Quick Review of 4 California Theme Parks

Just flew in from California... and boy are my arms tired! <shot area="rim" />

We did 4 California theme parks in 4 days and here's what I thought:

1. Magic Mountain: great rides, but even before spring break, the best rides had waits of 2-3 hours, so we didn't get to go on them (although Scream rocked). Also, the price gouging was gratuitous, including $3 for a soda, $.87 for a packet of ranch dressing and extra money for a bunch of the activities after paying to get into the park, e.g. virtual reality ride and rock climbing. Over all, thumbs down.
2. Disney's California Adventure: Surprisingly good. The production values are high, even making the waiting as fun as possible, just like in every Disney park. The Bugs Life "it's hard to be a bug" show was hilarious and the Soarin' Over California ride took my breath away. Plus, all of the rides that had analogs in Magic Mountain were better at California Adventure. This was the winner of the trip. Thumbs up.
3. San Diego Sea World: The day was a little overcast and their major ride wasn't running, but the shows were fun and it was a nice, mellow experience after two intense days. Also, the food was noticeably better than the other parks (although $50 on lunch for 4 was a bit much). More on the meal front: I called Don on the road between Sea World and the hotel in LA and he recommended In-n-Out Burger, which none of us had ever had before. My oldest son mentioned that meal more than Sea World, so both get a thumbs up.
4. Disneyland: This park needs an overhaul. Their one really good ride, Indiana Jones, was closed and all of the rest of the rides were only interesting for the nostalgia factor (plus they broke down a lot). When I brought my 4-5 year olds here 4 years ago, it was really great to see the place again through their eyes. Now that they're older, the place holds no attraction for me. Thumbs down.

Over all the trip was a thumbs up if for no other reason than I was without my laptop for 4 days and didn't really miss it. Then I come home to find that you dang kids have TP'd my blog! : )

Magic Mountain, or for that matter most Six Flags parks, get trashed on a regular basis over on CoasterBuzz.com because they just don't seem to understand how to run an amusement park. Ironic, because they own more of them than anyone else. Maybe that's why they sold off the European and Cleveland parks last week.

I guess I lucked out. I went to MM Feb 21 (it was only open at weekends at that time). I was there from 10am to 8pm. My friend and I road 15 times. X twice (once at the front, once at the back), Goliath twice (once at the front, once at the back), Scream twice. I loved X and Goliath (not a fan of Scream).

Anyway, we had to wait at most 40 minutes for a ride. It was a cold and dreary day but warm compared to where I come from. In fact, we could have got even more rides in had MM run two trains on Goliath. That one got really backed up. And considering it was probably my only chance to ever get there, I was choked that one of their most popular rides wasn't up to capacity. Superman was also down which was one I was really aching to try. Being at the top of Goliath and looking over to see Superman even higher was freaky!

I totally agree that MM certainly is not a polished operation compared to my experience at Disney and MGM. Plus the price gouging is heavy. Residents could get in for 25 bucks but we had to pay 60. Plus, the express pass was an additional charge, free at Disney and MGM.

Overall though, I totally loved X and Goliath and would love to go back (unless there were the 2-3 hour waits).

How it is possible you had never been to In-and-Out? I find that just mind boggling.

Did you do "California Screaming" over at Cal Adventure? It ROCKS. :-)

MM sucks and is known for high gang activity, so we never go there. Plus last I heard their disablity accomodations sucked, so they don't get my money.

There are more "grown-up" rides closed at Disneyland than usual. Space Mountain is being overhauled (reopening 2005) and Thunder Mountain is closed (pesky patrons dying and all). Was the Haunted Mansion back up when you were there? Splash Mountain is also pretty good, although one must be prepared to be soaked!

We are going next week with the kids for our traditional March Break stay at the Grand Californian. I hope that we still have fun despite so much being closed.

And yeah - the In N Out thing surprises me too. None of us took you there when you were around down here? Shame on us!

I have to agree with 'Rider'... timing is everything. My wife and I hit the Six Flags near Chicago on a day with a slight mist (but 75 degrees) and we had the run of the park. Had a similar experience at their park near Washington DC.

Loved the Cal Screamin ride, Maliboomer, and Indy Jones. Sorry you didn't get to enjoy the Disneyland Park as much as you should have.