From: xor@acm.rpi.edu (Joe Schwartz)
Subject: California Trip Report (long!)
Organization: The Voice of Fate
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 14:05:19 GMT

Well, a week ago I got back from my week's vacation in California.  It's
taken me all week to catch up on all the Usenet articles I missed, and I
have yet to read 236 articles in alt.tv.ren-n-stimpy.  Anyway, here's my
trip report.


Friday, 8/7:  Great America, Santa Clara
----------------------------------------
This was an excellent start.  I got there before it opened, and immediately
got on line for the Vortex (new stand-up coaster).  The park didn't open
until 10am, but they had us form two lines around 9:30 -- one line for the
Vortex, and one line for everything else.  (Side note: An old security guard
kept us entertained while standing in line.  He offered to give $20 to anyone
who could recite the first two lines of the fourth stanza of the Star-Spangled
Banner, but nobody knew it.  He said it was printed in the July issue of
Reader's Digest.  If you're going to Great America soon, memorize those
lines and get there early!)

I was pleased with the Vortex.  It was much more comfortable than the King
Cobra at Kings Island, which is the only other stand-up I've ridden.  The
best thing about the Vortex is that you adjust the "seat" yourself.  On the
King Cobra, the attendants adjusted the seats.  (When I rode the King Cobra,
my seat was adjusted so high that my toes barely touched the platform.  It's
no fun having multiple G's aimed at your crotch.)  I rode Vortex once when
the park opened, and four more times later in the afternoon.  The longest
wait was 15-20 minutes.

The Demon was typical Arrow fare -- three inversions with some lame theming.
I rode it once.

The Tidal Wave was excellent -- my first Schwarzkopf shuttle loop.  This
ride was a major rush.  You shoot out of the station along a flat section
of track, going from 0-50 in about 4 seconds.  I did this ride three times
in rapid succession (zero wait), and actually felt somewhat nauseated
afterward.  Long Live Anton Schwarzkopf!  (I went back for one or two more
rides later on.)

The Grizzly was a poor excuse for a wooden coaster.  My expectations were
low, since I'd read the opinions in this newsgroup.  But to make matters
worse, there was a 15-20 minute wait.  Blech.  I rode it once.  No interesting
forces whatsoever.  (Side note: The Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
has two newspaper reviews of the Grizzly posted inside its station.  Both
reviewers said the Grizzly couldn't compare to the Giant Dipper -- an opinion
that I heartily support.)

I was too tall to go on the Blue Streak, which is a steel kiddie coaster.
I didn't feel like borrowing a kiddie, so I let this one slide.

Random notes:  The 3-D IMAX movie ("The Last Buffalo") is by far the best
3-D I've ever seen.  Sit in the center of a row, preferably in one of the
topmost rows.

The Whitewater Falls ride has an observation bridge, but you don't get wet
standing on the bridge.  (Unlike the Splashwater Falls at SFGAd, where you
get soaked by a wave that has the intensity of a fire hose.)

There's a standard FreeFall ride called The Edge.  Nice name.

I liked the circular layout of the park...it was always easy to decide which
ride to go on next.  Great America also gets high marks for letting riders
choose their own seats.


Saturday, 8/8:  Universal Studios, Hollywood
--------------------------------------------
We drove down to LA on Friday night and Saturday morning, and got to Universal
Studios around 11am.  This was a major mistake.  It was wall-to-wall flesh
(and there are no walls!).  Most of the shows/rides were disappointing.  Here's
a quick rundown:

Avoid the E.T. ride at all costs.  It was a 60-minute wait for a stupid
suspended dark ride.  At least it was air-conditioned inside the ride.

The tram ride was long and boring, and the narrator was unbearable.  Who
cares about seeing sets for TV shows that were popular 30 years ago?  Maybe
5 minutes of this ride were enjoyable, but the entire ride was about 45
minutes (I think).

The Star Trek show was enjoyable -- they picked about 25 people out of the
crowd and had them act out a silly Treklike story.  They videotaped the
whole thing and played back the video at the end.

My brother has been to Universal Studios in Florida, and from his description
it sounds much better than the one in Hollywood.  Florida has the Back To
The Future simulator, which Hollywood won't have until next summer.  (I think
the line will start forming next month.)


Sunday, 8/9:  Magic Mountain, Valencia
--------------------------------------
This was a wonderful park.  We expected another day of overcrowded hell,
after suffering through Universal Studios, but Magic Mountain was surprisingly
uncrowded.  The longest wait was the wait to get in the park -- we got there
at 9:15am and the gates opened at 10.

We headed towards Flashback first (in an attempt to ride the coasters in
reverse chronological order), but it hadn't begun operating yet.  So we did
the Viper -- one of Arrow's massive multi-inversion steelies.  I liked it
much better than GASM at SFGAd...it seemed smoother.  The wait was only 
10-15 minutes, but we only rode this baby once.

Next we rode the Psyclone four times, waiting about 10 minutes for each
ride.  A decent woodie, but I still prefer the Riverside Cyclone.  The 
best part of the Psyclone was going over the first drop while sitting in
the back seat.  After that, it was all downhill.

On to Ninja -- a kick-ass suspended coaster.  I had low expectations for
this one, because of my experience on Iron Dragon at Cedar Point.  Now I
understand why you folks call that one Draggin' Iron!  Ninja is awesome!
We rode it five times, mostly in the front seat.  (It's definitely a
front-seat ride.  You gotta have the view!)  We were careful to swallow
as much saliva as possible before boarding, to prevent it from leaping
out of our mouths and splattering our cheeks.  The longest wait for Ninja
was about 30 minutes for the front seat.

We rode the Gold Rusher (Arrow mine train) and Colossus (racing woodie)
next.  Colossus was nice, but the wind was too damn hot.  It felt like
having a hair dryer blowing in your face.  We rode Colossus four times --
twice on each track.  There was zero wait.  They were running four trains,
but they didn't start the trains simultaneously, so you couldn't "race".

Then we went back and rode Flashback.  I expected a long wait, but it
was only about 20 minutes.  This ride had looked interesting ever since
I'd seen photos of it as the Z-Force.  (BTW, Magic Mountain has another
ride called Z-Force -- it's like the Looping Starship at SFGAd.)  Anyway,
Flashback was kinda disappointing.  It was too rough.  You have to keep
your head pressed against the headrest, or else you'll bash your ears
or twist your neck.  And with your head pressed back, you get to feel
every vibration of the train -- and there's a lot of vibration.  The
Hurricane at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has a much smoother swooping
dive than the ones in Flashback.

Finally, we rode Revolution (30 minute wait).  Nice looping steelie --
it goes through a lot of trees, so it's hard to figure out where it's
about to go.  I didn't realize this was a Schwarzkopf coaster until
I checked Guide To Ride -- as soon as I see over-the-shoulder restraints,
I think Arrow.  There was still lots of room around the restraints, so
you could hold up your hands.

Magic Mountain also has a ride like Splashwater Falls, called Tidal Wave.
(Not to be confused with the shuttle loop at Great America!)  You could
get wet by standing on the bridge, but it still wasn't as forceful as
the one at SFGAd.  We wanted to just stand on the bridge, but they made
us go on the ride first (20 minute wait).

Overall, I liked this park much more than SFGAd.  For one thing, they
let you choose your seats.  (SFGAd doesn't.)  Second, they were thoughtful
enough to put water misters next to the queues -- they really helped keep
the air cool (and it was about 100 degrees that day).  Third, they had
plenty of TVs mounted above the queues, and they played good stuff like
Warner Bros cartoons and Comedy Channel bits.  (Does SFGAd have TVs yet?)
(At Universal Studios, we were forced to watch endless coming attractions
for Universal movies.)  Finally, Magic Mountain was FAR less crowded on
a Sunday than SFGAd ever is.  I give Magic Mountain "two hands up!"


Monday, 8/10:  Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
-----------------------------------------
We drove back up the coast Sunday night and Monday morning, and got
to Santa Cruz around 11am.  We stayed only 3 hours, but that was plenty.

First we rode the Giant Dipper, a wonderful old woodie.  This comes close
to being a "classic" woodie, except that it has seat dividers.  (It also
has electric brakes instead of muscle-powered ones, but IMHO those make
no difference in the ride experience.)  This coaster dives immediately
into a pitch-black tunnel before it hits the lift hill -- no other
coaster I've ridden has a more exciting start.  Overall, this was the
best woodie of the trip.  We rode it four times, waiting about 5-10
minutes each time.  You couldn't wait for a seat, but you could take
your pick of the available seats.

Then we hit the Hurricane, which was only running one train at that
time.  I remember reading early reviews in this newsgroup saying
how fast and rough this ride was.  (One of you got hurt holding up
your hands, right?)  Well, they must've slowed the coaster down,
because it didn't seem very ferocious to me.  We rode it five times,
and after the first time I had almost no trouble holding my hands up.
(You gotta concentrate to keep them up during that swooping dive in
the middle of the ride.)  The wait was about 5-10 minutes, and you
couldn't pick your seat.

Before leaving, we went on the Merry-Go-Round a couple times.  This
is one of the few carousels left where you can still "reach for the
brass ring".  Since I'd never seen one of these before, I had no idea
what I was supposed to do with the ring once I grabbed it.  Then I 
realized that you're supposed to throw it at the big clown face in the
corner of the room.  If you throw the ring in the clown's mouth, his
eyes light up and a bell rings.  This adds a whole new dimension to
riding the Merry-Go-Round...it was actually quite addicting.  Be sure
to check it out if you visit.


Wednesday, 8/12:  San Francisco
-------------------------------
We rested up on Tuesday, and went into San Francisco on Wednesday.  At
Pier 39 there's a new simulator ride, called something like Turbo-Ride.
It costs $6, and the ride itself lasts about 5 minutes.  (There's an
introduction in a separate room that lasts 5-10 minutes.)

The ride was okay once, but I wouldn't pay to do it again.  It's supposed
to be a simulated submarine ride.  Your chair tilts, leans, and shakes
in sync with a movie shown on a screen at the front of the room.  I expected
the movie to be live-action, but it was all computer animation.  Decent
animation, but not very realistic or convincing.  I've never been on 
Star Tours (at Disney), so I can't compare it, but a friend who's been
on both says that Star Tours is far better.  And my brother's description
of Back To The Future (Universal Studios, Florida) sounds better too.

To wrap up this report, I'll throw in a plug for the Exploratorium.
It's a hands-on science museum -- don't miss it.  And if you aren't
claustrophobic, make reservations to go through the Tactile Dome.  It's
a pitch black dome that you walk/crawl through, guided by your sense of
touch.  It's a weird experience, but one you'll probably remember.

-- 
Joe Schwartz (xor@acm.rpi.edu)