aimster

Ok now apparently this wasn't an actual show but a public viewing. And they're saying Tilly usually doesn't have a trainer in his tank because he's so big. But yes this is the same whale that drowned his trainer in Canada in 1991. Sea World bought him from the Canadian park in 92 to use as a stud. I have a friend who used to work at Sea World & she still has contacts there. Apparently Tilly was in no mood to perform today (be it show or public viewing) and they ignored it.

Apparently this isn't the first incident involving Tilly. According to the Orlando Sentinel:

This is my first time posting one of Wonderpup's adventures here on TPR. For those of you who don't know who Wonderpup is... This is Wonderpup. He likes to go to theme parks, concerts, baseball games... you get the idea. He's been going on adventures for many years. Last week, we went to Busch Gardens Tampa (I had the day off and the weather was great). Ok let's get started! Can't do Gwazi anymore. It's fast, but man does it give me a headache! One of the scare zones for Howl-O-Scream in the daytime. Turtles are Wonderpup approved! So are funky gooses! (or is that geeses?) Ms. Vayne is one hot vamp! We decided on BBQ and bread pudding for lunch. NOMNOMNOM! YEAH BABY! SHEIKRA! We did Sheikra 5 times in a row with no more than a 10 minute wait as they were running 3 trains and crowds were very manageable for a Friday. Another Scare Zone area Let's play "Spot the Tiger"! See? Cats and Wonderpups can get along! Tigers are Wonderpup and Aimster approved! I've been warned. Ok. About what? Oooohh... THAT! Though we didn't ride it today, Kumba is one sexy B&M coaster. They were only running ONE train though. WTF? They should have had at least 2 running. Instead wait time was nearly 30 minutes. After doing Sheikra 5 times in less than an hour... pass. YAY! New friends! We won them at the duckie game in Timbuktu. I will call them "Blueberry" and "Lime". Time to see the disco show! "It's the Barry Gibb Talk Show!" Flamingos are freaking weird. But they're also awesome, so they're Wonderpup approved. Big horsie (who also traumatized us with his horsie schwang... GAH!) Only other coaster we rode was Montu. Like Kumba, they were only running one train, so it made what should have been a 10 minute wait even longer. Why were they doing that? Made no sense since they were running 3 trains on Sheikra all day. *boggle* Didn't do Howl-O-Scream because we're both chickens, but I did get myself a Club enVy shirt at the Howl-O-Scream store. Hope you enjoyed our little trip![/img]

I am so mad I missed you guys! The day I was in Orlando, you were in Tampa. And by the time I could get to Busch Gardens, you guys were already back home. WAH!

One of these days I'm going to go on one of these TPR trips. Maybe in 2011. Better start saving my pennies!

There used to be 3 or 4 water parks in West Michigan back in the 80's, but they're all gone now. So now the only one that I know of is Wild Water Adventure. Michiganders love their water parks. Also, I think more Michiganders go to Cedar Point or Kings Island for their rides and coasters. Back in the 80's we also had Boblo Island (I miss that place). To me, it's just amazing how much that park has grown since it was Deer Park Funland. I can still hear the song from the old commercials in my head. "Deer Park Funalnd... You'll have more fun... It's the good time place!"

Wow, that brought back a lot of memories. I grew up about 30-40 minutes away from there. I remember going to Michigan Adventure back when it was called Deer Park Funland. Only coaster they had for a long time was the Corkscrew. It used to be a white track and the trains were red and blue. Was my very first coaster too! Last time I went was in the mid 90's when the only other coaster was the Wolverine Wildcat. I really want to go back sometime and check out the other coasters that have been built. Maybe within the next couple years I'll get back up north again. I want to go to Cedar Point again sometime too... haven't been there since 1990!

The blue one looks like Grover. I thought the alien was a turtle!

Ok I'm gonna go with Daft Punk for the first ride. And then probably "Pump Up the Volume" by MARRS. Man I remember roller skating to that one! Overall though, I'm not real impressed with the songs. When is MC Hammer "pop/disco"?

I want ice cream, but it's 1:30am and I'm too lazy/tired to go to the 24 hour McDonald's drive-thru up the road for a sundae.

I've been lurking around here for a long time, but have decided to try playing in the forums. Just call me "aim". Grew up in Michigan (made lots of trips to Cedar Point as a kid), now living in Florida for the past almost 10 years. I've been a coaster junkie since the 80's. My first coaster was the Corkscrew at Deer Park Funland (now Michigan's Adventure). I've ridden between 30-40 different coasters at various parks over the years. Not as many as a lot of you here, but I hope to increase that number eventually. I'm a frequent visitor of WDW (first trip was in 1978). My traveling companion, Wonderpup (in my avatar) usually accompanies me.... and mayhem usually ensues. Anything else you want to know? Just ask! I might/might not answer.

My apologies if Jason and I aren't as well educated as you appear to be. But, I'm 99.99% sure of what he was referring to. Are you? I was just trying to be helpful, not snarky (hence the winky face in my post).

Ummm... those are lions in that pic you posted.

Gold Reef City looks like a nice little park. I'd love to visit someday.