CoasterEricHP

I wish I could do two things.. A. Drag this guy behind Dollywood and shoot him. and B. Move to Europe. Eric

Dennis.. that's amazing.. do you have anything else?

I'm an Orioles fan... I dont want to talk about it. Eric "Not Juiced Up" Geiple

Wow.. definately never knew that one existed in my 2 years in FL.. 205 feet tall.. I guess Everest doesnt reach that height. Eric

Yeah.. I worked at Dragons for a year and someone did lose their leg on the coaster! They had dive teams and searched everything and never found the leg. They said it's probably buried deep in the mud underneath.. who knows! It's a sad story but funny. So to this day, anyone with a prosthetic leg (sp?) has to take it off before riding or not ride if its a permanent one. It sucks for them and it sucks having to tell a guest that because they are usually uncomfortable about taking it off. However, the LAST thing you need is someones leg coming off on fire dragons camel back and falling into Ice when its doing the Zero G directly underneath.. Eric

That was pretty cool. Most of the ideas are good ones, especially KSC and the space shuttle.. can't have a Soarin' Over FL without them obviously... The aircraft carrier.... ehhh... I don't think Disney should go military with a FL one. The Disney Cruise Line would be better than an aircraft carrier. However, I dont even think Epcot's version should be Florida at all. I think it'd be amazing if they did a Soarin' using all the countries in the World Showcase. It'd be a lot more expensive to film, but amazing. What was that hugeee building in the middle of nowhere? Eric

Thanks everyone! I have more pictures that hopefully I'll get around to posting later on in the week. I'm heading out to Cedar Point in.. 6 hours, guess I should sleep... But yeah.. I was just speculating on WDW refurbing Space Mountain. It just makes too much sense to do it after Everest opens up... the MK isnt getting anything *big* in the near future, unless you call Pooh's playground and meeting thing big. That and like you said... the WDW Space Mountain has issues and needs to be redone sometime in the near future.. You never know though.. this *is* Disney afterall.. (who uses some of the best real estate at the MK to build a playground) Eric "I wish I would've gotten pictures of Everest because it looks AMAZING" Geiple

Well, to spare everyone from a long written TR, I'll just hit the high points and the low points really quickly here and then on to the pics! Alrighty, well last week my g/f Liz and I went down to visit my old roommate Carrie and some other friends and go to the parks! It's always nice to go to Disney for nothing. It was nice to have Liz there with me because she hasnt been there for like 10 years so unlike me and everyone else I know, she never worked there and didnt know everything inside and out! SOARIN' --- AMAZINGGGG.. I'll never get over this ride. I rode it out in Cali and it blew me away, and I rode it in March at Epcot during a preview and was blown away again. I dont care if it's the same as CA's (for now anyways) because its just an awesome, totally imersive ride experience and I'm just happy to have it in FL! Great ride.. we rode it the first day and waited 30 minutes and then used a fastpass and got right back on.. the last day we were there tho the wait was 80 minutes. TEST TRACK --- Always a great ride. Always a long wait too.. we used Fastpass but the time got up to 100 minutes. LIGHTS, MOTORS, ACTION! -- This was my first time seeing this and it was crazy!! They did a great job on the "stadium" especially since the sun is mostly kept off of eveyone and the whole thing is beautifully themed. The only downside was the time it took between scenes and how quick some of the stunts were. All in all, an awesome show IMO.. but nothing can replace Indiana Jones! MILLIONAIRE --- We didnt get in the hot seat.. sniff sniff.. however two brothers did back to back. There's gotta be some kind of secret to this I dont know.. because a lot of the time several people from the same area are in the Top 10.. I've been number 1 already (not that it matters since I was a cast member) but never in the hot seat. TOWER OF TERROR --- I would never tell Liz what a ride was or what it did so this was funny. She only expected it to drop once, and then after that she just about ripped my shorts off she had that tight a grip. haha.. poor girl... RNR --- EHhhh.. Good launch and first inversion but then I think the ride just dies after that. Space Mountain -- Still has the best drop around IMO.. when ure flying into the mass of metal and then drop below it thinking ure head is about to be chopped off. Waited about 40 minutes for this, SOAKED, and then about 30 after Wishes one night. I'm still betting that in less than a year once Everest opens we'll see this go down for the refurb like DL's. Dinosaur --- Always a fun ride! Liz wasn't expecting this either. I was glad she got the front right seat.. heh heh heh Well, that's all I really feel like going over.. haha. We had a great time though and although the parks were relatively crowded we just abused Fastpass the whole time and got everything done we really wanted to do. The only thing we really missed was Mission:Space, but I really didnt have much desire to ride that again.. everything else we pretty much did. Including the lackluster Stitch! which even had Liz coming out saying "WTF?!".. oh well, on to the pics! Eric, off to Cedar Point tomorrow! Sunset from above, looked cool.. the rest of the flight back to BWI was grey.. Southwest likes to advertise themselves on their wings.. I guess? Tea Anyone?? Not me.. Bleh.. Sorta Blurry, but the train looked really cool with the sunset. Cool BTMR shot with the sunset. Goin' Up Around the Bend.. Hi Liz! Thats right, look at the line for Small World!! It was a 20 minute wait. Looks nice tho since the rehab'age. Awesome Sunset!! Looks like the Lion King. BOOM! Finale... Lights, Motors, Action!! Awesome show. Just a pretty Main Street picture.. 2 hours after that, sunny again... Cinderellabration in progress.. we watched for a few minutes until our attention spans maxed out. 2 hours later.. Almost looks like War of the Worlds type clouds! We got soaked.. Spaceship Earth! I'm so happy they apparently cant rip out the ride.. Look how nice and sunny it is at noon.. Me, I almost have a Robb type look on my face.. I was wondering why the House of Innoventions was a 30 minute wait.

I used to work at Dueling Dragons and you could definately notice a difference in speed later on in the day.. and watching the ride in the summer and then in the winter.. it hardly looks like it's going to make it thru the circuit sometimes... we played with guests all the time making them think we were making it go faster, but in reality we dont have any control over the launch speed. I never worked at Hulk but if they control the speed of the launch or the trimming of the ride.. then i'd be realllyyy amazed. I don't think they can though. Eric

Definately.. I worked front desk at Disney so I know all about Dining. These three are the more popular ones. Add Italy to that list too. Those.. in the summer, you want to make seatings as early as possible. It doesnt have to be weeks, but if you want a decent time, or a large group, then 2-3 weeks is good. Usually if u have a party larger than 4, its going to be harder and harder to get tables at a decent time if you dont plan ahead. 1800-WDW-DINE is ure best friend! As for the other restaurants- Canada- another one to plan for in advance, expensive = popular. England- *Usually* you can get away with same day seatings here. Norway and Morocco- You can almost always get seatings here same day. China- A few days in advance. Again.. *Most* places you can make same day seatings for.. but you're going to be eating really early (5-6pm) or really late (8:30-9:30). Hope this helps! I'll be in Disney.. in.. 26 hours!

LOL.. i love the hell shirt!! Definately the look I get when pumping gas. Anyways, AWESOME TR. Easily one of the best ever. I'm glad to see you guys had a great time. Does the Eiffel Tower still have the strobes that go nuts at night? Eric

Great TR!! I like when people post about everything, not just coasters. I'm really jealous! Eric

Yeah, I lived in Orlando for the last two years.. so had a nice direct shot from Hurricane Charley.. which was WAYY worse and scarier than Francis and Jeanne.. I was standing by my 3rd floor apartment window watching it buckle inward a little.. Thunderstorms are the best kind of weather! Eric "I miss the daily 4pm T-storms in FL" Geiple

LOL.. Isnt it awful how Rescue 911 and RealTV scared the crap out of us??

Wow.. Google Earth is CRAZY! They are taking all of this stuff to a completely new level. Check it out.. pic from this weekend Google of Downtown Pitt Google Oriole Park

Yeah.. it's nice of him to be this dedicated to doing stuff like this and actually reporting on things.. but he is AWFUL!! I dont mean to be THAT mean but some people are just cut out for certain things, this guy isn't cut out to be talking.. Maybe I'm just annoyed because he really does seem like he's so cocky in doing this and we're supposed to be on the edge of our seat with suspense hanging on his every word.. which.. I'm not.. Eric

Yeah.. in one of the press releases after they said "We've already invested a lot of money into 2006" or something along those lines... so you think something would be up! HERCO has tons of other things going on with building, or rather restoring, a new corporate building downtown and upgrading the country club and other things. So they are doing stuff for next year to celebrate, just not altering the Hersheypark skyline yet. haha. As far as the Arena being torn down. I would think that'd be underway too.. but I don't see that happening anytime soon. For one, they use that for a lot of the high school sport championships, cheerleading crap, and a lot of other events that Giant Center is just way too large for. Also, the Hersheypark offices are in there over at the monorail side, and then alsooo the Milton Hershey Museum is in front towards the park. I don't see the arena there in 10 years, but I dont see that going down for next year. Plus.. Hershey Bears games were WAYYY better in there guess we'll find out!

wow.. I just checked out your webpage.. AMAZINGGGGGG pictures... speechless. Just thought I'd mention that! Eric "who only attracts people saying.. what the hell is he taking a picture of? when he takes pictures" Geiple

a couple more.. Obligatory Vertical Loop Great Bear'age Train... Lightning Racers first drop

Tonite my friend Kim (who works at the Hershey Lodge) and I went into the park just for a few hours AFTER the crowd all went over to the Stadium for the 3 Doors Down, Staind, etc. concert. The parking lot was JUST ABOUT at capacity which means.. thank god most people are at the concert or it'd be a crazy night at the park! Anyways, we got in for free since she works there and I really just wanted to get some rides in and take some pictures at night of the park. So I'll just really quickly go over what we did. First.. Lightning Racer.. no wait. With four trains on this thing eats lines like few other coasters can. An "okay" coaster by day, a GREAT coaster at night! It's my least fav. woodie at Hersheypark, but still a great ride! I definately think Hershey competes with all other parks on the 1..2..3 punch of wooden coasters.. at least until next year.. Rode the Trailblazer... yay.. Great Bear. After working at Dragons and riding it a million times last year I like more intense Inverts.. but the Great Bear is definately one of the most underrated Invert's out there! The layout is so unique. Most people complain about the boring finale, but I like it.. swooping down next to the SDL and the creek. Coal Cracker- NIce little flume. I keep riding this because I want it to be torn down for the station of the hyper next year... but more on 2006 later! We then rode the monorail, then walked over to Storm Runner. Hersheypark really has gotten this coaster up and running consistantly this year! Everytime I've been to the park but one, its been pumping out trains left and right! The line was about a 25-30 minute wait which is about average. Great launch, great UNIQUE layout, and truly one of the Intamins finest. That's about it! We just walked around some and took pictures. Now I'm always hoping to see markings or ANYTHING to hint that Hersheypark might have something big coming for the 100th anniversary in 2006.. but so far... NOTHING. Storm Runner was marked out in July of last year. This year there is no signs of anything, anywhere in the park. This leads me to believe, and not really happily, that we're looking at a waterpark next year. It definately would be a huge money maker, and Hershey desperately needs a modern resort... so I'm thinking possibly Indoor Waterpark/Outdoor waterpark type thing. But even with THAT.. it would have been started by now.. who knows! Usually August is the month for Hershey announcements so we shall see! Oh.. about the hyper comment. I think a hyper starting at the Coal Cracker and running along side the creek down over the Comet would be amazing.. Sort of like Apollo. But, no signs of anything happening.. and B&M already has quite a lot to work on! Eric Rollersoaker people bombing others in line. Grandpa Milton.. he was an awesome person.. Flying Snake Dive.. or the Dropping Jojo Roll Ok.. not at night.. but Storm Runners tophat. Storm Runner at night, didnt turn out the greatest... but its lit up MF style.. only MF is awe inspiring at night.. Cool pic of the Ferris Wheel again The Ferris Wheel at night.. On the bottom is an ice cream place.. The Falcon.. spin and spewage.. but a classic ride u dont see much anymore Comet Hollow.. with the Great Bear, and the Comet! Chocolate World! Home to lots of... uh.. chocolate! Oh yeah.. the new Tropical Twizzlers.. AMAZING

There's a difference in argueing with someone rudely.. or argueing while at least understanding everyone has an opinion that might not match yours. I've been on a few boards and I only really post on here anymore because the other ones are AWFUL now! All people do is fight over stupid crap.. Robb/Elissa, thanks for actually not being afraid to do something about this and keeping TPR awesome and entertaining! Seriously.. where else can you look at *PHOTO* TR's on anything from bowling and getting a tattoo to Alton Towers?! Eric

I dont see the big deal.. they dont have a copy of your fingerprintr because those machines dont use fingerprints.. Howeverrrr.. up the road at Universal, the lockers actually USE fingerprints. I'd be more worried about them then the "Biometric readers" at Disney. I agree with Robb.. it must've been a REALLY slow news day. The only thing that concerns me about them is that guests are generally too dumb to follow the large, color coded numbers.. and it really slows down entrance. Eric

GREAT Movie.. Nothing can beat Gene Wilder.. but if you compare this to the original movie, then ure going to ruin this one. "Everything in here is edible, you can eat everything! Including me, but that's called Cannibalism!" LOL.. so many good lines. I think Wonka did have a Michael Jackson feel in how he seemed like an out of touch adult who thinks he's a kid.. but it works really great. I thought the way they depicted everything, especially in the beginning was amazing.. and it did follow the book a lot better! Charlie did have a dad in the book, and he was a toothpaste top twister. Eric "burned doll treatment and rehabilitation center" Geiple

I shouldve taken pictures mowing today.. WEAK! thats a nice bowling alley.. Our local one has.. 12 lanes Eric " I own bowling shoes" Geiple

waittt a minute.. But Loch Ness Monster does have two drops.. and they are both vertical.. just not a 90 degree vertical drop. I dunno, isn't a 70 degree drop still a vertical drop? It's moving vertically.. just not 90 degrees vertically.. vertically?! I just wanted to add vertically again in there after vertically. I just think anything moving up or down at any angle is moving vertically.. Why do they call a vertical loop.. a vertical loop? Eric "at 5'9" Im a little vertically challenged" Geiple