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mikrowave

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Posts posted by mikrowave

  8. TR: Six Flags Magic Mountain 27/8

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    Nah, 27th of August was actually a Friday (may wanna check that calendar again Bus ;)) As for Flashback, it's closed during the summer because it is right next door to the water park & it's supposedly too loud & distracts the life guards. I'd been on it before about 4 years ago anyway. Its a pretty weird coaster, not overly enjoyable, but different thats for sure.

  9. TR: Six Flags Magic Mountain 27/8

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    Yep Paul, I just got back from my trip last week ;) stdragon03, I completely agree. There's alot of criticism thrown at Magic Mtn, but in my opinion it's a nice enough park (the only annoyance is the coasters only running 1 train, but on a non-busy day thats not a problem at all). I go there for the coasters; I get all my theming & atmosphere fix at disney parks, and as far as I'm concerned SFMM do a helluva job of providing great coasters. Plus I love the Samurai Summit area, probably my favourite part of the park as far as foliage & gardens go :D

  10. TR: Six Flags Magic Mountain 27/8

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    After waking up, or rather being woken up by the TV at 7:30am, it was time to get ready for our first day at Six Flags Magic Mountain. After an enjoyable continental breakfast in the hotel lobby (it wasn’t too bad really, although I wasn’t really ready to eat such a huge assortment of donuts that early in the morning), we headed off to Magic Mountain at 9am. The park was opening at 10 but we wanted to get there early to be at the front of the queue going into the park. So after driving 15mins up the road we arrived to a welcoming of a bunch of coasters just waiting for me to ride. We joined the line waiting to get into the park and were let in at 10am. (we really didn’t need to get there early in the end, since we would soon discover just how un-crowded the park would be). While most people ran towards X, we headed over towards the back of the park with about 2 other people. We wanted to ride the dreaded “1 train coasters” before the lines got too long. The back of the park was so deserted; it felt like the park wasn’t even open. So we walked straight onto Batman The Ride and got front seat with the rest of the train completely empty. I’d been on Batman before but never in the front row so I was looking forward to it. Needless to say it delivered – it’s an awesome inverted coaster in my opinion, still great after 10 or so years. Next up was Riddler’s Revenge. Again there was absolutely no one in line and we walked on to another empty train, taking the front row. The last time I was on this coaster it was pouring with rain and absolutely stinging our faces, so it was great to have the front row in the sunshine this time around. Another excellent coaster, a lot of fun. While still in the area we headed over to Déjà Vu, another completely empty queue (see the pattern forming here). We walked onto the front row. I’d heard mixed reports about this coaster, and being not much of a fan of boomerangs or Vekoma in general I was a little wary at first. Well I actually really enjoyed it, the vertical lift hills are crazy and the ride is a lot of fun, not too rough at all. I did notice how slow it negotiated the Cobra Roll on the backwards journey tho; I can understand why these coasters have a tendency to valley. On exit I decided to brave Psyclone alone (or rather Psucklone), the worst woody I have ever had the displeasure of riding. It was so painful and rough, not enjoyable at all. Why I bothered to ride it is beyond me; I had already been on it a prior visit, but I guess I have to do everything at least once on a trip. So with a sore leg from bashing on the lap bar on Psucklone we walked up Samurai Summit. Ninja was still test cycling and we were told it would open in an hour so we made our way down to Superman The Escape. Again there was absolutely no line. It’s a fun ride, nothing new, but still enjoyable, although the launch seems fairly tame now in comparison to Xcelerator at Knotts. We then made our way back down the hill towards Scream. There still wasn’t a crowd at this end of the park so we walked onto the back row. It was a little bit rougher than your average B&M but still great (and a smooth dream compared to any other coaster manufacturer). The floorless trains are cool, but I think I prefer a normal sit-down train. There’s just something un-nerving about having my long legs dangle so close to the track flying by below. Next up was Colossus next door. There was no wait so we walked on to the middle of the train. It wasn’t the smoothest woody, but far better than Psyclone, and still a lot of fun, although it would be better if they actually opened both sides of the track and raced trains. Goliath was the next coaster to ride so we hopped in the 5min line (shock horror, not a walk-on!). The first half of the ride is rad, but after the mid brake run isn’t that great in my opinion. As for the actual brake run, they really have slammed on the brakes since I last rode. The train used to briefly trim thru the brakes but now it comes to an almost complete stop – very lame! The dreaded helix caused some pretty major tunnel vision, but I was expecting that so kinda enjoyed it in a weird way. By this stage it was starting to get pretty hot so we headed over to Tidal Wave to cool off. It was another walk on and a pretty tame ride, we didn’t even get a drop of water on us. Upon exit I hopped on Freefall, or what I like to call the pain machine of doom, nothing more to say on that. We then headed back up Samurai Summit and hopped on Ninja, another walk-on (I was loving the zero lines). It’s a fun ride thru the forest, although I don’t understand why it has OTSR’s, a lap bar would seem to suffice and be a lot more comfortable. While still in a forest coaster mood we headed down to Revolution next where we encountered a 5min line, only because they only had 1 train running. It was a little rough but I just love the layout thru some of the forest and terrain. We headed over towards Viper next, waiting 5 minutes in line. I used to love Viper but this time it just hurt me. It was pretty rough and the OTSR’s weren’t high enough for my tall ass so they placed painful pressure on my shoulders and collarbone. So after riding Viper we figured we would brave the only line of the day on X. We waited 40mins in the sun, but it was worth it. I wouldn’t say X is a great ride, it’s fun, but it’s just so weird, completely disorienting. It did cause some pretty harsh head banging as its not the smoothest coaster, and you really need to make sure your pockets are empty before boarding cos anything will fly out. It’s the only coaster I’ve been on that is so intense, it’s just amazing. I think you need to ride it a few times to fully appreciate it, but we couldn’t be bothered waiting in line again. So at this stage it was around 2pm and we had done all the coasters that were open, so we headed to the Mooseburger Lodge for lunch. The service was awesome, the food was great, and I discovered the best drink ever. I think it was called moose ale or something like that. We walked out with completely full stomachs and decided to go on Granny’s Grand Prix while walking past, the shortest kiddie car ride I’ve ever been on. I wanted to ride Scream again so we headed over there where I got 2 rides in with no wait. It’s a great coaster but could do with some grass below, it’s not so good flying over asphalt car park. We then went on Jet Stream, an enjoyable flume ride, to cool off. Afterwards I went on Ninja again just for the sake of it as there was no line. By this time it was around 5pm and we had done all we wanted to do so we caught the Orient Express down the mountain and left the park at 5pm. Overall it was a very cool day. Initially I had allocated 2 days at Magic Mountain for this trip but we were fortunate to go on a completely deserted day, and we wanted to get back to the Disneyland Resort where we still had 2 days left on our tickets so we left Valencia a day early.

  14. TR: Universal Studios Hollywood 24/8

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    Seeing as tho we had around a 1-hour drive to Universal Studios today, we were up at 7 to be ready for an 8am departure. All was well until we arrived at the parking station at USH. Parking is $8; we gave the attendant $20, she gave us $2 change. We had just started driving into the car park when I noticed (yeah I should’ve counted the change straight away I’m a dumbass). So anyway we had to park the car and then walk back and ask for the missing $10 change. The attendant completely denied all. We called a supervisor over and he got her to close down the till and count her takings for the morning, saying that the extra $10 would show up. Well of course her takings totalled correctly and she denied that she shortchanged us, so there was nothing we could do. It wasn’t so much the $10 it was the principle. So anyways that was a bad start to the day, I guess we should’ve counted our change as soon as we were given it. We did later on however when a drink seller tried to short-change us (twice in one day, I was beginning to not like Universal). So once we were inside the park at 9am we ventured down to the lower lot first and rode Revenge Of The Mummy. I’d heard conflicting reports about the ride so I went into it with an open mind. (Its good they give you free use of lockers for loose items while you ride, unlike other parks that charge you). So with a 5min wait we were soon on board. Overall I enjoyed the coaster but felt it could’ve been better. I still thought it was a lot of fun so we decided to ride it again with a 10min wait. The theming isn’t the greatest but the coaster element is pretty cool IMO. Next up was Jurassic Park, a walk-on. I’d been on this before so wasn’t expecting anything new, but I still had a great time. All of the effects were working and it still holds up as a great ride. To dry off we went and saw Backdraft next, another walk-on. It was the same old show, pretty cool, but getting a bit tired these days. Next up was the Special Effects Stages. Although the actual special effects were pretty lame I still enjoyed the show, mainly because we had a pair of hilarious hosts, which made the experience enjoyable. By this time we were hungry so got some food from Panda Express, Chinese food that was all right, nothing special. With the lower lot done we headed to the Upper Lot and saw Terminator 2: 3D. I’m not really a fan of 3d movies, but this one was ok, using live actors as well. It was a fairly hot day so we headed over to Waterworld next in the hope that we’d cool off. We sat in a wet zone (not a soak zone, we didn’t want to get completely wet) and enjoyed the show, although we didn’t get a drop of water on us. Others were soaked by the jet ski riders tho which was funny to watch. We were walking past the Van Helsing Fortress next so we went straight in. This was actually the first time I’d walked thru a haunted maze thingy so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The parts with live actors were cool, but there were only 2 in the whole maze. It would’ve been better as a dark ride, at least then I would’ve gotten a seat while I had to endure lame puppets. Next on the agenda was Shrek 4D (about a 15min wait) another 3d movie where the seats shake and they squirt water at you. I did enjoy this one tho. =) So with our front of the line passes for the Tram Tour (we’d been given them at the start of the day for completing a survey for the park) we skipped the 30min line and went straight on. Most of the attractions on the tour were the same as they’ve been for a long time but I still really like it. They have changed the rotating tunnel since I was last there to a mummy’s tomb theme but I found the effect didn’t work as well as it used to when it was an ice tunnel. Next up was Back To The Future. I love the movie, but the simulator just doesn’t cut it, not much more to say on this. So by now it was afternoon and we had done all we came for so we headed back down to the lower lot for another ride on the Mummy. The sign was saying a 15min wait so we went straight in, however while we were inside in line the ride broke down. The announcement over the speakers just kept saying that it was broken down and would be back up as soon as possible. We stood around in the line for about 20mins with no change to the announcement (and extremely sick of “Imenhotep Imenhotep”) so we decided to call it a day and leave at 5:30. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get a final ride on The Mummy, but I was still happy to have ridden it earlier in the day twice. Overall it was a fun day at Universal with only a couple of disappointments.

  15. Seaworld's New Ride

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    In regards to Cali Screamin, yeah it is loud. It's not so much the actual coaster but rather the riders. We were staying just across the road from it on Katella Ave & I could hear screaming very clearly from my hotel room. Of course it wasn't of much concern to me as were usually at Disneyland till around 11 or 12 at night & DCA closed at 9pm so I never had interrupted sleep. (well except for the first night when I was super jetlagged & the 9:30 fireworks at DL caused me to jump out of bed still half asleep thinking there were bombs going off). :D

  19. TR: Knotts Berry Farm 23/8

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    After waking up at 8:30am it was time to head off to Knotts Berry Farm at around 9:30. This would be my first time at Knotts in seven years so I was looking forward to trying out some of the newer rides. We arrived at the gates at 10am to a fairly quiet entry plaza with no lines. We decided we would head to the back of the park first as it seemed most people were lining up for Ghostrider, waiting for it to open. So we made our way onto Xcelerator, with absolutely no line. There was only about 8 or so people on the train. I was taken aback with the launch at first, having never experienced that kind of acceleration before. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed the coaster but felt the overbanked turns were a little lame. Next up we decided to go on Boomerang, although I am unsure why, I guess I’m a sucker for punishment. There was no line; I wouldn’t have bothered riding it if there was a line. Well it was rough, painful, and completely uninteresting. Being 6foot 4 I find the OSTR’s on boomerangs to place a lot of pressure on my shoulders and collarbone, as they aren’t quite high enough for me. Upon exit I vowed never to ride Boomerang again. We then walked over to Supreme Scream where there was also no wait time at all. It was fun, but nothing new. Perilous Plunge had absolutely no line so we headed over there next. After an incredibly slow dispatch with the funky seat belts we experienced a fairly mediocre ride in my opinion. It was ok, but I couldn’t really see on the drop from all the spray hitting my eyes, so the next thing I knew I was at the bottom completely soaked. It felt like I had jumped into a pool. I figured I was already wet so I went on Riptide next. Again there was absolutely no line, with me being the only rider on the front side. It was a lot of fun; the revolutions were a lot speedier than I thought they would be. At one stage I was hoping my shoes wouldn’t fly off. The fountains are a cool addition but they didn’t really get me that much. So with a lot already done in our first hour we headed over to Ghostrider next. There was about a 30min wait, the line was down to half of the downstairs queuing section. We got the copper train and sat in the middle of the train. Now initially I thought people’s views of its roughness had been exaggerated, but damn it was a piece of crap! It was so incredibly rough, the train was bouncing all over the place & it was completely painful, rattling my brain in my skull. Not worth the wait at all! We took a photo of our “onride photo” (I rarely buy them, only if it’s a ride I love); just to prove that we actually braved the pain machine. We headed towards the Wild Water Wilderness area next and checked out the Mystery Lodge show. We walked out of it thinking WTF?!? It was nice to sit and rest, but I completely missed the point of the show – a guy in a bad mask pretending to make shapes out of smoke? Feeling confused we went on the Bigfoot Rapids next with a 5min wait. It was ok but they turn the waterfall off as you go under it now. I remember last time I rode it if your seat got the waterfall you got soaked which was funny as long as it wasn’t you. This brings me to the absolute highlight *cough* of the day – Kingdom Of The Dinosaurs, quite possibly the worst dark ride ever. There was hardly any line but somehow we managed to wait 20mins while they stopped & started trains and tried to load people. Have they changed the way this thing runs now? I seem to remember it was a continually running circuit but now they have 3 trains and they stop the entire ride to load the train. So halfway thru the ride we were stopped in the dark waiting for them to load the other train having to sit and listen to some crappy spiel about dinosaurs over and over for 5 minutes. Worst ride ever. After having a Tostada Bowl for lunch we went on Jaguar. There wasn’t much of a queue but we waited 20mins cos they were only running 1 train and had incredibly slow dispatches. Next up was Montezuma’s Revenge, a walk-on. It’s a great coaster, a lot of fun – I don’t understand why people don’t seem to want to ride it anymore, it’s a lot better than some of the other coasters in the park. La Revolucion was next. It was a lot of fun, with only a 5min wait. I wouldn’t call it thrilling but it really is quite pleasant and really enjoyable. To round out the day we went on a few of the classic Knotts rides, the Calico Mine Ride with a 10min wait (I swear it used to go faster, but maybe it just seemed faster as a kid), the Log Ride with a 15min wait (the girl at the onride photos wouldn’t let us take a photo of the screen which made me laugh), and the Sky Cabin, a walk-on. Feeling kinda tired & having done pretty much everything I decided to go on Xcelerator one more time to finish the day, having to wait around 15mins. Again it was an incredible ride, it really made me want to try out TTD even more. So at around 4:30pm we left the park. In my opinion Knotts has gone down a lot since I was a kid. I remember loving it back in the 80s, but now it just doesn’t seem to appeal to me all that much. The only reason I would go back would be to ride Silver Bullet once that opens, but being on the other side of the world, I’m sure it’ll be another 7 or so years until I’m there again.

  20. TR: Disneyland 22/8

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    Yeah we had a 5 day Park Hopper at the DLR and whilst we did most things, I could've spent alot longer there. It really is a place where you can be equally as happy going on all the rides or just wandering around absorbing the atmosphere and watching people. I can't begin to imagine the amount of time I would spend there if I was a SoCal local. :D I'm planning on heading to Orlando around October next year as I havent been to WDW in 15 years. (wow I only just realised it's been that long now as I type it), so I'm really looking forward to comparing the two. :)

  25. TR: Disneyland 22/8

    in Theme Park Discussion

    Posted

    I'm not sure if people are really interested in a Disneyland TR or not but thought I'd post it anyway. :) Feeling somewhat refreshed after a longish sleep we awoke at 7:30am & started to prepare for our first day at Disneyland. Disneyland holds a lot of memories for me from when I was a child so I was excited to be going back after a 7 year break. So we made the trek up Harbor Blvd & entered the park at 9am. First up we decided to go on the Matterhorn Bobsleds before the crowds built up. We waited 10mins in line for the Tomorowland side (my favourite side), and enjoyed a fast paced trip through the mountain. Immediately upon exiting I decided we should ride again, but this time we queued up for the Fantasyland side, again waiting around 10mins. It was a fun ride, but not as good as the Tomorrowland side in my opinion. Next up it was time to go on one of my all time favourites, Pirates Of The Caribbean. It was a walk-on with no wait, & in no time I was happy to be sacking the Spanish Main again after 7 years break. It was great to see most of the effects working & little disruption to the pirates (there were no noticeable removals). Upon exit we decided to go on probably my favourite attraction in the park, The Haunted Mansion. So with only a 5min wait we were soon boarding our Doom Buggies and enjoying socializing with 999 Happy Haunts. There’s something about The Haunted Mansion that I just can’t quite explain – it draws me in every time and I could ride it endlessly. So with the day starting to get a little more crowded we decided to start using Fast Passes and collected one for Splash Mountain. While waiting for our time to open up we made the journey to Adventureland and went for a stroll thru Tarzan’s Treehouse. I was quite disappointed in the changes they’d made since I was last there. I feel it was a far better attraction as the Swiss Family Treehouse. So feeling a little dismayed we headed towards The Jungle Cruise next, in the hope that the skipper’s jokes would lift the mood. After waiting in a 10min line we were soon off on our journey. Not much has changed since my last visit (most of the jokes were the same) but I still loved it. During this time our window for Splash Mountain had opened up, so before heading back towards Critter Country we collected a Fast Pass for Indiana Jones. Already the line at Splash had gotten to be around 80mins long. I felt sorry for the people lined up as we strolled past with our Fast Pass and had about a 2min wait, (I think a lot of people simply don’t understand Fast Pass, we had a few people ask us how it all works). I love Splash Mountain; it’s a great ride, although I never really have understood the story. Although I do enjoy the final drop, my favourite part is the dip inside in the dark. While still in Critter Country we headed towards The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh. I can understand the 0min wait time – it really isn’t that good. I’m a huge fan of the Fantasyland dark rides, but this one just doesn’t cut it. I walked off it thinking it was just “o.k.” Next up was Indiana Jones Adventure. With our Fastpass we had about a 5min wait while the standby line was around 25mins. It’s an awesome ride, although it seems a few things need fixing up. The first room with 3 doors wasn’t working at all; we simply drove thru one of the open doors, and as many people know, the snake no longer moves so it’s a bit lame just driving past a big foam snake that doesn’t do anything but make a hissing noise at you. Other than that it was an extremely enjoyable ride. I’ve discovered that it is a lot more fun without holding on, you just need to use your feet to support you from swaying & bumping around too much. We decided we would head towards the wasteland that is Tomorrowland next. Along the way we checked in with a CM at BTMRR to check the status of a possible opening. At first he was a little hesitant to reveal too much but when I mentioned rumours about a possible soft opening & dates he decided to fill me in on more details, telling me when it would be open for sure. (I was happy to know that it would open while I was still going to be at the DLR). So once inside Tomorrowland it really hit me the extent that it’s declined. As a kid I loved it, but now there’s just hardly anything worth venturing over for. With Space Mountain closed until next year we went on Star Tours first. There was, at most, a 5min queue. I’m not so much a fan of simulators; they kinda bore me to be honest. I still enjoy Star Tours, but not to the extent that I would re-ride it a lot. We headed towards Honey I Shrunk The Audience next, another 3d movie with fairly lame effects. (There are only so many 3d movies I can sit thru that spray water at you, jab you in the back, and shoot air at you). So by this time it was around lunchtime so we headed over to Redd Rocket’s Pizza Port, a fairly bland attempt at pizza with pretty high prices. After lunch we went for a leisurely cruise on the Monorail. I enjoyed the views, but it was pretty hot at this stage so we decided to leave the park for a few hours for a rest. We returned at 6pm, but this time heading into California Adventure to ride Grizzly River Run, as it was still pretty hot. This is without a doubt the best river raft ride I have ever been on. The last drop is incredibly fun and the geysers that shoot up at the end really get you wet if you’re in the right seat. We had a great boatload of people with us; we were all laughing the whole trip and enjoying every second of it. We had to wait about 5mins stopped just before the station until we could get off. I’m not sure what the reason was, but there were a lot of boats backed up. To dry off we headed back over to Paradise Pier and went on California Screamin, with only a 5min wait. So with night starting to appear we made our way back to Disneyland and saw “The Walt Disney Story featuring Great Moments With Mr Lincoln”. I really enjoyed seeing a reproduction of Walt’s office & learning some more about his life. The Mr Lincoln show was very cool as well. The sound effects coming thru those headphones were amazing; I couldn’t help but flinch at the barber scene when it sounds like you really are getting your hair cut. Next up we headed towards Fantasyland, first taking a spin on the Mad Tea Party, where I managed to make myself feel a little sick for a few minutes hehe. Then while queuing for Alice In Wonderland the parade travelled past and Ariel waved at me so I was happy. We then went on Mr Toads Wild Ride, with a 5min wait. This is probably my favourite dark ride at DL, although it scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I was hoping to get Toady’s car, but instead got Cyril’s. After dinner at the Village Haus restaurant (pretty bad burger) it was time to go find a spot along the river to watch Fantasmic. I’d never seen this show before and it thoroughly impressed me. The fireworks afterwards were pretty good as well. After the shows, while we were nearby, we decided to go on The Jungle Cruise again to see what it was like at nighttime. We had a completely zany female skipper – she was hilarious, and really made the ride. The park would be closing in about half an hour so we thought we would head back towards Fantasyland and ride some of the things we hadn’t been on yet. We checked out the Peter Pan queue but it was massive so we went on Pinocchio instead with a 5min wait. After a great day it was time to head back to our hotel, to get some sleep for the next day…

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