KBF 2/24 & SFMM 2/26 First time in Cali

**Leo C** · #1 02-28-2005, 05:10 PM

I went to California for the first time ever Sunday 2/19. My trip to Knott's Berry Farm was originally scheduled for Tues 2/22 but the consecutive days of rain washed those plans away. Rescheduled for Thurs 2/24 the sun broke through. It was Physics Day for several schools. At park opening it appeared the masses were going to Silver Bullet so I went to the back of the park because I was so eager to ride Xcelerator. It was closed for awhile for maintenance. I waited in line 20 minutes, hoping to be among the first few on it. I eventually left and went to Boomerang. Who would have thought Boomerang would be my first coaster of 2005? Maybe it will mean a weird, unique 2005 for me. The forward run was pretty smooth; was quite impressed with that. The reverse run, however was the rough one.

Next I rode Riptide, the Huss Topspin. I went in the back row because the concept was totally a first for me. This Topspin was just as good as the one at Dorney Park. Definitely better than Twister @ SFGADV.
Then I went aboard the Calico Mine Train. Is this a coaster although it's pulled by a locomotive? I really liked the theming. If only SFGADV's Runaway Mine train was like this. I like this concept of props and figurines. The course, though crammed in a small area seemed pretty long. Kudos to this ride.

The line for Silver Bullet seemed short, so I did it next. I love B&M capacity. The overbanked turn before the Cobra Roll seemed alot of fun. On my first ride, I sensed those light rumblings I experience on all the newly opened B&M's I ride. The helix was pretty strong. I still like Talon's helix more. It seems so much lower and closer to the ground. I think Silver Bullet and Talon compliment one another pretty well in the Cedar Fair chain.

Next I rode the steamboat and Jaguar! I've never been to the park before but it's disappointing the lake was constrained to such a small size now for this boat. For a family coaster Jaguar! was a surprise with its length. I have not been on a mini coaster of that length before. Following the second lift I had a lot of fun going all the way out and returning.

Montezooma's Revenge was my first flywheel Schwarzkopf ever. The launch was pretty smooth, the loop was pretty intense. Kudos for keeping the classic going. I liked the lit circles.

The line for Xcelerator was pretty long so I thought about doing it later. The Log Flume was pretty fun. Just like Calico Mine Train, I really liked its theming and course.

After lunch I finally did Ghostrider. Riding second row the first drop, turn and first hill was incredible! The first ride felt rough. The following rides, I got in better rows and got used to the experience. The L shaped layout really provided some nice turns. The turns stood out. I loved how a helix was added to vary the experience. Much appreciated. The turnaround before the MCBR I didn't care for really. This ride proved its weight in gold.

Near the end of the night I finally got on Xcelerator. This ride was elusive to me all day because of it not being open when the park first opened, the long lines in the afternoon and then at around 5 the ride was down for maintenance. I was not trusting of the crew and thought what if they closed this ride early? I came all the way across the country to ride this Intamin hydraulic. Finally it opened. Riding Xcelerator enabled me to have ridden every single Intamin Hydraulic every created thus far in the US. The launch was fun, but TTD conditioned me to accept much more. I could feel when the ride reached its limit to 80 and then push constantly. The top hat was a zing. Wow! I thought. The turns were pretty fun to ride. I capped the night with a front row ride on Silver Bullet and Ghostrider. The crews at Knott's were very nice, the park was very friendly, clean, and well themed. I was very impressed with Knott's Berry Farm.

Next up: Six Flags Magic Mountain. My friends and I got Play Passes @ Ralph's. What a steal! I could use it in Jersey. Six Flags has to get out of their financial problems but I don't mind being given a bargain. At the entry gate, I was a little lost for a second. They did not give me a map! I noticed a lot of cheerleaders; cheerleader competition day. How funny. Of course,we went to X first. Our wait was just an hour. So much goes on just to load and unload this ride. Too many mechanisms, so much time. My friends and I waited for the back seat. Dropping face first on that 200ft drop was too good to pass up. Did the last row. I was in total awe when the seat flipped me face first looking 200ft. straight down. The drop and then the soar into the Raven element erased my memory of going into the next flip. I was still caught on the first drop! The next huge moment was flipping backwards before the last raven turn. X was spectacular but it hit so fast I could hardly recall what had just happened.

Next up was the Riddler's Revenge! We went up Samurai Summit. I didn't mind if my friends and I stopped for a ride on Ninja. I heard queue music and thought it was open, but it was not. Great way to trick me and other guests Six Flags. I knew Sky Tower was closed and saw that going down the hill Goldrusher was closed. What exactly was there to do on Samurai Summit? Nothing! Not even Superman The Escape was open. I actually did not mind that. This was a big and early in the morning setback Six Flags. We made it down the hill to the Riddler. I wanted to see how much of a party was in the station. The stairwells had white lights but I bet in the past they were green. I liked the dance music and green lights. The Riddler pulled a trick when my friends and I reached the station loading area. We never loaded onto a triangular station before. Couldn't tell how the line split at first. Two trains were running and they seemed to stack all the time. We saved on time by going in the next to last row. Finally I was on the B&M I dreamed about for the longest time. It was the first I was on where the loop went through the lift hill. The first half was an overload on the eyes. I was too amazed to remember the ride. Pretty good ride for a standup. I did not sense the harsh vibrations in my legs that I would on Mantis. I took a lot of good pics.

Next up was Psyclone. I wondered why people really hated this ride. When riding I was fully convinced of how terrible of a ride it is. Even Rolling Thunder at SFGADV is a better ride. Clearly was rough and realized how unacceptable the ride quality was when I easily sensed the trim brake holding the train and then releasing, causing it to just crawl into some turns. Get this coaster a new train, anything to improve the ride! I was so insulted!

Deja Vu was closed and therefore continued to Deja Suck. This was as close as a chance I'll ever get to ride this ride and it was closed. No train on the track. I've always heard about its terrible loading and downtime. I never liked the oversized cobra roll design. I was willing to give the coaster a chance to prove to me it did not suck. Oh well.

VIPER was next. It looked like its track was freshly painted, a nice preview of whats to come for GASM. It was actually a little smoother than GASM, impressed. Exiting the loops was not as bad as GASM. It only ran two trains, did not see a third in storage.

Revolution: Finally on this landmark rollercoaster I liked how the woods engulfed most of the structure. I wish they took after Hershey and their operation of the SooperDooperLooper. The trim after the tunnel really dulled the ride. The layout was awesome but the OSTR were so painful and took a lot away from the experience.

It was sad to see Flashback, the only space diver boarded up. I guess I didn't miss much since everyone says its rough.

Next up was Goliath. I'm thankful NITRO is @ my homepark. Goliath can not top it, unless maybe it had another hill and helix squeezed in the first half. The downward helix felt just as intense as NITRO's upward helix. I was close to gray out. It had a mixture of B&M like track and Premier like supports. I disliked the wheels in the station and on the brake run. The annoying noise those made on the bottom of the train surprised people waiting in line below. I wish they had them arranged like B&M's. Nice experience but I'm thankful for NITRO.

As the sun set Colossus was next. I was fine most of the day with ride operation but this one was the stinker. One side running and only one train running! Thank goodness it was closer to closing. Couldn't we have stolen a red train from the other side? I could n't leave the line because I was not going to miss this classic. Heck, there was no sense of having that double dip eliminating MCBR if one train was running. The first drop was kicking but the rest of the ride was rather tame.

Next,I got a re-ride on the Riddler's Revenge, taking a front row seat. This definitely had me laughing like the Riddler as the train went up the lift. A night ride on a B&M I always dreamed about. I loved looping through the lift hill and doing the dive loops. Swept me away!

Finally did Batman: The Ride. It was not a high priority but I always wanted to compare clones. The California version seems like the red carpet edition. I'm used to enjoying a night ride in complete darkness, but this one had a lot of lights. I appreciated it because I wanted to see the train progress through the corkscrew. Why did I never have a fantasy riding the front row of B:TR with three cheerleaders? Well I rode with three of them. Too bad they were jailbait. Lots of fun.

I did nt care bout riding Scream! because I have Medusa back home. Anyways Medusa runs on nice green grass, not parking lot spaces. Hopefully SFMM will not park cars, construction vehicles, dumpsters in those spaces. hehehe.

I left California on Oscar Night 2/27. Of the 2 parks the Oscar for Best Park Experience goes to KBF. The Oscar for Best Profile Rollercoasters goes to SFMM.

Montu Man · #2 03-01-2005, 10:45 PM

Wow.. sounds like fun so far. I'm surprised Xcelerator is still getting downtime, and that Ghostrider is actually rough. Do woodies get that rought that fast? You seem to dislike Goliath, but it looks really awesome, maybe not as good as nitro, but it still looks cool. Was Ninja open? Did I miss that?

slnewbus · #3 03-02-2005, 04:57 PM

Sounds like you enjoyed kbf and wally world, can't wait to hear about colossus!

Andy · #4 03-03-2005, 11:27 AM

Deja Vu does not suck and was actually a highlight of my day at MM. I can't believe you didn't go on Scream; I preferred it to X. Batman in the dark is cool...The music in Riddler's station is super cool. Goliath is the best ride in the park though.

Jerry S · #5 03-03-2005, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHILLERLC1

........but I always wanted to compare clones.........I did nt care bout riding Scream! because I have Medusa back home.........

I'm not quite sure how to comprehend this.

Sounds like you enjoyed Cali though. I hope I'll get to go one day......again.

slnewbus · #6 03-03-2005, 04:15 PM

So they are letting collosus go decrepid now too?

coasterdude28 · #7 03-03-2005, 05:08 PM

nice review. it is ashame that deja vu was closed. it is a great and unique experience.

**Leo C** · #8 03-05-2005, 12:05 AM

With the clones deal, it was the Batman influence. I understand how you are confused that I said I did not want to ride Scream.
I still can't believe I did the Riddler.

pipesdrums · #9 03-05-2005, 12:00 PM

Did you ride Scream?

coasterdude28 · #10 03-05-2005, 12:33 PM

no, he did not.

Brian P · #11 03-05-2005, 12:41 PM

Great TR. I'm especially excited since I'm making the very same trip -- from MD to Cali for the first time, and visiting SFMM on 3/13 and KBF on 2/16

coasterdude28 · #12 03-05-2005, 01:47 PM

you mean KBF on 3/16? lol. not 2/16

**Leo C** · #13 03-05-2005, 02:41 PM

Clones were a last priority for me. Batman the Ride was the last ride I squeezed into the night. I only took a pic of Scream and gave that up so I could have a second ride on the Riddler's Revenge. I could always ride Scream as Medusa over grass in New Jersey.
Overall, I think my disappointment was not how terrible of a ride Psyclone is and that Deja Vu, Ninja, Goldrusher, Superman, Sky Tower were closed, but that I could not get my glorious ride on Revolution. I did ride Revolution but I rightfully wanted to compare it to the SooperDooperLooper at HP. SDL was the second modern looping coaster and first on the East Coast from what I heard. I just thought it was a short ride and was lookng forward to Revolution's more elaborate layout. The OSTR's unfairly distracted me and I couldn't say that the ride was any better than SDL. I should have been able to though.

I can't believe it's been a week since I was there. This week back flew by.

I realized I visited the first site of Shockwave, the standup as well. I walked by its second site all the time when I go to SFGADV.

Ta2KX · #14 03-07-2005, 08:22 PM

I can't believe you traveled that far and skipped Scream. That was a stupid move. I don't care if it is the tiniest kiddie coaster or X itself, a long trip with little chance of a re-visit later in the year means you ride EVERY coaster you can. You must have planned your day badly, there is no way it could be that busy that you'd miss a coaster. Maybe you're rather wealthy and this trip didn't matter much to you, but that is awful to travel that far and willingly leave a coaster out.

**Leo C** · #15 03-08-2005, 09:36 AM

I'm less likely to re ride the Riddler's Revenge so I took that over a ride on Scream. I was disrespectin the ride as well since it was built over parking lot which was not ripped up and cover with gravel or grass. I knew I could ride the original coaster it was based on which was built over grass: Medusa. I can ride Medusa tens of times at my homepark SFGADV.