Thanksgiving weekend at KBF- SFMM- Legoland and others!

Well after a five hour and forty minute delay at the airport in Chicago we finally lifted off towards LA. We arrived at the hotel near KBF around two thirty in the morning. We were not looking forward to the seven thirty wake up call. BUZZZZZZ went the alarm and off we went . Traffic was really light due to it being Thankgiving Day.

Saved thirty bucks on admission thanks to the lady behind me with extra coupons. Legoland is such a blast with two young kids( Gage is eight and Caitlyn is seven). First thing we wanted to do was hit Coastersaurus their newest coaster. Walked right on in the last seat and got a nice little whip over the first drop, other than that its a nice KIDS coaster. It is very nicely themed with all the tropical plants around it and the dinosaurs built out of Legos. We enjoyed a couple nice shows and the ride with the firetrucks that you race to put out a fire is a hoot. We decided to leave around three thirty cause we did everything we wanted to do and more as the park was pretty empty.

We headed south into San Diego to make a quick stop at Belmont Park and get our credit on the Giant Dipper. This coaster was my sons 130th coaster and his 40th woodie. Not a bad coaster at all except the color.(lol) We loved the tight turns and drops. First time we rode it in the back but found a better ride in the front the second time. After the kids rode the Merry-go-round with the extra tickets we were we on the road again. Got a quick bite to eat at McD's and made our way north to Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Peir to get another credit we didn't have. The Santa Monica West Coaster is a joke. Thank god I didn't buy tickets for two rides as one ride was enough on this coaster. But at least we got our credit. The park is kinda cool being on top of the peir though. Also made for a nice photo backdrop.

Friday morning woke up and headed to SFMM. Now I know most think this place is Tragic Mountain but we go to ride the coasters that are open. We bought our Play Passes as they are a few dollars more than SFKK's passes this year. Processing went really quick in the morning after the tough paperwork to fill out for the three of us. The gates opened and off we went with the running of the bulls to X. You would think that being the most popular coaster they would have the maintence checks done and ready before it opens but NO, it was typical 10:30 opening. After X we went right to Superman as the kids did not get this coaster when we were there in March. This was my daughters 110th coaster. Superman has lost its thrill since they slowed it down and after riding TTD at the Point. I went to Vu next to see how long the line was and was shocke dto see a single rider line. Jumped in line and got on the next train. Since we were there we hit Psyclone ( dont know why). One thing I did notice was the smiles and good atitudes of the employes. Also many employees raking leaves out of the bushes and lines trying to keep it clean. I was also shocked to finally see RiddleR running TWO trains and Batman running TWO trains. All flats were running except Sierra Twist- looked to be down for maintence as there was no cars on the track. Goliath actually had THREE trains running after six at night. Man I wish they would take off the head restraints on Revolution. It would make for a much nicer ride. All in all we had a wonderfull day at the mountain. Oh almost forgot that my kids rode Spin Out twenty times in a row. FYI Spin Out is were you spin around while standing against the wall and the floor drops down and you stick to the wall.

KBF was up next an saturday. Weather didn't look to promising for the day. We got Ghostrider, Boomerang,Xcelerator, Jaugar,and Montys Revenge and some smaller rides done by one o'clock. We left for lunch and headed down the street to Adventure City to get two quick credits. I was really impressed at how well this park is kept up. Nicely painted and well maintained. Tree Top Racers is a fun wild mouse type of coaster. I loved the themeing of the cars and how you sit between each others legs. The kids wanted to feed the animals so we payed our dollars and of course the biggest goat jumped up and knocked my son on his butt and my daughter startd freaking out and dropped her feed and ran. Man do I wish I had a vidio camera for that one.

It started to drizzle and TTR broke down right after we rode it so we headed back to Knotts. After finding a parking lot open we headed through the crowds flocking to get out to get back in. The rain started to get heavier so we decided to hit the shows. A Chrismas Carol was a excellent show for only being about 20 mins long. Some xmas show in the Saloon was ok. The Tree lighting Ceremony by the train was also excellent, even in the drizzle and standing for 30 mins. But before this show we rode the Supreme Swing and what a blast this was but to short of a ride. Kids loved it and wanted to ride again and at five dollars why not. Snoopy on Ice was next. This show could actually charge money, it's that good and very well done. The rain finally scared people away and we rerode a few more things and pretty much walked on most. Rip Tide's program was the best that I have ridden. Is this ride a relocated one or out of the box new? The paint job under the padding didn't seem to go with the way it was painted.

We actually hit KBF for a hour on sunday before heading back to the airport to go home. We rode Ghostrider, Boomerang twice, Xcelerator twice, Log ride, Calico Mine Railroad thing, and the Stagecoach. Silver Bullit was getting some last minute touch up on the paint. Everything looked to be in place and ready to go. Standing in that que line next to the stagecoach is going to suck having to smell horse poop all day. Well thanks for reading about our exhausting weekend.

Iggy *** Edited 11/30/2004 1:38:21 AM UTC by Iggy ACE***

Great TR, just one comment:

All flats were running except Sierra Twist- looked to be down for maintence as there was no cars on the track.

Let's hope that's the case. SFMM has an ever-shrinking roster of flats and it would be sad to see their Bayurn Curve -- there since the park's opening -- gone for good.

mOOSH

Great report and such a pleasure to read a positive review of SFMM. I've visited this park on over ten occasions over the years, and everyone of them has been enjoyable.

WOW! 2 trains on Riddler's, Batman and 3 on Goliath. When was the last time Batman ran 2 trains?

I can only hope that this park is actually getting it's act together, I had a fun trip out there last August and it has the potential to be a great park if it was just run decent.

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

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Iggy ACE said:

Rip Tide's program was the best that I have ridden. Is this ride a relocated one or out of the box new? The paint job under the padding didn't seem to go with the way it was painted.

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Riptide is brand new. Valleyfair is getting one next year. I really think that this is one of the best flat additions at a park, except for Delirium at PKI, in quite a long time. This ride has an INSANE program and I don't know if you got to ride it with the water effects on, but I got one spin on it with the water effects and not only do you get soaked, but the visuals of the water coming up at you are really great, too.

Wow, I have to say that was an awesome trip report, very impressive.

Definitly good to hear MM's got Riddler running 2 trains, Batman running 2 and Goliath running 3...I'm pretty upset that I didn't make it to the park last weekend, its sounds like it was empty, and I was planning it but it just didn't happen. Much like bellagio, my trips to the Mountain are always enjoyable, its really what you make of it.

Good for you that you have 2 young children that are such troopers, kids about that age these days aren't nearly as pleasent. I hope when I have kids they're the same way.

Kick the Sky, yes the water effect was on but only came within a couple of feet of you. It was kinda chilly to get wet. Also the reason i asked if it was new is because on the seating side facing the wall, i noticed tha padding was kinda moved out of place and the bar was red (I beleive) and didn't match the orange and yellow all around.

Iggy, the ride you had then was basically with the water effects off. That's the way they run it when it is too cold out. When it's warmer, they crank up the fountains and soak everyone, especially the ones that are seated facing away from the midway.

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Iggy ACE said:

Oh almost forgot that my kids rode Spin Out twenty times in a row. FYI Spin Out is were you spin around while standing against the wall and the floor drops down and you stick to the wall.

I hate that ride, we have one at Adventureland called the Silly Silo and watching that makes me sick, lol.

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