X.........Finally!
Associated parks:
None
I found out last Friday that their was a trip going out to LAX and that it was going to get into L.A. fairly early and we would have the whole day there before we had to fly out the next day at 6:00 a.m. I was lucky enough to get the trip and then I talked to the other guy I was going to be flying with if he wanted to go to Knott’s or Six Flags and he said if we had time he would go to either.
So I spent the weekend trying to find discounts to both parks and just figured we would end up going to Knott’s since it was closer and we didn’t know how much time we would have once we got to L.A. I found a couple of deals but nothing really great so I decided we could stop by Los Angeles Air Force Base (A.F.B.) and visit their military ticket office to see if they had any better discounts. The base is five minutes away from LAX so this would be very convenient.
We took off out of Wright-Patterson A.F.B. early Monday morning and stopped in at Tinker A.F.B. in Oklahoma to get some more fuel and then we finally made it into LAX at 11:00 a.m. We got the jet all locked up and got our rental car and headed to Los Angeles A.F.B. We found the ticket office after a few wrong turns and found out they sold tickets to Knott’s and the Mountain for $28.00 for either one. We still hadn’t decided which park we were going to mostly because we didn’t know if one would be cheaper. Since the tickets were the same price I suggested we go to the Mountain especially since I really wanted the chance to ride X. My friend bought his discount ticket and I decided I would just get a season pass at the park, hoping that it wouldn’t take to long to process since it was a Monday.
After getting his ticket we went to check into our hotel, which was right next to LAX. It was a little after 12:00 p.m. now and they said our rooms wouldn’t be ready until 3:00p.m. So we decided to find a bathroom and change out of our flight suits and hit the road to Valencia. Luckily traffic wasn’t that bad and we made it to the park by 1:15 p.m. I bought a season pass and went to get it processed. The whole thing took about five minutes and we were in the park by 1:30 p.m. This meant we had four and half-hours to hit the rides.
Of course we headed straight for X. On the way into the X area we saw a sign that said if you wanted to ride X you had to be in line by 5:00 p.m. I had a thought go through my mind that we should go ride a bunch of other coasters and then make sure we got in line before five, but I was too anxious to ride so we went ahead and got in line. The line didn’t look that bad but after the first twenty minutes and only 1 train operation this looked like it might take a little while. I figured about an hour and a half. No big deal. Well we finally made it to the station and were two trains away from boarding. We had been waiting an hour and forty-five minutes when they made an announcement that they were adding a second train. This would be a good thing except we had limited time in the park and we were almost ready to ride. I asked one of the employees how long it would take to get the new train on and she said 10 minutes. Well 45 minutes later we were finally getting our first ever ride on X. Soooooo Frustrating!!
I took the outside seat on the second car. I was so excited to finally be on this ride! I loved the anticipation of going up the lift hill backwards and not being able to see how close you were to going over the edge. Then as you all know comes the sky-diving first drop! It was fantastic. The back flip was sweet and then the last raven turn into the brakes is just crazy! This ride was worth the four year wait!
After our long wait for X we only had 2 hours left in the park and I still hadn’t ridden Déjà Vu either but I had heard that this ride was also a capacity nightmare so I decided to head over to Goliath and B&M world. We waited 1 train for the front seat. Goliath was running perfectly. Tons of floater air over the camel back and the mid-course brakes were pretty light. I still miss the extra helix that Titan has but this ride does not disappoint.
Then we headed for Scream. This was a new Beamer for me. We got right on in the second to last seat. This ride has a really nice flow to it and I was glad to see the finally had a B&M cobra roll in the park. I thought this ride was a ton of fun but a little shaky in the back. Not as smooth as other B&M’s but still an excellent ride.
Then I took my friend on Batman and Riddler’s. If I ever had enough money to buy a coaster it would be Batman. Every time I ride this at any Six Flags it is perfect. Fast, intense, and doesn’t let up till the end. Riddler’s: still the best stand-up I’ve ridden.
Time for Déjà vu. We only had to wait 3 trains and we got the front seat! This was a huge surprise! I loved this ride. For a Vekoma it was smooth and hanging in your seat looking straight at the ground is quite unnerving. Loved going through it backwards but the scariest part of the ride was getting jerked to a stop to get lowered back into the station. I also loved the freefall feeling on the first drop. I am so glad they finally got this ride working consistently.
To finish the day we hit Viper and Revolution. Viper is still a good ride but Revolution needs some help. Those OTSR’s are awful. Well it took two and a half ours to ride X and then we did everything else I mentioned in one hour and forty-five minutes. Not bad and it all worked out in the end. X is the bomb and hopefully someday we will see more of these. Thanks for reading! *** Edited 4/27/2005 3:55:57 PM UTC by S&SFAN***
S&SFAN said:
This ride was worth the four year wait!
That's about the average for X on a weekend, yeah... :)
I develop Superior Solitaire when not riding coasters.
I, as well as many others I am sure, understand your pain and frustration. I was worried it would close down the whole time that I was standing in line waiting for it and when they first announced they were putting on the second train I thought they were announcing that it had broken down.
Doug
-Tina
S&SFAN said:
Time for Déjà vu. We only had to wait 3 trains and we got the front seat! This was a huge surprise! I loved this ride. For a Vekoma it was smooth and hanging in your seat looking straight at the ground is quite unnerving.I know what your talking about with looking straight down, that scared the crap out of me, I really thought the harness was coming undone and I was going to fall, what a freakin rush though.
Skol Vikings
Let's shoot us some deer Joe Joe!!!!
We were a little concerned that our rides on X might not live up to they hype, or it might have gotten un-rideably (is that a word??) rough since Joe's first rides back when it first opened...
Well, to our surprise, we found that neither the front, back, inside, or outside seats were rough. I'm actually really sensitive to rough rides (a pansy if you will) and even I wanted to ride X non stop. It was fantastic - I can't even put into words my enthusiasm for the ride. Rarely does any coaster nowadays make me giddy and jumpy like I was when I got off of X. I believe my first rides on Dragster did the same thing. But X definitely lived up to all of the hype and was beyond anything I could have imagined - I loved it! I wouldn't change a thing on it.
We went two days (last Thursday 4/21 and Friday 4/22) and got to ride X four times (Joe got 5). Friday was a Christian Youth Group night, or something like that, and the park was open until 1am - so we were obviously worried about it being overcrowded - but to our surprise, X's line wasn't any longer than 45min and everything in the park had really short lines (minus Riddler). We ended up having a really awesome night there and the X crew was doing a fantastic job.
And I agree that Revolution needs some work - it would be a fantastic ride without those horrible OTSRs... and without the horrible excessive braking throughout the ride. So sad...
S&SFAN said:
SnakeEyes,I, as well as many others I am sure, understand your pain and frustration.
I will show you pain and frustration. :)
http://img171.echo.cx/img171/8239/78139oi.jpg
I was on the INSIDE too.
-Josh
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