Photo TR: Natatomic does the West Coast Trip

You really shouldnt worry about the spindly little diagonal "supports." Since they are really not supports at all, just bracing, and tension braces as that. (think of a rope) since they are crossed, one will always be in tension while the other bows out.

 

If you were talking about the vertical ones being spindly, then thats another story.

That coaster was horribly amazing! Seriously, I loved it except the horrible amounts of pain that I was experiencing.

 

Johns Incredible Pizza was just amazing! Come to think of it.. oh wait, I'll keep my mouth shut.

 

Awesome trip report as always. You can make me laugh when I'm having the worst day at work ever.

Nat is back! I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for your reports. You and Chuck win the awards for most entertaining reports on TPR. Thank you!

Nat, do me a favor and let me know when you're set to have a baby. I want to be sure to skip Scandia that day.

after a long day at the pool I'd get this really odd feeling in my lungs whenever I took a breath, and the deeper the breath, the more pronounced the feeling. It was like my lungs had turned to ice and with each breath it felt like the sides were starting to touch each other and stick or something (that's just what it felt like, I don't know what was actually happening), and if I took TOO deep of a breath, I'd go into this awful coughing fit.

 

this has happened to me before, twice. when i know that im at the very edge at what my body can physically do but i refuse to stop moving (for example one time on the last day of school ever, running around all the corridoors screaming, there was NO WAY i was being left behind!) unfortunatly i have no idea what it is ether, i had just put it down to being asthmatic...

 

nice TRs by the way!

Day 7, part 1 - Seaworld

 

(Wait, is it SeaWorld? Sea World? Or maybe SEA World, all anagram-style like EPCOT Center once was. Maybe for Super Exciting Animal World or Swimming Everywhere Adorably World or something? I dunno, I can never remember such details. ANYWAY!)

 

It started out innocently enough, this day. I woke up a bit lethargic with a hint of a sore throat that had been lingering for the previous few days, but by lunchtime I was feeling better, and so I was lured into the comforting delusion that my symptoms were simply due to exhaustion and all the coaster-induced screaming, respectively. Little did I know that by the end of that day, I would be dead. Yes, dead. Literally dead. Killed by lethal amounts of snot, general ickiness, and then more snot. No folks, it was not a pretty sight.

 

But don't let me get ahead of myself. That all won't happen until Part 2 of Day 7, so let's focus on the goodness that is Part 1. To sum up S e A w O R l D (there, solved that mystery), it went like this:

 

Atlantis was good, FL Shamu>CA Shamu>SFDK Shooka, and some guy working the Rapid's queue area where the Fastpass-thing (I forget the name of SW's version) lane and the regular lane merge was an jerk. I wish I could remember his name because I would SO type it on here for you all to read, and THAT WOULD TOTALLY SHOW HIM. Lesson would be learned, wouldn't it, buddy?

 

Georgio! That was his name.

 

Okay, no, it wasn't, but see the impact it would have had if I knew it and told you what it was? Then the whole of TPR would know some guy with the first name of "_____" was mean to us and WOW, talk about payback. I know...my cruelty knows no bounds sometimes. Makes you think twice about getting on my bad side doesn't it? ¬¬

And because all things should end so cute-ly, I give you this picture of an otter. Aww.

 

Next: Belmont Park

FLAMINGO!

I really don't know a good way to segue from a slightly religion-themed Rapids ride photos to a shot of a bunch of flamingos. I'm sure the word "flock" would be involved, but my brain is just not putting the pieces together tonight. Which also explains the next lack-luster caption:

But with that much water, no wonder he doubts.

After realizing that we're standing by the water canon things, Neil, who is saying "No, you wouldn't!" clearly does not have faith in the poncho he dons. Poor lost soul...

This and Atlantis were two of the very few water rides I rode on this trip (have I mentioned? The hair? It must never be dampened), thanks to the free ponchos SW so generously gave us!

"With ponchos, all water rides are possible." Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how that Bible verse goes.

Haha, and then he ate that woman's boob.

 

(Sorry, I'm a 12 year old boy)

Don't get me wrong, now - I don't care what you do in the privacy of your own million-gallon saltwater swimming pool at home, but do we all have to see it? For shame.

I didn't think this kind of stuff was legal, but then I remembered...

 

...California.

You know, it's a shame I didn't want to get my camera wet, because few things in this world are more delightful than being soaked by water from what I'm sure is a minty-fresh, non-fishy mouth of a whale.

And then a whale swam around and jumped a bit.

Followed by a brief Paul Reynolds impression done by Robbie the Polar Bear

Next was Sesame Street Live.

How do penguins drink their coke?

On the rocks! Yuk, yuk, yuk, yuk, yuk.

 

Oh, the quality of this TR is taking a nosedive.

Next, we went back to this, which finally opened. And it was a fine ride and all, but I never really thought much about how the boats got to the top of the first drop, and had I not seen the boat in front of us go up the indoor elevator lift, I would have been in for a mild but fun surprise, and I'm sad that it was spoiled for me. Eh, what can you do?

Belugas suffer from a condition known as "Cankle of the Neck." Very serious, very sad.

Actually, it was some Star-Tours-type ride that had a post-ride Expedition-Everest-Queue-esque walk-through area which then led to an arctic zoo.

 

Everyone still with me? If I were you, I'd have been gone by the 4th hyphen.

Expedition Everest.

 

Wait, no. Wrong park.

Atlantis wasn't quite open by the time we had walked to it (and I almost used some corny "Atlantis was still being discovered..." joke - hardy har har - so you're welcome that I decided to go the more straightforward & boring route than the embarrassingly stupid one), so we headed over to...

First we rode the SkyTower (Skytower? Sky Tower? Oh, here we go again...)

 

(And please allow me to make one of my notorious parenthetical asides to say that this was about the 28th ride in this overall trip report whose name I had to look up because I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called. And I feel awful - just AWFUL - for such a level of ignorance. I mean, what kind of enthusiast am I? Because *SkyTower*? REALLY? Aside from the obviousness of the name, aren't all tower-type rides that slowly ascend sky-wards called SkyTower? How on earth was this one of the names that alluded me?)

On a completely unrelated note, now that I'm stuck using my desktop computer, I notice that all my photos appear significantly darker on here than they did on my laptop. I have no idea which computer has the "correct" settings, so let me just apologize if my pictures always seem shadow-heavy on your monitor.

Yay! You are the master of captions!!!

Pure Comedic Genius!!! (And good photos too!)

Terrific shots as always and thank you for the rapids pics too. This has made the day a bit brighter.

That pretty much explains our relationship Nat.

 

Me: No, Please don't abuse me with your love.

Natalie: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA (*SPLOOOSH*)

Now, as I have done in the past, I must change my pants/underwear, which are filled with pee pee, from all the lol'ing I have done. Thank you, thank you so much.

Great update Natalie. Very funny as always.

 

And don't worry, when posting my WCT TR, I mostly had rcdb.com open on another tabsheet to look up the coasternames because I also couldn't remember most names.

I hate getting my hair wet! It gets all tangled and matted.

 

I love your PTR's so much. I thank you profoundly.

^Mine gets so frizzy that it starts to resemble Carrot Top's poofy mess of hair. Only not ginger.

 

And I thank you all for your kind comments too! Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Love the captions. Always a treat reading your trip reports.

^Mine gets so frizzy that it starts to resemble Carrot Top's poofy mess of hair. Only not ginger.

 

And I thank you all for your kind comments too! Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

So you're "frizzy" and "fuzzy"?

Day 7, part 2: Belmont

 

This will be a relatively "caption-lite" update as most of the pictures are of people on the Flowrider, and there's only so many ways I can say, "He looks funny surfing, ha ha ha," but that's okay. Many of the photos speak for themselves anyway.

 

I enjoyed this quaint beach-side amusement park, especially since I had been craving Mexican for the entire trip and that was what was on the menu that night (ahh, miracles), but I only got to ride the coaster once - on a dreaded axle seat that nearly broke my boobs clean off my body - because by the time ERT had rolled around, I was sick, emphasis on the ICK. Just a few short hours after Flowriding, whatever sickness was festering within had completely overpowered me, and I spent the rest of the night all by my lonesome shivering in a fetal position on a cabana cushion which doubled as my personal Kleenex (shhh, don't tell Belmont). I vaguely remember Robb coming by and taking a picture of me in this death-state. I bet it's hot.

 

And that's the story of how I missed the epic roller coaster/glowstick ERT. Thanks a lot, immune system.

 

As for the flowrider, right as I was getting ready for my first go, the female lifeguard warned me that my boobs were pretty much guaranteed to fall out. Huh. Did not think of that. Here I was focused on how I was going glasses-less and wouldn't be able to see a single thing (I'm near sighted, but I still can't read a book without glasses unless it's within four inches of my face), and now I have to worry about flashing the ALMOST ENTIRELY MALE group I was with. Sure, half of them weren't really into boobs (ahem), but that really doesn't matter when your privates go public. And while I don't know if anyone ever DID get an eyeful, the girls definitely DID pop out a time or two, but I think the water covered up most of their peep shows. Lord, I hope so, anyway.

 

So ladies - all three of you on this board - BE YE NOT AS STUPID. Wear a t-shirt. And, I dunno, a chastity belt. Something that WILL NOT BUDGE.

Then I died by Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. Or Squid. Or whatever. Just trying to make the reference work here.

 

But that does end this update. It was nothing but snot and chills and moaning for the remaining three hours after this picture was taken. You really don't want me to post photos of that.

 

Up next: Legoland.

Which is just as fancy as the real golf, I say.

And then we played a round of glow-in-the-dark mini-golf.

Here's a couple of night shots for you.

In true TPR fashion, we all celebrated a Flow well Rided by drinking to our hearts' content.

This - THIS - is the only picture I took of the food. Yep. Some napkins and plastic utensils. I really know how to capture the important things, don't I?

But then I stole this photo from Ben, so I could show you what a mess my hair is.

 

Wait, no, so I could show you that yay! I did it!

This was actually pretty difficult. I hadn't even let go of the rope before falling.

Honestly, the whole event was one big battle of Water vs. Suit, and Water was kicking some serious @$$.

I decide that catching the board on its return trip is a lot less important than the fact that HOLY CRAP MY NIPPLES FEEL A BREEZE.

 

Lesson learned.

Well, almost...

 

I decided to try the trick too, and I'm sure I don't even need to TELL you what a giant mistake that was. After all, the only thing separating me from the GUSHING water was that board. So what happens when I push away that lone barrier while in the CHEST-FIRST POSITION?

And he did it! Needed to pull his trunks up though, but still! Success!

Neil tried this trick where you push the board away from you, let the water push it back, and then continue riding as though you never parted. Sounds easy enough.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

 

(So was being not naked)

 

Seriously, every time I fell off the board, the top of my top would come down, the bottom of my top would hike up, and my bottoms would nearly fall off, and I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO SAVE FIRST. I thought I knew what panic was, until that day...

Ta daaaaaa!

 

And my gay boyfriend is so proud of me!

Alright...not too bad, not too bad...

Let's see how good I am at this...

My group was up next, so all pictures of flowriding from here on out were taken by Robbie.

Though I think Tyler would like to show us how something ELSE is done.

 

O.O

At least someone knows how it's done.

As did Tyler, but he tweaked the technique by using his nipples as his balancing point(s)

Mike utilizes the Shamu pose

Eh, A for Effort, anyway.

Elissa does a good job at showing the boys up.

Ben reminds me of those naked people who wear barrels on suspenders.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

This is the picture I look at when I need a good cheering up.

Robby? Not so much.

Tyler likes anything that gets him wet.

...kinda

Josh gives us an impressive start...

The first group to Flowride.

 

(FYI, incest in compulsory in Alabama)

And this is the last coaster-related photo of this update.

I don't remember the story of what was happening here, but honestly, this is the position men are often in when I'm around.

 

I'm kinda feisty.

For being a clone of the EXCELLENT coaster we rode at SCBB, this one pretty much sucked. But again, I never rode on a non-axle seat, so I probably can't judge it accurately.

I haven't been to Belmont Park in ages. Need to go back.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Eric

This is the most amazing photo of Dave Fudge ever taken:

 

 

Thank you for sharing it with us!

 

Loving the TR, Natalie! I'm really looking forward to the Legoland update!

 

Then I died by Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. Or Squid. Or whatever. Just trying to make the reference work here.

 

This made me happy. And it's totally the Mega Shark. Though Mr. Squid in the background there has clearly been sent by his nemesis, Giant Octopus, to aid in shark destruction. I smell a sequel!!!

 

 

This only begins to illustrate the epic amount of alcohol consumed at this table. And I'm pretty sure this is right before we all started playing "Never Have I Ever", which was even more epic. This was the single greatest day on any TPR trip EVER.

 

This report rocks. Looking forward to the next installment...

 

dt

^ Dave shows his wisdom once again, by drinking Fat Tire, and not Corona.

 

^Yes, Dave is very wise.

 

Sorry to hear that you were so ill in San Diego. I also have a knack for picking up stray cold viruses on TPR trips. The Flowrider looks like fun, although I'd probably end up in traction after attempting it.

^ Dave shows his wisdom once again, by drinking Fat Tire, and not Corona.

 

 

I had never had Fat Tire before the West Coast trip. It rules.

 

As does having it at our "open bar time" at both SCBB and Belmont!

 

dt

^ thats likely not a knack, that what happens when lots of people from different places get together and bring different strains of colds and flu with them, that they might themselves be immune to. you should of seen how many people got ill at the start of university!

 

Nice photos by the way!

 

 

that shot is particulary epic!

Wow, the thing I am most impressed about is that you actually got some flattering pictures of people on the FlowRider. Usually it's super easy to get terrible falling and grunting type pix, but you actually got some people having fun! Love it!

 

And I love this one of me! Although you can already see my knee was like raw from falling on it!