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Would it have been that hard to have a train run each direction so the rider could choose? Oh I forgot Texas took away the right to choose. Dang. So much for freedom.

Hey guys...good to see you here. I am back after a hiatus as well. Just trying to reassemble my life is all. lol Excited to hear about the new coaster - looks like it should be a lot of fun!

Scram-BLUR ...... ha! Like that name. Great TRs, both old and new.

Oh wow, this was unexpected! Glad you loved Discovery Cove. Journey to Atlantis is something else, isn't it? Man Sea World is fantastic.

Hey man! Yeah, I hear you. These last couple years have been rough on everybody. We need to catch up.

And as an addendum to Bert's pics.....that was the youngest (though not shortest) of the group riding in the back of Woodstock Express, but everyone in the pic was over 18 and I don't believe that was ert at Coasterstock, I think it was just after regular open. Also, the Whirlybirds are legit because that is a genuine, bona fide smile on a normally expressionless "too cool to smile" 19 year old. Of course it occurred when Mom was not in the vicinity

After two days at Seaworld we decided to spend our Sunday evening hanging out at the hotel and hit the pool. Sunset over Orlando. I can tell you we had a bite and some drinks at the hotel's poolside bar/restaurant. I couldn't tell you what we ate or what was in these drinks if you paid me. Orange crush maybe? We had a long day planned for Monday, so we retired to bed early so we could get some rest ahead of our much-anticipated first visit to... Discovery Cove! There's lots of great things I can tell you about Discovery Cove but the most important thing you need to know is that your entrance fee includes all-you-can-eat food and drinks all day. This was a very early breakfast. Not pictured: a huge lunch and endless snacks all day. And yes booze is included. You do have to pay for a "premium" drink package to all get all kinds of goodies but if you're content with basic-ass beer all day, drink as much as you want. (In 2021 we visited again and they were now including hard seltzers with the basic-ass-free-beers). And the food is decent. And there is lots of it. Just eat it all. The thing with DC is you're in a wetsuit all day and so you do things like stick your phone in a locker and don't look at it all day long and also don't take any pictures because you're busy living your best life at Discovery Cove. Doing things like swimming with dolphins. And the lazy river. Did I mention the lazy river? It's fu*king phenomenal. We spent hours in it. Nevertheless, we did manage a few photos of us swimming with the dolphins. This is a super cool, amazing experience but for us was a one-and-done. While we were super stoked to come back to DC in 2021, we were content to not swim with the dolphins again. P.S. the water in the dolphin lagoon is cold. Like f*cking holy sh*tballs freezing cold. You have been warned. This is the only other photo of anything at DC, taken as we were leaving. We absolutely love this park so much and will go here every single time we are in Orlando for the rest of our lives. Thinking about visiting? Just do it. Worth every penny. We stopped back at the hotel for showers and headed out on the town. No Orlando trip would be complete without a visit to Fun Spot Orlando. We love this park, probably more than we should. Sure, there's never anyone here when we visit and they're generally incredibly understaffed. But they have Fun Spot punch. Lots of bright and humorously named flats. And Freedom Flyer! We love Freedom Flyer. And probably the jankiest Screamin' Swing I've ever been on. And White Lightning! This ride is criminally underrated, imo. I've always ranked this humble, mid-tier GCI way higher than I should. In 2021 I finally got to ride in the back of a fully loaded train and holy crap. We waited zero minutes for a spin on the parks nice Ferris Wheel. And the hit up each of the parks phenomenal go-karts; our fave is Conquest. We ended the night with a dozen+ zen-rides on White Lightning and Freedom Flyer and closed out an empty park. And that was a wrap for Monday. Low on photos but high on fun, dolphin swims and endless beers. We still had one more (half)day before this trip was to end, more to come...

Holy f*ck, we're back! I'm trying to clean old photos off my phone and in doing so realized I never finished this b-day Seaworld blowout report. I'm not gonna type too much I don't think, so enjoy some photos. Honestly, this weekend is pretty fuzzy three+ years later. On Sunday we got up and headed back to the park to get a lanyard for the Gurgles and Grub fest the park was doing. After picking up our lanyards (our BGW platinum passes got us a nice discount) we stopped at Flamecraft or whatever its called for a morning cocktail. Lots of beers to choose from. So let's just get Bloody Mary's instead. These were really good (for a theme park). We stopped for a ride on Journey To Atlantis. And popped in the aquarium underneath the ride. This is a very good ride. And so is this! Let's have a ride on Manta before we start filling our bellies with various eats and libations? Manta is my favorite flying coaster. Some in-park entertainment... Fish tacos! Seaworld is gorgeous park and a huge reason we love it so much. Adult german-choco-cake-shake! Bananas foster waffle cone w/ caramel. Infinity Falls was pretty new but we were warned not to ride unless we had a change of footwear. We'd come back later this weekend better prepared. Great looking ride. Right behind the ride is a (then-new) food hall with some craft beers... and wines. How about a lap on Mako after a beer? Impossible slider! I have yet to go to SWO when the sky tower is operational. Boozy Orange Creamsicles And another lap on Manta. Bacon & cheddar hush puppies with this amazing freakin butter Turtles! Key lime fritters and some booze juice One more lap on Manta before heading out. We had two more days in Orlando after this. I'll try to post the rest of the pictures soon.

We had a great time in Branson this week. It was my two-year-old's first road trip, and our four hour trek (5 hours with a kid) wasn't bad. We went to SDC Tuesday. Rides: Flooded mine x2. (Her first dark ride.) Train. Carousel. The one at SFSTL is often closed, even more than Boomerang and Xcaliber, so despite her 5 or so carousels, she never gets to ride that one. This one was great, because it had smaller horses, too. Huck Fin's splash battle or whatever it is. We never ride these. Ever. The dads were cool about only spraying my wife and I, while saying, "Not the daughter! Dad only!" After shieling her, and getting constantly blasted in the face, I got a "Thanks for taking one for the team, Dad!" She loved it, so it was worth it. I've never been more soaked at a park. Fireman's landing was cool. We rode the fire dog's twice, which my daughter loved. Whatever drop/bounce tower thing we rode was a little too intense for her. It was "ok, all done?" by about our third bounce. I'm actually surprised this is a ride for kids under 36", accompanied by an adult. (We're at 34" now.) Aside from that, we let her play on the splash pad and scream for a while. The stunt dog show was a massive hit, and we were able to get out of the heat for a while. The hostess was awesome and sat us in the reserved seating, because my daughter is so damned cute. It comes with the territory of only being two, but having a shit ton of hair and being verbally advanced... She gets it from her mom. Dad brag. Pre-show the kids got to meet the big dog in the costume. After, they got to meet a stunt dog. She screamed in the ear of the people next to us the whole time. I gave up on stopping her, because I'm a prick, and I thought it was funny. It was hot AF, there were no lines, and I still managed to get a ride on one of my favorite wooden coasters. We had to leave for a few hours for a nap, so as usual that took a big bite out of our day. The little random shit you'd never care about as an adult was great for kids, like the cow utter thing, and big ball fountain. Despite thinking, "We didn't come here for this shit," you just let your kids enjoy it... Even if your young child walks well, bring a freaking stroller. I'm glad my wife talked me into it. It would have been an absolute shit show without it. Staff was friendly. The park was clean. The large building being constructed just absolutely ruins the entire park. Just trashed. We'll never be back. My wife was offended and our daughter cried. Branson was cool for kids. We read complaints about the aquarium, but why? I was really impressed. Food is really underwhelming, and I feel like it's all geared toward seniors. HOWEVER, Mr. Gilberti's Chicago Style Pizza in Hollister was some of the best pizza I've ever had. Ever. They only took reservations when we went, and there were signs warning about the hour + wait for your food, which wasn't a lie. Despite that, I'd say it gives Lou Malnati's in Chicago a run for its money. It's kind of a hole in the wall and seating is limited. They're going to tell you when you can come when you call for your reservations... without much flexibility. How did this place get here? Pizza, bottled domestics, and the best fried mushrooms I'd ever had was a welcome change from giant meatball places on the strip. We went full nostalgia mode and bought a couple disposable cameras, so we can make a photo-book. Two cameras and processing is about $150. Lol. Times change. My computer is on full dim mode, because of a wicked headache, and I'm not proof reading. Cheers.