Post by Bryant "MegaDisney" McVey on Jun 13, 2014 22:19:19 GMT
Day Three Part One - Friday July 5, 2002
Starring:
Bryant AKA MegaDisney
Scott AKA ParadisePinocchio
You play, you pay.....
I started off the day with a little bit of the night before still "hanging" around if you know what I am saying!
We got up early to head away from the Disneyland Resort and spend the day at another Southern California fun spot. We had originally planned on going to Six Flags to experience the new X coaster, but it has been plagued with design problems, and hasn't been running since the first few days it was open. We were hoping they would get the problems resolved before our trip, but no such luck. We decided instead to head over to Knott's Berry Farm Park (home of a different X) just a few miles from the Disneyland Resort in Buena Park. I brought discount tickets so it was only going to cost us $23.00 each for a day of fun!
A Berry Fun Day!
We made the short drive to the park. It is soooo different than the Disneyland Resort. Much more like a small town, family run park that the corporate glossiness of Disney. I haven't been to Knott's since I was about 11 years old, for those of you interested that was about 23 years ago. I was excited to return and see how the park had changed. Boy, I didn't recognize 99% of the place.
We paid our admission and headed straight for their new attraction Xcelerator! This one uses catapult launch to send you from 0-80 in 3 seconds. Straight up an arched 205 ft. tower then back to earth at a 90 degree angle. One thing, you cannot take ANY bags, purses, fanny packs, food or drinks into the Xcelerator queue. There is no signage saying that, just an employee at the entrance telling everyone. There are also no lockers located anywhere near the ride to put stuff in. A horrible design flaw if you ask me. We got in line and about 20 minutes later, we were strapped in. This is when we noticed something at Knott's that at times seemed like overkill, the "safety checks". You were not allowed to pull down your own lap bar on ANY attraction. If someone did, they had to release all of the bars and start over. The ride hosts literally yanked on the safety belts, crammed the lap bar down (and with 'between the legs' design of most of the restraints, that was most uncomfortable) and yelled "Check". I guess with the recent fatality in the park, they are not taking any chances, but when it negatively effects wait times, and guest comfort, it can get annoying. ANYWAY.... After about (and I am not kidding) 5 minutes of safety checks, we were queued to launch. The countdown lights began, and we were off! OH MY GOODNESS what a total rush! As you peak on the top of the arch, the entire horizon is thrown for a loop! It is very disorienting. Xcelerator is a short but very intense experience!
I wanted something to eat. I hadn't had breakfast and was still a little foggy from the day before. Scott headed off to ride the Boomerang (no interest on my part). I went to the food place directly in front of the Xcelerator, and got in line (about 3 people), they were taking orders, but everyone seemed to be standing around waiting for their food. Since there was no breakfast food to be found, I ordered what I thought would be the fastest thing, a hot dog. The guy took my order, turned to call it out, and I heard one of the cooks that was literally just standing around say "I don't have hot dogs, it will be 20 minutes" I asked for my money back and just walked away. Why open if you have no food ready? Jumping ahead, overall the dining at Knott's is horrible. We did not have one pleasant experience finding food or drink at the park. Makes you really feel lucky that we have the wonderful Disneyland Resort. I happened to run into a couple of "suits" when I was going to meet Scott, and relayed my dismay at the horrible, uninterested, lazy attitude of the employees I had encountered, they thanked me and said they would take care of it (Later I noticed them running hot trays of hot dogs to the restaurant).
Scott was just getting off the coaster, so we decided that since the line was so short, we would hit Xcelerator again, and then get some lunch together. This time we waited for the front seat. It was totally worth it! We enjoyed it so much, and the line was so short, that we decided to do it again. Front row again. Man! Three runs on an Xtreme coaster first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, with a slight hangover. What fun!!!
LUNCH? PLEASE?
By this time I HAD to get something to eat. We went to a 50's style burger place called Coasters. The burger was O.K. (think Tomorrowland Terrace), but again the service was slow, uninterested, and the employees just seemed un-kept. I felt 100% better after some sustenance, so we headed back out into the park.
We rode the tower so that I could get a feel for the layout of the park, and to eyeball all of the thrills ahead of me that day. I got a kick out of the "Christmas trees" they have used to decorate the Log Ride. There is some high quality theming for you!
Next up was Perilous Plunge. This is a basic boat drop ride, with a huge, highly angled drop. This was the attraction that a woman fell to her death from, so we were not surprised to see them taking upwards of 10 minutes to load, check, and launch each boat. We finally made it to the front about 30 minutes later. Once we were at the top, they don't give you much time to think about the upcoming drop. We got a huge face full of water before we even started over the hill, then got absolutely drenched at the bottom. The weather was hot, so the cool down was well appreciated. This was my favorite ride in the park. Very short, but very sweet!
Dino-SNORE, watch out!
I had heard about a dark ride about Dinosaurs, and I was interested to see the level of quality on a dark ride somewhere besides a Disney park. Well, Kingdom of the Dinosaurs made the Dinosaur attraction at WDW look like a masterpiece. This was the lamest, dullest, poorly executed ride I have ever experienced. No wonder it wasn't even on the guide maps! The stupidest thing about this ride is that instead of the individual cars they have linked 5-8 cars together to form trains, and as each train is loaded the others inside the ride must stop and wait for it to load. Increasing the interruption of the "show" is that each time you stop, a ride operator walks along the train (remember we are supposed to have been transported back to the age of dinosaurs) reminding everyone to stay seated, and to leave the "scenery" alone. What a pathetic excuse of a ride, made even worse by the idiotic loading procedures.
After that we decided to wander around, and I was on a mission to find things I remembered from my childhood. The entire Ghost Town area was very familiar, and I remembered the Stage Coach Ride, and Train from years ago. Then we came across one of my Childhood favorites, the Calico Mine Ride. This is a classic old attraction that is definitely showing its age. It makes good use of one major scene, having the train pass through it on many levels from many angles. I love the "exciting" ending, which I remember as a kid used to frighten me. This was one of the most nostalgic things I have done in a long time, and is one of my Knott's favorites.
By this time the lines were beginning to get long. Around 1-2 hours for most of the major attractions. Made me think of all the negative talk about FastPass. Made me miss FastPass even more!
Is it over yet?
Next up was GhostRider. This was the longest wait of the day for us at about 1 hour and 45 min. I am not a big fan of wooden roller coasters. IMHO they are extremely rough, and fairly unthrilling. GhostRider was definitely rough, but was very intense and exciting! It seems like it will never end, and the "headers" on this make you afraid to put your hands up, and feel like you might even need to duck every once in a while. We had great fun on this coaster, and it was definitely worth the wait.
We stopped and got a yummy pretzel and drink, but again, the service was slow, unorganized, and inefficient.
After that we decided that Jaguar, Supreme Scream, and Montezuma’s Revenge would be the last three rides we would hit before heading back to the resort.
First up was what I had been dreading all day long, Supreme Scream. I am horribly afraid of heights. I will never again even get on a red gondola on the Sun Wheel, because it terrified me. Supreme Scream is 250 ft. tall and is very similar to Maliboomer, but that it cranks you to the top slowly and drops you faster than gravity at 50+ M.P.H. toward the ground. The wait was about 25 min. and I avoided looking up at the tower for the entire time. Scott kept encouraging me, which helped. He said "You’re going to come down", I said "Yeah, but how? Nice and easy, or SPLAT!!!" When it was our turn to go, my heart was in my throat, and I almost chickened out (if I wasn't so macho, I would have backed out!!). On the way up, I totally panicked. I closed my eyes. Then at the top there was this huge bang and we were locked in. I opened my eyes long enough to say "Oh, but NO!" then shut them tight and just prayed for it to be over soon. I have never screamed like such a little girl in my entire life. Scott loved it. I hated it. NEVER AGAIN!
We decided not to wait for Jaguar, as it was getting to be around 3 p.m. by this time.
Montezuma’s Revenge was added right after I left SoCal as a child. It was the first "launch" coaster, and is still fun. Simple Launch, Loop, Hill, Again backwards shuttle coaster. It was fun. The wait was about 30 min.
We then headed out and did a little shopping before heading back to DLR.
What a nice way to spend the day. I got to see a park I don't visit very often, which was a nice change, and it made me appreciate the incredible attractions, shows, food, and theming we have at DLR.
Coming up: Return to the Magic!
Starring:
Bryant AKA MegaDisney
Scott AKA ParadisePinocchio
You play, you pay.....
I started off the day with a little bit of the night before still "hanging" around if you know what I am saying!
We got up early to head away from the Disneyland Resort and spend the day at another Southern California fun spot. We had originally planned on going to Six Flags to experience the new X coaster, but it has been plagued with design problems, and hasn't been running since the first few days it was open. We were hoping they would get the problems resolved before our trip, but no such luck. We decided instead to head over to Knott's Berry Farm Park (home of a different X) just a few miles from the Disneyland Resort in Buena Park. I brought discount tickets so it was only going to cost us $23.00 each for a day of fun!
A Berry Fun Day!
We made the short drive to the park. It is soooo different than the Disneyland Resort. Much more like a small town, family run park that the corporate glossiness of Disney. I haven't been to Knott's since I was about 11 years old, for those of you interested that was about 23 years ago. I was excited to return and see how the park had changed. Boy, I didn't recognize 99% of the place.
We paid our admission and headed straight for their new attraction Xcelerator! This one uses catapult launch to send you from 0-80 in 3 seconds. Straight up an arched 205 ft. tower then back to earth at a 90 degree angle. One thing, you cannot take ANY bags, purses, fanny packs, food or drinks into the Xcelerator queue. There is no signage saying that, just an employee at the entrance telling everyone. There are also no lockers located anywhere near the ride to put stuff in. A horrible design flaw if you ask me. We got in line and about 20 minutes later, we were strapped in. This is when we noticed something at Knott's that at times seemed like overkill, the "safety checks". You were not allowed to pull down your own lap bar on ANY attraction. If someone did, they had to release all of the bars and start over. The ride hosts literally yanked on the safety belts, crammed the lap bar down (and with 'between the legs' design of most of the restraints, that was most uncomfortable) and yelled "Check". I guess with the recent fatality in the park, they are not taking any chances, but when it negatively effects wait times, and guest comfort, it can get annoying. ANYWAY.... After about (and I am not kidding) 5 minutes of safety checks, we were queued to launch. The countdown lights began, and we were off! OH MY GOODNESS what a total rush! As you peak on the top of the arch, the entire horizon is thrown for a loop! It is very disorienting. Xcelerator is a short but very intense experience!
I wanted something to eat. I hadn't had breakfast and was still a little foggy from the day before. Scott headed off to ride the Boomerang (no interest on my part). I went to the food place directly in front of the Xcelerator, and got in line (about 3 people), they were taking orders, but everyone seemed to be standing around waiting for their food. Since there was no breakfast food to be found, I ordered what I thought would be the fastest thing, a hot dog. The guy took my order, turned to call it out, and I heard one of the cooks that was literally just standing around say "I don't have hot dogs, it will be 20 minutes" I asked for my money back and just walked away. Why open if you have no food ready? Jumping ahead, overall the dining at Knott's is horrible. We did not have one pleasant experience finding food or drink at the park. Makes you really feel lucky that we have the wonderful Disneyland Resort. I happened to run into a couple of "suits" when I was going to meet Scott, and relayed my dismay at the horrible, uninterested, lazy attitude of the employees I had encountered, they thanked me and said they would take care of it (Later I noticed them running hot trays of hot dogs to the restaurant).
Scott was just getting off the coaster, so we decided that since the line was so short, we would hit Xcelerator again, and then get some lunch together. This time we waited for the front seat. It was totally worth it! We enjoyed it so much, and the line was so short, that we decided to do it again. Front row again. Man! Three runs on an Xtreme coaster first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, with a slight hangover. What fun!!!
LUNCH? PLEASE?
By this time I HAD to get something to eat. We went to a 50's style burger place called Coasters. The burger was O.K. (think Tomorrowland Terrace), but again the service was slow, uninterested, and the employees just seemed un-kept. I felt 100% better after some sustenance, so we headed back out into the park.
We rode the tower so that I could get a feel for the layout of the park, and to eyeball all of the thrills ahead of me that day. I got a kick out of the "Christmas trees" they have used to decorate the Log Ride. There is some high quality theming for you!
Next up was Perilous Plunge. This is a basic boat drop ride, with a huge, highly angled drop. This was the attraction that a woman fell to her death from, so we were not surprised to see them taking upwards of 10 minutes to load, check, and launch each boat. We finally made it to the front about 30 minutes later. Once we were at the top, they don't give you much time to think about the upcoming drop. We got a huge face full of water before we even started over the hill, then got absolutely drenched at the bottom. The weather was hot, so the cool down was well appreciated. This was my favorite ride in the park. Very short, but very sweet!
Dino-SNORE, watch out!
I had heard about a dark ride about Dinosaurs, and I was interested to see the level of quality on a dark ride somewhere besides a Disney park. Well, Kingdom of the Dinosaurs made the Dinosaur attraction at WDW look like a masterpiece. This was the lamest, dullest, poorly executed ride I have ever experienced. No wonder it wasn't even on the guide maps! The stupidest thing about this ride is that instead of the individual cars they have linked 5-8 cars together to form trains, and as each train is loaded the others inside the ride must stop and wait for it to load. Increasing the interruption of the "show" is that each time you stop, a ride operator walks along the train (remember we are supposed to have been transported back to the age of dinosaurs) reminding everyone to stay seated, and to leave the "scenery" alone. What a pathetic excuse of a ride, made even worse by the idiotic loading procedures.
After that we decided to wander around, and I was on a mission to find things I remembered from my childhood. The entire Ghost Town area was very familiar, and I remembered the Stage Coach Ride, and Train from years ago. Then we came across one of my Childhood favorites, the Calico Mine Ride. This is a classic old attraction that is definitely showing its age. It makes good use of one major scene, having the train pass through it on many levels from many angles. I love the "exciting" ending, which I remember as a kid used to frighten me. This was one of the most nostalgic things I have done in a long time, and is one of my Knott's favorites.
By this time the lines were beginning to get long. Around 1-2 hours for most of the major attractions. Made me think of all the negative talk about FastPass. Made me miss FastPass even more!
Is it over yet?
Next up was GhostRider. This was the longest wait of the day for us at about 1 hour and 45 min. I am not a big fan of wooden roller coasters. IMHO they are extremely rough, and fairly unthrilling. GhostRider was definitely rough, but was very intense and exciting! It seems like it will never end, and the "headers" on this make you afraid to put your hands up, and feel like you might even need to duck every once in a while. We had great fun on this coaster, and it was definitely worth the wait.
We stopped and got a yummy pretzel and drink, but again, the service was slow, unorganized, and inefficient.
After that we decided that Jaguar, Supreme Scream, and Montezuma’s Revenge would be the last three rides we would hit before heading back to the resort.
First up was what I had been dreading all day long, Supreme Scream. I am horribly afraid of heights. I will never again even get on a red gondola on the Sun Wheel, because it terrified me. Supreme Scream is 250 ft. tall and is very similar to Maliboomer, but that it cranks you to the top slowly and drops you faster than gravity at 50+ M.P.H. toward the ground. The wait was about 25 min. and I avoided looking up at the tower for the entire time. Scott kept encouraging me, which helped. He said "You’re going to come down", I said "Yeah, but how? Nice and easy, or SPLAT!!!" When it was our turn to go, my heart was in my throat, and I almost chickened out (if I wasn't so macho, I would have backed out!!). On the way up, I totally panicked. I closed my eyes. Then at the top there was this huge bang and we were locked in. I opened my eyes long enough to say "Oh, but NO!" then shut them tight and just prayed for it to be over soon. I have never screamed like such a little girl in my entire life. Scott loved it. I hated it. NEVER AGAIN!
We decided not to wait for Jaguar, as it was getting to be around 3 p.m. by this time.
Montezuma’s Revenge was added right after I left SoCal as a child. It was the first "launch" coaster, and is still fun. Simple Launch, Loop, Hill, Again backwards shuttle coaster. It was fun. The wait was about 30 min.
We then headed out and did a little shopping before heading back to DLR.
What a nice way to spend the day. I got to see a park I don't visit very often, which was a nice change, and it made me appreciate the incredible attractions, shows, food, and theming we have at DLR.
Coming up: Return to the Magic!