Pacific Coast Explorer

Archers Direct, May-June 2011

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DAY 4: Los Angeles, California

Today I decided to take a chill-out day. I had my handy remote, and pay-paw-view telly in the hotel, while I sent my intrepid assistants out to see the delights of LA. Well, Di and Dave were going to the bear-hating theme park Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Paul was going to look for the CaliforniaScienCenter and he didn't reckon I could walk that far (he'd be right!)

Before they headed out for the day, we took a trip to the Wells Fargo bank. It should have only been a couple of blocks away, if you don't take account that the road followed a tunnel, under a couple of blocks so we came out a couple of blocks further than necessary. Oops! Don't blame me, I wasn't map-reading!

Anyway, as luck would have it (or, if you prefer, thanks to my travelling genius), we arrived at Angel's Flight - a funicular railway, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, for no apparent reason. Well, for 25c it will take you up to the Wells Fargo Bank...so we took it.

   

It was pretty cool. Obviously recently renovated as it looked all shiny and new, although it dates back to 1901, when the Bunker Hill area was a little more fashionable, shall we say? It was removed in 1969 and not relocated and resurrected until 1996, just half a block south of it's original location. It may only be about three-hundred feet long, but it's the best 25c I ever...well, made Paul pay! A surprising, and very cool find.

   

I call Magic Mountain bear-hating because you'll know, if you've read other reviews, coaster parks seem to think we bears are too wimpy to hang on to a coaster. So, rather than spend my day in several different unpleasant-smelling lockers, I decided to stay in the hotel. I hadn't seen The Young and the Restless in ages!

I'll start with Di and Dave's day (based on what they told me, and with their Ted ratings, I'd only give 'em one ). They'd ordered a shuttle from TakeTours.com, who picked up from the Westin Bonaventure across the street, and charged $50 for the Shuttle to Magic Mountain on any day of the week (some shuttles only run on weekends). When Di called to confirm, they agreed to pick them up at our hotel, the Marriott so they went downstairs to wait. After about 10 minutes, driver Cory collected them and led them to a car - they were getting private transportation. Very nice.

Cory was quite chatty on the forty minute drive and they arrived at about 10.15am, before the gates opened. I made Di get her tickets online a couple of weeks ago - they had an offer of about $35 rather than the gate price of $60. I'd hate for her to waste money she can spend on me!

TGTips
Always check an attraction's website for offers! Many will now permit you to print at home for free. Bear in mind that if you have the tickets, then can't make it - can you afford to waste the money? Can you sell them on? Does your insurance cover you for cancellation of attraction tickets?
The gates weren't open when they arrived, about half an hour before the park opened, the journey had been so quick.

The park had some entertainment laid on before the gates opened - small competitions, and stuff, to get the party going, but, once the gates were open, people were off like a shot.

Di and Dave had decided if they were to get on the X2, the park's biggest coaster, they should go there first, the lines would only get longer so that's where they headed. It was a good call, they only had to wait ten minutes before they were on the ride. On this coaster you start out lying on your back (see foreground), but then the seats swing around independently of the car. Di reckons this was a good one. Not too much head-banging, fairly long and pretty good. She gave it five Teds!
Next stop, close by, was The Viper (red coaster in the background). Di rode this back in 1990 and thought it was great. They had a very short wait - only two previous sets of riders. It's a pretty long ride going up and down, with corkscrews and loops. These guys are definitely too old as this time Di said it was way too bangy.
They next agreed to proceed around the park anti-clockwise. It meant a slight doubling back towards the entrance but would put them on course for Di's former fave ride, Colossus. The next coaster they came to was Revolution . Di saw this ride in the 1970s movie Rollercoaster a very long time ago (she's that old!) but it's why she came to Magic Mountain all those years ago. That time she ran out of time before riding this one so now was her chance. There was about a 25 minute wait but then they were on. It's a twisty, loopy, metal coaster, fairly standard these days, riding through trees, and it's a little rattly now for her old bones, but it was still good.
Goliath is the tallest ride in the park (at least, that's what they told me!) at 255 feet for the first drop, which, at 61 degrees doesn't sound as steep ("near vertical" - hmph!) as the Magic Mountain website claims. Di reckoned The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach was better, and only 20 feet shorter. A bit disappointing after all the build-up. Needed the near vertical drop to be nearer vertical.
Di's fave ride at Magic Mountain is Colossus. She seems to like the more old-fashioned wooden coasters, with only a lap belt to hold you in. They only had one car working, so it lost that 'racing' theme, similar to The Grand National, which is also at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (must review that place, sometime) but there was no waiting and they walked straight on to the next car. My kind of lines!
They decided on Ben and Jerry's for lunch (I approve as I consider ice cream to be one of the major food groups) and despite opting for the regular waffle cone, I hear it was huge. Bigger than me, it's claimed, and I wasn't even there to help 'em eat it! Di had the Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream flavour, which she described as vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered cardboard (waffle cone, apparently), so not sure I missed that much.

Next they headed to Scream. They walked straight onto this ride. More of the usual bumping and head-banging, but this time with dangling feet (no flip flops, please!) As the guys tell it, it wasn't very screamworthy.

After several rides - not to mention the huge ice cream - they were starting to flag. They'd covered a lot of ground and, of course, the short lines meant they had already ridden more than normal for a theme park. So, a water-break later and they got back to it. They headed for the park's first coaster, Gold Rusher. This was a mine car ride, through the trees and bumpier than expected. There was only a lap-bar, so at least it wasn't so hard on the head, and only a two-person wait.

The worst line of the day was at Apocalypse. There was an hour wait, as only half the cars were operating. If they'd known they said they wouldn't have waited, but, once you're in the line... This ride is a new wooden coaster and the angles are pretty fierce. There's a little introduction about the end of the world and the Scavengers versus "Us".
There is a filmed shoot-out, then you progress to the ride - three more groups and they were on. For a wooden coaster, Di said this one was really fast, with particularly sharp turns. Again, they only had lap belts, but apparently this one was pretty good.

After that, they moved on to the Ninja. Di thinks she remembers (she is pretty old, don't forget!) that this was one of the first dangly coaster ever (according to Wikipedia it's number 5 of the first 10) - it hangs down from the track rather than sitting on it, enabling more g-force to be felt as it goes around the corners (unless you're a physicist, when it probably doesn't). She rode it back in 1990. It was a smoother ride than some of the other over-the-shoulder harness rides, but still had several twisty loops.

Getting off the Ninja, Di and Dave found themselves at the bottom of the Sky Tower, which is as old as the park itself, being there for the opening. I understand the tower was built by Hugh Hefner (of Playboy fame) but he thought it was too tacky for him! The view from the top looks pretty impressive from Di's photos - they're pretty good considering she only took her phone - remember the days when digital camera photos weren't this good? There's a mini-museum at the top of the tower. It outlines the park's history, but they didn't have much time to study the detail (at least, that was their excuse when I asked questions!)

   

By now those hopeless humans were starting to feel a little bit sensitive in the stomach area - we bears don't have that problem so why can't we ride? Rather than walk, they took the Orient Express to the lower level of the park, nearer the entrance. Like Angel's Flight, it is a funicular railway. Compared with other rides of the day it was slow, and not hugely exciting, but certainly better than walking.

Now, Di's not one for water rides, not sure why, it's not like her fur smells all chloriny afterwards, but there is a log flume at Magic Mountain, the Log Jammer not far from the park entrance. She must have had a weak moment, because they decided to ride it. They tell me it's fast. Now, I've been on a few log flumes (they're considered more bear-friendly), and if Di says it's fast, it must be, cos they're usually not that risky. Di claimed she'd never been on one as fast as this. The ride had two real drops and they survived the first without getting wet.

After the second, higher drop, Di was feeling happier. Her feet were soaked because the log was full of water (well, several inches deep anyway) and everytime they went up a slope it would slosh to the back, then whiz to the front on the downhill, but that was it. Or so she thought. Just as they approached the end of the ride she was shocked when a hose pipe (her words) was turned on her, all down her right side.

It was only after they got off the ride they found out that for 25c a person (or bear) could pay for a water spray and shoot at will (or, if Will wasn't riding, you could shoot at Di, and they did!) As only the two of them were in the large, six-seater log it must've been a particularly evil-minded guest. [No, I didn't pay them! What kind of bear do you take me for? Well, okay, I would if I'd known about it!!] They thought about getting their own back, but hey, it was 25c, and my people are nothing if not cheap.

A quick break for fries at Johnny Rockets as they tried to dry out in the sun, before returning to the car. They reflected that they'd had a good day, with lots of rides and generally short queues. If they'd had the stronger stomachs of their youth, they may have managed all of them, but sadly, my assistants are showing their age!

They tried a quick gift shop dash on the way out of the park, but there was little of interest - and absolutely NOTHING for bears! The stuff was more designer-y than regular park merchandise, so not their style at all. There was a little Looney Tunes stuff, but nothing particularly exciting so they bought me nothing (hmph!) and returned to the hotel.

Cory was at the pick up point, right on time, to pick my guys up for the uneventful ride home. We can totally recommend TakeTours.com, who did as they promised, with a private car a step beyond what was expected.

Meanwhile, while Di and Dave were abusing their stomachs, Paul had gone off to the nearby Air and Space Museum. Or so he thought...

It seems the twelve blocks suggested by Jose, were actually more like forty blocks (I told you I couldn't walk that far!), but eventually, after about ninety minutes, Paul arrived at Exposition Park.

The Exposition Park site also contains the Natural History Museum (which has an admission fee) and the California African American Museum (admission free). You will also find the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum here. This is where they held some of the events of the Olympics were held in 1984. As he entered the site, Paul passed by the Rose Garden to get to the main museum area. The park was heaving with large school parties, lined up to enter the various museums on site, but Paul, being cheap, was headed for the freebie display of Air and Space Exhibits at the California ScienCenter. After all that walking he was pretty glad he didn't have to pay to get into this part.

 

There are several floors of air and space stuff, including several original items. The Apollo Command Module docked with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 1975. The Gemini 11 Space Capsule, which went into space in 1966, was, according to Paul, only Ted-size and yet two men lived in this for three days in the weightlessness of space. It was obviously before I did my astronaut training with NASA. They also have the Mercury-Redstone 2 Capsule, which took chimpanzee Ham into space, in January 1961, three months before America sent it's first human astronaut, Alan Shepard. Don't panic, Ham made it back safely and survived until 1983.

   

This museum is full of interactive activities which explain how things work and can be used by bears and their younger assistants.

Outside, there are several aircraft, including the A-12 Blackbird (a CIA spy plane), something Paul couldn't remember and a United DC-8 (which is how you can spot the museums as their sign-posting is not so good).

   

By the time he got back to the hotel in the late afternoon, he was looking a little hot and tired. I got the impression it wasn't worth the walk, but if you're driving, it might be a better option from where our hotel was located.

Rather than tackle the Marriott rip-off machine, internet-wise, we took our laptops to Starbucks, where $3 for a coffee surely isn't a rip-off now, is it? Don't answer that. Anyway, we got a nice cup of coffee and FREE internet for the price of 24 hours internet at the Marriott. Yes, I appreciate it doesn't make sense, economically, but ethically it had to be done. Sort of.

We then had the whole where to go for dinner decision to make. We settled - eventually - on the Cucina Rustica - a posh-looking place. For not much more than the previous nights far more basic California Kitchen, we got hot bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, red hot pizza (temperature, not spicy), nice wine (from $24) and great service from our waitress, Dianne, who came from Wembley. We couldn't fault dinner or the service so this restaurant got my maximum rating. Stuffed(!), we retired for the night.


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