In April, we took our first big trip of the year, flying out to California to experience some of the amazing parks in that state, along with a few notable coasters in Las Vegas.

First up was Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, a park with a less than stellar reputation in the coaster community. While it certainly has its flaws, I really enjoyed my visit, especially my rides on The Joker and Medusa. The Joker is an excellent RMC coaster that packs a lot of excitement into a relatively small area, and I love the purple and green color scheme. Medusa was one of the better floorless coasters I’ve ever been on. I would have liked to have gotten in more than one ride on it, but we only had a few hours there, and I opted to focus on Joker. I should also give an honorable mention to Superman: Ultimate Flight, the park’s Sky Rocket II. This ride may be cloned all over the place, but I enjoyed the light theming, and this was my first time riding one that only had a lap bar, which definitely adds to the thrill. Sadly, Flash: Vertical Velocity was in the middle of an extended closure during our visit, but hopefully I’ll make it back out to the west coast in a few years and be able to experience it then.