspect and overall view, Indy is clearly a far superior attraction.

Next on the master plan was Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Winnie the Pooh. Haunted Mansion was good, but not as good as ours. It lacks the aging picture (which I love) as well as a longer ride before the graveyard. However, this version does feature a working elevator and small walk through portion that helps it. Splash Mountain just falls flat when comparing it to ours. The dark ride scenes before the final drop feel cramped and rushed, whereas ours is spread out and flowing. Winnie the Pooh is about the same as ours… nothing too impressive. The “Pooh Corner” store bought a cheap laugh though. Moving along to Thunder Mountain, I found this version just not as wild or amusing as ours. The only thing this one has over ours is the animals along the way were closer than ours, but there’s really no comparison. Snow White was next on the snaking path. This Snow White was good right up until the insanely abrupt ending. It ends with the witch dying on the mountain and not Snow White waking up. This questionable ending made me favor ours. Dark rides are supposed to have a solid story whereas this one seemed to lack the most important part: The conclusion. I did however like the interactive apple in the queue. Peter Pan was packed, so I decided against it for the time being and instead opted for Small World. The Small World façade here is spectacular as a working clock. The ride itself is similar to ours but still far superior. Toon Town, but more importantly, Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin had just opened, and I had to take a look. I really enjoyed the line to start the experience. It was very funny, particularly the “Exit Stage Left” gag complete with piano music made famous by Bugs Bunny. The ride itself seats you in a train with two taxi cabs, each seating two people. Once you hit a chemical spill, we’re free to spin the car. It’s hard to get the hang of, you at times have to work with the curves in the track, but a steady spin can be sustained without missing the show effects. It was a rather long dark ride with plenty of amusing scenes, but in the end a trustee portable hole saves the day and Roger and Jessica escape with only minor toon bruises. I liked it and want one here. Roger was such a great cartoon in its time and this ride really preserves the goofball silliness of what made him so popular.

A quick turkey leg lunch led into our somewhat hobbled Tomorrowland experience. Grabbing a fastpass for the 40 minute wait Autopia, I ventured into the Carousel of Progress looking Innoventions. This Innoventions was quite lackluster and really didn’t have too much exciting. I did try a Segway finally after being thwarted by age limits at the 2002 IAAPA. I liked the contraption and got a good handle on the turning of the machine. I also gave a poor attempt at Disney’s Dance Rave (why is this in innoventions?) before exiting. Autopia fastpass was already time to go, so I headed for that. The Chevron commercials were briefly amusing as I passed the little scenes on my way to get my “driver’s license” for Autopia. Once on, the ride turned out to be a fair size for this type of ride with an off road section which added to it. I usually ride the antique cars or attraction similar to it if I visit a park, but I don’t know why. So, I can say that this is among the better antique car type attractions.

The walking was taking a toll, so a leisurely visit to main street was in store. The penny machines were always a favorite of mine at WDW, so I tried my hand at those. I also got my fortune told by Esmeralda for a quarter, made Pinocchio dance, and got a healthy dose of electric shock. I took in a few old Mickey cartoons, which still hold comedic value the same way a Looney Tunes cartoon does. The main shop was filled with park merchandise, but nearly no ride shirts, hats, etc. besides pins and magnets. I was looking for a Matterhorn shirt but could not find any of the sort. To get back up the street, we took one of the old cars (I forget the name officially). That’s one thing that I enjoy about Disneyland is that they still have all the old transports up and down Main Street. With a feeling of classic Disney leaving Main Street, we visited the Enchanted Tiki Room. The idols welcomed us with their specialty of water, fire, wind, dropping little creatures from flowers, and so on. Once in, it looks like we’re set up to see Don Ho, but we’re about to see something better. Our lead parrots spout cornball jokes throughout the show and there’s musical numbers, but the best part is obviously the Tiki Room song. This is an extremely catchy song and I ended up singing it long into the vacation. I also enjoy the song the wall totem thingies sing. I also find that a very funny song when the wall totems start twitching around. This is a great classic attraction marred at WDW, but kept in tradition here at Disneyland. If it’s possible to have a so called “cult hit” at the Disney parks, the Enchanted Tiki Room is the probably the greatest of these. Not every one will enjoy, but there is a select group that can’t get enough… like me. Another classic, the Jungle Cruise was right around the corner. This one is similar to ours and always great fun, but the captain really makes it. This time he had the certifiably insane Captain Ron. I think I was the only one that found him funny, but he fully committed to every joke. He also had a habit of yelling into the intercom and moving the intercom back and forth past his mouth. Bizarre, but he did make it more fun.

I went back and did Indy, Big Thunder, and Pirates with built up fastpasses I had from early in the day, reading such times as 10am. Several “you’re late” comments were endured, but it’s the smart way to do the system. I went over to Tom Sawyer’s Island, but with the fort closed, it wasn’t terribly exciting. I did spot the long canoe boats guests paddle by themselves. I didn’t know Disneyland had these and I was thrilled to death to find they did. After Tom Sawyer, that was next on the list. The canoes are great for taking a time out from the park. Yes, it’s manual labor because they really are paddled by you, but there’s something about paddling down a river that’s relaxing. Most of the rest of the day was filled with repeating several rides. We ate at the Bengal BBQ for dinner, which offered an original park meal that was quite good. The chicken kabobs are what we had and I do recommend it. The day ended in Fantasyland with multiple Matterhorn, Toad, and Pinocchio rides. I also rode Casey Jr., which was good for what it was worth. I found this was a good area to end the day as most of the kids have left or gone to Fantasmic at this point.

The third day was primarily for repeating the favorite at both parks. We started at Disneyland where we rode Matterhorn and Peter Pan early while building fastpasses for later. The Peter Pan here I felt was probably the most similar to ours out of all the other dark rides. So, there wasn’t much of a difference. We also rode Gadget’s Go-Coaster while there was no line primarily for the count. It was ok, better than Barnstormer. Before we left I saw an old guy that said, “These kids are going to piss me off.” He was wearing a hat that said “Guns don’t kill people, postal workers do.” I wanted to follow him all day for laughs, but couldn’t. After making reservations at the restaurant in Pirates for lunch, we went over to DCA for that opening where we repeated: Tower of Terror, Screamin’, and Soarin’. Note that the single rider line for Soarin’ moved painfully slow when we were there. We went back to DL for lunch at the Pirates restaurant. We both had a Monte Cristo Sandwich. Good food and awesome atmosphere; I strongly recommend eating here upon your visit. The repeats throughout the day at Disneyland included: Indy, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Toad, Pinocchio, Snow White, Small World, Roger Rabbit, and Matterhorn. The new rides for the day included the scenic Monorail and Railroad. I got a Matterhorn magnet and Stitch shirt upon leaving this wonderful resort.

I really liked Disneyland and California Adventure is better than people say, but not great. Disneyland really reminds me of how Magic Kingdom used to be in that it holds tradition much better than our resort does. The Fantasyland is tremendous in comparison as well as Pirates. Although our Splash, Haunted Mansion, and Snow White are better, Disneyland is the better park because of the tradition and because of the classic dark rides and attractions from Tiki Room to the simplicity of the Main Street transportation. This ended up being my favorite park on the trip.

The next day was Knott’s Berry Farm and what a difference in parks. It was apparently school day at Knott’s because that was seemingly all the visitors composed of. Xcellerator was still down to senseless California reasoning over safety. So, already it was a bad start. Luckily, we met a guy that used to work there and, as it turns out, works for Islands of Adventure. We stuck with him for the initial half of the day, which proved to be insightful on Knott’s history and made the day a little better. Ghostrider was the first stop. We were advised the back car by our guide, Eric, so we opted for that. Ghostrider is a great ride, but I had yet to ride it when it was fully warmed up. It had some good air and intense laterals early in the day, but it really got cooking later. Calico Mine Ride beckoned, so that was the next step. A true classic, Calico featured cramped little train cars that wind through the mines featuring scenes of primitive animatronics. Also try to stay in your seat during the incline, which could prove amusing. I liked this classic attraction and was well worth a visit. If I had more time, I would’ve tried it again.

The just plain awful Kingdom of the Dinosaurs was around the corner. This ride was simply baffling. First of all, the trains have seemingly random restraints. Some cars have lap bars, some cars have simple lap seat belts, and ONE (the one we got) had seatbelts like you find in front seats of cars. The ride has the most hilariously bad effects and for some reason stops to give you an audio history lesson on mammoths in the middle of the ride for like 2 minutes. The ride was littered with employees in the age of the dinosaur watching the car go by. When we returned and walked down the exit ramp, they felt compelled to warn you via grammatically incorrect wooden sign at the exit ramp that “Strobe effects exists on this ride.” Wow. This is the epitome of bad dark ride. It was so funny though because it was in fact so bad. Please do ride this; it’ll make you appreciate Monster Plantation.

Log ride was a long wait and it was too cold to ride the Plunge (and ended up so the whole day), so we rode the Sky Tower. The operator for the tower was hilarious. He basically had no script, he just made up stuff and generally belittled the park. Here was the basic drift of things: “There’s Xcellerator. It’s closed for rehab. It’s actually been closed for quite awhile. There’s Perilous Plunge. It might have a 30 minute wait about now. There’s a few thousand people in the park today, so it’s a pretty busy day. We’re kind of a small park.” It went on like this for the whole ride. Funny stuff, funny stuff. We went to eat outside the park at the famous fried chicken restaurant the Mrs opened up awhile back. At this junction, our guide left and would return later, but we enjoyed some good fried chicken.

The afternoon was winding in and we had only ridden one coaster. So using our reentry ride stamp (which looks like could be easily duplicated with a highlighter) we went back and rode Jaguar. This family coaster had nice length and speed, but I feel it’s better when it’s not running through a dirt field (currently Silver Bullet construction) and rather through scenery. Montezooma’s Revenge is right next to Jaguar and is a good ride. I always like shuttle loops, but the line prevented multiple rides. Supreme Scream is one of the more fun S&S towers out there, but they are just starting to wear on me. Boomerang was just too long of a line to get beat. I don’t need to boost my count that badly. The log ride was a classic, so I had to ride. Similar to Calico in the scene nature and a very amusing log ride. I must mention the after ride photo both this and Ghostrider has. They take your photo ride before the unload station. Weird.

The rest of the day was spent in Ghost Town. I found the bar with the insane old cowboy man playing guitar and singing on the bar-top extremely amusing and somewhat befuddling (like most other things in this park.). We rode the train and stagecoach. The train was particularly interesting because of the train robbers about midway through the ride. They walk down the aisle and harass guests playfully. It was a nice touch. Besides that, we focused on Ghostrider into the night where we eventually saw Eric again. At the end of the night, this coaster really got cranked up and I got to loving it. Before the scenic turn has some excellent air, after has some great laterals. It’s a non-stop powerful coaster that makes it into my top ten wood. I probably went to Knott’s on a bad day, but I felt the park wasn’t that great outside of Ghost Town. It was a school day, Xcellerator was closed, and Plunge was unrideable due to the cold temperatures. On the other hand, Ghost Town held a distinct charm to it and was something you won’t see in any other park’s Ghost Town themed area. I like the park, but not to the extent as I probably could’ve under other circumstances.

We drove up to Valencia that night with no traffic problems to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to Magic Mountain. We ate at the In-N-Out purely because it was mentioned in my favorite movie (Those are good burgers, Walter.). It was quite good and apparently it’s like the Happy Days diner for kids around these parts because it was packed.

The next morning at Magic Mountain we bought a season pass because there was no 2-day ticket and I was probably going to do SFOG later in the year. The processing for the pass was tedious as we had to fill out a bubble form to get the picture. This made the whole thing kind of like a race to beat the person next to you in bubbling prowess. First and only benefit: season pass line for entry. That sped us in and helped towards the race to X. Got there with about a 6 train wait. There were 2 trains running relatively efficiently for this type of ride. We sat in the front, I sat on the outside. HUGE mistake! X is extremely rough on the outside of most rows as I found out, especially the front. We rode again, but I sat on the inside, which made it a much better ride. It really is an awe-inspiring coaster. The purely original experience is disorienting and combines feeling of flying (second drop). I loved it, but as I found on the next day, the back row is the smoothest for some reason. Even the outside ran on a level where you could enjoy the ride.

The day was very methodical going around the park hitting coasters. Now since the trip report is dragging on, I give you: Lightning Round Reviews of Generally Bad Coasters in the Order I Rode Them! Viper: Better than I anticipated. A bit rough, but manageable. Revolution: A classic and I can see how it used to be a great ride. The restraints of excessive California safety do hinder the ride some, but not enough to make me not enjoy this ride. Goliath: Great ride, yea! It is paced differently from other hypers, but I like it. The one hill it does have after the drop has great air. The helixes are fun, and I like the infamous grey out helix. It’s like the ultimate challenge to stay conscious. Good stuff, and run efficiently in comparison. Scream!: What the hell? They couldn’t have thought of a better name or theme? The words tacky come to mind but are quickly dashed when I see the true awfulness of a coaster in a parking lot. Call it Street Fighter or Street Sharks or something like that. The ride itself is ok. It’s like Kraken the first half with Kumba the second half. If it was landscaped have decently, it might be a good ride. Batman The Ride: One train operation. I have to wait for a credit; I hate that. The ride is short but fun just like every other one. Colossus: One train, one track operation. The other chain lift was missing. This ride isn’t rough nor is it exciting. There’s no airtime and the kid behind me kept whining he almost fell out when he was stapled in. I also think the employees have gone mad here. One girl was asking guests out of nowhere what color robe her graduation gown should be for next year. Goldrusher: The second half was ok because it was landscaped and semi-unique. Otherwise, it’s short for a mine train and had one train operation. Psyclone: Guess? Yes, ONE TRAIN OPERATION. Now this is a bad wooden coaster. It didn’t beat you up, but it was severely braked and just no fun. Ninja: Wait… no, this can’t be! Two train operation AND it’s a lot of fun! It really is a great suspended coaster second to Big Bad Wolf. The hilltop design benefits this ride greatly and is really the perfect place for a suspended coaster. That concludes the lightning round.

I didn’t ride Déjà Vu or Riddler’s Revenge because both had massive lines due to only having one train. I planned on riding them on day two. The one train operation was just depressing at this park. I didn’t ride the Vertigo ride because it really didn’t look that exciting. I repeated Goliath leading into dinner at the Mooseburger place. It was probably the best place to eat in the park as it was a sit down restaurant. I particularly enjoyed the Country Bear Jamboree (but not as good) feeling to it. Our favorite was the bell placed in the center moose’s butt. I don’t know why it was there, but I couldn’t refuse such a picture op. An X wait of around 90 minutes led us into a night ride on it. Great ride at night, do yourself a favor and wait. Goliath night ride was the last thing we did in the very back row (ultimate black out challenge). We survived, so, that’s a feather in my cap. On the way out we got Six Flags merchandise. I always felt Six Flags shops to be confusing because they have a wide variety of good stuff, which is oddly contradictory to the parks. I got an X shirt and Goliath hat (because X hats were ugly). My dad and I both got an $8 shirt featuring Mr. Six, the creepy yet funny turtle-man that advertises for Six Flags. I literally saw the shirt and said: “Wow, that is the gaudiest shirt. I must have it.” My dad got a blue one, but I wanted to get the most obnoxious shirt ever, so I got it in bright yellow. So we left with another Six Flags day in store tomorrow.

The next day began with X again, but it had a delayed opening, so we couldn’t ride it twice. Déjà Vu and Riddler’s Revenge were yet to be done, so those were next. We actually did get on Déjà Vu, which I like to a degree. The bump in the middle of the seat hurts the jewels a bit, but otherwise it’s good. I think we’re one of the few to actually ride two working Déjà Vu’s (SFMM & SFOG). Riddler was running one train yet again, which was frustrating. This really is a great ride primarily due to the originality of the inversion combos. It’s my favorite stand up coaster. I really wanted to ride it more, but one train operation made the line excessively long. We repeated: Goliath, Scream!, Ninja, Viper, and Revolution (all 2 train operation rides) before running low on things to do. We opted to eat dinner outside the park at Outback to kill some time before last rides on X and Goliath. We returned to ride X and then Goliath until we couldn’t ride no more (ended up being closing rather than blackout). I got an X onride photo with me attempting to wink at the camera, but it turned out as like a disturbing grimace.

Magic Mountain was not a park I liked. They seem to think that just simply building coasters is enough to satisfy the public. Efficiency, cleanliness, and attitude really cripple this park. The loading was just depressing. There are two great rides in the park, X and Goliath. There are a few solid rides in Ninja, Riddler, and Déjà Vu. The rest are simply ok, could potentially be solid, or once was. I can now say I’ve been to the two “kings” of thrills, SFMM and CP. Cedar Point absolutely shames SFMM in every category except best stand up and best suspended. CP has incredible efficiency, better rides, good customer care, and a relatively clean park. Cedar Point cares, that’s the difference.

The new day brought new promise for a park caring! Universal Studios Hollywood and Pacific Park was in store for this day, which happened to be the first Saturday of the trip. Revenge of Mummy had not been officially dubbed open yet and chances were iffy of us riding. Nevertheless, we marched up through Citywalk to the red carpet. The park opened and there were a couple employees that led you to different attractions. We opted for Shrek 4D first since the area with Mummy opened (the lower part) in an hour. The preshow room for Shrek was enormous and featured two magic mirrors. I like our version’s preshow because it’s supposed to be a dungeon, which ours just feels more like. Otherwise, the preshow is almost identical. The show room dwarfs ours and therefore lowers wait times, which I did like. The one difference in the show is that the magic mirror talks as you enter and exit with such messages similar to something like: “If you don’t have glasses or lost yours, wave your hands around wildly and look stupid.” “Don’t take your 3D glasses with you. You’re not as cool as you think you are walking around with them on. So do yourself a favor and drop them in the bins.” That was a nice touch.

We did Back to the Future next. The line was much nicer than our Future and the ride didn’t beat you up to the degree of ours. It was actually not rough at all. By now, the lower half had opened so we took the escalators down the mountain with a spectacular view. There was an Apollo 13 set up on the way down to which I posed with Bill Paxton in honor of his awful Twister preshow. Going down, Revenge of the Mummy appeared open. Guests were going in the entrance. I was excited! It brought me back to the day when ours opened when Bob and I raced to the entrance. Well, it wasn’t that picture perfect. We got down and it was NBC friends and family day. You needed a wristband to ride. I felt awful on the turn of a dime. Apparently it would end and there were slim possibilities at opening to the public. Sigh. I went to Backdraft to burn my worries. Ron Howard did both preshows in this attraction. It was essentially a big fire safety commercial. The show was mildly amusing, but there’s only so much you can do with fire in a short show. This was probably the only disappointing attraction in the park.

Jurassic Park had no wait so I hit that once. It was cool and much better than ours, but there were random water effects that got you wet and at times had no point to it (water sprays from the bushes?). The little ravenous ones tugged a popcorn box instead of a vest. A jeep splashed in the water instead of a crate falling. There were two T-Rex encounters which I liked: One jawing through the roof from above, the other similar to ours. At the end, waiting to exit, they even have the shaving cream can on the left of the boat as a little hidden secret. It was good to see the original and it was better than ours in atmosphere and finer aspects of theming. More dinos also seemed to help it. The last attraction on the lower level besides Mummy was the Special Effects Stage, so we checked that out. I didn’t really expect much from this show, but it’s actually hilarious. It has three rooms, the second of which is similar to the Horror Make-Up Show, a favorite show of mine. The host reminded me of John Goodman. He was great and had a sharp wit to him. The assistant was funny as well. This show can be easily passed up by a one time visitor, but I urge anyone else that goes to make time for this.

I ate some chicken at the Jurassic restaurant next door. It wasn’t bad, about what you’d get at a Thunder Falls by us. After this, there was nothing to do on the lower level, so we decided to hound the Mummy entrance for a couple more minutes. One of the higher ups came over and we asked about the NBC event going on. We also mentioned that we’d been on the Orlando version and wanted to compare. With that and him seeing my Universal Studios Florida shirt, he winked and made an exception to let us in even though we had no armband. Huzzah! Much thanks goes to this kind man who I never caught the name of.

Revenge of the Mummy construction was currently working on excess queue on the outside of the building, so we just went right through the main entrance. There are some interactive effects here: A hole to reach in spurts air and the Book of the Dead reacts to your touch. There are some searing skeletons and an in queue show film, but there was no line, so I didn’t get to see it. The loading platform loads two cars at a time and features a partial eclipse above it all. The mine car moves in; a skeleton gives us the evil eye. A man from above (on a screen) warns of the curse but is eaten by scarabs before he can escape. We turn the corner to find writhing corpses on the sides and hands pawing at the car from above. This flows into a treasure that is not on the same scale as ours. It is a smaller treasure and Imhotep only offers to join him in eternal death. No pop up mummies here, but we turn right passing skeletons in cobwebs above. We’re led into a straightaway. Imhotep is above reading from the Book of the Dead. He finishes nearly completing the loss of our souls as we launch below him with dropping warriors on the attack. Zing into darkness as neon warriors flash around us. Minor points of airtime are throughout the course, but nothing extreme. We come to an abrupt stop in a small room. Scarabs seep out and attack with a spray of water. Back out of the room into a longer backwards course. Imhotep taunts us that there is no escape and that our souls are his as we coast back. We come to a stop on the turntable. The eclipse is revealed to be ending. Imhotep’s face groans as we revolve. It ends in a burst of red “fire” all around us and through the car. The wrath is over. We rode it two more times before moving on to other things. I liked this version because it is completely different from ours and still holds up. The hands from above, the Book of the Dead reading, longer backwards coaster, and turntable are the high points of the ride. My complaint would be limited to how close the ending is to the load station. You could see it waiting, but I’ve heard that that is fixed. The coaster part is not extreme, but fun. I like ours better though mainly due to the length of ours and the more detailed animatronics.

With an extra bounce in the step now, we headed for the upper level. On the way up I noticed that the top of the Mummy (formally ET) building still had “ET 20th Anniversary” vaguely written on the roof. The Studios Tour is probably the biggest difference between the two studios, so I hit that. Due to the great capacity, there was no wait and we got right on. The tour is roughly 45 minutes long taking you through the streets of movie sets, old props, and little adventures. The clock tower for Back to the Future, original Bates Motel, and the courtyard where classic monsters got their start were some of the best sites along the way. There’s several adventures the tram also takes part in such as an attack with Kong, collapsing bridge, Mummy’s tomb, Earthquake, flash flood, and others. For some reason the Jaws part was operable when we rode. Kong was probably the most interesting since ours is long departed. It wasn’t even close to the grand presentation of ours, but seeing ole Kong’s face was good.

The Water World show was in 10 minutes when the tour ended, so that was the logical next. Before the show three characters squirted guests on the way in and toyed with them. The show itself revolved around the same movie plot with the Mariner, the Deacon, etc. The show was pretty good, but I liked how they could kill people by splashing them with water. It seemed a jet ski spray can knock a goon out real quick. The best part was probably the finale with the splash down of the huge plane followed by a fire finish with the Deacon perishing. It was a solid action show, but nothing that really made me want to go back later in the day and see it again. The effects were amusing, but the plot and progression of the tale was somewhat lacking. It worked where it was supposed to. I’m just glad they didn’t screw it up with bad jokes like they did with Sinbad.

Van Helsing across the way had a walk on when the show let out. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, but it ended up being a long, well themed haunted house with a watered down scare department. The initial halls contained no scare actors but had multiple mechanical spooks such as skeletons popping out. Once up stairs, near Frankenstein’s lab, there were a couple actors. Nothing terrible, just hands reaching out and such. In the actual lab, there was a midget walking around, which was neat. At the end, the wolfman attempted to attack us. It was the same exact suit from our Horror Make Up Show. This was a neat attraction especially since it changes often. I always thought they should do something like this for our Halloween Horror Nights. Keep a house open during the day time to whet guests’ appetites for the event and perhaps persuade them to stay for the night.

I said I’d only do T2 if I had enough time, and there was plenty left. So, I went for that passing through an English themed street with Austin Powers music playing. The T2 queue is outside here featuring advertisements for wacky products endorse by Cyberdyne such as a kid electric shock collar. This theatre seems to have a smaller capacity, but I’m not positive. The preshow features a funny scrolling text that eventually gets everyone’s attention with interactive humor. I thought this was a very nice touch putting it at a slight advantage over the nearly identical version of ours. The other preshow bit of note, is that in the video over there, Shaq is wearing Laker colors, whereas he wears Magic colors in our version. The theatre presentation was essentially the same though. Still one of the best complete experiences in the parks today as far as 3D films go. While in the area, I watched this weird pay souvenir. You got by this green screen and moved your head around. The head was then placed onto an animated body dancing to a song of your choice. I saw a Japanese man doing it to “Superfreak”. Honestly, I did.

Spiderman Rocks was the last thing on my checklist, but the next show was about an hour or so off. I opted for a repeat ride on Jurassic Park. It was funny though, the line was about 40 minutes long and we went for single rider line. We walked right to the loading platform and the operator loaded the entire single line to two rows. So, essentially we skipped 40 minutes and still rode together. Good deal. Afterwards, we waited for Mummy to see if it would open, but it didn’t appear so. The guy in charge claimed a 0% chance of it opening to the public later today. Seems we got lucky. So, with that we headed back up and queued for Spiderman Rocks, a “rock-n-roll musical”. T’s hard to review this other than to say it was bad, but to a degree it was almost funny. The music had nothing to do with what was going on most of the time. They sang “She Bangs” and combined it with “I Need a Hero”. Yeah… However, I didn’t really expect much, so there was no major loss there.

We left before the park closed mainly because we were going over to Pacific Park then driving down to our next hotel in Carlsbad by Legoland. I got a few maps and a Mummy Hollywood shirt. I liked this Studios a lot. I actually wasn’t expecting too much, but the park is really great. The location on the mountain and the fact that it is a working studio only helps the handful of unique attractions. If you do go to California, don’t overlook this park.

So we drove out to Pacific Park a few miles away to get one credit in. I had also heard something about the original Hotdog on a Stick was somewhere down there, which was intriguing. I don’t know if the original is right next to the pier, but that one was closed for the time being. We wandered down the boardwalk where several people sold their goods into Pacific Park. I believe a ride on the Westcoaster was $4, so one ride was all we did. It’s a very small coaster, but you do get two laps and the scenery is quite good. Riding in the back, there was an odd moment of airtime shortly after the first helix. The ride was ok, but the scenery is probably the best part. Dinner on the boardwalk was had and then it was down to Carlsbad.

This day, Sunday, involved three parks: Legoland, Sea World California, and Belmont. There was no time to waste today. It began with getting to Legoland at opening. Of course we looked so completely out of place here with both of us wearing FLCC shirts, but oh well. As we entered, we received commemorative legos featuring Florida on them. This was due to the grand opening of the Florida lego set up in mini land which had just opened Friday I believe. The Technic Coaster was the first of three coasters on the day. The layout was unique for a wild mouse. It featured a relatively big first drop too that was fun. The hairpin turns that followed were somewhat slowed but featured sound effects around each curve. Fun ride, not an extra-ordinary wild mouse though. I thought I’d try the Aquazone ride next, which looked to be an original flat ride. Basically, you stand in individual boats that go in a circle and you have a steering wheel that controls how far out from the rotating platform you go. While doing this, geysers go off around you. This was the surprise ride of the park as it was extremely fun to do. It was like the classic Whip attractions except you control the whip action. I’d like to see more of these throughout the country. They could even make good waterpark attractions if more geysers were added.

Over in the medieval section, Dragon had just opened, our second coaster. This is perhaps the best themed Vekoma junior coaster that I can think of. It’s set in a castle and meanders through a dark ride portion prior to the lift. It had several lego creatures in humorous positions and situations. We eventually pass through the dragon’s layer, up the lift, and through the ride. If it was just the coaster, it wouldn’t be much, but the dark ride part makes this a very original attraction. I did it once more and moved on. Joust was apparently only for small children, so I had to skip that. On the way under the closed Spellbreaker, I spotted a rabbit with a chainsaw. Hmm. How could one resist such the perfect picture opportunity? I thought this little hidden figure is one of the funniest parts of Legoland. We passed through the Block of Fame and Miniland to get to Funtown. Funtown is essentially an area that promotes exercise by tricking you with fun. I tried the Power Tower. You pull yourself up about 30 feet via rope and then drop to the bottom only to do it again. It was unique, but I’d like a faster drop. The exercise didn’t payoff enough.

The Funtown Fire Academy was too much of a challenge for me to turn down. Four groups of people hand pump their fire engine down a strip, put out a fire, then pump back. It’s basically a race. We took the challenge against three other families. I was probably more determined to win than I should’ve been. Anyway, we were second on the way down, but gained a lead on the fire extinguishing. The second place team made a run on the way back, but we ended up winning by several feet. Huzzah! It was quite tiring though, but a good attraction. It could get competitive if you had more friends to race against. I don’t know why, but I rode the helicopters after that. We headed towards Fairy Tale Brook next, which is a river guided attraction through several fairy tales told in lego fashion. This easy-going attraction was amusing and at times funny. For dark ride fans, make this ride a stop along the way. This flowed into Coasterasaurus, our third and last Legoland coaster. It was quite small, but still a coaster. They allowed two laps on this ride. I can’t say I liked it because of the size and lack of theming though.

After a quick lunch, we examined Miniland a little more. This fascinating section has small-scale models of actual cities like New Orleans (with Mardi parade), New York, and Washington DC. I’m not really a fan of miniatures, put this was a great section of Legoland. It has plenty to examine and find such as a guy getting attacked by a dog, people getting arrested, a funeral precession, and even a lego man sitting on the toilet. We took a boat ride around the lagoon featuring world landmarks before hitting the 3D show and repeating Aquazone. Lego Racers 4D was probably the attraction I liked least here. It had no dialogue and was just not that good of a movie. I’d like to have stayed a bit longer, but two more parks were still to go. I got a hat and keychain before I left. I liked Legoland because of its originality and uniqueness in attractions. I’m glad I made the decision to visit it.

Seaworld San Diego was about 25 minutes south… and it was actually on a body of water (Pacific Ocean) which was neat. With our platinum pass, we got into parking for free and got into the park for free. I pretty much only came for the new Journey to Atlantis, so I did that immediately. The entrance is littered with water effects and even the early part of the queue oozes with water. The line was about 20 minutes long, so not bad. Boats were the same. This version goes right into an outside lift hill followed by the flume drop with no dark ride portion. It winds back through fountains (left side gets pretty wet). From here it enters into the only dark ride part. Two boats at a time move into an elevator. The elevator goes up with a projection of exotic dolphins featured in the aquarium at the exit. The elevator sways left to right as it goes up. When it reaches the top, we exit to the coaster part. It looked more extensive then ours, but was not much more in reality. The first move is a swooping banked turn down then back up. The second move is similar to ours. The coaster part here is all outside. On the journey back to the station small poofs of water emanate from both sides of the boat. This Journey to Atlantis is just bad compared to ours. I was hoping for a more extensive dark ride portion, but instead I got a mostly outside ride with relatively no theming while riding. The elevator was need and the coaster part was fun, but not enough to overshadow the more intense theming of the Orlando version.

It’s Sea World, so I tried not to stay too long. I went to check their river rapids ride because I wanted to ride it if people weren’t coming off drenched (Pacific breeze at night is bound to be cold). It turned out most were drenched, so I skipped it and did the Sky Ride, which is basically a sky buckets ride. It was an upcharge for regular guests, but magical platinum card got us in free. We had to sit on one side of the bucket to tip us away from the poles. Apparently if the bucket leaned the other way, it would hit the center support poles. The view was nice of the surrounding area, but it didn’t provide much of a park view. After looking at the Forbidden Reef (eels and sting rays), we did the Sky Tower. This provided a better view of the park, ocean, and the city of San Diego. With that, we decided to leave Sea World and head for Belmont at around 6. This Sea World from what I saw wasn’t as good as ours in most every aspect. Even the scenery in the interior of the park wasn’t as nice as ours.

Belmont Park is a shopping center / beachside amusement center. It’s main feature is the classic wooden coaster Giant Dipper, which was the main reason for visit. A wristband was $10 thanks to a promotional price of a local country radio station. There was one train operation and rarely a line, so I got upwards of ten rides or more in. The coaster has a fun tunnel to begin, a unique chainlift noise, some solid airtime moments, and wild laterals. It can get rough in the back of some cars, but the front of the car is generally smooth. The best seat was the second row as it had the most airtime and lateral forces to it. This is just a very good beachside coaster that just barely misses my top 10 wood. This coaster is definitely worth a visit even though the operator was noticeably drunk. For dinner, they sold massive pieces of pizza. How could I resist giant pizza? I got a Giant Dipper pennant on the way out for $1 in the Giant Dipper museum next to the ride. This concluded a long 3 park, but only 5 roller coaster day.

A five hour drive to Vegas faced us the next day in the last leg of our trip. First stop was Desperado, but it ended up being closed, so we moved on to Vegas. We stayed at the Circus Circus in the west tower. It was a nice hotel from my early impressions, but we didn’t check it out for long as we went over to the Sahara and NASCAR Café where Speed: The Ride awaited. A wristband was $20 that included Speed and the NASCAR driving simulator for unlimited rides. The Premier coaster featured a loop, two launches, and a few curves. It was a fun ride although slightly jarring. The second launch and spike I enjoyed the most. Front row is the best bet on this ride. We also raced on the driving simulators a few times. I got second several times, but never first. We ate at NASCAR Café and rode Speed a little more before heading up the Stratosphere Tower.

The price for unlimited rides including the elevator ride up was $25 for the Stratosphere. I think we were both nervous going up the tower. The elevator ride was smooth and fast; we were told 21 mph fast. The elevator takes you up to the main area. X-Scream is on a lower level than Big Shot and High Roller. We went for the Big Shot first. This is the scariest and best S&S tower out there purely due to location. Quite unlike anything I’ve ever done. High Roller was pretty good despite its small size. I think the rickety nature of this ride makes it that much scarier. We rode Big Shot once more before heading down to X-Scream. I could only get my dad to ride once in the back row, but I rode it about 6 times throughout the car. The front seat is by far the best, and it is the scariest ride I’ve been on since my first Skycoaster ride. You get three tilts toward the end of the building with the last two giving surprise jolts. I really thought this was a fantastic attraction that seems to be the perfect fit. I thought it was funny though. In the front row, it looks like you’re about to fall 900 something feet right down into the roof of an IHOP (with large white lettering on the roof seemingly for advertising to riders of X-Scream). The ultimate play on fear of heights ride until the new swing ride (advertised already) opens on the Stratosphere. You must ride in the front for the full effect. Interesting note though, I got one ride in riding next to Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl champion Steve DeBerg. My dad was more than ready to get down, so we did with a rather cheap X-Scream shirt. The Stratosphere experience is one to behold. It really is unparalleled in uniqueness of thrills and well worth the $25 price.

The next day we pretty much focused on The Strip besides a morning trip to Hoover Dam. The Krispy Kreme inside our hotel provided well for three straight morning breakfasts of glazed doughnuts. After, we made the scenic haul to the Nevada-Arizona border. The Dam was neat, but since there are no more tours inside it, the attraction lost a little interest. Next we went back into town to see M&M World and Coca Cola World. M&M World included a somewhat funny 3D film, but Coca Cola World was just a glorified gift shop. I went across the street to ride the dreaded Manhattan Express. I believe it was $10 despite stories that it cost more. I waited for the front row fearing any punishment I would get towards the back. The ride actually turned out to be not that rough. I felt the criticism was way too harsh. It was actually a somewhat fun ride. I’m not putting it on any top lists, but it wasn’t bad. We ate at the ESPN Zone in one of the coveted recliner seats for lunch. That’s right, full recliner with build in sound and channel changer in front of the wall of TV sports. I watched ESPN News and an old Jets game for much of the meal.

We drove up to our hotel to do the Adventuredome. Canyon Blaster is the Arrow looper famed for being a rare smooth Arrow. It was quite smooth for an Arrow indeed. The drop with two consecutive loop provides a grey out moment followed by a pop of air, two corkscrews, and a helix through a man made mountain. All in all, not bad for an old time looper. I did the simulator next hoping the Fun House video was playing, but Dino Island 2 was instead. This is perhaps the campiest simulator film I’ve seen, and therefore funny. I can’t recommend it though to people that don’t like cheesy attractions. Sling Shot is the short tower ride that just opened this year. The shot up is somewhat intense and the shot down is not at all. It’s a mild tower not worth much of a look basically. Chaos was Chaos, nothing special. The Laser Tag arena was fun and included in the wrist band. It’s an interesting little park. We visited the Strip at night then I came back and rode Canyon Blaster until it closed.

The last day of leisure started with a visit to Red Rock Park, a sprawling national park with mountains and sparse wild life. The 13 mile scenic drive is covered with lookout points and hiking trails if you dare. We stayed on the road because the shortest hike was a mile and the dessert sun was grueling. It was a beautiful park and gave you a chance to escape the lights and cigarette smoke of the city. Briefly, we checked out the mouth watering Ethel M’s Chocolate Factory. We also swung out to ride Desperado which was open this time. The ride is a jarring ride and particularly rough. If you sit towards the back of the train, it’s manageable for some reason. It has some ejector air on the bunny hills, but is otherwise an uneventful and painful ride. Later that night we saw The Amazing Jonathan show at the Sahara. Hilarious show full of that zany humor you’ve seen on his Comedy Central shows only unleashed and uncensored.

Vegas is not a place to spend more than 2 days if you’re not a gambler. We found that we ran low on things to do by the end of the visit. The Stratosphere is definitely the best place to visit for us thrill ride people. The weather is absolutely melting, even at night. It was hard to handle for lengthened periods of time. One last note about Vegas: There’s a surprising amount of frequent static shocks you get in that city. We left the next morning. The flight had a lay over in Salt Lake City before going to Orlando. It was good to be back after that long.

So that’s it: plenty of fun on the road out west. Disneyland ended up my favorite park along the way. Two coasters got on my increasingly hard to dent top ten list, Ghostrider (9) and X (8). I increased my count to 164 and move closer to 200. I got around 600 pictures, but I made and attached a link to an album with 100 of the better photos on the trip. Until next coaster journey...

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