Barge84

I'm somewhat intrigued by Apollo being part of this. They're currently in negotiations to purchase the company that I work for. Hopefully I'd get some sort of perk if this deal goes through! Outside of that, I really hope that this never materializes.

This doesn't do a whole lot to get me excited. I enjoyed the LOTR movies, but beyond that I don't have a huge desire to visit Middle Earth. There's definitely a huge fan base out there that they could draw from, but I agree with others that Potter and LOTR are way too similar. Does it bother anyone else that the media still refers to Wizarding World as it's own theme park after being open for almost 2 1/2 years?

I'm not a big fan of bowling, but this looks like a great addition to Downtown Disney. Since they basically dismantled Pleasure Island, there's been a great need for some "adult" entertainment. I love that families can still hang out together, but that they were smart enough to dedicate the 2nd floor to the over 21 crowd later at night during weekends. A lot of times I go there without any children in our group, and this looks like a great place for us to hang out. Can't wait to try it out!

^ Hey Elissa, just curious if you're looking at 1 or 2 buses for the Midwest Trip. Not sure how many additional people have signed up since it went public. --Thad

^ I'm so excited for this trip! Unfortunately, it's still 8 months away! Stop teasing us!!! --Thad

I was less than impressed with Hershey Park's ride ops when I was there for the New Hotness Tour this summer. --Thad

My first loop was on Tidal Wave at SFGAm.

Great news! Now I get to watch you hit your head on the TV every time you stand up to get off the bus! -- Thad

2012 was a big year for me. I really hadn't been to any parks besides WDW and Disneyland since 2002 because I've been really overweight and knew that I wouldn't be able to ride anything. I decided to sign up for the New Hotness tour as motivation to lose weight. While I wasn't able to ride everything on the trip (still need a B&M Big Boy seat), I'm happy to report that I rode a ton of things that I never imagined I'd be able to do. Still working towards losing weight so that next season I'll won't need to worry about fitting on any rides. Some of the bigger highlights: -- New Hotness Tour. Amazing from start to finish! -- Robb and Australian Steve helping me get on El Toro during our nighttime ERT session. So happy I got to ride this beast! -- Knoebel's. Enough said. -- Our nighttime ERT session on Phoenix. Absolutely amazing! Thanks to Larry for teaching me about the magical 3rd row seat. -- Riding my first B&M hypers. I've always been too big to ride. -- Even though it destroyed my thighs, Skyrush is an amazing ride! -- Nearly blacking out in I-305. -- Getting to go to BGW for the first time. Always been #1 on my bucket list. -- Thunderhead. The surprise ride of my trip. Loved that ride and probably got 15 rides during ERT with no wait! -- SFOG was the most surprising park for me. I wish all Six Flags parks were like this one. -- Went to Dorney while I was in Philly for work in June, but couldn't fit on the B&M rides. Went back a couple of days before New Hotness (end of July) and fitting on everything without any issues! -- Prowler and Renegade. GCI knows how to make a great ride. -- Meeting a ton of great people on the TPR trip. Can't wait to go on more in the future. Midwest and UK this year! That's a lot of highlights, but I was making up for a decade of lost time. -- Thad

In for Texas/Midwest and UK! -- Thad

Stopped by Valleyfair after the Vikings game last Sunday and finally got to ride Renegade. Great ride!

It has to be 2012. I rode 62 new coasters this year. Most of it thanks to the New Hotness tour. -- Thad

I'll be in Minneapolis on Sunday for the Vikings/Cardinals game, so I think I'm going to swing by ValleyFair on my way out of town. It's been several years since I've been there and I want to check out Renegade.

Prowler

^ I was there in late August and it was running.

While Larry's shirt is definitely loud and obnoxious, I'm even more amazed that it still has its sleeves.

Hope to see you on the midwest trip Hmmm... I might need to reconsider the Midwest trip if Colin is going to be there. -- Thad

Nice report Larry. I'm glad someone else in the thread gave you a little crap for wearing that Florida/Nebraska shirt. A couple of other notes: - The go karts at Coney were one of the biggest surprises on that trip. They were WAY better than the "modified" karts at the Nascar place in Pigeon Forge. - I'm still mad that I didn't get an outside horse at Knoebel's. That picture expresses my emotions pretty well. Although, I wasn't nearly as mad as that mom was at her 16 year old son. She yelled at him the entire ride, which in turn made my ride a little more enjoyable! - That bumper car marathon at Knoebel's was another one of those surprises for me. Those things are amazing! - Such a great trip. Work has really sucked the last few days. Makes me wish I had another trip coming up... ---Thad

Nice work, goggles! Magiquest sucks!

If you can get into Storm Runner and Fahrenheit, I don't see any issues. I'm a big guy, had to have a little help to get on Fahrenheit, but didn't have any issues on Skyrush.

I think I first saw a picture of Loch Ness Monster's interlocking loops in 1987 or 1988. In less than a month I'll get to ride it on the New Hotness Tour!

Honestly, I'd start my day at DHS if you want to ride Toy Story Mania. AK can be done fairly quickly if you don't mind using the single rider queue for Everest.

Sure do. I just need my fix while I'm on Disney property.

Not a Coke fan. The first thing I do in Orlando is buy some Diet Mtn Dew at Publix.

Wow! I'd completely forgotten about the Getaway Guide. I used to get one every year when I was in high school/college. We made our first trip there when Raptor opened. Do they still do the Getaway Guide?