Playland-Not-At-The-Beach + San Francisco + A California's Great America Revue Review: My Bodacious ACE Coaster Con XXXVII Trip Report - Part I

^ This may possibly be the most long-winded post title yet.

:}

How are y'all in internet land doing today?

I'm swell, thank you for asking. :}

WELCOME TO MY BODACIOUS ACE COASTER CON XXXVII TRIP REPORT!!!

As of right now, the trip is technically still in progress. As I write this, I am currently sloth-ing it up on a giant sofa at my (sort-of) aunt and (sort-of) uncle's place in Torrance. I've got a few more amusement park tricks up my sleeve for the back end of this report, but for now I figure we may as well get started! Let's begin with a quick story:

I was born on August 2, 1991 in Watsonville, CA (a suburb of Santa Cruz) in an old-ish hospital near the strawberry fields. My home parks were Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Paramount's Great America, and from 1998-2001 we visited both parks as a family on a constant basis. 

Fast forward to now. I've been happily residing in various suburbs of Nashville, TN for right about 13 years. I've made trips back to California over the course of those 13 years, but It's now been 7 years since I last paid Santa Cruz a visit. It would be this year that I made my triumphant return to my original home parks! And this time, I'm bringing my ACE family with me! Let's get started!

After a mild travel day from Nash, I landed in SFO at around noon. And who better to meet me at the gate than fellow Bay Area Boy, Dan!

Dan and I took BART to Walnut Creek for the evening. There we met Dan's good friend Rick and had ourselves a late Japanese lunch.

I give you…The SF Giants Roll!

Our late Japanese lunch was followed in short order by an early Italian dinner.

YAAAAAYY FISH!!!!! :D

Woohoo! Now it's a party! After a morning at Muir Woods, John, Jeff, and Mat joined forces with Dan and me as we embarked on our marvelous journey through "Playland-Not-At-The-Beach," a remarkable, one-of-a-kind amusement park museum and arcade.

Immediately we're greeted by these lovely park artifacts, including an auto scooter from the original "Playland At The Beach" that once operated here in San Francisco. 

The museum is full of remarkable models, like this one of a golden-era amusement boardwalk.

PNATB has a keen eye for detail, which you'll see as we get deeper into the museum. 

The model's mini "Laughing Sal" is one of her several incarnations here at PNATB!

Likewise, the model's Big Dipper is one of many tributes to the classic beachside wooden  coaster.

As natural contemporaries of amusement parks, circuses also have their place here at PNATB.

We found even more ACErs as we wandered into a winter wonderland!

PNATB features a series of general winter-themed models...

…as well as models themed to famous Christmas-themed settings. 

Here we have the game room! Everything is set to free play, but you still get tickets to win prizes!

The original Playland-At-The-Beach Laughing Sal calls the game room home. :}

Next door is an impressive interpretation of San Francisco!

#epicforeshadowing

Lining the walls of PNATB's corridors are everything from jukeboxes to penny arcade machines. No wasted space here!

My personal favorite here at PNATB are the Fascination tables that were donated by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!

You might recall my Fascination experience at Knoebels last June which got me hooked on this game. Looking forward to seeing more Fascination next summer in Jersey! :}

#moreforeshadowing

Hi-Lo is a variant of Fascination that has also found its way to PNATB.

Many would say that PNATB's pièce de résistance is their enormous Pinball parlor!

David Finkelstein would agree!

Pinball requires a great deal of concentration. :}

The collection boasts countless tables, old and new!

After a couple more hours of PNATB antics, we bid the museum a fond farewell and made our ways the Con host hotel in San Jose.

The following morning I totally switched gears and ran off to San Francisco with Michael, Ron, and Josh!

Good morning San Francisco! 

The boys and I began our day by walking the famous Filbert Steps.

It's here that we see beautiful gardens cascading down a rather sharp incline. 

You may also happen upon a destitute individual or two, but they're just part of the experience. :}

Naturally I took the opportunity to fill my flower snapshot quota. :}

I don't know what these are, but I rather like them. :}

Signage for legitimacy.

En route to Coit Tower, we passed this remarkable flower-laden home.

Seems like a nice place to live. :}

Coit Tower! Perched atop one of San Francisco's largest hills.

The boys and I chilled out for a bit to take in the scenery.

Here are some things.

More things can be found over here. :}

Here we have Michael with this fancy public pissoir. 

As Michael, Ron, Josh, and I walked about Coit Tower, Mat, John, Jeff, and Dan were enjoying a morning at Alcatraz!

I was pleased to opt for something a bit more floral than the prison. :}

Found more of these guys.

And some of these!

At this point we disembarked from the hill and headed deeper into town. :}

I had to pop in here because the sign is so cute. They have Orangina!

We were fortunate enough to happen upon a craft fair. My guess would be that something of this nature is commonplace around here. 

There were lots of great food options, but we actually had our hearts set on something else...

…THIS BEETLE.

(not really)

We continued to follow the various craft stands...

…until we just about reached the end!

The flock of books suggested an additional destination for us...

…but it wasn't yet open for business that afternoon...

…so we went in the general direction of these things instead!

This thing is a very famous thing.

The boys and I found it quite impressive from down below.

:}

Now……let's see……where were we……oh, that's right! Lunch!

Orchids for lunch? Hmm…no, that doesn't sound right.

Succulents? Nah, those probably wouldn't go down too easy.

The Japanese convenience store I stumbled into had lots of snack options, but nothing really constituting a meal. 

Better keep looking!

Though not necessarily edible, the trinkets found in the little stores around Chinatown were mouthwateringly cute.

Goldfish for lunch? Hmm. Well, it is a protein. Getting closer...

I couldn't get over how much Chinatown felt like an Oriental version of Pigeon Forge. 

Josh and Michael said we should explore this alley to find food.

And we were successful! Free fortune cookie samples at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory! (and yes, I paid my 50¢ for the picture. :} )

For real, though. How about a meal?

万岁 !!!

America's first Dim Sum definitely delivered. Figuratively and literally.

My body is ready.

Michael is channeling the laughing dragon. :}

虾！

More fortune cookies!

What better way to settle our stomachs than a terrifying thrilling ride on the San Francisco Trolley Cable Cars*!

*I was reminded by a reader that the trolleys are in fact technically referred to as "cable cars." I have since made the necessary adjustments to the report. 

EXTREME TROLLEY CABLE CAR POV INSANITY

(actually, this is a lie. I took this one crossing the street.)

GCI- INSPIRED TROLLEY CABLE CAR FLY-BY!!!!!

We took the trolley cable car down to the end of the line, which deposited us near Fisherman's Wharf.

M&M Trolley Cable Car Selfie!

More flowers!

WHOOP! 7-11 CREDIT! WITH BOOZE!

Goofy Slurpee™ Selfie!

The boys were having a great time in Boycatraz as we enjoyed the piers.

Here's a picture no one's taken before...

Typical SF. Kites, bubbles, rainbows. 

And a Farmer's market!

We didn't eat at Bubba Gumps, but I did snag myself a keychain. :}

Okay, so. I understand that this installment so far hasn't been very thrilling. Food, flowers, cityscapes, people, but no thrills. This ends now:

Welcome to Great America!!!

I don't remember any of this from my childhood. 

Cutest season pass ever. 

ACE TAKEOVER OF SEASON PASS PROCESSING!

It's now time for the first of two VIP showings here at Great America!

Aerial Ice Extreme is an intense, energetic, and often frenetic display of strength, grace, and synergy.

Everything from aerial silks to figure skating to trampolines are crammed into this 30 minute display, all set to popular music of varying degrees of tolerability. 

Shows like this are fun to watch, but they make me feel more fat and more out of shape with each passing minute. lol

Obligatory sensory-overload finale. 

Exiting the theater, guests may notice the remains of the greatest ride to ever grace Great America, Tidal Wave.

Alright, enough fooling around. Let's do what we came here to do. 

It's easy to be the best wooden coaster at Great America. 

It's hard to be the best wooden coaster in Northern California.

It's harder still to be the best wooden coaster on the West Coast.

Possibly the hardest is to be the best GCI in North America.

However, if you're Gold Striker, then it's easy to be all of these things. :}

I officially dub thee "Thunderhead of the West."

Smile, boys! This park now has TWO custom, world-class flagship coasters!

Soon after our life-changing first ride on Gold Striker, it was time for our dinner reception and opening ceremony!

NorCal Con immediately impressed with its spread of fresh fish hors d'oeuvres in addition to the typical ACEr-chow.

As an added bonus, scarcely-frequented Flight Deck photo ops were also on the menu.

Growing up with this coaster, I really didn't appreciate it as much I do now. It's truly a phenomenal ride!

And the fresh paint job definitely pleases. Gone without a trace are the black and grey paint jobs that covered B&M's first 3 inverted coaster projects.

Of note, I would go ahead and say that I like Flight Deck better than the Batmen. Maybe it's because there's twelve Batmen and only one* Flight Deck, but I think I really just find Flight Deck's sequence of elements more dynamic. 

*Yes, I'm familiar with the hang-and-bang in Canada. No, I wouldn't put the two in the same category either.

Revue Review Round 2: On Broadway! 

Its flamboyant cast, Glee-esque numbers, and non-stop wardrobe changes helped earn On Broadway the title of "Pretty much the gayest thing ever."

So gay, in fact, that I found myself a little hot under the collar at times. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. :}

And everyone knows that the best way to follow up the gayest show ever is with a series of glittery explosions. 

Glittery explosions complemented by a sexy B&M silhouette.

If you've never fiddled around with the firework setting on your camera, give it a shot. It's lots of fun!

And, as we'll see later in the report, there's more you can do with a fireworks setting than just photographing fireworks. :}

You know what would go great with this firework show? MORE B&M AWESOMENESS!

Wait.....this isn't what I wanted at all.

The boys are smiling because they haven't ridden yet. Sadly, Vortex has not aged gracefully.

We better follow up our Vortex ride with something that's actually fun. 

A silent disco, perhaps? With bluetooth headphones and a haus DJ?

How about we just do an 18-ride marathon on Gold Striker instead? :}

Thank you, Great America, for a fabulous first night! A FABULOUS FULL DAY at Great America begins early tomorrow! 

As for right now, I've got a plane back to Nashville to catch! See ya soon! :}