Lost Temple Rapids is a family tube slide where four riders share the same raft/tube. It’s a fun ride, but be sure to check it out right when the park opens, or right before it closes, because the lines can get very long. This is also the only tube-slide at the waterpark where you don’t have to carry the raft/tube up the stairs yourself.River Cruise is the park’s lazy river, and travels around the 2 kid-areas. The River Cruise is a relaxed, cool, and easy way to get around the park, since there are multiple exits along the way.Notice the raft-lift hill, which is unique in this park.This is the “Lightning Falls” Slide complex, and is the only tube-slide complex in the park to use 2-person tubes.Splash Island is the park’s biggest kiddie-area this complex includes a bucket, 7 small body-slides, and a lot of interactive water features.Taboo Tower has 3 speed-slides. Secret Passage is a closed tube speed chute. Escape Chute is a slide with multiple drops. And Dare Devil Plunge starts in a tunnel, opens up and has a drop as final maneuver.A part of River Cruise goes through a temple ruin. The entire water park has a theming that matches this.We guess that true advertisement has to be done this way…Tornado is the park’s most popular slide and is a funnel-slide, meaning riders will sit in a 4 person tube, going around the corner to the drop, and drop into the funnel.From Hurricane Harbor you get some unique views on the record breakers next door.
Tornado is located in the back of the water park, right behind Bamboo Racer.Bamboo Racer is a family-style race slide.Tiki Falls has 3 tube-slides. One of them is green and light will shine through. The other two are pitch black adventures.The 3 speed slides on Black Snake Summit end up where the Taboo slides end too. The 3 speed slides are Coiled Cobra & Twisted Fang (Tallest enclosed slides in CA) and Venom Drop, a steep free-fall slide.On the lower level of Black Snake Summit you’ll find Boa Constrictor and Sidewinder, 2 totally enclosed, dark tube-slides. The Black Snake Summit complex towers over the Forgotten Sea Wave Pool, the park’s wave pool.Castaway Cove is the small kiddie area.Forgotten Sea Wave Pool it is.Lizzard Lagoon is a fun-filled 7,000-square-foot tropical getaway for teens and up. With the slide complex Reptile Ridge. Reptile Ridge has five seriously twisted water slides — Gecko Gully West, Gator Gorge, Gecko Gully East, Iguana Ravine & Croc Creek.Reptile Ridge from the side.Taboo Tower, and Black Snake Summit. are the park’s two tallest slide complexes.This is Lizard Lagoon from when you entered. The park recently opened an all new Cabana Cove in the back of this area. The Cabanas are up for daily rental online or at the park. The Lizard Lagoon area also includes a water-volleyball pool, and a water-basketball pool.Just like any other Six Flags park, use Discover and save 5%.
Invertigo is a suspended Vekoma Boomerang Model (Vertigo) having riders sit with their backs to one another facing the other riders at the same time. Invertigo looks like the regular Boomerang models when looking at the track layout. The only differences are in the train hanging under the track, the height, and the looping exits on the opposite side.
Invertigo was located next to the park’s first woodie, Grizzly, and has had some operational errors making people believe that’s one of the main reasons the ride was closed and left. Invertigo was blue(supports) with yellow(track). The top speed of this machine was 50 MPH, and it stood a 131 ft. tall. The ride went through the Cobraroll and Looping both forwards and backwards (like every other boomerang model similar to this from Vekoma). The coaster is known for being powerful as the train isn’t only suspended but also has a max. amount of G’s of 5. The ride’s duration is about 1:30 minutes.
Invertigo came to California’s Great America in 1998, and closed at the end of the 2010 season. Invertigo is now located in Dorney Park, and is renamed and re-colored to become Stinger.
The original sign from Mrs. Knotts’s Fried Chicken from 1934, that has been refurbished over the years.
Since 1934, tourists and locals alike line up for a delicious dinner at Mrs. Knott’s Fried Chicken. The restaurant opened in 1934 as a small five table tea room where Cordelia Knotts did all the cooking and her daughters waited tables. Since its opening, the restaurant has served over 20 million guest.
Mrs. Knotts Fried Chicken restaurant with Ghost Rider’s lift hill rising above it from behind.
The meal comes with a quarter fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad, soup, biscuits, your choice of corn or spinach, and for desert, a slice of boysenberry or apple pie, or a scoop of boysenberry sherbet. The restaurant also offers an all you can eat Sunday brunch.
Many of the components that go into a chicken dinner at Mrs. Knott’s.
Screamin’s launch over the water and into 1 of its 3 scream tubes.
The opening of Disney’s California Adventure in February of 2001 brought the Disneyland Resort’s first coaster with an inversion, California Screamin’. The rides top speed is 55 mph, making it the fastest coaster at the Disneyland Resort. The ride was designed by Walt Disney Imagineers and built by Intamin. It is the 8th longest coaster in the world, and 4th longest in the USA. It is also the longest coaster with an inversion since Son of Beast closed in 2012.
Screamin’s loop, which forms the head of Disney’s famous Mickey Mouse Ears.
Although the ride is steel, it is built to resemble a wooden boardwalk coaster. In 2010, the ride recorded safety spiels and a launch count down with Neil Patrick Harris. In 2007, the ride added a new onboard soundtrack to both Screamin’ and Space Mountain by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A train departs every 36 seconds, and there are up to 5 trains operating at a time. The ride is 108 ft tall, has 1 inversion (verticle loop), and reaches a top speed of 55 mph through 6,072 ft of track.
Screamin’s Intamin trains going through its LIM launch system. There are five different colored trains that can all run at once.
California Coaster Kings went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on July 5th for a park walk- through and update. Below you’ll see pictures with captions giving you the most up-to-date info.
Here is the park’s official parkmap. We didn’t get to get pictures from everything in the park, since the camera battery died.
Cirque Dreams Splashtastic is one of the greatest shows we’ve ever seen. It is very creative, and impressive. The crowd is constantly entertained, and the acrobats get as much attention as the dolphins. This all means that every single thing going on is perfectly balanced out, and this all happens with a great mix of music and other effects, such as lights and water/fountains. If you have a chance to see it, make sure you check it out.
Monsoon Falls (seen above) is a boat ride that tricked us. It looks like Tidal Wave from Six Flags Magic Mountain, but this water ride gets you very wet. It is nice on a hot day, but we warn you, don’t ride it at night.
One of the kiddie areas is Looney Tunes Sea-Port.
Seen above is one of the animal exhibits. Seal Cove is a viewing area where guests can observe seals and sea lions, or feed them. ($5 for 3 fish).
Seen above is the Sea Lion Stadium where a pirate themed show takes place several times a day.– Below you’ll see another animal exhibit. Penguin Passage is the penguin habitat close to V2 and Roar, and across from Seal Cove.
Below you’ll see a picture (more pictures later on in this update) from a Dolphin Pool where guests can take pictures with them or feed them. Sometimes overload crowds for the Dolphin Discovery (Swim with dolphins program) do activities in here. Guests can stand to the side and watch the dolphins swim by or see them play, but the park employees will clearly state that it is NOT a touch pool.
On the plaza behind the dolphin pool, you’ll see V2, Superman: Ultimate Flight, and Roar. (Roar Plaza)
V2 stands for Vertical Velocity and is a 150 ft. tall Intamin Inverted Impulse Coaster. This V2 model is unique since it got altered from the original design due to city limits. The tower is now 45’degrees meaning that the upwards spiral is now an inversion, making this the only V2 that inverts.
Below you’ll see pictures from Superman: Ultimate Flight. Superman Ultimate flight is a unique triple launch coaster with the world’s highest (complete) barrel-roll at 150 ft. The ride also travels forwards and backwards through the non-inverted loop, and has two 90’degrees steep 180’degrees twists. This really offers a unique ride experience so check it out when you have a chance to.
Below you’ll also see pictures from Roar. Roar is the first wooden roller-coaster to use millennium flyer trains, allowing it to do nice twists and fast turns. It’s 95 ft tall and has a drop of about 85 ft. reaching speeds up to 51 MPH. It’s a fun ride, and is smoother than most other woodies out there, even though the 2 other CA GCIs (Apocalypse and Goldstriker) tend to be smoother.
Below you’ll see pictures from the Dolphin Discovery (Dolphin pool), and the Wave Jumper, which corresponded to the park’s former killer whale, Shouka. (1st pic is the view of the plaza from the dolphin pool)
The park is a pretty sight as it is clearly divided up into different plazas, having all the big rides in the front side of the park, making it quiet and peaceful in the back where the lake is, and where the animal exhibits and habitats are. (sorry we have no pics of those since the camera died on the trip)
In the stadiums they sell popcorn and cotton candy, as well as some other products. Below you’ll also see a picture of the newly renovated Toyota Stadium, which used to be Shouka Stadium when they still had the killer whale. The new renovation did the stadium good, and the new dolphin show, Drench!, is a nice addition to the parks show line-up. It is a good show for young and old, and they use many more dolphins at the same time than the old show used to have. Also the show features the most up to date pop music, making it an energetic and fun experience.
On the back side of the park, before the animal exhibits and habitats, you will find Tasmanian Devil, a frisbee from Huss, Sky Coaster, the Ark (Swinging ship), Scrambler, Bird Theater, Crocodile Island, Voodoo (Huss Topspin) and Boomerang Coast to Coaster.
Below you’ll see pictures from the Oasis Plaza, the plaza where Medusa, Cobra, Kong, and Sky Screamer are located.
Kong is a Vekoma SLC standard, and has 2 trains, one yellow one red/orange. When CCK was there there were no lines, and we want to recognize the Kong-crew of the 5th of July, because they did an outstanding job with the operations, dispatch in no time, helpful and very sincere. Really enjoyed that. We know Kong is an SLC, and that many people think it’s too shaky, but CCK has been on many more SLCs in the world, and Kong is actually a really good one, CCK really enjoyed their rides on Kong, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is taking good care of it. Kong stands 110 ft. tall and reaches speeds of 50 MPH. It has 5 inversions, including a roll-over, a sidewinder, and a double in-line-twist.
Medusa is a 150 ft. tall B&M Floorless-coaster with a 128 ft. tall vertical loop, immelman, zero-g-roll, sea serpent roll, and 2 corkscrews. It’s probably the park’s most popular coaster if not shared with S:UF.
Kong is nicely located. From where ever you come, you can see the amazing SLC go. Neat look if you ask us.
Below you’ll see the waiting line for Medusa which is partly inside a temple.
Starting in september of 2012, BRC design corporation in Southern California began designing a ride in which riders experience almost 8 seconds of weightlessness. This ride would be based off of a NASA invention known by astronaut trainees as “the vomit comet”. The original NASA invention takes astronauts into an aircraft that does multiple take off and landing camel backs that create up to 25 seconds of weightlessness.
This is the original model for the vehicle for The Comet.A model showing how riders would be able to observe the change of property of their science kit.The original drawn out model of the ride by BRC.
The ride designed by BRC, known simply as Comet, would have a somewhat simpler design, similar to Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Superman: Escape from Krypton. The only major difference would be completely enclosed in a rocket shaped vehicle. This way, there could be less restraint, leading to riders actually feeling weightless. The ride would launch riders at a 400 ft tower, but once it reaches its top speed of 105 mph, it begins to decrease its speed, so riders feel the sensation of actually floating out of their seat for almost 8 seconds. The ride would cost an estimated 50 million dollars to build, and would take about a year of construction. Riders would enter the craft through winged doors and sit down in one of the 16 seats per car (6 rows of 2 and 1 of 4). The restraint would only be a lap belt, similar to what most airlines use, but without a fastening feature, so riders can actually experience floating out of their seats. Also, each seat would include its very own science kit containing either a glass of water, a ball, or a gyroscope, so riders could see how these items change properties. The ride would also be equipped with vomit drains, and showers to hose off if you “loose your lunch” during the ride. Unfortunately however, we may not see this ride for a while, due to its high price, 20 million dollars more than the average roller coaster.
Today’s Six Flags Monday will have a special theme, Six Flags Similarities.
Below we will show two interactive lists where California Coaster Kings compares coasters from CA Six Flags Parks to coasters that are similar elsewhere in the world. AND we have a list comparing coasters from the 2 CA Six Flags parks only.
Let’s start finding some similarities in our very own CA Six Flags parks.
SCREAM! and MEDUSA. Both parks are home to a B&M Floorless Coaster. Six Flags Magic Mountain has Scream! and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has Medusa. Both rides have similar elements, and are both 150ft high. Both have a 128 ft. high loop, right after their first drops. Both of them have an immelman/dive loop after that, and then both coasters have a zero-G-roll after that. But then both rides are totally different. Scream! has a Cobra Roll, and Medusa has a roll-over/sea-serpent roll. Scream! is a mirror edition of Bizarro at SFGAdv, and Medusa is custom designed. For an awesome SPLITSCREEN video of Scream! and Medusa, click here, and decide which one you think is better/ more unique!
Road Runner Express, and Road Runner Express. Both our CA Six Flags Parks have a kiddie-rollercoaster named Road Runner Express. The one at Six Flags Magic Mountain is a Vekoma Junior Coaster (207m), and is painted red(track) and black(supports). The other one, at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is a Zamperla Family Gravity Coaster 80STD, and is blue. There are total of 3 kiddie-coaster that are currently named Road Runner Express. (The 3rd one is BIG and is to be found at SFFT)
ROAR and APOCALYPSE.Although they don’t share a similar track layout or name, they do have a lot of things in common. Six Flags Magic Mountain has Apocalypse, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has Roar. Roar was the first rollercoaster to feature Millennium Flyer trains (which apocalypse has too), and is longer. But Apocalypse and Roar are both 95 ft. high, both have a drop that is around 85 ft. tall, and both reach speeds of almost 51 MPH.
Let’s find some similarities between CA Six Flags Coasters and other coasters worldwide.
Goliath and Titan.Both Titan (Six Flags Over Texas) and Goliath (Six Flags Magic Mountain) have a 255 ft drop into a 120 ft. long underground-tunnel. Both reach the speed of 85 MPH while in the tunnel, and share a color scheme, orange (Track) and aqua (supports). Both these coasters are Mega Coasters from Giovanola, and have a drop angle of 61′. The difference in these rides are to be found right before the first brake-run. Goliath opened in 2000, and simply turns upward towards the brake-run. Titan on the other hand is considered the brother of Goliath and opened a year later, in 2001, with an upward-helix before the first brake run. Other than the support structure both rides are almost the excact same after the brake-run.For a SPLITSCREEN video of Goliath and Titan, click here, and notice the differences as well as the similarities.
X2 and Eejanaika.Both Eejanaika and X2 are 4D coasters. (Six Flags Magic Mountain catagorizes X2 as 5D because of the fire, audio, and lightning effects) X2 is the world’s first 4D coaster and started it’s life as X. X was made by Arrow Dynamics, which went bankrupt after X. S&S bought Arrow Dynamics and built the second 4D of that kind in 2006, 6 years after the original got built. X closed in 2007without announcement and got refurbished to become X2 with new trains that were lighter and special effects. This was due to the fact that the old trains were 5 times as heavy as the SFMM Goliath trains, and the park needed to replace about 18 wheels a day, making it an extremely expensive rollercoaster to operate. The track layouts of X2 and Eejanaika are pretty similar although there are more differences than most people expect. Eejanaika has: Inside Raven Turn->Zero-G Roll->Fly To Lie->Outside Raven Turn->Fly To Lie. As where X2 has: Inside Raven Turn-> Fly to Lie->Outside Raven Turn->Fly to Lie. There are lots of differences between these 2 world famous rollercoasters so please click here for a video of X2, and click here for a video of Eejanaika. For more information about the differences, please click on the names of the rides on top (links).
Roar and Roar. Both track-layouts are almost the excact same, but Roar from Six Flags America is longer due to the wider turns. Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is a bit shorter because the turns are narrower, this is possible because of the millenium flyer trains this Roar uses. (Roar at SFDK was the first RC to use MF trains) Both Roars have the same track layout except the station and transfer tracks are located differently. Both rides are 95 ft. tall and have the same 85ft. tall drop. They both reach speeds upto 51 MPH, and have a max. of 3.5 G’s.
Batman: The Ride and Batman: The Ride (and more Batman: The Rides + Goliath (SFFT)).The Batman clones were the first inverted coasters and the first one opened in 1991 at Six Flags Great America. The CA Batman is at Magic Mountain. Ever since many have been built. There is mirror clone of this too which came from Thrill Valley to SF New Orleans, and is currently located in Six Flags Fiesta Texas and is named Goliath. All of these clones are 105 ft high and start with a twisted drop into a 88 ft. tall loop, followed by a zero-G-roll into another loop, and then the ride does some twists and turns into 2 corkscrews. All Batmans have a ride length of 2,700 ft., a ride duration of 2:00 minutes, a max. speed of 50 MPH, and max. of 4 G’s. To see SPLITSCREEN of Batman at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Goliath at Six Flags Fiesta Texas click here.
V2 and V2.Both V2s stand for Vertical Velocity. Both opened as the same model, but due to the city height limit in Vallejo, V2 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom had to be altered and the upwards twist had to be slanted 45 degrees down, making it an inversion. The tower on the back side was simply lowered to a height of 150 ft. The V2 at Six Flags Great America is still the way it was meant to be at first and is a 185 ft. tall while twisting vertically, the top speed is 70 MPH, as where the one in Discovery Kingdom is 65 MPH. They both had the same colors originally, but the V2 at SFDK got repainted red (track) and purple/maroon (supports).
The park has an indoor-carousel. Castle Amusement Park is a medieval castle themed amusement park in Riverside, CA. The park features a miniature golf course complex, an arcade, and 21 different carnival-like rides. Some of these rides include Screamin’ Demon, a spinning wild mouse coaster, Dragon Tower, one of the smallest S&S launch towers leading to crazy ejector air time, and its featured coaster Merlin’s Revenge. The park also features an interactive dark ride called Ghost Blasters designed by Sally Corporation, who’s rides can be found across America. The park’s creator Bud Hurlbut designed several Knott’s Berry Farm rides such as Timber Mountain Log Ride. The park is now owned by Palace Entertainment.
Screamin’ Demon is a spinning-wild mouse coaster made by Fabbri. SD is 33 ft tall and reaches a max. of 2.5 G’s.Merlin’s Revenge is made by Vekoma, and is a Junior Coaster Model (207meter). MR is 28 ft high and reaches speeds up to 22 MPH./ Notice the Falling Star ride in the back.Merlin’s Revenge travels through the trees and around a fountain near the end of the ride.Dragon Flyer is a fun family ride for visitors of all ages.Flying Saucer is a red gravitron that pushes and holds riders against the walls due to centrifugal force.The parks children area, which contains rides in which children can ride a carousel of motorcycles, animals, and its childrens coaster little dipper.The park offers a ship ride called the Sea Dragon that offers family fun for everyone!The King’s Crown is a ride in which you sit on your own swinging throne, similar to Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Swashbuckler.The Scrambler is a classic carnival ride in whch centrifugal force pulls and pushes you from side to side in your car.The park with the ride Fireball in the background, which takes you upside down at increasing speeds.The S&S drop tower ride the Dragon Tower, which launches riders up at 35 miles per hour to a 3g stop at the top.The worlds steepest log flume ride at 48 feet tall splashing down.The park’ Sea Planes ride lets riders fly, just like the red baron.On the Antique car ride, you can take trip through a turn of the century world, in your very own antique car.The park holds a Tilt a Whirl, a long time family favorite ride.
In the center of the park is it’s crowning jewel, Castle’s castle, housing its arcade as well as Ghost Blasters, an interactive dark ride where riders shoot at moving ghost targets.
On March 26, 1997, Knott’s Berry Farm opened Windjammer Surf Racers. The ride had two indepedent tracks, that raced each other. The park used wild mouse like trains, but a full length track. Many people complained of headaches due to the fact that the rides over the shoulder harnesses had no padding.
The ride was themed to represent the southern california coastal lifestyle, complete with sand, palm trees, a life gaurd tower, and a mini lagoon. The photo booth for on ride pictures was inside a yacht.
The ride had many technical problems and shortly after opening, and just weeks into operation, it broke down and Knott’s had to pay over 2 million dollars on repairs. In retaliation, Knotts sued TOGO, the ride’s manufacturer for 17 million dollars, claiming design flaws such as missaligned track, as well as problems of stalling in even slight breezes, which the park claimed to be a “joke”.
Knotts lost the law suit, but it was such a publicity nightmare for TOGO, that it forced them to go out of buisiness. After spending 4 years to find a buyer for the coaster, with no luck, thepark dismantled it in 2001.
The ride began with a 69 foot drop into a vertical loop at 40 miles per hour. After this, the tracks winded around each other and up and down small hills until it came to a stop.
A year after the closing of this ride, Xcelerator was built in the same spot, giving Knott’s fans an all new coaster experience that you couldn’t experience anywhere else, since it was the first Intamin Accelerator Coaster.
In the early 1960’s, Walt Disney decided he needed a larger area in the park to host guests and VIP’s. He originally hosted all of his guests in his apartment built on the second floor of the Main Street Fire Station, but that was to small, so during the construction of New Orleans Square, it was placed on the second story of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride building, to resemble a building on New Orleans’s Royal Street.
The suite was to be designed by Dorothea Redmond, the designer of the sets of the classic movie, Gone with the Wind. Unfortunately, Walt died in 1966, before its completion, and his brother Roy changed it into the Disney art gallery from 1987-2007.
In September of 2007, Walt Disney company announced the the Disney Gallery would be closed and replaced with the Disneyland Dream Suite. Disney Imagineers worked very hard to build this from Mrs. Redmond’s original design. The suite is stayed in by either Disney contest winners, or the grand marshal for the Disneyland parades for the week. The suite is 2200 square feet and has a living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an open air balcony which gives an unobstructed view of the parks night time spectacular Fantasmic.
There are now dream suites in Disneyland and Disney world at Pirates of the Caribbean, the Main Street Firehouse, and at Cinderella’s Castle, as well as on Disney Cruise Ships.
Although Gilroy is known for its garlic growing, the amusement park is sweet.
Gilroy Gardens was founded by Michael and Claudia Bonfante after selling their Nob Hill Foods supermarket chain to build the park. The park was constructed gradually over a period of 25 years. Before it became an amusement park open to the public, it was known as Tree Haven, and was a commercial plant nursery, as well as a recreational facility for employees of Nob Hill Foods. The park opened to the public in June 2001 as Bonfante Gardens. The name was changed to Gilroy Gardens in February 2007. It features 19 rides, 27 attractions and six gardens.
The park struggled with financial difficulty and low attendance the first two years it was open. It closed early for its first two seasons and the park’s management debated whether to open at all for the third season. Paramount Parks began to manage the park on contract starting with the 2003 season.
Gilroy Gardens now operates under the management of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, which acquired Paramount Parks from CBS Corporation on June 30, 2006.
1) A Mega-Sky Screamer, similar to the Texas Sky Screamer, which could be located in ‘Pistachio Park’, The Full Throttle Area, Cyclone Bay (in the former Deja Vu area), or on top of Samurai Summit where the pagoda stands.
2) Iron Horse treatment on Colossus, making it world’s first ‘twin’-hybrid coaster.
3) A log flume (or any other water ride), which could be located in the former Deja Vu area, or maybe between FT and the Great Bear Theater.
4) Make-over of Scream!. Transforming it into Bizarro, adding sensory effects and scenery.
Exactly one year ago yesterday, Superman: Ultimate Flight opened at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA. The ride stands at 150 feet tall (Vallejo’s city limit) and reaches a top speed of 62 miles per hour. The ride has only one inversion, although it is often mistaken for 2 due to its feature known as a non inverted loop.
Notice the non-inverting looping, and the amazing compact track layout.
Superman: Ultimate Flight replaced pandemonium, which had replaced Zonga before that. On July 29th 2012, the rides train stalled at the top of the track, standing 12 riders there for 2 hours, until they were excited by Vallejo fire fighters. None of the riders were injured.
After the train got released from the top, the train was slowly and safely lowered back to the station in order to release the riders. In the off season before 2013, the park installed an evacuation platform in case this incident may occur again.
The ride is a fun and unique experience with some crazy G’s including amazing ‘ejector-airtime’ which is pretty rare in CA. When the riders sit in the 12 seat train, the short but powerful ride is about to start. With only lap-bars to hold you, even the first short launch feels powerful. The first launch will bring you up the first tower before the track spirals. Then the train rolls backwards into the backwards launch speeding through the station op the non-inverting looping. The train then slows down, and plummets back to earth to launch through the station once again, reaching it’s full speed of 62 MPH. The train will then shoot up 90 degrees into the sky while rotating a 180 degrees until it slows down on 150 ft. When sitting in the front row you’ll experience some crazy ‘ejector-airtime’ before you’ll slowly invert through the barrel-roll on a 150 ft high. The train will then slow down once again, before it plummets down 90 degrees while again rotating a 180 degrees diving right up into the non-inverting looping that brings you back to the station. The ride slows down an does a little hop up the first tower, and then brings you back to the station slowly The most amazing thing about this ride is that it does all these unique things in a very short period of time. If you have a chance to ride it, you definitely should because there is nothing out there like this!
‘Ejector-airtime’ while diving straight down and rotating a 180 degrees, this sure is a unique ride.
The Magic Mountain recreational area in Big Bear Lake, CA offers family fun activities year round. When entering the park the first thing you see is the 18 hole mini golf course, which is beautifully carved into the Big Bear mountain landscape. The pal also contains a go-kart racing track with 9 5.5 horsepower Honda go carts. Then, during the summer, the park opens its double water-slide, which wind around each other, and finish with a splash into their 4 foot deep heated pool. During the winter months, the park opens up its snow play, in which a conveyor belt takes riders to the top of an icy hill where they can inter tube down.These attractions, however, are only side shows to the parks main attraction, the Alpine Slide! Thus exciting bobsled ride begins with a chairlift ride to the top of the mountain. From there ,riders take their own Teflon-runner sleds down one of the
parks 2 quarter mile concrete tracks with high banked turns, sudden drops, and long, fast straight-aways. If you ever find your self in Big Bear Lake, and you are a thrill seeker, this isn’t an attraction to miss!
The Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain shares a complex with the Water Slide, a go-kart track, and a mini-golf course. Ticket prices for the Alpine Slide are $5 a ride, or $20 for 5 rides. The ticket price for the Water Slide is $2 a ticket. The ticket prices for the Go-karts are $5 for single kart, and $7 for a double kart (meaning 2 seats in 1 kart). And lastly the mini-golf course is $5 for adults, and $4 for children (12 and under)
Today we’re celebrating Colossus’ 35th Birthday. Colossus opened on this day in 1978. Colossus opened one of the tallest and fastest roller-coasters in the world, and the longest dual track wooden roller-coaster in the world. As of today Colossus still holds the record for longest dual track wooden roller-coaster on earth. Colossus was the first wooden roller-coaster to have 2 drops over a 100 ft.
Colossus was built by IADI, and with it’s corresponding trains.Colossus was a maintenance problem and was down for maintenance 50% of the park’s operating hours. When six flags bought the park in 1979, they wanted fix these problems and lowered the valley between the 2nd drop and the double-up to decrease roughness. SFMM ultimately installed Morgan trains 1988, seen above.
Notice the all new Morgan trains installed in 1988.
The ride winds through over 4000 ft of track at a 62 mph in 2 and a half minutes. During Six Flags Fright Fest, the park uses Psyclone’s old trains to run the ride backwards. The coaster cost 7 million dollars to build. A tornado caused part of the structure to collapse in itself, which delayed the opening date of the ride. The ride has appeared in TV and movies with appearances in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Step by Step, Nickelodeon’s Wild and Crazy Kids, Doogie Houser, Night Rider, and the A Team.
To secure safety on the now classic ride, SFMM changed the camel-back hill to a leveled out block brake in 1991. The original camel-back hill can still be seen, as the brake section has simply been built over it.
Notice the brake-run built over the former camel back.
As California Coaster Kings travels through CA’s theme-parks, many theme-park fails appear. These fails can be anything from false advertisement to extremely slow operations. (no one likes slow operating rides, no one).
For our first ever Fail Friday, we have this picture for you…
Taken at SFMM Coaster Wall of Fame, we saw this fail…
If you see the Fail, which might be a bit challenging, let us know by commenting below, or letting us know on FB while you like our FB page here.
The Fail will be pointed out next Friday on our second Fail Friday where we will post another Fail! Monday is SIX FLAGS Monday, and since this is taken in SFMM, we’ll give you a hint on Monday!
All future Fail Fridays will be posted on Facebook only!
So lets move on to the main article of the day, related to APOCALYPSE of course!
The Apocalyptic Evolution…
In 1991, Six Flags Magic Mountain opened its second wooden coaster, named Psyclone. The ride was placed in the same area that former Magic Mountain coasters Sarajevo Bobsleds, and Shockwave were, in the Cyclone Bay area of the park. The ride is modeled after Coney Island’s famous wooden coaster, Cyclone. The differences were in the banking of the turns decreasing the excessive amounts of lateral G’s.
Notice the B&M trains, that are now used on Colossus-Backwards during the Fright Fest events.
The ride was the only wooden coaster to have trains built by B&M. The Psyclone was 95 ft tall, and reached speeds of 50 MPH. The ride duration was a minute and 50 seconds. The ride was badly damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake, but was repaired and operated until 2006, when it closed and SFMM announced on January 23rd 2007 that the ride was going to be demolished. In 2009, Magic Mountain announced the opening of a new ride in the area called terminator the Ride, but was later changed to Terminator Salvation the ride due to the upcoming terminator film.
The official announcement made by the park.
The ride received great reviews for it’s million dollar budget spent on scenery. The scenery existed out of a pre-show, which has riders walk through an old terminator manufacturing warehouse, turned into human shelter. As well as its fire effect, which shoot out of the front hood of a tuck as the coaster passes by.
In 2011, the ride’s theme was changed to Apocalypse, forcing magic mountain to remove all terminator branding, changing all the signs, and having to re-shoot a pre-show. Apocalypse the ride is also 95 ft tall and hits 50 mph, but does this in 3 minutes.
The apocalypse entrance after the re-branding of the ride in 2011
In our Throwback Thursday article on Deja Vu, we have been talking about Vekoma Boomerang Coasters. But often forgotten are the Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loops. Sadly today we only have 5 of these still in operation, and 1 is re-opening soon in Belgium. The only one in operation in the US is Montezooma’s Revenge here at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA.
Notice the orange/blue roller coaster passing through the center of the loop. (Jaguar)
Montezooma’s Revenge opened at Knotts Berry Farm on May 21st, 1978. It is a Schwarzkopf flywheel launch steel shuttle coaster. It continues to be one of Knott’s most popular rides. The ride was named Montezooma’s Revenge after a blue grass band with the same name that performed in shows at the park. Knott’s ride Jaguar opened in 1995, and part of the track passes right through the middle of Montezooma’s loop. The shuttle-loop was repainted teal and yellow from its original yellow in 2002. Knott’s installed the ride Pony Express in 2008 with a similar launch system. The ride starts with a forward launch at 55 miles per hour into a 72 ft high vertical loop, and into a 135 ft tower, that you then drop back wards from, back through the loop backwards, through the station, and into another 135 ft tower, that drops you slowly back forward and into the station in only 35 seconds.
The former yellow paint-scheme is to be seen here.
The ride is a an incredible experience, but not worth a long line wait, and its best features are its launch into the looping and the looping backwards. You sit down in one of the seven cars which all hold 2 rows of two seats. You buckle your seat-belt and pull down the restraint (lap bar) and get launched through (which seems to be) a ring of lights into the first loop. Riders who are lucky will see Jaguar chase by while they’re in the loop. (Jaguar is another roller coaster at the park that goes through the center of MR‘s loop). The ride is exhilarating, and you do not want to miss out on it while in the park as long as there’s not a long line. Long lines often seem to not be worth it due to the fact that the ride-time is only 35 seconds. The ride is a an incredible experience, and its best features are its launch into the looping and going through the looping backwards.
Here the MR train shoots up 1 of the 135 ft towers.
For our first TT we thought it was appropriate to go back in time, to a place called Six Flags Magic Mountain, with a great coaster, Déjà vu. Déjà vu is special, as it is world’s tallest GIB, which stands for Giant Inverted Boomerang. The GIB was an extreme version of the popular boomerang model by Vekoma. Vekoma designed this model for the Six Flags Parks, and Six Flags placed 4 of them in a short period of time. 1 of them was placed in the Spanish Six Flags Park, Warner Bros. Park Madrid, named Stunt Fall. The other 3 were placed in SF parks throughout the US. All 3 were named Déjà Vu, and were located in Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great America, and Six Flags over Georgia. In the end there was only one left over at an American Six Flags park, Déjà Vu at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
See where it used to share entry plaza with the former Psyclone, seen in the back.
But then came the moment when Six Flags Magic Mountain claimed the coaster crown in 2011, and decided to send the GIB to Six Flags New England as part of the Six Flags Ride Rotation Program. Even though Déjà Vu got a major upgrade with a nice repaint, and eventually new trains (just started testing the new trains last week, they’re not operating yet though), the ride was a fan favorite, and is being missed a lot by the Six Flags Magic Mountain visitors.
Here the GIB is being dismantled for it’s move to SFNE. Notice the different woodie in the back. The coaster that replaced Psyclone, Apocalypse it is.
Déjà Vu was located in the Cyclone Bay area of Six Flags Magic Mountain, and used to share a plaza with the Psyclone woodie before Psyclone got removed. Déjà Vu had v-shaped trains that were unique, and the 2 vertical 200 ft towers gave 2 nice free falls, once forwards, and once backwards. The GIB seemed to get stalled periodically, and seemed to be having some operation errors, and many believe that that is the main reason for the Valencia theme park to stop operating it.
Here former DV stands in it’s new home, SFNE. It was totally repainted and received new premier trains. The GIB is now named Goliath.
Whatever the reason was, Déjà Vu is being missed a lot by us California Coaster Kings, but we are happy that it found another home where it is a bigger star than it was at Six Flags Magic Mountain. What was your favorite memory of Déjà Vu?
Full Throttle opened up Saturday the 22nd, and of course California Coaster Kings was there. The media day event was on Friday the 21st of June, just one day before its opening to the public. The ride opened early at 8.00 AM for the Gold Pass holders, and opened at 10.00 AM for the general public. Some lucky people got to ride it during the midnight-riders event the night before, for which you had to purchase tickets. Tickets were 50 dollars, and included a meal from one of the 2 new restaurants, and a Full Throttle T-shirt.
When Full Throttle first got announced, mixed reviews started appearing. Many said that the ride was going to be way too short, and many kept teasing with the YOLO theme, which was in the original promotion video. But as soon as the track pieces of the 160 ft. loop and multi-launch rollercoaster showed up, reviews started to turn more positive, and excitement grew for Full Throttle.
Now it finally opened, we can say that this ride really exceeded its expectations, and that all negativity around the ride earlier on has been disproved. Although you’ll always find some bad reviews, most reviews so far totally agree with our opinion, saying that the ride is unique, and is definitely worth the wait. The world’s tallest and fastest looping coaster will launch you from the station at a speed of 70 MPH right into an amazing 160 ft. looping which has an extraordinary period of ‘hang time’. The new ride also features a special effects tunnel with a backwards launch back through the unique dive-loop, and is followed by another forwards launch reaching speeds up to 70 MPH to ride over the outside of the 160 ft. loop, named a ‘tophat’.
All this amazingness is punched in a 1 minute ride, so one can imagine it’s a non-stop action rollercoaster. Due to the opening date being a little early, the tunnel effects, and the station were not done yet, so a future update will include the final tunnel effects, and station roofing. Other than that the Full Throttle plaza is a great addition to the park, as it has ground misters for the heat, a stage where they preform daily, a big screen and tent with amazing lighting and lasers all over the plaza (.Which are used in the Full Throttle Nights show). As well as 2 new restaurants, 2 refurbished shops, and a new souvenir shop with 2 Coca Cola Freestyle machines. The new area has a great audio system, and really made Six Flags Magic Mountain stand out, since there are no other parks out there that have an area that is anything like this.
If you have a chance to ride it, go for it, as the operations are pretty quick, and the lines move fast. Go Big, and Go SFMM, to live it. Be it. Ride it. Full Throttle.
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