CCCK — Teotihuacán + La Feria Chapultepec Mágico Preview — ACE South of the Border

 

Alexander: ¡Hola! I hope everyone had a great Cinco de Mayo!

Not ready for the Mexican merriment to end? You’ve come to the right place!

 

 

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Before we ride any roller coasters today, we’re going to take in some serious Mexican culture!

We are in the ruins of Teotehuacán; a city dating back to 500BC. By 500AD it was the largest civilization in all what is now North and South America.

Here we stand on The Avenue of the Dead, facing north towards the Pyramid of the Moon.

South from the Pyramid of the Moon is the Pyramid of the Sun — the 3rd largest pyramid in the world.

The Pyramid of the Sun is 760ft wide, 216ft tall, and absolutely crawling with vendors trying to hustle tourists with obsidian tchotchkes and tacky jewelry.

A climb to the top of the Sun Pyramid is ambitious but rewarding.

Here you can see the smaller Moon Pyramid in relation to the Sun Pyramid. Many ACErs managed to conquer both landmarks.

The best way to capture the view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun is to take a panorama, of course. You can always click a photo on CCCK or CCK to view a larger version; in this case we insist.

It’s a great place to hang out for a while. Best air quality in the greater Mexico City region!

Obligatory pyramid selfie.

Hey! You can see our coaches from here!

The vendors really hound you as you finish your climb down the pyramid. I can appreciate an honest hustle, but these people are shamelessly unrelenting.

Time for lunch! Where are we eating…?

Would you believe we’re eating in this hole??

Behold! La Gruta Restaurant!

 Yes! located deep within this grotto of Teotihuacán is an amazing Mexican restaurant!

And as you can see, it seats quite a large number of guests!

ACE sat down to an amazing multi-course meal. We were waited on by an army of attentive servers.

The food was as good as the atmosphere.

FLAN <3

Also at La Gruta is a gift shop and playground.

HIDE YO KIDS, THE ACERS ARE HERE!

Back in the city proper, a lot of us explored the Ciudadela Market.

The market was established for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. It features over 300 different vendors selling all kinds of wares (both useful and useless).

There is a LOT of Frida Kahlo stuff here. I adore her, but I can’t help but wonder how she’d feel about being basically turned into the Mexican Marilyn Monroe.

You could fully furnish a house with all the kinds of things available here; everything from fine furniture to hand crafted bric-a-brac.

As much as I love this kind of stuff, They’re all more things that require a regular dusting.

Alright, you’ve waited long enough! It’s coaster time!

Our visit to La Feria Chapultepec Mágico with ACE isn’t for another two days, but with an evening to ourselves in the city (and with the park just a $3 taxi ride from the hotel) what better way is there to spend the rest of the day?

 The nine of us that came out to the park early all made a B-line for La Feria’s star Schwarzkopf looper, Quimera. I’ll go into further detail in the full La Féria update, but for now I’ll just say Quimera is probably the most aggressive roller coaster on earth that still manages to be enjoyable (depending on who you ask).

La Feria Chapultepec Mágico is the amusement park component of Mexico City’s Chapultepec Park (Grasshopper Park). It’s a beautiful park with a really remarkable collection of rides!

They have, not one, but TWO Schwarzkopf loopers: the aforementioned  Quimera, and Cascabel, shuttle loop.

La Feria’s signature ride, however, is the 1964 National Amusement Devices möbius loop wooden coaster, La Montaña Rusa.

The 53-year-old wooden coaster has had its ups and downs, but I’m pleased to report that it’s running about as well as it possibly can these days.

La Feria 4th coaster, the basic Raton Loco, is the only coaster at La Féria that wasn’t a catalyst for most ACErs to visit Mexico.

I don’t have a good picture of it, but this Junk-themed inverting ship ride has an identical counterpart at Selva Mágica. If you’re wondering if its a coincidence that both parks have a pair of Schwarzkopfs and identical looping ship rides, it’s not; La Feria and Selva are sister parks!

With less than two hours to work with, I managed two rides on Quimera, and a ride each on all other coasters (including both sides of La Montaña Rusa).

Although clearly designed to race, La Feria rarely runs both sides of Montaña Rusa, let alone race. The good news is that it’s still a great ride regardless.

 Gotta love all the color here in Mexico!

Goodnight, La Feria! We’ll be back for a full-day visit in two days!

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That wraps up our first day in Mexico City! Next on the docket is a day what was, for many ACErs, the last Six Flags park they had yet to visit: Six Flags Mexico! For now check out these new CCK and CCCK reports you don’t want to miss:

• Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Update – May 5th 2017

• Six Flags Magic Mountain Update – May 4th 2017

• CCCK – Selva Mágica – ACE South of the Border

• Knott’s Berry Farm and Soak City Update – May 2nd 2017

• Castle Park and Scandia Ontario Update

• CCCK – Parque Plaza Sesamo – ACE South of the Border

• CCCK – Bosque Mágico – ACE South of the Border

• Viper and Vekoma MK1212 Trains

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