TinkyWinky
08-02-2005, 09:56 AM
Yes, folks, I braved a Saturday at Magic Mountain, ignoring my own cardinal rule of NEVER going to any amusement park on a Saturday, especially when well-publicized discount coupons/tickets are available. Never! Never!
My nephew (13 years old) and I (older) arrived at 9:45 AM, got in a very short line and bought our tickets (24.99 per person - courtesy of a Taco Bell coupon!). I also bought Fast Lane passes, which allow you to go to the front of the line on certain rides - $15.00 for 4 passes, meaning we could go on two rides each. We'd need them - it was a Saturday, after all, and these passes would save us 2 - 4 hours' wait time. We were armed with a game plan and were ready to brave the mass of Saturday humanity.
Once the gates opened, we made a mad dash for Viper. We got on the ride in less than 4 minutes. So we rode again - also less than 4 minutes' wait. The last time I went on Viper I hated it - I hit my head twice on the harness. This time I didn;t hit my head, I kept it back against the head rest, and enjoyed it quite a bit.
Then we trekked over to Batman. We rode that three times; once in the front row, once in the middle row, and once in the back row. Each time we had less than 10 minutes' wait.
So by the time we got over to Riddler's Revenge, and again less than 10 minutes' wait, I had started to wonder just where everyone else was - where are the crowds? And more importantly, why did I buy the Fast Lane passes, when it was becoming apparent we didn't need them?
After Riddler's Revenge (only one ride, as the seats bother yoru private parts, according to my nephew) we slugged up the hill to Ninja. Ninja, my nephew declared, was the most boring ride ever. :eek: But I caught him smiling in the middle of it as we rounded a turn. And yes, when compared to Riddler and Batman, it is tame.
It was 12 PM and we were hungry. We wandered back around to Mooseburger Lodge, across from the Logjammer, because it was a full service restaurant with air conditioning. Quite necessary, since it was 100 degrees outside. (And don't tell me it's a dry heat...because even a dry heat is still...HOT.)
I liked the Moosburger lodge. They had a decent looking buffet for around 13.00 per person. We ordered burgers and fries, however, and were not disappointed. The burgers were huge and came on a big, fluffy jalapeno cheddar bun. The fries were thick and salty. We were enjoying the themeing of the restaurant when the music started. And the big stuffed moose started to move. And two more stuffed mooseheads on the walls moved their heads and blinked and we realized we had stepped in to Chuck E Cheese hell (but with way better food and no video games.) The little kids around us enjoyed the little show. Overall, I liked the Mooseburger Lodge and will go back. I recommend you eat there too - it is worth the money ($29.00 for two huge burgers, tons of fries, and two sodas), in my opinion, to be able to sit and relax and be comfortable for a little while. Our waitress saw my AAA card which I pulled out while looking for my credit card, and she said they offer a 10% discount for AAA members. Sweet! I gave her an extra tip.
Then we went across to the Logjammer ride and paid 25 cents to blast water on unsuspecting log jam riders. Very fun. Wicked, but fun. :~D The sign says you can get your friends wet, but it's more fun with strangers. Only the white blaster actually got anyone wet, though, and even then it wasn't very much.
Then we went over to Scream. We both loved this ride, and had never been on it before. We rode it twice. It was 1:00 PM, still less than 15 minutes' wait both times. Very fun. Then it was back to Batman, then we went back to Scream. Then we took a break and had some water and people-watched for awhile.
By this time it was 3:00 PM and we were tired. No amount of persuading I could do would convince my nephew to ride Goliath with me. Funny since he loved Scream and Batman and RIddler. But that big drop is daunting. And we had already decided we would not go on DejaVu (too scary), X (too insane!), Psyclone (too bumpy) and Superman (been there, done that, got the t-shirt). Could it be that at 3:00 PM, on a Saturday, with 4 Fast Lane passes burning a hole in my pocket, that we were DONE?
We decided to go on Colossus (rickety but fun, and a 20-minute wait) and Scream yet again, (wherein we finally used two of the Fast Lane passes, because the line now extended to about 25 minutes' wait). We bought our pictures from the last Scream ride, and then headed out of the park. I let my nephew pick someone to give our last two Fast Lane passes to, and he picked two teenage girls, who were quite thrilled and ran off toward X.
All in all, a great day. We did everything we wanted to do, and still have big rides saved for next time. You have to work up to some of those hairy ones.
After careful analysis on the way home, we figured out the following regarding the lack of crowds:
1. TDH (Too Damn Hot) during the day. People probably start to come in later in the day (as we saw - at 4 PM the wait time had doubled.) Maybe many people hit Hurricane Harbor during the hottest part of the day, and then Magic Mountain at night.
2. Everyone is at Disneyland - it is their 50th, after all. Gotta have the gold Mickey ears.
3. Everyone thinks that Saturdays are always so crowded, they should just wait and go during the week.
Regardless, it was a great day trip, and we will go again next year and hit some of the scarier rides.
If you want to buy Fast Lane passes, remember you can buy them inside the park at various locations, so you might want to scope out the crowd levels from the inside of the park first. If you don't need to spend $15.00, by all means don't. Learn from my mistake, friends.
Have a great day, everyone!
My nephew (13 years old) and I (older) arrived at 9:45 AM, got in a very short line and bought our tickets (24.99 per person - courtesy of a Taco Bell coupon!). I also bought Fast Lane passes, which allow you to go to the front of the line on certain rides - $15.00 for 4 passes, meaning we could go on two rides each. We'd need them - it was a Saturday, after all, and these passes would save us 2 - 4 hours' wait time. We were armed with a game plan and were ready to brave the mass of Saturday humanity.
Once the gates opened, we made a mad dash for Viper. We got on the ride in less than 4 minutes. So we rode again - also less than 4 minutes' wait. The last time I went on Viper I hated it - I hit my head twice on the harness. This time I didn;t hit my head, I kept it back against the head rest, and enjoyed it quite a bit.
Then we trekked over to Batman. We rode that three times; once in the front row, once in the middle row, and once in the back row. Each time we had less than 10 minutes' wait.
So by the time we got over to Riddler's Revenge, and again less than 10 minutes' wait, I had started to wonder just where everyone else was - where are the crowds? And more importantly, why did I buy the Fast Lane passes, when it was becoming apparent we didn't need them?
After Riddler's Revenge (only one ride, as the seats bother yoru private parts, according to my nephew) we slugged up the hill to Ninja. Ninja, my nephew declared, was the most boring ride ever. :eek: But I caught him smiling in the middle of it as we rounded a turn. And yes, when compared to Riddler and Batman, it is tame.
It was 12 PM and we were hungry. We wandered back around to Mooseburger Lodge, across from the Logjammer, because it was a full service restaurant with air conditioning. Quite necessary, since it was 100 degrees outside. (And don't tell me it's a dry heat...because even a dry heat is still...HOT.)
I liked the Moosburger lodge. They had a decent looking buffet for around 13.00 per person. We ordered burgers and fries, however, and were not disappointed. The burgers were huge and came on a big, fluffy jalapeno cheddar bun. The fries were thick and salty. We were enjoying the themeing of the restaurant when the music started. And the big stuffed moose started to move. And two more stuffed mooseheads on the walls moved their heads and blinked and we realized we had stepped in to Chuck E Cheese hell (but with way better food and no video games.) The little kids around us enjoyed the little show. Overall, I liked the Mooseburger Lodge and will go back. I recommend you eat there too - it is worth the money ($29.00 for two huge burgers, tons of fries, and two sodas), in my opinion, to be able to sit and relax and be comfortable for a little while. Our waitress saw my AAA card which I pulled out while looking for my credit card, and she said they offer a 10% discount for AAA members. Sweet! I gave her an extra tip.
Then we went across to the Logjammer ride and paid 25 cents to blast water on unsuspecting log jam riders. Very fun. Wicked, but fun. :~D The sign says you can get your friends wet, but it's more fun with strangers. Only the white blaster actually got anyone wet, though, and even then it wasn't very much.
Then we went over to Scream. We both loved this ride, and had never been on it before. We rode it twice. It was 1:00 PM, still less than 15 minutes' wait both times. Very fun. Then it was back to Batman, then we went back to Scream. Then we took a break and had some water and people-watched for awhile.
By this time it was 3:00 PM and we were tired. No amount of persuading I could do would convince my nephew to ride Goliath with me. Funny since he loved Scream and Batman and RIddler. But that big drop is daunting. And we had already decided we would not go on DejaVu (too scary), X (too insane!), Psyclone (too bumpy) and Superman (been there, done that, got the t-shirt). Could it be that at 3:00 PM, on a Saturday, with 4 Fast Lane passes burning a hole in my pocket, that we were DONE?
We decided to go on Colossus (rickety but fun, and a 20-minute wait) and Scream yet again, (wherein we finally used two of the Fast Lane passes, because the line now extended to about 25 minutes' wait). We bought our pictures from the last Scream ride, and then headed out of the park. I let my nephew pick someone to give our last two Fast Lane passes to, and he picked two teenage girls, who were quite thrilled and ran off toward X.
All in all, a great day. We did everything we wanted to do, and still have big rides saved for next time. You have to work up to some of those hairy ones.
After careful analysis on the way home, we figured out the following regarding the lack of crowds:
1. TDH (Too Damn Hot) during the day. People probably start to come in later in the day (as we saw - at 4 PM the wait time had doubled.) Maybe many people hit Hurricane Harbor during the hottest part of the day, and then Magic Mountain at night.
2. Everyone is at Disneyland - it is their 50th, after all. Gotta have the gold Mickey ears.
3. Everyone thinks that Saturdays are always so crowded, they should just wait and go during the week.
Regardless, it was a great day trip, and we will go again next year and hit some of the scarier rides.
If you want to buy Fast Lane passes, remember you can buy them inside the park at various locations, so you might want to scope out the crowd levels from the inside of the park first. If you don't need to spend $15.00, by all means don't. Learn from my mistake, friends.
Have a great day, everyone!