__________________

So, I have no idea if I will be able to post any updates tonight or tomorrow night, but right now it is 6 in the morning where I am, and at around 12, I should be in the air, flying over to California. From there, the rest of today is the beach, but tomorrow I go to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the first time! If I can't get any updates out tonight or tomorrow, I should get a big update on Thursday when I know I will have access to the internet!

__________________

DAY 1- ARRIVAL/REDONDO BEACH Today I woke up at 5 in the morning, so excited to finally get some roller coasters other than the small ones at my home town park, Lagoon. After lots of over packing (happens every time!) we left for the Salt Lake International Airport at 9. There were no lines for anything throughout the airport, due to it being a Tuesday today, which was great! We headed for our Southwest terminal, and once we settled into some seats, we found something to eat, and then boarded the plane. After a 2 hour plane ride to LAX, we were picked up by my mom's friend to go and stay at her house for tonight. Her house by the way is a 10 minute walk from Redondo Beach. Once we got everything worked out as far as luggage goes, we did something most people would love... we went for the beach. Now, I hate the beach (what with the seaweed, etc.) But going to the beach meant a nicer mom and sister when we go to Six Flags and Knotts, something that they somehow dislike! So I sat through 2 hours of beach, and then we finally left, so I could hurry and come back so that I could write this update! Now, I am about to have hamburgers and fries before I go to sleep early to get up early for Six Flags Magic Mountain tomorrow!

__________________

Hope you have fun...the dry heat out in Valencia will be almost unbearable tomorrow! (between 90 - 100 degrees F). Make sure to drink a lot of water and avoid consuming soda.

So, I finally have time to post a report as to what has been going on. It is late, so I will try to cut to the chase.

First SFMM. For those of you who skim through, I will keep this as condensed as possible.

Viper- 2x- This was our very first ride of the day as when we reached the line for X2, it was 90 minutes already when it just opened! Then after much coaxing I got my sister who was scared of big coasters on. She loved it and wanted to try everything!

Terminator Salvation: The Ride- 1x - It was an hour line, but very worth it. Great ride, but the music did not work.

At this point, we noticed there would be no way to get through everything, so we got a FLASH PASS that got us to every ride in a 2 minute wait which was short lived since it took longer than that to get to the ride!

X2- 1x- Yes, I paid the 10 dollar fee to get past the 2 hour X2 line. The ride was incredible and my new #1 coaster. Nothing like it, but flames sadly weren't working. Still great ride.

Log Jammer- 1x- It was okay though very shap and painful turns.

Tatsu- 3x- So when we arrived to the park, a piece of the track was being put in place and was under construction. But it shortly opened back up! so in the end we got on and the sister who was scared of anything bigger than Wicked! named Tatsu her absolute favorite coaster!

Deja Vu- 1x- Kind of rough but pretty good ride.

Riddler's Revenge-2x- Thought it was pretty interesting how the seats adjusted to your height.

Batman: The Ride- 1x - I really did not enjoy this B&M invert that much. Good theming but kind of getting a little rough.

Scream!- 2x - A very nice and smooth ride. I can not believe anyone thinks this coaster is bad just because you see a few parking spaces. I boo anyone who thinks this ride is not awesome.

Goliath- 1x- Wanted to ride more and had a great ride though it did not seem as large.

Revolution- 1x- Pretty nice ride, very classic.

Ninja- 1x- Pretty thrilling for a minor coaster.

Superman- 1 x- This was the saddest launch I have ever experienced. Somehow my fastest and tallest!

Gold Rusher- 1x- Ehh... kind of rough.

Over all, anyone who says SFMM or Six Flags in genral does not do any kind of theming or anything like that for that matter are crazy. I think it is better than Cedar Fair even!

I am not sure, I think the minutes are going to be up on the computer I paid for so more tomorrow! Soak City and more Knott's Tomorrow!

__________________

You hit the nail on the head with Scream, X2, and Superman. I think Xcelerator's launch has surpassed Superman's. Ghost Rider rocks!!!

I also agree with your Scream comments. The ride is hella fun, and the parking spaces under the ride have never bothered me.

Deja Vu is one of my favorite rides, I love the straight down first drop in the back seat.

X2, Tatsu and the others speak for themselves.

Superman is straight up sad and disappointing. The launch sucks, the weightlessness is pretty much non-existent. The highlight is the G's coming into and out of the 90 degree turn. This thing NEEDS to be tore down and replaced with a record breaking coaster. Not only has it never run like it was meant to, it no longer draws crowds to the top of the mountain.

Here is another trip report that is a little bit more in detail than the one way above. Sameidea, though it was late and so I kind of skipped a lot above!

So, I figured I would be able to give updates daily on SFMM and Knott's throughout my trip but, due to computer complications, I haven't gotten to a good computer until today, last full day of my trip. So here is kind of a mega update, and I will try to keep as consise as possible, though I might carry on a bit.

So on Wednesday, I woke up early for Six Flags Magic Mountain, my very first Six Flags park and first visit I had ever had to SFMM! I had mixed expectations. This trip proved much to me, and how many critics of SFMM are straight up liars (depending on their opinion, though the general population of them are incorrect).

When you get to the gates you are welcomed by Looney Tunes characters doing a show while you wait in line, something not even Disney does. This park was already seeming great. We decided we would wait to see if we needed Gold Flass Passes until we noticed long lines. When it opened, we went straight for X2. It was a pretty good walk, and seemed fine when we were walking across the bridge, until I noticed the sign- 90 minute wait! So we went for the next closest... Viper. This was an easy walk on, and I was very excited, as this would be my first Arrow coaster as well as my first Batwing. It was somewhat rough but a pretty nice and fun ride overall. After this, I used a map to get us up to Terminator Salvation: The Coaster.

All I have to say about the map is that, well, its very confusing. Due to all of the reviews, the park sounded somewhat small, with no theming, and few trees/terrain features. Well, many trees making the walk confusing and the map showed the coasters off away from the path, and they were right over us. So the first thing I sadly recognized was... Tatsu closed! That is right. My first Flying coaster was closed and had a crane next to a piece of track which was taken from part of the second barrell roll! I figured I would never ge this coaster. When I got to Terminator, the line was a pretty good length. Luckly, I got my sister who at the time was scared of big coasters on. Well, the line was crazy, but the theming was great and the ride amazing! Easily one of the best coasters in the world and very much a mix between Terminator 2 3D, Evel Knieval, and Thunderhead! Though, the music did not work!

Once we got off we headed for Deja Vu, only to encounter another long line. We knew we would never get every coaster in the park if we did not have Flash Passes, so after a short tutorial video, we paid $101.00 for a 2 person unit as well as $20 for reservations on X2. What I have to say about the Gold Flash Pass- Far superior to Fast PAss (Disney) and Front-of-the-Line Pass (Universal). Amust have at this park and very amazing as to how it works. I always thought a Q-Bot was like a FastPass machine, but was wrong and blown away by the system. All you did was select the ride you wanted, and you would wait about 2 minutes (less than the time it takes to get to the actual ride) before you walk through the exit to the selected attraction!

So we put it to the test on Viper again. Though something amazing happened. I was about to go on with a roller coaster riding friend when my sister, scared of big coasters said she wanted to try it. She had no idea about the facts as far as height, speed, and inversions, and I was not about to scare her off. We reserved it got on, and just as I expected, she loved it and named it a favorite (which was not hard when her number 1 was Matterhorn!) Now, she said she wanted to ride everything, which before, the only coasters she would touch was Gold Rusher and Ninja! Truely amazed, I wanted to get her on another big coaster but, it was time for our reservation for... XXXXxxxxx....22222! Wow, well I was actually scared on a roller coaster for my first time. But absolutly excited for the ride. Knowing my most thrilling coaster was Xcelerator, I knew this would go way beyond. Truely phenomenal is all I have to say. Absolutly my favorite coaster ever, and it will be very hard to beat! and what more, we walked on! This is even with the flames not working! After this, we went to the new Johnny Rockets for lunch and then reserved the Log Jammer. I have to say, kind of interesting ride, but the turns were absolutly painful. Not a big favorite. Then I reserved Ninja for my sister and I before two more amazing things happened. After reserving and walking on to a nice ride with my sister on Revolution, We noticed Tatsu was making test runs already after a piece of track wwas just taken out and put back in in 2 hours!We ran for it to find it open, reserved it, and my sister surprised me again with an enthusiastic please as far as riding Tatsu with me. This is the same person who was scared of coasters the hour before! We got onto what I must name my second favorite coaster while my sister named it number 1 and the best roller coaster on this Earth. I reassured her there were many better coasters on Earth, but did not resent at all that my sister finally had a favorite coaster that was actually worthy of being a favorite coaster... finally no more Matterhorn!

So after, we got in rides on Ninja, Deja Vu, and Riddler, all walk ons, done in an hour, and once again, my sister loved them as well... well what do you know. She never imagined roller coasters would actually...be...fun! We sat in the front of Deja Vu, pretty cool and I thout the way the seats adjusted on Riddler was interesting. After this came Batman: The Ride. I have to name this the roughest B&M invert, as every inversion hurt terribly. Though a fine ride. Oh, and by the way, this park is much more themed than Cedar Point or Kings Island. I even go as far to say as possibly more themed than Busch parks! There wer many details especially in the Gotham City area.

Now came my fastest, tallest coaster Superman: Escape. This is the sadest excuse for a record breaking coaster, should not be called a coaster, but a credit just the same. You don't even need to hold on and it only goes half the way up! Slowest sadest launch as well. Very sad ride.

After this came my first floorless coaster, Scream! Anyone who says this is not a good coaster just because of the tiny parking spaces that you can't even notice while riding are very ,very wrong. Absolutly great, and amazing/smooth ride!

We then rode Colossus, a nice little woodie, before riding Goliath. Not much to say about Goliath surprisingly. Not bad, actually pretty good, but really did not seem as big and fast as it really is. Good ride just the same. By now we had ridden everything, so rode a few more rides before going home. Gret day, and one of my favorite parks! Very impressed surprisingly!

X2- 1x
Terminator Salvation: The Coaster- 1x
Viper- 2x
Tatsu- 3x
Deja Vu- 1x
Scream!- 2x
Goliath- 1x
Colossus- 1x
Batman: The Ride- 1x
Riddler's Revenge- 2x
Ninja- 1x
Revolution- 1x
Log Jammer- 1x
Sky Tower- 1x
Gold Rusher- 1x

Knott's report tomorrow!

__________________

Medusa, now Bizarro, has been an amazing smooth ride so since Scream is a mirror I expected as much. I still discount it for having the parking spaces down below. They should have coaster enthusiast preferred parking down there.

Didn't the Goliath g's in the final helix get to you?

__________________
Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

Hmm... didn't notice much on Goliath Surprisingly. Actually, I can't remember if I even paid attention to most of the ride! What have I done!

Anyway, I was actually thinking about parking underneath Scream! as well!

__________________

I am also in the minority that finds Goliath very blehhh. It's a not re-ridable and rather bland hyper-coaster in my opinion. Yes, it's HUGE, but it's also very short and ends too quickly for a ride of such magnitude. I enjoyed Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 much more.

Also, keep in mind Superman The Escape was intended for a 1996 opening, but had a delayed opening in March 1997. For a coaster that goes 100 mph in 7 seconds back in 1997 was unheard of, incredible and thrilling rush. The ride is now 12 years old. You definitely can't compare a ride built in 2002 like Xcelerator to Superman and expect them to have the same intense launch.

The problem with Goliath is the trim breaks. You practically come to a complete stop twice which is a big no no in my book. The great thing about Goliath is that it's smooth for a Mega, especially when compared to those made by Arrow. Being in the last row during the helix is pretty intense. Needless to say, it's out of my top 10.

Chris L makes a good point about Super Man. How quickly I forget it's age.

I can do some coasters and just daze off while on them. I'm more of a fan of Texas Titan. I'll take any extras on that layout cause for a mega the Goliath does end short. I wish it had Raging Bull's hammerhead turn.

__________________
Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

Yeah, I am the same when it comes to dazing on some coasters. Goliath wasn't boring, it is just I only got the chance to ridde once. I was so impressed with the first drop, I guess I wasn't paying attention to the rest of the ride.

But the helix that got me was surprisingly the one on Silver Bullet which I will talk about tomorrow once I get back to Salt Lake from SoCal!

__________________

Well, I flew in to Salt Lake earlier today and have been recuperating from my trip. Due to the turbulance and an airsick mother, well, let's just say I have been taking care of her a lot today.

Anyway, the good news is I am ready to give full trip reports, but the bad news is, well... how should I put this to you. The pictures that I did take turned out bad, I forgot to take pictures of X2, Deja Vu, Terminator, Ninja, Gold Rusher, Colossus, Revolution, and Tatsu, and just gave up at Knott's. I do have an excuse though, as I barely got time to finish everything in each part without the many pictures, plus, by the time I got up to the Sky Tower, it was too dark to take any on the Sky Tower.

So here is PART 2 of my trip: Knott's Berry Farm

So, due to me visitng Knott's 4 days in a row, can not remember exactly my order of rides in the first three days but can remember yesterday!

We had been doing this for 3 days now and today was the last day. This trip report features the perfect route through Knott's Berry Farm and there is no other route like it. After getting a handle of things as to how Knott's works and due to the fact we were staying in the Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel... well we knew the place forwards and back. So we arrived at the park at 9:45, 15 minutes before opening. They were letting people go in and wait at the ropes. But my now coaster friendly sister and I knew something the tourists did not. While everyone ran to wait behind the ropes for Silver Bullet, we went straight for Ghost Town. This area of the park opens before the park itself and we knew what we had to do. We drove for Ghost Rider, the ride that always has the longest line. We waited for the cars to make their last test runs before walking onto the 5th row- before the park even opened! Now, the front and back on this ride are a big no-no, as this ride is easily the roughest and most painful but still slightly enjoyable ride in the world. It ran rough but we still had fun.

Though we did not sit and ponder what we thought but went over instead down under the stagecoach to Silver Bullet. The ropes were just barely let down once we reached the ride and we walked on to the front row of Silver Bullet. After experiencing Batman: The Ride, Silver Bullet was absolutly amazing. The funny thing about my sister is that over the past three days she found out every spot the pictures were taken on each ride and so, after the amazing ride on Silver Bullet, the picture showed her smiling at the camera, full face looking head on at the camera while speeding out of a cobra roll! You've gotta love that! It was hilarious and shocked the photo uploaders quite a bit.

Now, we planned everything perfectly as we found that the Log Flume and Xcelerator don't open until a few minutes after the park opens. So, when we arrived to the Log Flume, we were able to walk right onto a ride which normally has an hour plus wait! It was a nice log flume that is just shy of Splash Mountain and Jurrasic Park as far as theming goes!

Then we shot for Xcelerator and walked onto my sisters favorite part, the back row. The ride was amazing, even for our 10th time that week! We decided to by the $15 dollar DVD showing Xcelerator ad us riding it! Just proof for when my family does not believe she likes coasters now!

Then we went for Perilous Plunge. This ride we walked right on to the front row of what is the best non-themed water ride ever, even though it is now only the second tallest. Heck, you don't even notice that it is not the tallest while going down but instead screaming for dear life! It was a very fun and very wet ride, especially in the front row!

Next came Supreme Scream. We walked on to this as well (surprise, surprise) and had a great ride on my sister's favorite drop tower (she hasn't ridden Tower of Terror yet ) !

Now we went into Fiesta Village and waited about 5 minutes for La Revolucion. A very nice ride, and my first ride of its kind! Can't wait to try out MaxAir some day!

Then came the walk on to Montezooma's Reenge. Even in the middle of a busy Saturday, this ride has no line and is much underestimated due to age. This is still a fun ride and gives you a good launch. IT was funny, when my sister first got on she asked if it launches and I responded no, it pulls you slowly up the back spike and then drops you. Trying not to laugh she actually bought it and then was completly shocked to all of the sudden be launched into a loop!

Then we decided to get Jaguar!, due to its proximity to Montezooma. It is a very large kiddie coaster but definitely not the best!

Next we waited about 10 minutes for Sierra Sidewinder. I have to say, this is a very mild ride and is nothing compared to a good Mauerer Sohone spinner like Spider at my home park Lagoon. But still, we had to do it. By now 1 hour had passed since park openng. That is right folks: we did Ghost Rider, Log Flume, Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, Supreme Scream, Perilous Plunge, Montezooma's Revenge, Sierra Sidewinder, and Jaguar! all in just 1 HOUR!!!

So, the rest of the day we relaxed while we waited for a friend to join up to ride some rides with us. Once our friend came we just rode Boomerang, Pony Express, and Bigfoot Rapids (the worst rapids ride ever) and all walk ons before going for the first showing of the very cool but way to short Mystery Lodge (we saw Everyone Loves Snoopy an ice show the day before, and this park sure does entertain well)!

So, this was when we had to leave early but the amazing thing is, we conquered the entire park in just 2 hours people! Well the next trip report will just be about our hotel, Soak City, and Mideval Times!

__________________

^An hour or 2 to get on every big ride in the park sounds about right...you didn't like Bigfoot Rapids? I tend to get much wetter on Roaring Rapids at MM, but I do like the longer ride of Bigfoot.

Ugh, Silver Bullet over Batman? How could you! I like Silver Bullets elements, but what really kills this ride for me is that first drop...SO WEAK!

Oh but you can. Just because MM has decided to run the ride into the ground doesn't mean it wouldn't give Xcelerator a run for its money if Superman ran like it was billed to. I think its safe to say if Superman actually hit 100 MPH, it would be a completely different ride experience, and would hold its own against the rocket 50 miles South.

It hits 88 MPH on average, and this really makes for a lackluster ride. With the ride running at 100 MPH the gravitational forces on the curve are tremendous, you coast about 1 tower length from the brakes at the top, and the feeling of weightlessness actually has a chance to come into play.

So instead of one competing for the other, you have one blowing the other out of the water. But really, it has nothing to do with their age.

Well, Batman: The Ride was surprisingly a rough ride, especially when going through the inversions! And on Bigfoot Rapids, we just didn't get that wet for some reason, whereas even my hom park Lagoon's raft ride, Rattlesnake Rapids, has a waterfall at the end going over the entire raft, assuring everyone gets wet!

__________________

El Barto,

Me bringing up the "age" of Superman is quite valid, I think. The ride's LSM system is archaic in comparison to its down-the-road neighbor at Knott's that uses a much more advanced hydraulic propulsion.

This is where age and the difference of technology from different times comes into play...and in which the rider experiences a significant difference from both rides.

Even if Superman were operating at its full potential, it simply will never be comparable to Xcelerator's seemingly instantaneous 0-82 in 2.3 seconds.

That's where my point was in mentioning Superman's age. The being older = the technology is inferior = it definitely shows.

I agree with Barto with the Silver Bullet first drop. It's stretched out more than the typical B&M invert first drop. Discussing with these So Cal guys I collected it's because of the support clearance over buildings below. It's more lifeless doesn't compare to the dive to hell first drops on Batman: The Ride, even Raptor.

Markham, you need another spin on Batman: The Ride. It's truly intense in a small package. It may be similar to my first cycle on Carowinds' Vortex. I don't know how I allowed it happen but I was thrown around like a rag doll my first run on it. I didn't have poise or composure. I refused to accept that as my only cycle so I returned focused and pulled the ride off with a lot less damage the 2nd time around. I guess I zoned out the first time I rode. I bet you thought the turn and bank after the first corkscrew into the second corkscrew was the rough part.

__________________
Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

So, this last little trip report covers our hotel, Knott's Soak City, and the Mideval Times Dinner and Tournement we went to.

So, first, our hotel. We stayed at the Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel for most of our trip (2 nights at a friend's beach house). This hotel was a pretty nice hotel. It had the quality of a Disney moderate resort (if you will) but was priced at 99 dollars a night! The hotel even had its own restaurant which featured great breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The rooms were nice, no problems, and the beds were good as well.

Next, Knott's Soak City. So, I am not into water parks as much as I am theme parks, but I do happen to know a good amount of information about the water park industry based on my theme park knowledge. And, since I had only been to a small water park in Utah before, I thout it would be nice to try a bigger one. Now, it was a very hot day meaning that our feet were badly burned throughout the day by walking over the hot pavement. We tried to cool off in the wave pool, but that didn't help much. We first went for the tallest tower in the park, and due to me not researching anything about the park, I was a little under prepared. Though after a good 10 minutes, we figured out how the park worked and so went up to the yellow slide first (don't quite know the names). Just to describe this to you, it is a body slide that starts at the top of the highest tower (alongside two red spides that are the tallest in the park) and winds down to the end. The one thing I did not liek was the end though as there was so much water, you actually could not breath for a second. We went back to the tower afterwards, but this time only half way up to get one of the blue tubes. They have about six different ones, and we just chooise a random one. It was sort of fun, but nothing like a theme park ride. Next, we were very tired and decided to try out the lazy river. Sadly, that was one of the highlights of this day. But what we rode next was actually very fun and thrilling. This ride was the only one I could remember the name of, Pacific Spin. Although it had a good line, it was my first funnel slide and I just had to try it. This was truely my favorite water slide yet (though that is not saying much), though the funnel part almost stripped me of my swim suit! though it was still a very fun ride and the waterfall at the end was a nice cool off. We decided to just finish off the day with our first racing slide and, well, the guy at the top had to help push me so that I could get down to the bottom. The sad thing is I am not that heavy, so there should have been no reason for me to not make it down. Though after just those 5 slides, I was ready to leave immediatly, walk back through the tunnel under the street, go to the hotel, change and go get some more Silver Bullet and Xcelerator!

And to end this trip report, Mideval Times Dinner & Tournement. So, I don't know if any of you have been to something like this but, due to the fact I had seen broadway and Disney, and the fact that I was picky and did not particularly love the menu, I had low expectations. Though I was quickly surprised once the show began and the effects were in full effect. This truely was a fun attraction and very memorable. And for those of you who have been to this show, the Blue Knight should have won! Anyways, that pretty much wraps up my trip. It sure was a fun one and I am going to miss the chance to ride big coasters other than Wicked! at my home park Lagoon until next year!....

__________________