A couple weeks ago happened and wifey and I had decided to make a run to the West Coast to get away from lousy weather here in the midwest. Naturally, it followed us west while Michigan warmed up and melted down, but hey, you can’t win every battle, right? The boxing section gets the usual separation by “######” symbols too.
PARKS:
-DISNEYLAND-
Last time I was here, I think I forgot to write a TR. Which is fine, I suppose, because there’s not much I can add to what’s already been written about the park and its attractions. Here’s what I can add right now:
-“its a small world” is open again after a long, long rehab. I guess there’s a lot of hate towards it revolving chiefly around the use of the Disney characters in the ride, but it didn’t detract a lot from the overall experience for me to see a IASW version of Woody or Peter Pan. There’s bigger things to be bothered with in life. We got a couple rides on it and were pleased with the overall shape that the attraction is in.
-Tomorrowland feels slightly retarded. The old People Mover track is a mess. We decided to do “Honey I Shrunk The Audience” for the first time in a decade for either of us. Clearly, we were not missing anything. Its completely dated and virtually abandoned by guests and maintenance alike. They might as well bring back EO. The video quality and special effects on Star Tours are embarrassing.
-Watched Fantasmic: Lots of cool fireworks and stuff, I guess. Meredith likes it a lot, I try to shut off my mind when it comes to the storyline and just enjoy it for being a display of lots of fiberoptics and stuff.
-Got to see the Sleeping Beauty walk through. Nice job they did with that.
-DISNEY’S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE-
Virulently hated by many. I like the place, which I’m sure makes me an awful man. Yeah, the Tower doesn’t have that whole transition room. Who cares? Like having the elevator car move forwards is what made the original? The coaster is fun, the raft ride is an excellent example of its type, Sun Wheel and the Zephyr are supremely fun, and Soarin’ is still sorta innovative. The screen needs to be cleaned, but whatever. The bigger issue I have with that is the feeling of “technology demo” that I’ve complained about before.
Midway Mania is around now too, and its a blast. Interactive/shoot ’em up dark rides are sorta getting hated on a little more these days because, well, they aren’t narratives, and I feel that. Shooting things isn’t terribly imaginative, especially when everyone has a ride that does that. This clearly ascends to the elite of the genre though right along with Men In Black and Tut just because of the melding of new elements like the 3D glasses and the well done theming. It makes the Buzz rides look poor in comparison.
-KNOTT’S BERRY FARM-
Last time I went here, I wrote a pretty short TR mocking people who hate this place. I still stand by it. I think its an inoffensive park that has some okay rides and is a victim of politics and people’s memories. I know that there’s a lot of people who despise what Knott’s is now, but that’s a result of the market they operate in. The family who ran the show knew they could no longer compete as was. That’s why they sold the place, point blank. Cedar Fair brought in the capital investment that kept it operating after years of throwing away money on rides like Windjammer, and by all accounts, allows the place to make money. Bitch as we might, Knott’s metamorphosis has occurred for the same reasons Jazzland had to be so heavily revamped. Same reasons DCA is being torn up. Same reason Hard Rock will probably be a very different place in 24 months.
For all the talk then from internet fanboys about what does and doesn’t work, the fact is that the “soulless collections of thrill rides” can and will work in a market assuming that they are competently run.
COASTERS:
PONY EXPRESS (#500 and change): Now, after that diatribe, one might expect a positive review for the newest ride in the KBF arsenal. That I might call it a fantastic family ride. That it fills a gap in their lineup of attractions. That as one of a rare few such coasters, it is thrilling and that I hope to see many more. The truth is that I think the ride is rubbish. Unequivocally bad. It makes the Arrow corkscrews seem downright epic. It has no impressive moments. The seating configuration and launch makes it as intimidating as the larger looping Schwarzcopf in the same park, if not more so, even though the ride itself lacks any significant airtime, lateral g’s, positive g’s, or even duration. The crutch of “family ride” seems absurd: How many families can one realistically anticipate returning multiple times for the Pony Express? Its a gimmick ride with nothing behind it, and I have no issues stating that I think Jaguar is superior. Or for that matter, Sierra Sidewinder, which is bigger, longer, more family friendly, and uses its gimmick to much greater effect.
Going back to the thing about being a “soulless collection of thrill rides,” it indeed is that. Its like an amusement park by Michael Bay, which has little appeal to myself or Meredith, but someone out there is buying.
OTHER RIDES:
We also rode Silver Bullet, which is still Silver Bullet. I don’t find the ride “forceless” given the final helix and its strength, but whatever. It’s a fun ride, albiet not Raptor or one of the other older B&Ms or one of their more obscure foreign rides like Pyrenees or Katun or whatever that gets such high marks. On the non coaster front, we only rode Calico Mine Train. It really needs some new speakers. We walked the park, played some games in the arcade, and left. Round trip was about an hour and a half.
OTHER ACTIVITIES:
There was chiefly one. Not planned as part of the trip initally but added on later, I realized in stunning fashion that a boxing match I had been very excited to see (Vic Darchinyan/Jorge Arce) for the last 3 years was actually taking place in Anaheim. Skipping watching on TV, I bought a ticket and took a cab out to the Honda Center, formerly the Anaheim Pond.
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After years of negotiations and trash talk, Saturday night was the night for the flyweights. Jorge Arce and Vic Darchinyan’s American management teams always made them the most likely to tangle in the mess of titlists at 112, but politics, shocking losses, and money proved to be the undoing for the bout. Finally, a couple years too late and a weight class up, Arce and Darchinyan were to meet in the ring at last.
The reality of the bout hardly bothered the several thousand in attendance, almost all of whom seemed to be ready to waive their flags proudly. The gentleman next to me and I had an over/under of 10 fights in the crowd and a pact to act as “Switzerland” due to our positioning directly between large tracts of Armenians and Mexicans. It wouldn’t be necessary.
Each side had the opportunity to have their nationalism “justified” in the openers. Mexican Chris Avalos generally dominated journeyman Torrence Daniels in a spirited bantamweight 8 rounder, and Antonio DeMarco surprised many pundits by injuring Kid Diamond in the 9th round of their bout and forcing a stoppage. The Armenians saw stagnating prospect Vanes Martirosyan fight another horribly over matched opponent and go the distance with him. Vanes showed to be shaking and motioning to his right glove frequently in the bout, leading one to believe he had once again broken his hand, a re-occuring issue for the Olympian that very well may prevent his moving to the top of the junior welterweights.
What instead occurred in the main event was a comprehensive destruction of Jorge Arce and what seems to, on the surface, be the end of his long career. While both fighters had rebounded from losses in 2007, Darchinyan was clearly hitting his career stride. With the move to 115, he had unified 3 of the 4 belts and become the “people’s champion” among the little guys with his violent power punching style. Arce engaged in wars with unknown Thais and Panamanias, which while entertaining, here generally indicative of a slowing of his natural talents. Vic was the natural favorite and proved it. Having won 10 of 11 rounds on each judge’s scorecard, Arce was retired by his corner in an act of mercy. I didn’t stick around much for the post fight should some angry Mexicans have decided to take out their frustration in the parking lot, and was in a cab and back to the hotel in merely 15 minutes.
In the non-ethnic show openers, amateur star Travis Kaufman beat Mike Tyson lookalike Cliff Couser in a single round and Houston based prospect Omar Henry also won by 1st round stoppage in his bout with 0-2 Francisco Martinez. Kaufman’s win on paper looked better than in reality: Couser is not known for his chin, yet stayed vertical for awhile taking shots and moving around the ring. Given how shot he is, I can’t say I’m impressed.
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HOTEL:
We decided to stay in the Howard Johnson’s on Harbor across from Disney. While there are exterior corridors between buildings and a lack of a lot of on-site amenities commensurate with being at a 2 star hotel, I have to say for the class of hotel it was, I liked it. Some mid-range bathroom items in the ring, helpful staff, well priced convenience store on property, fridges, coffee maker, nice soft beds. No furniture on the balconies though, which we found a bit bizarre. I’d suggest it for sure. We both are interested in Candy Cane Inn, Camelot, and the Fairfield for future trips, though the price point of the HoJo may keep it a winner.
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