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biosciking's So Cal Thread


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I have lived in Southern California my entire life, and I've been a Theme Park Review member for several years. I've finally decided that it's time to start a photo collection of my local parks here on TPR. Why now? Because I am VERY excited about these next two years at all the So Cal parks. 2011 and 2012 are promising to be very good to theme park enthusiasts. Here's a list of the major upcoming attractions at my home parks (2011, 2012, and beyond):

 

Disneyland - Star Tours (2011)

California Adventure - Little Mermaid (2011); Cars Land (2012); Soarin' (2016)

Universal Studios - Transformers (2012); Despicable Me (2014); Fast & Furious (2015); Harry Potter (2016)

Knott's - Coast Rider, Log Ride (2013); Mine Ride (2014); Iron Reef (2015); Ghostrider (2016)

Magic Mountain - Superman, Green Lantern (2011); Lex Luthor (2012); Full Throttle (2013); Colossus (2015); Revolution (2016)

Sea World - Manta (2012)

 

Interestingly, the first new ride to debut in Southern California in 2011 was at Belmont Park in San Diego, so I thought that would be a fitting place to start biosciking's So Cal Thread. I'll be updating whenever I get a chance to visit a park, especially when the new attractions make their debuts. I'll of course be sticking to theme parks, roller coasters, water parks, etc., but I might throw a few other places into the mix every now and then to further showcase the Southern California experience.

 

2011

Belmont Park - p. 1

Pacific Park - p. 2

Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain - p. 3

Legoland California - p. 3

Wild Rivers - p. 4

Universal Studios Hollywood - p. 4

Six Flags Magic Mountain (roller coasters) - p. 5

Pharaoh's Adventure Park - p. 5

L.A. County Fair - p. 6

Navitat Canopy Adventures - p. 6

Adventure City - p. 7

 

2012

Disneyland (Main Street, U.S.A.; Fantasyland; Mickey's Toontown; Tomorrowland) - p. 7

Six Flags Magic Mountain (non-coaster rides) - p. 7

SeaWorld San Diego - p. 8

SpeedZone - p. 8

 

2013

Six Flags Magic Mountain (Full Throttle) - p. 9

 

2015

Six Flags Magic Mountain (Twisted Colossus) - p. 9

 

2016

Six Flags Magic Mountain (New Revolution) - p. 9

 

Belmont Park opened Octotron this past Sunday (1/16). It is a Unicoaster flat ride from Chance Morgan, only the second one introduced to the U.S. Brain Surge at Nickelodeon Universe has looked like a very entertaining ride ever since its opening, but I've had no idea when I'd ever get the opportunity to actually try it out. Imagine my surprise late last year when Belmont quietly announced that they'd be adding a Unicoaster to their park.

 

Octotron was actually supposed to open in December, but minor delays set it back a bit. No fair complaining, however. Belmont Park had already added two new attractions in 2010, Sky Ropes Adventure and Control Freak. Since my previous visit a few years ago, Belmont has also introduced the Magical Mystery Mirror Maze and the Vault Laser Maze. All of these are very unique, very welcome additions to Southern California. I'm happy to see Belmont expanding (with what they have to offer, if not necessarily the physical size of the park itself), especially given the brief scare we had late last year about the park's future.

 

I visited the park on MLK holiday (Monday 1/17), the day after Octotron's opening. An all-day ride wristband is $22.95 and an all-day attractions wristband is $20 (the two are operated on site by separate vendors). If you want to do all of it, therefore, you'll be set back $42.95, which may seem like a lot for a relatively small park. It's well worth it, though, when you compare this to the individual attraction prices. For example, one ride on the Giant Dipper costs $6, one ride on Octotron costs $5, and one crack at the Sky Ropes costs $8. Also keep in mind that parking is free.

 

Anyway, on to the pictures.

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The entrance to Belmont Park, located on Mission Bay in San Diego, right alongside the beach.

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I'll start with the Giant Dipper, the park's classic wooden coaster. After exiting the station, the train travels through a lengthy pitch black (and I mean PITCH BLACK) tunnel, before reaching the lift hill.

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Going up.

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Coming down the first drop. It's banked and makes a complete 180 turn.

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Up and over the second hill.

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The turnaround on the opposite side of the coaster from the first drop. Note that there is a lot of banking, but there are also a lot of lateral g's as well.

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I rode several times in the front, middle, and back, and I'll give my vote to the back for providing the best and wildest ride (as I tend to do).

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A couple of the smaller hills toward the end of the ride provide little pops of airtime.

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Because it's difficult to get an unobstructed shot of the coaster's complete layout, here's a picture of the model of the ride located inside a small museum they have at the ticket booth. The Giant Dipper opened in 1925, making it the oldest operating coaster in Southern California.

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The opposite angle. Although most argue that Belmont's Giant Dipper plays second fiddle to Santa Cruz's Giant Dipper up north (and I would agree), I still think this is a very good ride. I'm happy that this classic has been preserved as well as it has.

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Okay, on to Octotron.

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The control stick in the center was very easy to operate, and it was great fun getting the seats to flip forward or backward continuously, or mixing it up and suspending yourself in all kinds of unusual positions.

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It's kind of hard to get a full shot of the ride in action, but here's a close-up view of the ride vehicle. Believe it or not, this picture was taken while the ride was in motion (not waiting to get started or coming to a stop). These two just didn't want to spin their seats I guess.

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It was (almost) as much fun to watch as it was to ride. Everyone I watched riding was really enjoying it. I'd call Octotron a winner for Belmont Park, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more of these showing up at other parks.

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Now for Control Freak, another new ride at Belmont.

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This one was super cool too. Buttons on the OTSRs allow you to rotate the ride arm forward or backward and to lock your car in place or let it swing freely. One car controls the ride for the first half, and then control is relinquished to the other car for the second half. With just four people per cycle, you'd think this would be a capacity nightmare, but I never waited more than two cycles to ride.

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Control Freak reminded me of a cross between a Zipper and a Top Spin, and that's a pretty good pedigree. It was intense and crazy.

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Another headliner at Belmont is the Beach Blaster.

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It was quite good, swinging up to some pretty high angles. Note the kiddie boats in the foreground, one of a few kiddie rides at the park.

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They also have a tilt-a-whirl and a kiddie submarine ride. The tilt-a-whirl actually used to be in Octotron's location, and a Chaos flat ride existed in this spot. They removed Chaos to add Octotron, and moved the tilt-a-whirl over here.

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I didn't actually get around to riding this one. I therefore can't tell if the open cars would make a tilt-a-whirl more comfortable or more sickening once the cars really start whipping.

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Belmont Park also has a standard bumper car ride...

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...a crazy car ride...

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...a small merry-go-round...

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...and a small drop tower that is mostly for kids, but it's a little bigger than a frog hopper so it's kind of appropriate for more grown-up folk as well.

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That's it for Belmont Park's rides. Now let's check out their other attractions, starting with the Sky Ropes Adventure.

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This is one of those elevated obstacle courses that are starting to pop up here and there, but this is the only one so far in Southern California, and the first one I've ever tried.

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I thought it was great fun. There was plenty of room to get around even though the structure wasn't huge and there were several people climbing at once, there was a good variety of obstacles (each path had something different to do, which really surprised me), and, even though the structure wasn't extremely tall, it was still a little unnerving when the ropes you were traversing (and your legs) started wobbling.

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I saw little kids, macho guys, and grandparents all having fun on this. I can definitely see why they are becoming so popular, and I'm looking forward to trying others. I imagine the larger versions are really great.

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The employees working the Sky Ropes Adventure were way cool too. Not only did they get everyone harnessed in and hooked up very efficiently, but they also let me take my camera up to get the most complete shot I could find of Octotron.

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In here is the arcade and the mini golf. When you buy an all-day attractions wristband, you get 20 arcade tokens. Is anyone else as addicted to the Deal or No Deal game as I am?

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The miniature golf is an indoor, black light, glow-in-the-dark course themed to pirates. Very cool looking.

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It's really only half a course, as there are only nine holes instead of the usual eighteen. But I was totally satisfied with it.

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Plus it's just so cool looking.

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Another indoor attraction.

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It wasn't exceptionally big (though with all the mirrors it looked huge), and you entered and exited the same way, so it wasn't very hard to find your way out. But it was still kind of neat, and the psychadelic theming worked well.

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Here are three of me taking a picture of three of me. Trippy.

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The final two attractions are laser games. Not laser tag; they're actually much smaller scale than that. On the left is the Laser Evader. I didn't quite grasp the concept of this one. You go into a small room and try to press the buttons on the walls as many times as possible without being hit by the lasers. I could barely get started, but it looked like quite a workout for those who knew what they were doing (the TV screens let you watch the people inside). On the right is the Laser Maze. You can kind of see what it looks like on the TV above and the picture on the wall. It consists of a relatively small room that you have to make your way through James Bond and Mission Impossible style, trying not to trip the laser beams. I wasn't good at this either, but I did think it was fun and would have liked to have spent a little more time practicing and getting better (you can choose the level of difficulty; I never got past easy).

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I should also mention that, operated separately still, are a couple of wave machines. I didn't try these, but I will have to give a Flow Rider a shot one day.

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A Flow Barrel, on the other hand...I think not. I was impressed by the acrobatics of those who were riding it though. I know I would wipe out before I even got upright on the board. Also of note at Belmont Park is the Plunge, a large indoor swimming pool. I don't have any pictures because you have to pay an entrance fee (or have a membership) for it. According to Belmont, the pool has been around as long as the Giant Dipper has.

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Finally, let's not forget that the entire park is right alongside the beach. Let's also not forget that this is mid-January. One of the reasons I've lived in Southern California my entire life!

Edited by biosciking
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Brings back fond memories of the night we spent at Belmont during West Coast 2009. I didn't really rank Giant Dipper at first - it hurt a bit - but I loved watching the others make a$$es of themselves on the Flowrider, the blacklight minigolf was great - as was the following mad 'pool as many arcade tickets as possible for a fake security camera' rush that immediately followed (we didn't get the fake security camera in the end), and Giant Dipper was vastly improved by night ERT and many, many glowsticks.

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Well, your trip report convinced me that next time I go down to Belmont (should be within the next few months) I need to sample some of the other rides as well.

 

I loved the Giant Dipper though... it wasn't my first coaster, but it was my first CLASSIC coaster. And you're right about that tunnel... I seriously didn't think it was going to end when I went on it.

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This thread came in the nick of time! I am actually planning my 2012 trip to So Cal! I do need advice, (which I will post the questions to in my trip thread eventually), but this will help with my research! I am super stoked that all these coasters will be coming our way in the next few years.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I visited Octotron on it's intended opening day, December 17th, and was greeted by construction walls, great to see it running.

 

As for the Giant Dipper, I had the worst ride of my life on it when I went, how was it? Those Morgan Trains arew just pure crap..

really, i enjoy that ride. Yes, its very shaky, but thats what alomost makes it fun, if it was smooth, it would be boring. I love the Giant Dipper, and I love Belmont Park! Don't hate the ride, its like the only big coaster in San Diego (other than Journey to Atlantis)

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I visited Octotron on it's intended opening day, December 17th, and was greeted by construction walls, great to see it running.

 

As for the Giant Dipper, I had the worst ride of my life on it when I went, how was it? Those Morgan Trains arew just pure crap..

really, i enjoy that ride. Yes, its very shaky, but thats what alomost makes it fun, if it was smooth, it would be boring. I love the Giant Dipper, and I love Belmont Park! Don't hate the ride, its like the only big coaster in San Diego (other than Journey to Atlantis)

 

Um.. I not hating on the ride as you say that I am, I'm simply adressing the fact that the ride is beginning to become as un-ridable as Ghostrider, even with the new complete stop at the block brakes.

 

Another big coaster you're not taking into account is Technic, just because it's at Legoland, doesn't mean it's a kiddie coaster.

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Very nice. Looks like I'll have to detour over there during Comic-Con this year. The Octotron looks really interesting to ride, glad to see there is on on this coast no that far away. The surfing shot was fantastic, looks highly intimidating though! Definately would be worth a shot to try it out.

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  • 2 weeks later...

To tide myself over waiting for new attractions to start opening, I decided to pay a visit to Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. Since my first post showed off Belmont Park, I thought it would be fitting to have my second post show off the other beachside amusement park we have here in Southern California. Plus, this being Southern California, I thought I'd show off that we can go to the beach on a warm sunny day in early February!

 

Pacific Park is located directly on the pier itself, which is actually pretty cool. As you walk around the park, look down through the slats and you'll actually see ocean below you. However, space is very limited because of this location, and the park is extremely small. It tends to get very crowded too because of its small size and popular locale. I visited on Super Bowl Sunday, thinking the crowds might be light. Turns out there were plenty of people besides me not interested in watching the game, as the park (plus the entire pier and beach) were very busy.

 

Despite the crowds, lines for the rides were reasonably short. Admission to the park is free, and an all-day ride wristband costs $21.95. Individual adult rides cost $5 each, so the wristband is probably the way to go.

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The main entrance to Pacific Park. One of the park's two signature attractions, the Pacific Wheel, looms in the background.

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You can pretty much get into the park from all around (it's never really sectioned off from the rest of pier since admission is free). Here's another entrance they've got set up, next to the park's other signature attraction, the West Coaster.

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And here are the two signature attractions together. The Pacific Wheel provides a nice ferris wheel ride. It has a decent rotation speed and reaches a very reasonable height, but it's the setting that really makes this ride what it is. While at the top, there's a great view of the park, pier, and beach in one direction, and a great view of the ocean in the other direction. Also of note -- the wheel is solar powered, which they make quite a big deal of in the park.

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What can I say about the West Coaster? It's pretty much an adult sized version of a kiddie coaster. After reaching about 50 feet or so high, you take this spiral at an incredibly slow speed.

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You then hit a couple little bunny hop hills. (As an aside, the train has been a bit neutered since my last visit. The front car has been removed so that only the four back cars make up the entire train. I don't know how long this has been going on or how permanent it is.)

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Amazingly enough, these hills do provide an enjoyable moment of airtime. In the back seat, the airtime comes as you get yanked over the first hill. In the front seat, the airtime comes as you get shoved over the second hill. (The back seat is the better option, in my humble opinion.)

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The ride finishes with yet another spiral, this one taken at a slightly faster speed. In all honesty, the coaster isn't great, but it's not that bad. They send the train around the circuit twice, which is a plus, and, as you can see, there's a nice view while on the ride. I make it a point to watch people's reactions to this coaster, and everyone seems to be genuinely excited by it.

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What other rides can you find at the park? Pacific Plunge is one of those Moser junior drop towers (a step or two up from a kiddie frog hopper). I think it's actually pretty fun.

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The Sea Dragon is one of the best swinging ships we have in Southern California. It achieves a great speed, height, and angle. I'm not exactly sure why it's partially enclosed though. Any ideas?

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Here you can see the airtime experienced while coming off the top.

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There's also a scramber, called Inkie's Scrambler (Inkie is the park's octopus mascot)...

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...and a krazy kar ride, called Sig Alert.

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They've even got a mini version of the krazy kars right alongside the larger version.

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This section of the park has about half a dozen kiddie rides. The park's old bumper cars used to take up most of this spot. When they took them out and added the Sig Alert to the opposite corner of the park, they freed up some room here to add several of these. By the way, this shot was taken from the Pacific Wheel. The park has no problem at all with guests taking cameras on any of the rides.

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One more ride worth noting is the Gyro Loop. This is almost identical to the Control Freak at Belmont Park, except that there is only one car instead of two. Also, on this one there is a joystick control instead of buttons to push on the restraints. I actually found this one easier to operate.

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The only problem is that Gyro Loop is not included with the ride wristband. It costs an extra $5. They actually classify the ride as a game, so everyone gets a cheapy little stuffed animal after riding. I guess that's not something they have to do (it could just be a pure upcharge), so I can appreciate that. And, despite the extra cost, this still gets my vote as the best attraction at Pacific Park. So much good flipping action.

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I thought I'd put in a few overview shots. Here you can see that the park really does sit on top of the pier over the ocean.

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Another view showing off the same thing. The blue wall is the coaster station's.

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From farther up on the beach.

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A different angle.

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And a way zoomed out view. Besides the beach and Pacific Park, the pier offers lots of shops, restaurants, arcades, fishing, an aquarium, a carousel, and a trapeze school(!).

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Plus if you stick around until after dark, the Pacific Wheel puts on a nice light display.

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A Southern California icon.

Edited by biosciking
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Weird how the front car is missing....it was there when I went back in September....My guess is that they rehab one car at a time, instead of taking the entire ride out of operation.

 

Yes, that swinging ship is the best one I have ever been on period. The reason it's partially enclosed is because of noise issues with people screaming.

 

Pacific Park may be small, but it's a great park that I recommend to everyone.

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Thanks for posting this and I'm looking forward to more. I've got a trip planned for SoCal in July and this will give me an updated view of all the parks before I go. You have already taken care of two of the nine parks I plan on going to, so thanks in advance for future reports.

 

DBJ I'm also heading to comic-con and will be hitting up Belmont the Wed before the con.

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Weird how the front car is missing....it was there when I went back in September....My guess is that they rehab one car at a time, instead of taking the entire ride out of operation.

 

This was my hypothesis as well.

 

Yes, that swinging ship is the best one I have ever been on period. The reason it's partially enclosed is because of noise issues with people screaming.

 

Also my hypothesis, though I can't figure out why they need a scream shield facing the beach. If you ever get to the Great Escape in New York, try that swinging ship. It gets my vote as the very best ever. I've only been to the park once, so I don't know if my ride was just a fluke, but it was mildly terrifying. I experienced a few moments where I thought I could very possibly get flung out.

Edited by biosciking
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  • 1 month later...

Since my previous two posts have shown off the sun, sand, and surf aspect of Southern California, I thought I'd change pace a bit to demonstrate that we actually have the best of both worlds here. Not only is there beach in So Cal, but there are mountains too! March has been a relatively cold and wet month, which has meant snow on the mountains. I'm no good at skiing or snowboarding, but being a theme park website that probably isn't what you are most interested in seeing anyway. Instead, let's explore Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain.

 

First, a clarification. Did you know that there are actually two Magic Mountains in So Cal? One is of course Six Flags, but the other lesser-known Magic Mountain is a family fun center located in Big Bear. The park is technically called Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain. I imagine this specific name is used to avoid confusion, though it's still kind of confusing. The name also gives away the fact that the park has an alpine slide, the only one in Southern California (the only one in all of California, if I'm not mistaken).

 

Big Bear surrounds Big Bear Lake and is surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. It is located at an elevation just a bit shy of 7,000 feet. Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain is open year-round. I've only ever visited in the summer, so I thought it would be fun to it try in the winter for a change. I actually highly recommend visiting during the winter. Not only is the alpine slide awesome to ride in the snow, but their winter-only snow play attraction is also open, which I've always missed by visiting during the summertime. Anyway, let's take a look...

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Here's a shot of the entrance. You can see the three main attractions from the front. The ski lift that takes you up to the top of the alpine slide, as well as the alpine slide itself, are centrally located. The waterslide is on the right. The snow play is on the left. They call the blue tunnel the Magic Carpet; it's a moving walkway that takes you up to the top of the snow play hill.

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A close-up of the entrance sign. No, Six Flags Magic Mountain doesn't have an alpine slide. But Big Bear's Magic Mountain does! Let's check out said alpine slide.

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Here's the view from the top, right as you're beginning the ride. Tell me this isn't a perfect setting. Sledding down a snow-covered, forested mountain with Big Bear Lake in the background.

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Like many alpine slides, this one features two side-by-side tracks. They're identical, but one is meant to be the "fast" track while the other is meant to be the "slow" track for beginners. As an aside, I'm glad I didn't zoom this picture in any further, so that we can remain uncertain as to what gesture that guy is making.

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Even young children can ride if accompanied by an adult on the same sled.

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You do have to use a certain amount of caution when taking the turns. You are in complete control of the speed of your sled (using the control stick), so going too fast around the curves can literally cause you to wipe out. Trust me, I know (more on that later).

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The alpine slide passes by the waterslide as it switchbacks down the mountainside. Rhyme not intended.

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Okay, enough looking at the alpine slide from the ski lift. It's time to ride.

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You move along the first curve or two kind of slowly. However, you then reach the only straightaway portion of the slide, which features a few tiny bunny hops. This allows you to really pick up some speed if you choose to.

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Alpine Slide POV. In the snow!

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Zigzagging underneath the ski lift.

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What is in the foreground of this picture? Is that blood on the track? I'm sure it's not, but I couldn't help think that when I saw this picture (I didn't even notice it while on the ride). I have a permanent scar on my left elbow from taking this very turn too fast about six or seven years ago. The sled flew out of the trough, dumping me into the trough. As I landed on my elbow, an entire layer of skin was peeled and burned off. Not a very sexy scar story, but a lesson learned!

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The sign must remember me.

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Getting farther down the mountain. We've reached the waterslide.

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And one of the final curves, at the base of the Magic Carpet. I've been on a few alpine slides throughout the country, and this one is fairly typical by comparison. The length and elements are good, but I did notice today that I couldn't get it to go as fast as I previously could. Of course, that may have been my subconscious not letting me go as fast after my previous experience. Or maybe because I was taking pictures!

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Let's now check out the snow play attraction. It consists of inner tubing down the hill along one of four "snow lanes."

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Maybe not the MOST thrilling thing ever, but still lots of fun. You progressively pick up speed as you go down the hill, especially over the little hump, and your tube can end up spinning any which way. Plus it's another ride for the entire family.

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You're allowed to sit, kneel, or lay down. Plus you can hook on to other tubes and all slide down at once. There really aren't many restrictions on how you can ride.

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See what I mean.

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And here's a view from the top. There also aren't many rules about waiting for others to clear the way before you start your own way down. You might think that would make the whole thing kind of chaotic, but it actually gave the entire attraction a very laid-back, unintimidating feel.

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Off to the side is a fifth lane, which they call The Snake. It winds down the hill rather than following a straight path. This was definitely the wilder, more thrilling snow play route. Here you can also see four tubes hooked together. Pretty cool. Literally. (It was about 45 degrees out, just FYI.)

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I thought I'd show off the Magic Carpet that takes you up to the top of the snow play hill a bit more, since it looks kind of unique.

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It's very much like the moving walkways you'd find at an airport, only covered and inclined. It keeps you from having to walk up the hill while carrying your tube. They actually advertise this as part of the snow play attraction, which seems like a bit of a stretch.

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A more zoomed-out view of the magic carpet along with the alpine slide and ski lift. A single ride on the ski lift / alpine slide costs $4. You get a couple dollars discounted if you buy five. The snow play actually costs $25. It's pretty expensive, especially if you're paying for a whole family, but at least it allows for unlimited use all day. The most discouraging thing was that you couldn't even enter the snow play area without paying for the attraction. I saw more than one parent who just wanted to take pictures of their kids unable to because they weren't paying to ride themselves.

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Here's a brief look at the other attractions at Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain. The waterslide operates during the summer only (the pool at the bottom was actually frozen today!). I haven't ever been on it. It looks okay, but nothing spectacular. I'd therefore suggest visiting in the winter if you have a choice. I'd rather miss the waterslide than the snow play.

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There's also miniature golf. It's a pretty small course, but still a full 18 holes. I didn't play today, but it looks like it might be kind of fun despite the small size. How often do you get to play mini golf in the snow?

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And lastly the go-karts. Just a single simple circle, which seemed kind of pointless, so I passed.

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Overall, though, I would definitely recommend checking this place out. The scenery in Big Bear alone makes it worth a stop.

Edited by biosciking
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Great Pictures. I've been here a few times and have always enjoyed it. I've gone both winter and summer, so I've done the alpine slide, water slides, and snow tubing. You are correct about the waterslides not being anything special, but if you want to cool off they are pretty cheap and never have a line.

 

I should tell my sister to show her friends this report. She's going here for her birthday next weekend. I was going to go with her, but I got bumped because there's no more room in the car.

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Wow, I was going to start a thread like this but just never got around to actually going to all of these secret So Cal places with a camera. The great thing about this thread, and where we live, is that we have so much awesome stuff to do in Southern California that the rest of the world does not know about. LA has such a bad reputation amongst most of the world (*cough* TPR, *cough*), and it mostly comes from people who in my opinion generally have a negative outlook on life or just don't know about all of the awesomeness we have. It can also come from people that live in less-than-desirable commute locations. I for one, know that I would go absolutely insane living in the priss environment of the Santa Clarita Valley or even worse, Orange County.

 

Sure, you have the traffic and infamous LAX, but you also have snowy mountains, beautiful beaches, the desert, world class theme parks, dining, mini-golf, giant parks, and more. One day, I went skiing and then took a boat out to Catalina Island on the same day, enjoying the Mediterranean style beaches a world away from LA, but only 22 miles offshore.

 

To finalize my rant, I also want to add that most of the problem residents in LA that I have met are people that were not born here. They are the jocks, drama nerds, and other eccentrics from small town America that moved here to become famous and have absolutely no pride in their city. I think people will find that when they are around 'true' locals, or others that moved here and embrace the city, tend to find activities and things to do that are unique to the area and encourage a sense of pride.

 

Seriously, where else can you ski, go 'hiking' on a Segway, go surfing, and eat authentic Japanese food all in one day? Eight-thousand thumbs up to this thread!!!!! I am VERY excited to see you exploit more of our secrets!

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