kenny cook
Mega Poster
Hello everyone! I’ve compiled an in-depth review of all the major rides & attractions I visited during my visit to the Orange County Fair! All the rides are ranked in order of my favorite to my least favorite, but incase you're not into reading everything, I've attached TL;DRs at the top of each mini-section for your convenience. Enjoy!
COASTERS:
TL;DR- Fun coasters, nothing earth shattering, but pleasantly surprising
Galaxy (2x)- Galaxy was my personal favorite coaster of the day, providing some fun drops, nice airtime, and overall a very spunky ride experience! Having never ridden a Galaxi model previously, I was pleasantly surprised with the ejector airtime found in the ride’s back row. In addition, there were a couple other moments of airtime to be found throughout the attraction which made for a fun, family oriented ride. Nothing earth shattering, however, a great addition to the fair!
Crazy Mouse (2x)- Of all the traveling I’ve done, I’ve surprisingly never done a spinning ‘wild mouse’ coaster, so this was certainly a treat! The ride was pretty smooth and had a couple fun drops thrown into the mix, however, excessive trimming killed a lot of the spinning aspect. Truly a shame because I was seriously looking forward to this. Not a bad ride by any means, however, I think the lack of spinning (something I was really looking forward to) dampered my overall opinion.
Wacky Worm (1x)- And the surprise coaster of the day goes to Wacky Worm! I did not get the chance to see the ride run beforehand, so it was quite the surprise! The ride ran much faster than I expected (and faster than any other Worm’s I found out there) and was glossy smooth. No joke, I think it was the smoothest coaster I’ve ever ridden, literally like gliding on ice.
Little Dipper Roller Coaster (1x)- Eh, you get what you expect. A notch up from a Go Gator solely because it’s definitely a credit, but outside that it’s an average kiddie coaster.
DARK RIDES:
TL;DR- God awfully cheesy, but still pretty fun with some quirky moments
Creep Show (1x)- This was the park’s 2 story haunted dark ride and quite possibly the weirdest attraction I’ve done. You begin a completely unnecessary yet laughably fun spiral lift followed by a balcony which leads to a downhill slope with broken effects. After that, you wind through a couple pitch black halls with some working effects, some broken ones, and then just as fast as it started, it’s over. The whole experience is quite bizarre, yet oddly fun, yet kind of garbage. I highly recommend you watch a POV of it online or go ride it as it’s simply whack
Haunted Mansion (1x)- Definitely the statistically stronger of the two haunted attractions! While it didn’t have any elevation changes (something that made Creep Show all the more quirky), all the effects appeared to be working and well maintained. A few of the jumpscares, especially the prisoner rattling the cage were extremely effective, and the attraction was in really good shape. Much less spunky & much more “professional” (if you could say) than Creep Show, but still plenty cheesy!
FLATS:
TL;DR- Wide variety of rides, each with their own unique personalities. Lots of emphasis was placed on inversion based flats, which made the few flats with airtime incredibly refreshing.
Konga (1x)- The surprise hit of the day! I actually didn’t get a chance to watch a cycle of the ride since I walked up right as they were boarding, so the ride’s intensity took me by surprise. Tons of great ejector airtime & my personal favorite flat ride at the fair!
Zipper (1x)- HOLY. GUACAMOLE. Contrary to popular belief, Zipper flats are a rare sighting in California, so when I saw it, I knew I absolutely had to get on it. To say it was the most intense flat ride I’ve ever ridden would be an understatement, I would be more apt to describe it as a washing machine simulation. By the end of the attraction, we were doing backflip after backflip and being thrown about in the padded cage and it was absolute madness.
Titan (1x)- While I went into this year’s fair with very little knowledge of the rides, the one thing I knew I had to do was Titan. Walking up to the ride was honestly a little nerve wracking as when you’re standing under it it looks absolutely massive, and at 170 feet tall, it is. That height is really the ride’s main advantage, as you not only get 170ft tall inversions, but a crazy amount of speed. It’s a blast of a ride, however, not nearly as scary as it looks, still fun though!
Euroslide (2x)- It may look like nothing, but this slide is seriously fun! Not only does it really get hauling towards the end, but there’s even some simulated floater air (when it feels like you’re floating but you haven’t actually gotten off the slide). Great family ride!
SkyFlyer (1x)- SkyFlyer, while extremely short, is a staple at any fair, so I was glad to see it make an appearance! Sadly, it ran an extremely short ride cycle, which was a bit of a disappointment, but still a solid attraction.
Wild River (1x)- To put it simply, you will get soaked. Due to the fact that there was no line, I didn’t get the chance to see any of the boats in action, however, be warned that you will get drenched. Outside of that, it’s a decent little flume, with the big drop being pretty decent for such a small ride!
Cliff Hanger (1x)- As a fan of Linus Launcher at Knotts, I was very excited to see a larger version of it at the fair! In all honesty, there really isn’t anything to write about it. It doesn’t have incredible speeds, crushing g-forces, insane airtime, nothing. It’s just an honest to goodness family friendly fair ride, nothing more, nothing less.
OMG! (1x)- Went into this ride not really knowing what to expect and have to say it was insane, but not in a good way. It had a weird balance of calm, followed by insane thrashing about with headbanging. Personally, I’d rather watch the ride then ride it, but that’s just my opinion
Disko (1x)- Blah. After being spoiled with Tiki Twirl at California’s Great America, this one just doesn’t feel that special anymore. It was tolerably smooth and had some moderate intensity, however, it just felt lacking. I’m sure if you haven’t done an extended Disko you’ll really enjoy it, just doesn’t happen to be my taste
Endeavour (1x)- Absolutely awful. I’m not quite sure what it was about this ride, but I got an awful bout of motion sickness from it. There definitely were some much more intense attractions at the fair that didn’t give me an issue, so I’m not sure, but I really disliked this one.
OTHER ATTRACTIONS:
TL;DR- It’s short, just read it
Skyride (2x)- Skyride is in a unique position where it technically isn’t an attraction, however, it’s pretty solid, so I thought I should mention it. The fairgrounds are absolutely huge, so Skyride is a great way to get off your feet for a couple minutes and hitch a ride to the other side of the fair
Fun Houses/Mirror Mazes (6x)- Over our trip to the OC Fair, we did a total of 6 mirror mazes and fun houses. 5 of them were relatively indifferent from the next, however, there was one that truly shined was Fun Factory. It was almost 4 stories tall and jam packed with phenomenally fun things to do, absolutely loved it, and while the rest were skippable, I’m extremely glad I did that.
FINALE:
To finish, there’s really nothing like the Orange County Fair. It’s one of the largest fairs in the country and has arguably one of the best collections of fairground rides out there. I highly recommend that you come on down and experience it for yourself! The best piece of advice I can offer is to go on a day where they offer an unlimited ride wristband, as for $35, you simply can’t beat getting 4 credits and experiencing some crazy flats. Pair that with all the funky foods, art stations, animal shows, and everything else the fair has to offer and you have summed up a truly phenomenal day. Onto the photos!
COASTERS:
TL;DR- Fun coasters, nothing earth shattering, but pleasantly surprising
Galaxy (2x)- Galaxy was my personal favorite coaster of the day, providing some fun drops, nice airtime, and overall a very spunky ride experience! Having never ridden a Galaxi model previously, I was pleasantly surprised with the ejector airtime found in the ride’s back row. In addition, there were a couple other moments of airtime to be found throughout the attraction which made for a fun, family oriented ride. Nothing earth shattering, however, a great addition to the fair!
Crazy Mouse (2x)- Of all the traveling I’ve done, I’ve surprisingly never done a spinning ‘wild mouse’ coaster, so this was certainly a treat! The ride was pretty smooth and had a couple fun drops thrown into the mix, however, excessive trimming killed a lot of the spinning aspect. Truly a shame because I was seriously looking forward to this. Not a bad ride by any means, however, I think the lack of spinning (something I was really looking forward to) dampered my overall opinion.
Wacky Worm (1x)- And the surprise coaster of the day goes to Wacky Worm! I did not get the chance to see the ride run beforehand, so it was quite the surprise! The ride ran much faster than I expected (and faster than any other Worm’s I found out there) and was glossy smooth. No joke, I think it was the smoothest coaster I’ve ever ridden, literally like gliding on ice.
Little Dipper Roller Coaster (1x)- Eh, you get what you expect. A notch up from a Go Gator solely because it’s definitely a credit, but outside that it’s an average kiddie coaster.
DARK RIDES:
TL;DR- God awfully cheesy, but still pretty fun with some quirky moments
Creep Show (1x)- This was the park’s 2 story haunted dark ride and quite possibly the weirdest attraction I’ve done. You begin a completely unnecessary yet laughably fun spiral lift followed by a balcony which leads to a downhill slope with broken effects. After that, you wind through a couple pitch black halls with some working effects, some broken ones, and then just as fast as it started, it’s over. The whole experience is quite bizarre, yet oddly fun, yet kind of garbage. I highly recommend you watch a POV of it online or go ride it as it’s simply whack
Haunted Mansion (1x)- Definitely the statistically stronger of the two haunted attractions! While it didn’t have any elevation changes (something that made Creep Show all the more quirky), all the effects appeared to be working and well maintained. A few of the jumpscares, especially the prisoner rattling the cage were extremely effective, and the attraction was in really good shape. Much less spunky & much more “professional” (if you could say) than Creep Show, but still plenty cheesy!
FLATS:
TL;DR- Wide variety of rides, each with their own unique personalities. Lots of emphasis was placed on inversion based flats, which made the few flats with airtime incredibly refreshing.
Konga (1x)- The surprise hit of the day! I actually didn’t get a chance to watch a cycle of the ride since I walked up right as they were boarding, so the ride’s intensity took me by surprise. Tons of great ejector airtime & my personal favorite flat ride at the fair!
Zipper (1x)- HOLY. GUACAMOLE. Contrary to popular belief, Zipper flats are a rare sighting in California, so when I saw it, I knew I absolutely had to get on it. To say it was the most intense flat ride I’ve ever ridden would be an understatement, I would be more apt to describe it as a washing machine simulation. By the end of the attraction, we were doing backflip after backflip and being thrown about in the padded cage and it was absolute madness.
Titan (1x)- While I went into this year’s fair with very little knowledge of the rides, the one thing I knew I had to do was Titan. Walking up to the ride was honestly a little nerve wracking as when you’re standing under it it looks absolutely massive, and at 170 feet tall, it is. That height is really the ride’s main advantage, as you not only get 170ft tall inversions, but a crazy amount of speed. It’s a blast of a ride, however, not nearly as scary as it looks, still fun though!
Euroslide (2x)- It may look like nothing, but this slide is seriously fun! Not only does it really get hauling towards the end, but there’s even some simulated floater air (when it feels like you’re floating but you haven’t actually gotten off the slide). Great family ride!
SkyFlyer (1x)- SkyFlyer, while extremely short, is a staple at any fair, so I was glad to see it make an appearance! Sadly, it ran an extremely short ride cycle, which was a bit of a disappointment, but still a solid attraction.
Wild River (1x)- To put it simply, you will get soaked. Due to the fact that there was no line, I didn’t get the chance to see any of the boats in action, however, be warned that you will get drenched. Outside of that, it’s a decent little flume, with the big drop being pretty decent for such a small ride!
Cliff Hanger (1x)- As a fan of Linus Launcher at Knotts, I was very excited to see a larger version of it at the fair! In all honesty, there really isn’t anything to write about it. It doesn’t have incredible speeds, crushing g-forces, insane airtime, nothing. It’s just an honest to goodness family friendly fair ride, nothing more, nothing less.
OMG! (1x)- Went into this ride not really knowing what to expect and have to say it was insane, but not in a good way. It had a weird balance of calm, followed by insane thrashing about with headbanging. Personally, I’d rather watch the ride then ride it, but that’s just my opinion
Disko (1x)- Blah. After being spoiled with Tiki Twirl at California’s Great America, this one just doesn’t feel that special anymore. It was tolerably smooth and had some moderate intensity, however, it just felt lacking. I’m sure if you haven’t done an extended Disko you’ll really enjoy it, just doesn’t happen to be my taste
Endeavour (1x)- Absolutely awful. I’m not quite sure what it was about this ride, but I got an awful bout of motion sickness from it. There definitely were some much more intense attractions at the fair that didn’t give me an issue, so I’m not sure, but I really disliked this one.
OTHER ATTRACTIONS:
TL;DR- It’s short, just read it
Skyride (2x)- Skyride is in a unique position where it technically isn’t an attraction, however, it’s pretty solid, so I thought I should mention it. The fairgrounds are absolutely huge, so Skyride is a great way to get off your feet for a couple minutes and hitch a ride to the other side of the fair
Fun Houses/Mirror Mazes (6x)- Over our trip to the OC Fair, we did a total of 6 mirror mazes and fun houses. 5 of them were relatively indifferent from the next, however, there was one that truly shined was Fun Factory. It was almost 4 stories tall and jam packed with phenomenally fun things to do, absolutely loved it, and while the rest were skippable, I’m extremely glad I did that.
FINALE:
To finish, there’s really nothing like the Orange County Fair. It’s one of the largest fairs in the country and has arguably one of the best collections of fairground rides out there. I highly recommend that you come on down and experience it for yourself! The best piece of advice I can offer is to go on a day where they offer an unlimited ride wristband, as for $35, you simply can’t beat getting 4 credits and experiencing some crazy flats. Pair that with all the funky foods, art stations, animal shows, and everything else the fair has to offer and you have summed up a truly phenomenal day. Onto the photos!
