West Coast Advice - CoasterBuzz

So I will be going to the West Coast July 18th.

I will be at SFMM Wed July 18th, Thu the 19th and maybe Fri the 20th. I will be at KBF Monday the 23rd. Will be in Vegas briefly Tues the 24th.

I will be a single rider, so what ride should I go to first? Last?

Any food suggestions for both parks?

Is Manhattan Express worth $12.50 for the credit?

Any discounts for Speed: The Ride, Manhattan Express or KBF that you guys know about? (I have a Six Flags Season Pass).

Any other suggestions such as car/row recommendations for certain coasters, times to ride each ride, or anything else an enthusiast from IL may need to know is GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

I haven't finished writing my trip report yet, but I was just in Vegas a week or so ago.

I found Manhatten Express to be ridable. Not great but rideable. I did like the inverted turnback right before the midcourse. While I have heard of it being rough, I didn't find it that way. If you can do it, ride it after dark. Of the three Vegas coaster's, I found this to be the best in terms of overall ride. In terms of discounts, while I didn't see any first ride discounts, re-rides are a mere $6.00. If the ride is busy, seats were being assigned (as they were when I rode it.) As for being worth $12.50, well, since this was my first trip to Vegas I figured it was worth it. Will it be worth it my next trip to Vegas? probably not...

Speed the Ride is very, very short and somewhat unexciting. (Maybe it's because I've ridden Top Thrill and several other launched coasters.) It seemed to be very, very short, andthe launch didn't seem that impressive. But, I was also riding with a 3/4 empty train that only went 2/3 of the way up the spike, stopping at least 20 - 30 feet short of the top. The blast out of the station from a cool 72 to the 110 is a bit of a shocker as well. I had a front row seat for this. This one is also a bit pricey at $9.00 or $10.00 (I can't remember for certain).

AdventureDome at Circus Circus has Canyon Blaster, an Arrow Double Loop, double corkscrew. It definately was smoother than a typical Arrow, and at $7.00 a ride it seemed to be a bargain in Vegas. Front row seat as well on this one.

As an FYI, if you are not familiar with Vegas, Sahara and NYNY are at opposite ends of the strip, a good 3 or more miles apart. The best way to get from one to the other is the monorail which runs behind MGM-Grand (across the street from NYNY.) Circus Circus is a walkable distance from Sahara. Right now all day passes are $9.00, or one ride tickets are $5.00.

The single rider system at SFMM is pretty cool!
I don't know if they have it on all coasters though - they have it on X for sure, and it was almost a walk-on for me each time.
Actually, walking past all the people waiting made me kind of feel guilty...

airtime for everyone

I will be a single rider, so what ride should I go to first? Last?

Magic Mountain -- Ride coasters in this order (this list follows a time-saving route so you don't do a lot of back tracking): X, Viper, Tatsu, Deja Vu, Goldrusher, The Riddler's Revenge, Batman The Ride, Colossus, Scream!, Goliath, Revolution. Then take the Orient Express back up the hill to Ninja and then finally Superman The Escape.

Knott's -- Ride coasters in this order (ommitting Timberline Twister): Sierra Sidewinder, GhostRider, Silver Bullet, Xcelerator, Boomerang, Jaguar!, Montezooma's Revenge.

Any food suggestions for both parks?

Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant is a MUST. Famous and helped put the Berry Farm on the map.

At Magic Mountain, your best would defintely be Mooseburger Lodge. Relatively upscale, well decorated, and good service for an indoor Six Flags restaurant.

Is Manhattan Express worth $12.50 for the credit?

Yes, but only if you've never ridden it before. It's definitely worth at least one ride.

Any discounts for Speed: The Ride, Manhattan Express or KBF that you guys know about? (I have a Six Flags Season Pass).

There aren't any discounts for tickets for the Vegas coasters, though they offer an "All Day" pass which lets you ride the coaster all day (but honestly, nobody does that). Check the Knott's website (under "What's Hot) for any available discounts.

Any other suggestions such as car/row recommendations for certain coasters, times to ride each ride

Silver Bullet -- Front row.

Xcelerator -- Front row of first car / Front row of back car.

GhostRider -- Front row of back car.

Sierra Sidewinder -- Back car.

Boomerang -- Front row of back car.

Montezooma's Revenge -- Front row of back car.

Jaguar! -- Front row of back car.

-----------------------

Tatsu -- Front row / Back row.

Scream! -- Front row / Back row.

Batman The Ride -- Front row.

Viper -- Front row of first car.

The Riddler's Revenge -- Front row / Back row.

Deja Vu -- Last row of back car.

X -- The inside seat (seat closest to the chassis) of ANY car.

Goliath -- Front row of first car / Front row of back car.

Ninja -- Front row of first car. DO NOT RIDE IN ANY OTHER CAR OR ROW! Trust me.

Goldrusher -- Any row in the back car.

or anything else an enthusiast from IL may need to know is GREATLY appreciated.

Southern California is experiencing a VERY HOT summer. The climate in Santa Clarita/Valencia where Magic Mountain is very dry and scorching hot -- desert-like conditions. Buena Park (Knott's) is not far from the Pacific Ocean, so it may be a bit breezier and the air isn't AS dry as it is in the Santa Clarita Valley, but will still be very hot.

Wear shorts and light t-shirt and pack a change of clothes and a small towel. I recommend bringing a few water bottles (unopened) to the park. If you are comfortable with walking around a lot with sandals, then I suggest you wear them.

*** Edited 7/14/2007 3:02:19 AM UTC by kRaXLeRidAh***

In 'N' Out Burger.

I survived a Japanese typhoon and the Togo flat ride of death!!!!!!

kRaXLeRidAh said:
Knott's -- Ride coasters in this order (ommitting Timberline Twister): Sierra Sidewinder, GhostRider, Silver Bullet, Xcelerator, Boomerang, Jaguar!, Montezooma's Revenge.

I personally have always found GhostRider to have it's longest line in the morning. I always wait a while. It also gives it some time to heat up. ;)

Three days at SFMM? That's overkill.

Mamoosh said:
Three days at SFMM? That's overkill.

Well the first day will only be a half day. So I have a choice of either 1.5 days or 2.5.

Yeah, I would go to Disneyland/DCA instead of extra days at Magic Mountain.

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

^With a hopper, yeah. If you had to choose DCA *or* DL...

Well, the original DisneyLand was one of my favoritest parks even BEFORE Space Mountain came back online...so I'm probably not a reasonable judge.

Or am I? :)

IMO... ;)

I'd rather spend 2 days at Disneyland and half a day at Magic Mountain myself.

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

SFMM now has 15 operational coasters, of which 14 are available for adults to ride. Of those 14 one - Canyon Blaster - is a kiddie coaster. Of the remaining 13 you'll probably not wish to ride Batman, Scream, Deja Vu, and Superman more than once. One could argue that Goldrusher, Ninja, Revolution, Viper, Colossus and Riddler are worthy of at least a second ride. That leaves X, Tatsu, and Goliath as the three coasters one might wish to get a lot of rides on.

1.5 days there should be more than enough IMHO.

And you're assuming they'll all be open too. ;)

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

Why wouldn't I want to ride Deja Vu, Scream, BTR or Superman more than once? Deja Vu, Medusa and BTR are some of my favorite coasters, I'd ride those all day.

And for Disney parks, they are wayyyyyyyyyyy too expensive for one, and they only have one coaster I am really interested in riding, Cali Screamin.

Do what YOU want to do, not what WE prefer. That's what you get for asking. ;)

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

you're going to Magic Mountain to ride roller coasters. If you go to Disneyland, it's to experience the whole park and all the attractions. Knott's is somewhere in the middle: great can't-miss coasters, but still lots of other stuff and atmosphere (and chicken dinner) you'll want to spend time soaking up.

EagleFan344 said:
Why wouldn't I want to ride Deja Vu, Scream, BTR or Superman more than once? Deja Vu, Medusa and BTR are some of my favorite coasters, I'd ride those all day.

Because Mamoosh is making the assumption that others feel the same way he does. Otherwise, he wouldn't tell you what you would want to ride what and how many times you'd want to ride it.

Having read hundreds of trip reports on SFMM I made no such assumption. Many others feel exactly the same way.

But that's a moot point. Go read my post again. I was not TELLING him how many times to ride each. My post was peppered with phrases like "you'll probably not wish" or "one might wish to." Last time I checked those were indications of madates.