We spent a total of 3 days at the park.  Well, our half day the day we arrived, full day on Tuesday, then a half day on Wednesday before we had to catch our flight.  Because we went for 3 days we purchased the season passes.  This also allowed us discounts at stores plus coupons for so much more. We could have gotten into Hurricane Harbor for FREE, but we never did go.

If you are going and you want to get the most out of your day, make sure you go first thing in the morning.  We hit 6 rides in an hour and half.  The day before we had gotten there at 12pm, because of our flight, and we stayed until 6 and we rode 6 rides.  The lines were longer later in the day.  For even more tips about getting in quicker than everyone else make sure you check out yesterdays post.

Let' s back up and remind you of my first secret.  That was checking school calendar.  I realized that California was still in school June 14-16, so therefore the park was not super full.

Everyone runs right for Tatsu and X-2.  If you are going more than one day, pick one day to go the other way first, because very, very few people go that way.

We were on the very first ride of the day on Goliath.  By the time we made our way around to Scream, we sat and rode it 3 times in a row.

If you are a wooden roller coaster fan don't miss The Terminator.  It's one of the best wooden roller coasters.  It is super fast and the seats are ultra cushy making the ride much more enjoyable.  Don't pass this one by.

Because we did run a lot in the morning and hit the opposite side that most people go to, we were able to get in 14 rides on the 2nd day.  We would even take breaks.  Remember that we always pack our snacks, so they are healthy and much more affordable, but we mostly do it because it's just healthier.  We had trail mix and jerky packed in our cargo shorts.  Also, like I said before, we would stop and get our FREE glass of water to have with our snack.

I do also need to mention that we did something we don't often do.  This was do to that fact, that even though I was running through park and riding coasters, I did have back surgery scheduled for the day after we got home.   We did need to take breaks on this trip.  We ended up hitting the park hard in the morning, then we left for a few hours of napping, eating and swimming, only to return to the park right before closing and hitting more rides.  Had we stayed that extra 4 hours we would have had nearly 20 rides that day.

So I guess to answer my question, do you really need a flash pass for Magic Mountain, I would have to say, if you timed it right, there is no reason.  If you HAVE to go in the middle of summer and have the money to spend I would probably get one just so you can really enjoy the park. Read for restrictions before purchasing though.

Tomorrow I am going to post about the Hotel we stayed at and places we ate.

This is linked to Works for Me Wednesday

The memories we have created are priceless.  We started when my son was in 1st grade and last year, as a 7th grader was the first year we missed a coaster vacation.

It's my fault. It's not a money thing, it's a back thing, like I need back surgery.

Three years ago we went to Cedar Point Ohio and I accidentally mixed 2 pain drugs and passed out while waiting in line.   Super, super embarrassing.

Me After I Passed Out

Two years ago I managed my drugs better and did fine, but last year I couldn't even walk the park and this year it's finally surgery time.

Biggest bummer?  Our kids still love doing that vacation with us and our time with them is running out.  It kills me.  But in honor of Mother's Day and my favorite vacations with my kids, I give you:

Through the Years

Great America '03

Disneyland '04

Great America '05

Six Flags Valencia '05

Magic Mountain '06

Great America '06

Cedar Point '07 - Maverick

Great America '08

Great America '08

Cedar Point '08 - Top Thrill Dragster

Kings Island '08

That's right 5Minutes for Mom is having an Ultimate Blog Party and I want to go and I want you to go too.  Jump over and see all the sites written by Mom's and Dad's and share the love. While you are there get in on the prizes being given away too.

The truth about us is, we are a Roller Coaster family.  If we could choose the ultimate vacation every year, that would be what we would choose.  We have been to lots of parks, not all of them, but plenty of big ones and we always have our eyes on the next one.

We do like to take the time to hit the beaches and enjoy a relaxing vacation too. The deals we find are usually pretty great and we share all those along the way.

Need to do more staycations?  We do those too and I try and include ideas from all different locations, not just our own beautiful Oregon.

And in case you are wondering…Yes, we did take the picture that is my blog header.

So sit back, and enjoy the ride.  Once you are done head over to the party and find more sites to visit.

First off we stayed at the Peppermill.  This motel is not on the strip but is a huge casino resort all it's own.  The place was beautiful as were all the rooms and the lounges and the restaurants.  We had gone online and booked a room in the Peppermill Tower.  We wanted something in the Tuscany Tower, but it was much more expensive.  Well on the way down we decided that since 2 of us were having issues and needed lots of rest we should upgrade at least one of the rooms so we had a nice comfortable place to hang out if we needed.  When we got to the motel we pursued that option and found that the upgrade to the Tuscany Towers at the desk was significantly less than what we had found online.  And because we were in the Tuscany Towers we also got a Passport book to use throughout our stay.  It's a book with coupons it, and every time you use a coupon you get a stamp and the stamps equal free money to play at the slots.  The coupons were buy 1 get one free for meals. In the end we saved money on restaurants that we would have eaten at anyways and we earned $80 in free slots.   So the upgrade overall was well worth it.  We were glad we had made that decision and we loved our rooms.

Now I have to find some good eats.  Oh, I forgot to mention on the Pioneer Center for Performing Arts you will see a link to Wild River Grille Dinner Offer.  Check that out.

I have been online trying to find comedy clubs decent hotels and shows.  The hotel that we have booked is the Peppermill .  We checked the pictures out online and it looks pretty good.  We had heard that the other ones on the strip were very old..years ago, so we didn't want to go there, so we shopped around and found this one.  So I will be reporting back on that one.

And as always I will be looking for some great places to eat that are not chain restaurants.  We don't need to go over that issue again about how I don't do chain restaurants. We will just leave it at that.  Now I am off to search.

The all inclusives are like being on a cruise ship, if you are familiar with that.  You order an appetizer, soup or salad and an entree.  Then you can end with dessert.  If you get something you don't like you can order another thing.  So it's great you get to try a lot of things.  The one dissappointing thing is that we were there for 8 days and the menus never changed at the restaurants and they never had specials.  The La Cascada had a menu you could order off of, but they also had tacos and quesadilla that you could go up and have made at the counter.  We never tire of Mexican food so that was always great to fall back on.

We tipped on occassion.  I was under the understanding that it was all included and you could choose to tip if you wanted.  We tipped a few of our favorite waiters the day we left and gave them a big Thank You.

The other thing that you need to know is that for all dinners, except the buffet, you have to make reservations.  We had the choice of about 5 different restaurants.  One night we waited to long and were able to get into the restaurant that we wanted.  But we also found that we could make reservations for the following nights at the same time so we didn't have to think about it the next day.

When traveling around Mazatlan it's the same as traveling around anywhere else in Mexico, work a deal with taxis.  My son, who loves to barter, really liked all that you could do in Mexico.  We had told the kids get into a taxi, but if it was too much just get back out.  We got out of a few before the guy would give us the deal we wanted.  One time the guy wanted to charge us 120 pesos and we already knew ahead of time it should cost more than 60-80, and we ended up talking him down to 80.  So be willing to walk, there are always more taxis. I tell you, there is a lot of traffic in Mazatlan!!

We were exchanging our money for pesos at the Motel and getting 12 to 1.  Which was great.  We found that out on the streets in the little shops you could do a little better, it was 12.3 to 1.  The other thing is they will take American money but they do a 10 to 1 exchange rate, so if you have your pesos ready you can get a better deal by paying with them after you have talked American money.

Our room was fine.  There are pictures on the web that make it look much more luxurious that it really was.  But it was fine for us.  We chose the most inexpensive room you could purchase and we were very pleased.  We had a view out of our room that was spectacular.

There are 3 pools at the El Cid.  We didn't find the 3rd pool until 2 days in.  We were pretty sure there was a hot tub, and we knew it was in the 3rd pool, but we couldn't locate it.  The nice thing is many people can't locate it so it was very quite.  There was always a seat to be had at this pool.  Plus there were some amazing rocks with waterfalls that you could climb up and and jump off of.  And we did that often.

This was all inclusive and that meant all our meals and all drinks.  We went expecting the food to be marginal and that is about what it was.  I consider myself a foodie.  I like good food and I like gourmet food and I really enjoy cooking.  But when I choose all inclusives I lower my expectations and I realize that this is vacation and I don't have to cook or shop or think about it, so it's all good to me.  The other positive thing about food that is good instead of fabulous is that you never overeat.

There were quite a few places that we were able to eat at.  We did most of our breakfasts at La Cascada.  It was a sit down and we found what we liked there, and it had the best coffee.  We went to El Patio one day, the service was not so good and they didn't have coffee, but ran across the street to get some, so it was a long time coming and when it was gone it was gone.  There is always the buffet.  It was fine.  I went to the very back and got an omelet both times.

For lunch we did the outdoor buffet by the beach.  It was easy and again pretty good.  We ate all kinds of tacos most days.  They often were grilling food right there and that was always good.  There was also a snack place in the bar area that had hamburgers, hot dogs and quesadilla.

Dinner wasn't so good.  We went to La Cascada a few times.  I think it was the best.  The Italian restaurant was not good both times we went, and we tried El Patio once and didn't like the selection their either.  I will say it again though, we found things we could eat that we fill us up and we always had the dinner buffet that we could go to just in case we were still hungry.  But because of the selections, we never over ate.  That's a good thing.

So my final opinion would be this.  If you are looking for sunshine and a fun get away at an affordable price I would recommend this place.  We did have an awesome vacation.  If you can afford more there are definitely better places to choose from.  We probably won't go back simply because I am not a huge fan of Mazatlan.

The trip was all inclusive and even included our transfers from the airport to the motel.  We ended up in a taxi going to the motel.  The El Cid was a long was away from the airport.  It took us about 30 minutes to get there.  You really got to see all parts of Mazatlan that way.  All the way from everyday life to the touristy section. When we left the motel they took us in a shuttle van.

We made partial payment when we booked back in March and we made the final payment in November right before we left.  So it was nice that it was broken up and easily paid for over time.

If you go through the El Cid web site and book the same thing we just did it would cost you $2914 for 7 nights.  With Vacations to Go we spent $2139.