California 2010 PTR

[Ben]

I think there are parts of CGA that are "nice", such as by the Rapids and stuff, and parts that make me want to cough up chunks of lung, like the area by the Drop Tower and Mouse.

It's CERTAINLY not as gross and Cedar Fair as say, Knott's.

Although I've gotta disagree, Dorney's really nice I think...

 

[Brookes]

I also think CGA has the most "Cedar Fair" feel to it out of any CF parks. It's grey, drab, not a lot of shade, not a lot of green, and a hella a lot of bins! Compared to it's counterpart owned by Six Flags, this park is just pitiful!

To be honest I thought it was a nice park and there was quite a lot of green. I think the part by the entrance to the Demon with the shaded area and the grass is a really nice area of the park. But yeah, it isn't the best park in the world, I was expecting the other parks on the trip to be much better, but it surprised me and exceeded my expectations. It is worth a visit in my opinion.

Alcatraz has fascinated me since stumbling across Escape From Alcatraz on a late Channel 5 viewing, and definitely somewhere I want to visit once in my life. You're so lucky you got to go, as I hear waiting times can get pretty long to actually go to it!

Yeah it is an interesting place to see and visit, we pre-booked before we went as they strongly recommend doing so. When we arrived for the trip on the Saturday morning, all tours were booked until Tuesday!

Thanks for all the other comments as well, I hope to get the next part of the report up soon!

 

[Brookes]

This part of the report will contain days 4, 5 and 6 including Disney's California Adventure!

We got up on day 4, 23rd August and I opened some presents and cards as it was my birthday! We went and had breakfast then started the long drive down to Los Angeles. We travelled down on the I-5 and it must have been the straightest road I have ever seen, all surrounded by desert. After what was something like a 7 hour drive, we arrived in the very hot Los Angeles. We checked in at the Sheraton Anaheim, and later on had tea in the hotel.

The next day consisted of getting our bearings, having a drive around near Downtown Disney and hanging round by the pool. Later on we went down to Long Beach for a bit. It was really strange as we had just come from San Francisco which was colder than normal to Los Angeles which was experiencing a heatwave and it was boiling. It was too hot to walk on the sand, but we had some frozen lemonade and Long Beach was nice.

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos with my camera for these 2 days, but I got quite a few from the next park Disney's California Adventure.

So, the next day we awoke quite early and got the half 9 shuttle I think to Disney. I really like the Disney area, where you walk from the buses and have Disneyland on your right, California Adventure on your left and Downtown Disney straight on, it's really nice. Although it isn't as "magical" as in Florida, it's still got that Disney feel. Downtown Disney is also awesome with loads of great restaurants and things going on.

Anyway, we entered California Adventure and headed straight to the fastpass distribution for World of Color as I had heard it was best due to how busy it gets. While the rest were waiting to get a fastpass, my dad and I went to ride my 99th coaster and one I was certainly looking forward to; California Screamin'.

We joined the queue which was only about 10 minutes and got on the front row! This was a coaster that I had really wanted to ride for ages.

I thought it was amazing, absolutely brilliant ride. It's got great length, drops, high speed turns, airtime and an inversion; all packed together in a mess of supports. It is a coaster I could ride all day and in my opinion is great. I couldn't wait to go back to ride it again later on in the day.

Next up was Grizzly River Run, the rapids. The queue said 30 minutes but it was more like 15, and we all got in a boat with two randomers.

It was one of my favourite rapid rides and I really like how it climbs up to the top of the mountain, and features big splashes and awesome drops. It was a really good rapid ride.

After me, my nana and grandad went on Soarin' over California. The queue was about 25 minutes and after said queue time we got on.

I'm not sure if it was different from the Florida version as I couldn't remember it exactly, but I really enjoyed it. A great ride and fantastic experience like the one in Florida.

I think we went and had dinner then, after having a coffee before Soarin', which was followed by Mulholland Madness, my 100th coaster! I think it had just broken down as it was testing, but it opened just as we reached it.

So my nana and I walked straight on and it was a good ride. I liked the theme, although it makes it almost impossible to photograph, but overall great little coaster.

After I think the rest went to watch the Aladdin show, so my dad and I went to re-ride California Screamin’.

Again it had a small queue and this time we headed to the back. It was great again, but the soundtrack wasn’t on for some reason and it wasn’t as good as the first time, as the audio really adds to the ride.

As it was walk on, I went on again on my own as my dad didn’t want to go on again.

I mean seriously walk on.

Got two more rides, one sat by some randomer then the other I was in the billy seat on row 5 where there is just one seat on its own. I think that ride was my favourite of the 4 times I rode it that day, it was just fantastic.

Then I popped on Maliboomer, I was pointed towards the single rider queue which had no-one in it, even though the normal queue was like 2 cycles long. Anyway I was put straight on and unfortunately didn’t get the side facing the park.

The initial launch was good and gave good views of California Screamin’, but the rest wasn’t anything special and the plastic face guard things are both annoying and pointless.

As you may have noticed I hadn’t done Tower of Terror yet, so now was the time. We headed over to it, but just before we’d got there loads of people had got in the queue and it had shot up to a 45 minute queue.

We got a fastpass for an hour later and went to get an ice cream. My nana and grandad then went on It’s Tough to be a Bug as me and my dad went on Tower of Terror.

Like the Paris and Florida versions I really enjoyed it and think it is a cracking ride. Loads of crazy drops and I love how it holds you at the top when the doors open.

As we were staying for World of Color, we went out the park to get some tea in Downtown Disney. After we went back in the park to get ready for World of Color. We could be in the area from 7:45 for the 9:00 viewing and we got there about 8 o’clock. I was tempted to have a sort of night ride on California Screamin’, but thought I’d leave it as we were in the place for World of Color and was going to leave it for the Disneyland day.

After sitting through the pre show which consisted of several lit up characters and other things, it was time for the celebrated World of Color. Overall I thought it was great. Brilliant water effects and the show in general is really good, it has a good length and shows lots of different things projected on the water jets. Great addition to the park.

I really enjoyed Disney’s California Adventure, in terms of rides it is similar to Animal Kingdom, which I also really like. Obviously there was lots of work going on near Paradise Pier, but it still looks good and it should be amazing after everything is finished.

Ride count:

California Screamin’ x4 (Front/back)
Grizzly River Run
Soarin’ Over California
Mulholland Madness (Front)
Maliboomer
Tower of Terror
World of Color

 

[Brookes]

Triple post oops. Sorry for the delay between posts, I’m quite busy at the moment but I have the latest part of the trip report now, Six Flags Magic Mountain.

After Disney’s California Adventure, we went Knott’s Soak City on the Thursday, but unfortunately I took no pictures. It was a good water park, great selection of slides and rides, though it was busy the day we went so most of the attractions had big queues. Went on a few things and the lazy river and wave pool were amazing. It’s worth a visit if you have a spare day.

Ok, now onto the part of the trip that I was most looking forward to, Six Flags Magic Mountain. We got there at about half 10 after a journey that took around an hour and a quarter. As we got out of the car, we were met by a scorching heat and knew we were in for a hot day.

We walked up to the entrance, as there were lots of people waiting for the tram. We went through the entrance with our season passes, whilst I wondered what to go for first.

As it was near the entrance, I opted for Revolution. So my dad and I headed straight there to meet one train operation with a bit of a queue. After slow operations and about 25 minutes we were on.

We sat somewhere between the middle and the back, and I thought it was an ok ride but nothing fantastic, although I never expected it to be. The loop was fun, but the brakes were a little harsh in places.

As it was roasting, we all headed towards the rapids and entered the queue. However, after about 10 minutes the queue stopped moving and there were murmurs of the ride breaking down. We stayed there for a bit longer until deciding to leave the queue as it was still not moving. To be honest it wasn’t the greatest start to the day at a park I was so looking forward to, so after the disappointment of the rapids we opted for dinner.

After a burger and fries near the rapids, I wanted to head up to the far left corner of the park, as I really wanted to get on a great coaster. I chose Terminator Salvation: The Ride, and my dad and I joined the queue, not knowing how long it would be after the previous rides. However, we walked through a lot of empty queue and past numerous chained off cattlepens which raised my hopes, and within minutes we were into the preshow!

I really liked the preshow; I think it’s great how it has several rooms and a continuing story line. Soon after, we walked up the stairs and were greeted by an almost empty station! We opted for the back, and after riding it, I totally underestimated the speed and force the back would deliver.

I rode it with my hands up all the way and I can honestly say it is the number 1 coaster for me, in terms of speed, force and out of control feeling. It is the first “modern” woodie I have ridden and it really blew me away. For overall theme and ride experience, this was a fantastic coaster.

Next I think we hopped on Ninja, after waiting about 20 minutes from a slow one train operation. I never knew the station wasn’t straight and curved in the middle and I never actually noticed until we came back into the station, as we sat near the front.

Overall I think it was a good ride, some great, forceful turns and great interaction with the scenery and the log flume.

After a big climb up the hill to Ninja, we met the rest of the group by the rapids for a second attempt.

We joined the queue at a similar point to the first time, but this time it continued operating and we boarded the huge 12 people boats in about 25 minutes. Once we reached the station I realised what was taking so long, there was no turntable! I don’t know who the manufacturer of these rapids is, but it isn’t the best design in terms of ride capacity.

Anyway, I got absolutely drenched! It wasn’t the most unique rapids ride ever, as it followed a basic loop, but it was pretty fun with a large amount of people in the boat. Some great splashes which got me and some others absolutely soaked.

Next up, as it was near, was Tatsu. We entered what looked like a pretty small queue and it took around 10 minutes to get to the stairs near the top of the station. However, due to slow operation – it was on one train until they put another one, which was continually sent around empty, as engineers in the station looked at it in the station.

After what was about 25 minutes, we got a bit of luck when queuing for the front row, being a 2; we got let in front of a group of 4 and 3, which seemed to happen to us on several rides during the day.

Anyway once we were on, we had the tantalising climb to the top of the huge lift hill. In general I thought the layout was great, brilliant first, curving drop following by some really forceful twists and turns. The pretzel loop was really forceful as well, the point at the bottom put serious pressure on my head, really weird sensation. Brilliant coaster overall, I found it very unique being a forceful, flying coaster and was a totally different experience to Air.

I think we then had an ice cream, then after, my nana and granddad wanted to go on the log flume – the one near the entrance, not the one near Ninja, I think the one we went on was called Log Jammer. We joined the queue, which only took around 10 minutes and we were on.

I had no idea what to expect as I hadn’t seen anything of the ride. However, I was pleasantly surprised when we started to climb a huge lift hill. We meandered around forest at the top of the hill for a while at a significant pace before travelling down a pretty big drop, which was followed by a corner that was way too close to the bottom of the drop, and the boat flung sideways, which took us all by surprise.

I think then it went up a second lift hill, before flying down a large drop and I got wet again from the splash at the bottom. Near the end there were fountains and my mum, dad and sister paid quarters to spray us as we came past making me even wetter. It was a really fun ride.

I think by now it was around 5 o’clock and, with a 6 o’clock closing time, I wanted to get a couple more rides in. So, while the rest looked around the main shop and had a drink, my dad and I headed off to Viper.

We walked through the queue and it was walk on. We got there and there was virtually no one in the station. We went straight for the front row and before we knew it we were heading up the lift hill.

We were in the train with the weird sponsoring, and as we crested the hill, we were treated to a great view of X2. This was followed by an insane drop and loads of crazy inversions. Overall I enjoyed Viper, although it was a little bumpy in places, but I thought it gave a fun, forceful ride.

As Viper had consumed such little time, I suggested that we should ride X2 as we were so close to its entrance. So my dad and I headed there, hoping for a small queue.

Now this was something I was really looking forward to due to the rave reviews it gets and I can safely say it did not disappoint. We probably queued for around 35-40 minutes, and secured the back row seats on the right hand side as you are facing.

We headed out the station backwards with nothing in front of us, and had a great view of the park as we crawled up the lift hill, while enjoying the entertaining on board audio. As soon as we went over the top of the lift and got flung over the crest into the first drop the ride completely blew me away. The first drop is absolutely crazy, the most intense I have ever experienced. The rest of the coaster provided brilliant force and an overall fantastic and unique ride. As far as I can see, the fire effects and audio are brilliant additions to the original design.

By now it had passed 6 o’clock so we headed back to the entrance, while we saw others coming in for a special event, though I didn’t know what it was for and I didn’t see what was stopping us staying in the area and riding the coasters when they were supposedly closed to normal guests.

After I went and had a look around the main shop and decided to get an X2 t-shirt and my nana got a SFMM t-shirt for my cousin. After the time spent in the shop, we set off back to the car and left at around 10 to 7.

My dad and I intended to go back to ride the rest of the coasters on the Wednesday but unfortunately I was ill and so could not go, so I missed out on quite a bit.

Overall I left with mixed opinions of SFMM. Firstly, I think it is a great park that has many awesome coasters, but I think I was initially overwhelmed by the sheer size and amount of rides there are, as I didn’t even get to see half the park, and I just wanted to experience it all as soon as possible, which unfortunately I was unable to do. I really liked the rides I rode, especially X2, Terminator and Tatsu, which were like nothing I have ever seen before. But the park has such slow operations on many rides, and the talking over the microphone, which was at most of the parks I visited, did get quite annoying. It probably didn’t help that it was a really hot day and I had had such high expectations, but all in all I still enjoyed my day at SFMM and I am very glad that I have been.

Ride count:

Revolution
Terminator Salvation: The Ride (Back)
Ninja
Roaring Rapids
Tatsu (Front)
Log Jammer
Viper (Front)
X2 (Back)

 

[Hixee]

^Brad, whilst correct in this case, don't lecture people about 'favourite' rides.

 

[Brookes]

Just to confirm I didn't mean Terminator is my number 1 coaster, but I do still rate it higher than Tatsu. I did think Tatsu was amazing, but I just enjoyed Terminator more.

 

[Snoo]

While I don't think Terminator is as good as Tatsu.. I do think the other great GCI's I've been on.. Prowler and EK.. are better.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Haha, though I've not been on the Cali credz, flyers don't do it for me as much as a good woodie. I've really enjoyed reading your report though, Alcatraz looks amazing! Some of the parks there I actually even forgot about until you made mention, and they also look good, glad you had a great time!

 

[Brookes]

Thanks for the comments guys, sorry for the delay between posts, partly due to my Lightwater Valley trip and PTR, please check that out as well, but here is the next instalment with days 9 and 10!

On the Saturday we went a bit south to the coast to meet up with some people we know from home who went to LA at the same time. We went to where they were staying then went down to the beach. Was nice to have a bit of a different day, here are some pictures:

It was a nice, relaxing day but up next was Disneyland Park!

I think we got the half 9 shuttle to Disneyland and were soon through the gates. Walking past the entrance band, the first stop was Jungle Cruise. I knew what to expect as I went on the one in Florida and within a few minutes we were on.

It was a good ride; our “guide” was pleased to point out that I didn’t move when we were meant to lean to the right to stop from going into the waterfall haha.

Next up was Indiana Jones Adventure and I had no idea what to expect. After about 15 minutes including walking through the massive queue line, we reached our jeep and boarded on the front row.

I thought it was great, loads of special effects and an overall very unique experience.

After I think it was Pirates of the Caribbean, with a 10 minute queue.

A little different to other versions I have ridden, the drops were much bigger and much better. Good ride as always.

I’ve got a feeling we went to have a look at Splash Mountain’s queue next, which read 40 minutes. We decided to get a fastpass which was available for about an hour later. So we went over to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

It had about a 10 minute queue, so we joined the line.

I ended up getting back row in the end and it was pretty good. Not as good as the Paris one in my opinion, I would put it on par with the Florida one. A few good turns, drops and pops of air, but a little short.

Next we decided to get back over to Splash Mountain as it was coming up to the time for the fastpass to be used. We entered through the fastpass entrance a couple of minutes before our slot and walked past what seemed to be a never ending line of people; it was one long queue.

Within a couple of minutes we were on and I took the front seat.

I’ve got to say, it was fantastic. Along with Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain is one of my favourite rides that appear at several Disney parks. The drops are great, the inside part is fantastically themed and it gets you wet, but not totally soaked. Overall, brilliant ride.

After some long trek, we sat down for dinner, though I can’t remember exactly where we went. I had a burger I think, took a while to get, but was nice.

I’ve got to admit I can’t remember the order from dinner onwards, so I’m just going to guess. I think after dinner we went to Matterhorn Bobsleds, but after a 20 minute queue it broke down and was announced that it wouldn’t be operating for 45 minutes, so we left the queue.

My sister or mum or both of them can’t remember wanted to go on it’s a small world next, so after a 15 minute queue we were in the boat. The music is the same as always and was alright.

There was some sort of parade going on as we came out, so we watched that for a bit, before going down to Tomorrowland.

I went to have a look at Space Mountain’s queue which was 40 minutes, but the fastpasses were only available for something like quarter to 9. So I decided to leave it to see if the queue went down and we went on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

It had quite a long queue, about 30 minutes in the end. The outside part which was just a slow, winding loop was annoying as it was really hot, but it moved really fast once you got inside.

The theming was good, and soon we were ready to board the two seater cars. I thought it was a good shooting ride; it’s cool how you can twist your car around and the style of shooting is a bit different, but it’s a bit short and annoying how it’s a whole train of loads of cars so you don’t have the targets to yourself. Pretty good overall though.

After I decided to just get a fastpass for Space Mountain as I guessed the queue wasn’t going to go down. Ended up being for 10 to 10.

We then got on the Disneyland Railroad around to the stop by the Mark Twain Riverboat. We went through the tunnel with loads of stuff in which was really cool, especially as I had no idea it was there.

We got off and had an ice cream from one of the buildings in the area. Then it was time for Matterhorn Bobsleds take 2.

Luckily this time it didn’t break down and we got on the left side.

I thought it was a brilliant coaster considering its age. There were forceful turns, little drops, weaving in and out of the mountain. Overall, I thought it was a great ride.

After we went over to Tomorrowland to go on Autopia. The queue was about 25 minutes and after collecting our Autopia driving licences, we got in the cars.

I drove but for some reason the car kept stopping and wouldn’t start again for a few seconds. Despite this it was a well themed good attraction, and I especially like the rocky bit. Better than Indy Speedway in my opinion.

Next I wanted to go on Gadget’s Go Coaster, so walked up to Mickey’s Toontown. Unfortunately I was greeted by a 30 minute queue, so thought about not bothering. However, it seemed to be going down so I thought I may as well join it and by the time I reached the station it had got quite dark, which meant kiddie coaster night ride!

When I got to the station the next available row was row 4, but she sent me straight the back which I didn’t complain about. Was pretty good, faster than I expected and the water spray as you go around the last turn is cool.

Right by now it must have been around quarter to 8 to 8 o’clock and I wanted to go into Disney’s California Adventure to get a night ride on California Screamin’, as I had left it the other night when it had stayed running until quarter to 9. So we all headed for the exit of Disneyland Park, where my dad and I went straight on and the others went to Downtown Disney.

Unfortunately, after the long virtually straight walk to California Screamin’, we found out it had closed early, as it had broken down at half 7. This was obviously really disappointing, as I wanted to get a night ride so much, but it couldn’t be helped.

So we went back out to Downtown Disney to have some tea, before going back into Disneyland Park. We went to the bakery place, the first place you come to and I had a jacket potato which was nice.

So me, my mum, dad and sister went back into Disneyland Park, where my dad and I headed for the right side of Matterhorn Bobsleds and my mum and sister went to Buzz Lightyear. We got there to meet, again, a 20 minute queue.

We got on the right side and it was really weird as we crested the lift and it was completely pitch black. The best thing was that the fireworks started as we were in the queue and continued while we were on the ride, so as we came out of the mountain, fireworks would just be hanging in the sky. A really cool and surreal experience. Great coaster, even better in the dark.

Next up we went to use our fastpasses for Space Mountain and I’m glad we had them, because the queue was 45 minutes. After walking through the fastpass queue, we were on in about 5-10 minutes.

I thought this Space Mountain was good. I liked the theme tune and it was cool how it felt like you were going to the edge of the building then it flung you around a turn. Nice little drops and forceful turns, good ride overall.

After, though the park was still open for another 2 hours, we were all exhausted and strolled off to get the shuttle bus, which my nana and grandad had got earlier, after the rest of us had gone back into the park.

In conclusion I thought Disneyland Park was a great park. It has that usual Disneyland feel, something extra special I think in the fact it is the original. It was a really long day and was really tiring, loads of walking and lots of rides, but overall, it was awesome.

Ride count:

Jungle Cruise
Indiana Jones Adventure
Pirates of the Caribbean
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Splash Mountain
it’s a small world
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Disneyland Railroad
Matterhorn Bobsleds (Left)
Autopia
Gadget’s Go Coaster
Matterhorn Bobsleds (Right)
Space Mountain

 

[Brookes]

Hope you guys are enjoying the report, here is the next and penultimate part of the trip report.

On the Monday we went to Hollywood! We set off and made the 30-45 minute drive, finishing in Hollywood Boulevard where we parked up. We left the car park via lift upwards and walked out onto the street in search of sightseeing tours. There were loads so we took the nearest one, so this update is basically pictures from this tour and other random stuff in Hollywood. Enjoy!

Hollywood Boulevard.

Beverly Hills! Really nice place, I can see why they live there.

Hasn't got the "e" but it's close to my name. Random shop on Rodeo Drive.

Most expensive shop in the world.

Random road where the guy in the hat stands and talks to people.

This guy likes the look of a new Porsche.

Four Seasons Hotel.

This is where we got off for dinner, I think it was near the Farmer's Market.

This is cool because it was done on the day I was born.

Hollywood sign from afar.

LA city.

Last part of the report up next... Knott's Berry Farm!

 

[Xpress]

Nice report sofar.

But you need to come down to San Diego sometime- WAY better beaches down here, not to mention one of the oldest woodies in existence still

Also I'm curious to see if they've added the 2nd train back to Xcelerator. Last time I went they only had the purple train. Also GhostRider was down from the helix being torn to ****.

 

[Brookes]

Here is the last part of this very long report, Knott’s Berry Farm! My dad and I headed off to Knott’s on the Tuesday morning, and after a 15 minute drive, we found a very empty parking lot indeed, arriving just after opening.

We had a voucher thing to get $9 off admission so we walked straight up to the stand, bought our tickets and we were in.

As it was close to the entrance, first stop was Silver Bullet.

We walked up the steps to find an empty station; they were running two trains of which one was later removed from the track. So we decided on front row and soon we were off.

The guy checking the restraints with the microphone kindly pointed out to me that I was wearing an X2 t-shirt at Knott’s, much to his amusement.

Then we were ready to go and started to climb the lift hill.

So, after the criticism it gets from some people, I thought it was a great ride. Good speed, great inversions, the overbank is awesome and it’s got a good layout. The only thing I would say is perhaps that it is a little too smooth, resulting in a slight lack of force. But overall it was fantastic!

I also thought it was very photogenic so excuse all the photos. My dad and I both agreed it would be better on the back, so returned later for another ride.

Next up was Xcelerator which was also walk on like everything else. We walked through the queue line to find a totally empty station with 3 people on the front row, who we followed. They took rows 1 and 2 so we were on the next train.

To answer Xpress’ question, I think it was only running 1 train, the purple one, if I remember correctly, but we were soon boarding.

It was my first big Intamin with t-bars and I got quite excited as I saw the launch straight in front of me.

I thought Xcelerator was brilliant, great launch, top hat is brilliant with lap bars and the following coasting turns add so much to the ride. Top 10 coaster for me, best in the park.

As it was there, decided to go for Boomerang next. After being impressed by the one at SFDK I was expecting good things from this, as we walked into a station filled with a couple of ride ops and 2 riders on the front row.

We went for second row and it wasn’t too good to be honest. Rougher than the other one I’ve been on and wasn’t as enjoyable, made me feel a bit sick.

So after that little mishap, we went on Timber Mountain Log Ride. Walked straight on and I thought this was an awesome log flume. Lots of theming, quite a long ride, and good drop at the end.

Next up was Bigfoot Rapids, where we strolled on to our own boat. Was a good rapids ride, lots of splashes and good interaction with Pony Express, great water ride.

After we went on Pony Express as it was close, and got on the front row.

There were only 2 others on the train with us, who sat about half way back. After riding Velocity at Flamingo Land earlier in the year and thinking it was a bit uncomfortable, I wondered how the Zamperla version would ride.

It was awesome! The launch took me by surprise as there was a much higher acceleration than I thought. Despite the short layout, it was a fun ride and I especially liked the turn in the tunnel.

After 6 rides in about an hour, we went to get a coffee, and then decided on GhostRider. Ghost Town really was a ghost town.

So we walked through the queue to GhostRider’s station, which was running one train like everything else, causing a little bit of a wait compared to previous rides. We queued for the front row and within 10-15 minutes we were on.

I didn’t really know what to make of GhostRider after the first ride. It was a little bit bumpy, but the hills and turns were great and I enjoyed it, despite the roughness.

I thought it was good, but it was quite rough.

Next up we went to have dinner at the same place we had coffee, and then walked over to the corner of the park we hadn’t seen yet, with loads of rides cramped into one space.

Decided on Jaguar! first, and after finding the entrance we got on the back row.

To be honest the most exciting thing was that it was the roller coaster off the channel 4 advert thing, but the drops were faster than I anticipated. However the layout was quite dull in places.

After I wanted to go on Montezooma’s Revenge, but my dad was fed up of going backwards from all the shuttle coasters we had ridden on the trip, so I went alone.

After figuring out which stairs to go up due to the lack of people in the queue, I boarded somewhere in the middle of the long train and was excited for my first Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop.

It was brilliant, great launch, forceful loop and I really liked the drops back down on each side. Didn’t expect much from it but I loved it, fantastic ride.

Next up was Sierra Sidewinder, which I also rode on my own due to my dad not liking spinning coasters. I walked up to the station and ended up riding with this girl who was way too enthusiastic about the ride.

Anyway I was on the front row in the station and we set off. I’d really enjoyed Euro Mir when I rode it a couple of years ago, so I was hoping this would be as good.

I thought it was great, really good spinning coaster. It had a great layout and the turn near to the ground has some great force. Really enjoyed it. I'm on the train in this picture but I'm facing backwards.

After went onto Timberline Twister on my own where I had to queue for like 10 minutes, urgh. All I can say is the cars were weird, and it’s probably the most unsafe I’ve ever felt on a ride.

With all the coasters done it was time for re-rides, so first up was Silver Bullet.

This time we headed to the back row, and although they had taken a train off it was still empty.

I thought it was even better on the back row, bit more forceful and just as fun as before.

Next up was back row on Xcelerator. There is a big difference between the front and the back row on the top hat. On the back row, as I’ve experienced on Stealth, you are really slowly dragged over the top, really weird experience I think. It was great again though.

After my dad noticed Perilous Plunge running which had been closed earlier. So for once, my dad proposed to go on it, as I wasn’t that bothered, so we joined the queue of about 40 people.

However, they took ages to send the boat. It must have been 10 minutes between dispatches. My dad and I were put on a boat that had been filled as there were 2 empty seats so we sat down. Then we had to get out and swap round, so after a while we were finally off up the lift hill.

It was my first Intamin Mega Splash ride so I didn’t really know what to expect.

After we sped around the corner, we took the massive dive down into the water. The drop was insane, we were thrown over the top and I knew it was steep, but it feels much steeper than it looks. Brilliant ride.

As it wasn’t too far away I fancied another ride on Pony Express, and this time we opted for the back row, after a little bit of a queue.

Was really fun again, good little ride.

It was now about 4 o’clock and my dad was ready to go back to the others, so we had one last ride on GhostRider.

This time we chose the back row after a bit of a queue.

To be honest I still couldn’t make my mind up. The drop was nuts on the back row, it flung you over the top into the crazy rattling turn. It was bumpier on the back but even more forceful and the hills were so fun. I came off with a bit of a headache which wasn’t too good, but it is an insane ride.

I wanted to get an Xcelerator t-shirt so we went out of the park to look in the shop just outside the entrance. They only had one, so we got an ice cream and went back in to look for some others. There were none in my size in the Xcelerator shop, but then we found some others in another shop, where I bought one.

We left the park at about 5 o’clock after a great day at Knott’s.

Ride count:

Silver Bullet x2 (Front/Back)
Xcelerator x2 (Front/Back)
Boomerang
Timber Mountain Log Ride
Bigfoot Rapids
Pony Express x2 (Front/Back)
GhostRider x2 (Front/Back)
Jaguar! (Back)
Montezooma's Revenge
Sierra Sidewinder (Front)
Timberline Twister
Perilous Plunge

On the Wednesday we were going to go back to SFMM but I didn’t feel too good, so we walked around Downtown Disney a bit and went in the pool at the hotel.

The Thursday morning was occupied with a trip to a mall which was alright, before setting off for LAX airport at around midday to fly back home.

Overall it was a fantastic holiday. California is amazing, the parks and rides were great, Hollywood was really nice, and it was cool to see California in general. I hope I can get back soon to ride the other coasters at SFMM, along with new ones for next year, as well as seeing more of the state.

That concludes my longest ever trip report, I hope you all enjoyed reading it!

 

[Lofty]

I did enjoy it. Great report.

Where did you stay in LA? I'm thinking about going you see. Any pointers and tips?

 

[Brookes]

^We stayed just next to Disney. Was good because we had a free shuttle to Disney that ran every half an hour which meant easy access to the parks and also Downtown Disney. Knott's is about a quarter of an hour away but SFMM is a bit of a trek, about an hour and a quarter. Hollywood is three quarters of an hour away, so it's a pretty good location really. There were loads of great restaurants as well as Downtown Disney so it was a good place to stay.