Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Theme Parks.
At Mimmi's request, here's a rant about theme parks.

As a Southern California resident, I am rather familiar with theme parks. Within an hour or two from my house there's Disneyland, Disney's California Adventures, Six Flags: Magic Mountain, and Knott's Berry Farm, along with one or two other ones that we've never really stopped at, but I know they exist.

I think that I've always been a decent fan of theme parks, even back in the days when all I ever really did was walk around, go on some kiddy rides, and end up getting a T-shirt or something stupid like that. There's just something about those places that feels really enjoyable.

For a few years my Dad worked at for a car website called Autonation (Don't go there, or we'll lose money and I won't be able to buy Metal Gear Solid 3.. ;_;), and they bought Disneyland for a night in December every year and the entire park was Autonation-exclusive until 2 in the morning. You'd get blankets and jackets and hats and a bunch of cheap stuff like that, 20% discounts on particular restaurants, and extremely short lines on everything.

That was some good stuff, but you can only go on every ride at Disneyland so many times before you get kind of tired of it. My father switched workplaces last year, so we didn't get to go last Christmas, though we did collect a nice amount of swag from previous ventures.

Nowadays, however, I prefer Six Flags: Magic Mountain. It's considered the roller coaster capital of the world, or country, or state, or something, because it was 16 or so roller coasters- Big ones, too, they don't count the little Bugs Bunny Land Mini-coasters. My first roller coaster loop was there, on a ride called “Revolution.” It was one of the first big roller coasters, and I think one of the earliest loop rides.. It was made in the 70’s. Compared to what I’ve been on by now, it’s an extremely tame ride that sort of hurts your head if you’re a certain height, but the loop is still fun. Whenever I ride it I end up remembering that day several years ago at 9:00 at night watching all of the lights in the park flicker just before that plunge.

There have been many rides there that I’ve been on at least once, some of which are Viper (It hurts my head) and Batman (Smooth and awesome), but my favorite is Goliath. Back when it came out, in 2000, it had the biggest drop on a roller coaster in the Western Hemisphere, I believe. There’s one in Japan that’s faster and taller, at a place called Nagashima Spa Land, but the name escapes me. Anyway, I ended up riding it in 2002, after two years of internal conflict about it.. Now, there are three newer rides at Six Flags that I have not been on. The first one is called “X”, which basically has the riders doing frontflips and backflips in their seats as they go on loops, and such. I’ve wanted to go on this one for a while, but they had it under repair last time I was there, and that sort of
struck me as “bad.” Deja Vu, which came out in the same year as “X”, is sort of like the Superman ride except it’s more of a roller coaster than just an up-and-back thing. I’ve never really wanted to go on this one. It looks too simple for such a line. Scream debuted in 2003, and it has the riders’ feet high enough above the track so that a kind of flying effect is in place. Last time I was there the line was very long, because the ride had just come out, and I had more important things to do with my time. I plan on riding this one next time I’m at the park.

Other than roller coasters, my favorite thing about theme parks is probably the food. There’s always quite a variety of stuff you can throw down your pie hole, and a lot of it is salty or sugary unhealthy goodness. There’s always some awesome popcorn at parks that’s always warm, and that always goes well with Dippin' Dots Ice Cream (Freeze-dried ice cream dots). The specialty and/or theme restaurants are always good for atmosphere and half-decent food, if you’re not into the whole junk food thing.

On a somewhat related note, I was playing Kingdom Hearts the other day and I felt a very reminiscent, happy feeling while romping about Traverse Town. To me, that world represents the lower half of Disney Land. It just feels like you’re walking past the Peter Pan and Mr. Toad rides at night time while everything in there is winding down.. It felt happy, and Disney-ish.
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