We haven't been to Disneyland since early December when we saw the "snow" on Main Street. Michael's water polo schedule coupled with his class at Moorpark College have just made the trek to Anaheim too much of a PITA to deal with.
So Michael's water polo season is finally over, and we've been seeing commercials like crazy for the two roller coasters with new music--California Screamin' and Space Mountain. Zoe has proclaimed "Space" as her new favorite ride of both parks, and Michael and I were really curious to see which songs a place like Disney could actually use (what no "Catholic School Girls Rule" or "Californication" or "Suck My Kiss"?).
I will have to remember not to attempt the drive on the Friday of a holiday weekend, because traffic stunk. We did stop at the Citadel for a few minutes because when it takes two hours just to get to Commerce, you begin to wonder if the bathroom stop you made hours earlier would hold up. But we arrived just at 6 pm, and the park was as crowded as we predicted. For the kids across the country that get a week off in February for no reason, they sure picked a great place to be this week--the 85 degree weather in SoCal is the stuff that fills U-Hauls.
We wandered over to Soarin, and there were no fast passes, and a 70 minute wait. The great thing about annual passes, is we get to be pretty picky about ride lines. We decided we'll do that another time. At Mulholland Madness we got the happy surprise that Zoe is officially as tall as she needs to be--finally. And she loved it. The child is a little daredevil, so long as it's all done on her terms. No biggie, I'd rather wait and have her on board than try to push like the idiots we saw later taking a toddler screaming onto Matterhorn. Zoe wanted to go on it again immediately (always a good sign), but given our timeline for both parks, we convinced her to hold that idea for our next visit.
We did do California Screamin' with its new soundtrack, "How Long" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Since Zoe needed a good six inches before she was eligible, I didn't feel bad about her not riding it. She might be near college before that happens, but hopefully she'll get a growth spurt and surprise us all. It was definitely smoother than the last time I remember riding it, but now I've ridden it, I wouldn't wait in anything but the single rider line for more than 10 minutes for it.
We went over to Disneyland because I had heard (and had a strong hunch) that Space Mountain would be a bigger issue. We usually get Fast Passes, but someone in line at Screamin' said they had a Fast Pass for 11 pm, and it was pretty clear we'd be in the Stand by line. All I can say is it was worth the hour. It's a completely different ride. Michael and I had pretty much guessed that "Higher Ground" would be a song for one of the two rides, and we guessed right. The DJ/announcer was a great surprise--Joe Benson. When was the last time I listened to KLOS, 1990? Inside, I could see the track, and the lights flashing and moving pictures showing all over the walls made me think this would be a great year round attraction. I'll settle for it during the winters, though.
We'll definitely be going back soon--not sure if we can swing next week or not. But Zoe's birthday is coming up, but we'll try for one more visit before then.
Gotta split,
Angel
As promised, Michael and headed to Valencia on Friday afternoon. The near 100 degree temps were still noticeable, but at this time of year, it's tolerable because most of the park is cast in shadow by the time we arrived at 4 pm. Traffic was a major pain from Chatsworth through the top of the hill going into Santa Clarita, then cleared, so it added at least 20 minutes to the effort. People who make that drive daily willingly are nuts.
We pulled into the first lot, and pulled into a nice spot someone had abandoned, and for once in my life, the tram was actually waiting for us so we sprinted to get aboard. The dropping spiders were waiting for us, and security wasn't a hassle since there were three lines open and only a tram full of folks getting in.
Michael and I joked about why it's Magic Mountain on the walk up to Revolution. The only "magic" in the park is that no matter how many times you walk uphill, everything you need to go on is still UP another hill. Had we run up the queue to Revolution it would have been a true walk on. Instead we had to wait a whole 30 seconds for the next train to return. I realized at this point, security had let me in with my Starbucks cup, and it went on the ride with me. Michael asked me to drink from it going through the loop and I tried. Although it's really hard to do anything that dumb when you're laughing. Of course, I was remembering one of the first times I'd ever taken him on Revolution and brought on the sipper cup, and he was amazed learning about gravity and force (and that mom wasn't wearing spilled soda at the end of the ride). I think I really like this ride best on hot days. I can't explain it better than that, but we always seem to ride this early, and I might change our patterns for future trips to hit this later.
We exited and took the Angel's Flight up to Samurai Summit. We were in the line for Ninja (which was still upstairs) when Michael turned his nose up at the wait. It was all for him, so we walked out of line and went for Superman. I still love this ride. They were only using the left side, but the super-cooled airconditioning was appreciated considering the outside temps. In line for about 20 minutes, we discussed Michael's upcoming birthday party and who he wanted to invite, so we even got trivial stuff done. We opted for row 4.
We sprinted down the back hill of Samurai Summit, and passed the Tunnel Station for the Metro people mover shuttle. The last time I remember that running was the first year we had passes, and never since. What a shame.
Our first shock of the day was the line at Gold Rusher. There were people waiting. Huh? This is always a walk on. But the interesting thing was it was mostly families, and I realized that the rest of the evening would only get more crowded. It was only a 2 train wait, but for Gold Rusher, that's quite a bit. This is still my favorite ride for the use of the natural terrain and that no matter how hot it is at that park, once over the first lift hill, the temperature seems to drop significantly.
We worked our way down to Collosus, and to our surprise, there was very little wait. I realized this was Michael's first time on Collosus backwards as we were a day too early last year, and he wasn't ready to do that in years' past. But he did to the backward coaster in Chicago. I look forward to doing this ride every year, and it didn't disappoint. I realize that this is what the Psyclone cars were meant to do--not torture people on that ride. Facing the bottom of the lift hill is always a little disconcerting, but the ride is just phenomenal.
We hit Scream, and while I love this ride for keeping me out of my seat so much, I wish there was a way to remove the parking stripes, because it just looks silly to be flipped around so much--only to see asphalt.
As we got off, I began to realize I was reaching my limit, and Michael beat me to the punch. He'd done all the ones he wanted to do in a couple hours. I talked him into riding the kiddie cars, and he proceeded to try to crash into every imaginable wall he could conjure. We waited until the "Blood Falls" opened, LATE, so he could see the first people getting grabbed. It's nice to watch that from the tables, and not be the one their grabbing at.
It's not as long as some people might stay, but it was just enough for us. Fright Fest 2003 is in the books, and we're looking forward to our annual Day Before Thanksgiving Trip.
It's the middle of October and I'm finally digging out from all the league starting paperwork. I look at the calendar and realize I have two weeks to get into Magic Mountain to do their version of Halloween--Fright Fest.
Now mind you, I'm not a candidate for Knott's Halloween Haunt because I think I'd prefer natural childbirth to the idea of people intentionally jumping out of the woodwork trying to scare me. For Knott's, I'll wait a few more weeks and go when they have the Christmas decorations up and do some shopping while I'm riding.
But Magic Mountain is a must. People who love Halloween can dis the attractions all they want, I just want a crack at Collosus backwards. The biggest dilemma I have is that the park is mostly open weekends, and when am I coaching? Weekends. And I wouldn't go on a Saturday even if that was an option, because the point of going is to AVOID the crowds. The park is open on Fridays from 10-10, so if I rush up there after picking up Michael, and I can a few good hours in before the dinner time people show up.
Of course, I have to weigh the options of leaving my daughter at home because she isn't keen of the normal, furry characters in costume, and I can just picture some clown in a horror costume coming up to look at her and all the work I've done to get her willing to go on little rides (gearing up for her first ride on Gold Rusher) will be for naught. I won't be able to get her through the gates--smart little gnome.
I wish we had gone earlier in the month, but the responsible kid actually opted to get ahead on some of his homework, so I feel like I have to intervene or we'll lose our window.
So it will be just me and Michael, because one of his coastering buddies is a cheerleader, another is doing drama this time of year, and the third is going to be working Friday nights. Now that is a horrifying thought in itself.
While we'll be in St. Louis for nearly 5 days for the Junior Gold National Championships, we're actually flying in to Chicago and making the drive down. While I'm futzing around today online, I realize there's not only a Six Flags park in St. Louis, but another one in Chicago. I need to talk to the boys we're traveling with, and see if they want to hit another ball park or another amusement park.
The opening ceremonies for Junior Gold will be held at Busch Stadium, so I get to add to my very small but growing ball park count. Last time we were in the Midwest bowling the Hoinke, we saw the Cards play the Reds in 2001. And we hit Cedar Point in Sandusky. Now we get to see the Cards play at home. Unfortunately, while we could feasibly add 3 ball parks to our count this summer, with the All Star Game there, and the fact we have to be at the registration hotel by 5 pm Saturday, the chances of seeing the Cubs are slim and none (they don't play at home the weekend we return to Chicago). But depending on how the boys do, we could be done in St. Louis by Wednesday evening, and leave early Thursday morning for Chi-town.
That leaves us plenty of time for a trip to the Six Flags park there (Great America) and either the Thursday night or Friday night White Sox game. I'm not gonna get all anal and go out of my way to experience every amusement park within hours of every jaunt I make, but at 35, I'm realizing I've got more roller coastering behind me than in front of me, and I would like to hit a few of the parks before I'm left with the purses and strollers.
And of course, if the guys do really great, we might have to stick around longer in St. Louis, which is fine too. That's why we are making the trek and it's the experience of a lifetime.
I'm really getting excited waiting for the announcement of next year's Gold site, but in the meantime, I'm also thinking about the possibilities of Reno in October. Baseball is out by then, but with any luck there are a few amusement parks up the coast we could hit near San Francisco.
What better way to usher in my birthday (this year I could be president) than hit my home park for a ride on Magic Mountain's newest thrill ride, Scream! Since it was Earth Day, we thought we could contribute a little carbon dioxide to the environment. My son got out of school early and we headed up through a deluge of rain to find the park under sunny skies.
My thoughts? It's a nice ride that has you out of the seat more often than most. In terms of disorientation, it's not as severe as Batman. And despite over-the-shoulder head restraints, there is minimal headbanging. My biggest complaint is that they built it in the former employee parking lot, and did nothing to hide that fact. I'm not sure where the greenery shown in the commercial was filmed, but it wasn't under this ride.
We managed two rides in less than 10 minutes, thanks to ridiculously short lines. It's endearing, and is definitely a welcome addition to the park.
