How I Got My Rear End Handed To Me By A Theme Park:
My sister and I got season passes to SFMM for our birthdays earlier this year and we were finally able to use them. So after driving about 4 hours to the park, thanks LA traffic, we finally arrived at the park around 10:40.
My favorite roadside sign:
We got to the parking lot booths and were pleased to see that there was not a long line of cars to get in. We ended up with a pretty decent parking spot, perfect for some coaster close-ups.
oohh....pretty.
We headed to the gates and were pleased to see that there were no massive crowds trying to get in, or crowding pathways throughout the park. This was not a good day to be fighting crowds, the heat was enough of a challenge to overcome. Luckily, the crowd level was definitely manageable. We exchanged our vouchers for the actual pass and proceeded into the entry gates. I was pleasantly surprised that the park seems to be getting cleaner, and the view of the rides from the front of the park was stunning, all the rides were shining brightly in the blistering So Cal sun.
After that it was off to our first ride of the day, X2, which is #3 on my list of favorites, even though it has gotten rough and jerky, it is still a very fun and thrilling ride, and only had a 45-60 minute wait, pretty good considering the horrendous load/unload process at the park, more on that later, though. While in line I couldn't help but snap a few pics of Viper, which looked amazing in the sunlight that day, as mentioned before, all the rides did.
I didn't know Mikey was at the park that day:
Viper E-stop
It seems more care is going into the maintenance and upkeep of the park.
then again, maybe not
Then it was up the hill and off to get our 2016 season refillable souvenir cups. For 22.99 you get a souvenir cup that you can have refilled at the park for the remainder of the 2016 season, which we definitely got our money's worth out of on the first day.
Then it was off to Tatsu, which until today, was my top coaster. The views from the ride are breathtaking and exhilarating, as is the ride itself. Flying high above the park and that pretzel loop..the most intense element I have ever experienced, which includes the helix finale on The Beast at King's Island, which has been compared to a 6.8 earthquake. As someone who grew up in So Cal, I can relate to that analogy, but, I digress...here's some Tatsu porn for you.
On to Apocalypse...or we thought...heading down the hill through the shady? path that Ninja and Jet Stream pass over, what happened to the trees? 3 years ago there were trees galore, now it looks the way it did in 1988 when Ninja opened. So not the day for this tomfoolery
3 years ago:
- SFMM6.jpg (35.48 KiB) Viewed 2188 times
- SFMM7.jpg (49.54 KiB) Viewed 2188 times
see, trees!
My only thought(s) is either one or both of the following 1. the severity of the drought has led to some landscaping cutbacks. 2. the derailment of Ninja recently has led to the need to give the hill a makeover. Either way, I didn't find it at all amusing.
So, about our trek to Apocalypse:
ride op's said Nope!
so we continued on our way to Riddler's Revenge, stopping to refill our souvenir cups along the way.
Riddler's Revenge still looks and rides really well for it's age, so it stays at #4 on my top 5 list. The wait time was only about 20-30 minutes. On a side note, the only ride that actually requires you to pay for a locker for your belongings is X2, all the others have storage areas in the station. $saving tip
Tidal Wave was closed for the day:
not funny!
I need one of these for my apartment:
The park has all sorts of misting devices throughout, which felt really good.
Onward to DC Universe for Batman the Ride and Green Lantern. I always felt Batman the Ride was too short of a ride and the elements come too quickly to really savor them, as intense as they are, not enough time for my brain to process what was happening to my body, so I never really feel the rush until the brake run. Oh well, it was walk-on anyway.
Green Lantern is SFMM's 2nd 4D coaster and the only one of its kind on the west coast, and is the only coaster that actually scared the crap our of me. I felt like I was gonna be flung out of my seat into the track of Batman the Ride, definitely would ride it again, though. Just not sure if I would stand in line line in the blistering sun to do it, though. Why you have no shade here? and again, load/unload is atrocious making the queue take longer than it really should. The station area is really well themed, like the rest of DC Universe.
See! really well themed, which is why it is my favorite section of the park
Batmobile selfie
The main event of the day: Twisted Colossus and The New revolution. I will keep these a little short, so as to not reveal too much.
Twisted Colossus is just that, seriously twisted. Though I kind of miss Colossus, this ride more than helped fill that void. It was non-stop adrenaline filled fun from the pre-lift all the way to the final brake run. the trains are super comfortable and they travel so smoothly through the revolutionary RMC track system. The top-gun stall was awesome, and the first drop feels a lot higher up than it really is. Truly a great tribute to what was once the tallest, longest and fastest wooden racing coaster ever built.
Now for the one we were both most excited to ride: The New revolution. What an experience. I would have hoped that the staff would have streamlined the loading/unloading, but, it's Six Flags, that would be expecting too much. As someone who had ridden all the stages of the original revolution's life. well, from the late 80's before the shoulder harness, pretty much to the day it was refurbished, what an improvement. I love how it's kind of a throwback to when it was The Great American Revolution, as featured in the film Roller Coaster. The trains are absolutely gorgeous and the track is gucci. The only way to really describe the VR experience is to compare it to a motion simulator on a roller coaster track. Like how little kids think Star Tours is really in space. The VR video is so immersive you almost forget you are on a theme park ride. Without giving away too much, it's definitely a close encounter of the 3rd kind. Worth a 90 minute wait, sure. would I wait that long twice in a day, probably not.
this is pretty much where the line started, So close, yet, so far.
more New Revolution pics for your viewing pleasure:
VR headset selfie
So, after that long wait we pretty much lost momentum and decided to end the day, but, not before I rode Viper, Walk-on style. I really wish this once great coaster would get a major overhaul, maybe Vekoma could step in someday and take it over.
I will end this post with some random park photos and a special video request from Oscar.
Anyone remember Metro?
Oscar, this one's for you. Watch to the end. You won't be disappointed. Quality is a little poor, my phone's camera doesn't zoom well.
I have a lot more pics, but, i guess 125 is the max. Anyway, that is how I got my butt whooped by Six Flags Magic Mountain. Hope you enjoyed this post.