Thursday, January 22, 2009

Rollercoaster Photos From 2007

I was going through my memory card on my cell phone, and I found a few Rollercoaster shots.


Medusa and Kong just before the main entry to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom


Tatsu taken infront of Riddler's Revenge entry at Six Flags Magic Mountain


Boomerang at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom before the supports were painted yellow


Cobra and Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom


Batman The Ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain


Giant Dipper at Belmont Park (San Diego)


V2 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom


Flashback at Six Flags Magic Mountain


Ninja @ Six Flags Magic Mountain


Boomerang at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom


Hurricane @ Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (Don't know why it is small.)


Colossus (Backwards) @ Six Flags Magic Mountain


Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm


Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain


Kong at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom


Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk


Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain getting a new coat of paint


Riddler's Revenge at Six Flags Magic Mountain


Flashback at Six Flags Magic Mountain


Giant Dipper at Belmont Park (San Diego)


Desperado at Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino (Nevada)


Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Knott's Berry Farm


Today Sarah and I went to Knott's Berry Farm with the soul purpose of riding Xcelerator. Sarah said she saw a train running when we were on the freeway, but when we arrived at the park it was closed.


Before all that though, when we got to the park we wanted to start the day with Sierra Sidewinder. While it wasn't that busy today, the ride was only operating 1 train, and the line was really long. We continued in that direction and our first ride of the day was Montezooma's Revenge. A friend of our who has 3 kids is jealous that Sarah and I go to theme parks all the time, but she wanted us to ride Montezooma's Revenge for her. It must have been a long time since she has been if Montezooma's Revenge is her favorite coaster. We rode the coaster in the back, which is the best seat in my opinion.



After that we walked right on to Jaguar! another coaster I prefer in the back. Staff seemed to be a lot quicker than they were last weekend.


Next we went over to Dragon Swing which like all other rides in Fiesta Village had no line. Sarah really liked, but my stomach really disagreed.


After that I was done playing around and we headed straight to Xcelerator. Unfortunately it was closed. We asked the employee at the entrance if the ride would open soon, and he said he didn't think so. Sarah and I sat in front of the ride and talked about leaving the park early and trying to come back some time next weekend to see if it would be open then. After a while we walked over to Boomerang but skipped it because the line was too long. After that I tried convincing Sarah to ride Big Foot Rapids, but I failed. I was able to talk her onto Pony Express which didn't feel as pointless as I remembered it. I think it is a great ride for a family with small kids, the wood tunnel around the (not so) over banked turn is a nice addition as well. The ride is pretty fun while it last, but the length just kills the experience for me.


After that we headed over to Silver Bullet. Maybe it has something to do with the high capacity trains, but there is almost never a line for this ride. The line is always a walk-on, and that is why the only seat I've ever sat on for this coaster is front row. I think the layout is unique, I really like the over-over banked turn (Seem people call it a half inversion... No) and the tight helix at the end of the ride. I don't rate this ride as high as it deserves because I think the first drop is boring, and the inversions feel forceless. Silver Bullet is still a great ride though.



After that we walked back over to check on Sierra Sidewinder, but it was still packed. We got stuck talking to a guy offering us a 90 Minute Resort Tour which we if we completed we would have had 3 nights stay free in Las Vegas, and 2 tickets to Knott's Berry Farm. The only reason we were considering it was because we live right by the resort, but we decided not to for Nothing! is for Free. After that waste of time we went on GhostRider. GhostRider was about a 10 minute wait, the ride was very ruff, and unpleasant for Sarah. In fact, her necklace got entangled in her hair and it took me a few minutes just to get it out. I've noticed that GhostRider is a smoother ride in colder weather, it is best as night or before the Sun is at it's hottest. I still enjoyed it though :)






I love Xcelerator so much that even if it wasn't open I wanted to be with it. When we walked over to Xcelerator there were more staff in the station than when there were before. Every couple seconds someone was walking up to the ride asking if it was going to open, but the women at the entry said, no. After a minute of so of standing there the first test began, the ride rolled back. The next 5 attempts all made it over the hill and Sarah and I were the only people there waiting so when the women let us through, we walked right up to the front of the line. Immediately after tons of people started running up to the station. I was actually feeling nervous, and a little shaky just like my first time riding Goliath. Difference is, I've been on Xcelerator many times before, I was just so excited. The launch is such a high it should be illegal, The tower was breathtaking, and the over banked turns just give you time to celebrate. We got off the ride as fast as we could and ran back in line before the ride got completely filled up. Fortunately most of the line was for front, so we were able to ride in the back seat in less than 5 minutes. The back was great, especially going down the tower, but it doesn't even compare to the experience up front. I was really looking forward to seeing the on-ride video feature and probably going to buy our DVD but the cameras were down. After our second ride the line was completely filled in.



Next we headed back to Silver Bullet. This time I decided to try something and ride the coaster in the last row. I've been looking for a reason to really like this coaster and I finally found. I usually think the best seat on inverted coasters is the front because of the view, but Wow! Silver Bullet is exactly what I wanted it to be in the back. From now on this will be where I ride. After that we checked on Sierra Sidewinder one last time but it was still too long so we called it quits and left the park.

Six Flags Magic Mountain won the parks this weekend, but Xcelerator won the rides.

Today's Ride Rankings

07. Pony Express
06. Dragon Swing
05. Jaguar!
04. GhostRider
03. Montezooma's Revenge
02. Silver Bullet
01. Xcelerator

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Today was a great day at the park, it seemed the coasters were better than ever. We started the day with a very comfortable ride on Viper in the back of the train. I don't know why, but Viper has been feeling a lot better the last couple rides.


After that we walked through the Flash Pass entry to ride Revolution. Revolution takes the cake for the roughest of the day but still is a joy to experience.






Both Viper & Revolution were walk-on, but I had to bust out Flash Pass (R.I.P.) for Tatsu. I've been riding Tatsu in the back lately and I think it is starting to grow on me. The back makes the first drop more intense, the Zero-G-Roll feel like a Zero-G-Roll, and of coarse the Pretzel Loop is amazing no matter where you sit.

Today I went to the park with my buddy Kevin, and our goal was to try and hit every coaster as fast as we could, but when I notice that the Sky Tower was open, I just had to go there. First off, Why do we have the model of Great American Scream Machine?


This model belongs somewhere else, like at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Second, Terminator goes vertical.


And could this be the location for the Ride Entry?


Sky Tower takes the cake for scariest of the day (I'm very nervous up there.) Below the tower I was glad see Ninja had returned. Even though it was only operating a single train, it was better than my last visit when it didn't even have a chain lift. I was shocked to find out it this was going to be Kevin's second time riding Ninja, we have been coming here for years, I thought he would have a lot more under his belt. I don't know if this is the same for all Suspended coasters, but Ninja is pretty ruff. The thing about it is, while it may jerk a lot, there is no influence on the body.


Today Superman The Escape was operating both sides for a while. No, the park wasn't busy, they were having problems with left, so they switched to right, then problems with right, so back to left. In all my experience, Right is usually the dominate side, but today was left's day.


I took this picture inside Superman because it is pitch black inside.


Superman The Escape was the longest wait of the day, but still only about 5 minutes. After that we headed down the mountain to ride the oldest coaster in the park Gold Rusher. I was in shock to see Gold Rusher a walk-on for right in front. Gold Rusher is really good at moving your body side to side, I would hate to ride it with a stranger.




Next up was the truely amazing Riddler's Revenge. This would have been a walk-on too, but we had to wait until staff cleaned the vomit off the station floor. Riddler's Revenge was seemed faster than usual, more forceful, and buttery smooth. I was real quick to call it the best ride of the day.




The Truth is, Riddler's Revenge was not the best ride of the day. Batman The Ride is a Rollercoaster on Overdrive, but today it showed us it can go a little bit farther. From start to finish my legs felt like there a thousand pounds, the loops were fast and aggressive, the Zero-G-Roll was a blur, the helix was epic, this ride had it going on today.


After hitting all those coasters one after another we were both get exhausted, but we still had much to do. Next up was Colossus. After Halloween had ended there was some work being done to the left side of Colossus and today I noticed all the wood track and hardware was replaced through the rides pre-lift. This took away all the bumps and made the travel a lot smoother. Well we didn't notice any other changes on the ride so I have no explanation for this, but this was by far the smoothest ride I have ever had on Colossus. No Bumps, No Jerks, Nothing! It was like a steel coaster (Not Revolution.)




Lately my opinion on Scream! has been getting more and more negative, and today didn't help it. After today I'm crowning this coaster the roughest B&M coaster I've ever been on and that's saying a lot considering Vortex and California's Great America.


I guess I'm not as young as I used to be because after all that, we were both feeling a bit under the weather and we had rehydrate and take a seat for a while. All that was left was Goliath and X2, but we were out it and took more interest into drinking fountains than coasters.


Yes, they were worth the picture. Now we were ready to get this over with and we headed over to the big butter, Goliath. Goliath is flawless, the first drop is amazing, the turn around keeps you on edge, the third hill has massive air time, and the helix is to die for. I would really like to get Kevin's Girlfriend (Katie) back out there so she can experience it (She is afraid.)




1 More to go, X2. We were distracted on the way there by Log Jammer and we decided to bomb some people.


After the long walk to X2, we decided the hour wait was not worth it, and gave Viper one last go and called it quits.








Todays Ride Rankings

12. Superman The Escape
11. Gold Rusher
10. Scream!
09. Revolution
08. Ninja
07. Sky Tower
06. Tatsu
05. Viper
04. Colossus
03. Riddler's Revenge
02. Goliath
01. Batman The Ride

Thank you for reading.