aimster

I agree these two "accidents" that happened within 2 weeks of each other after a decade of no incidents seems a little suspect. It's really such a shame the coasters won't be dueling anymore because that's something that made the ride so exciting. Sure the coasters are good on their own, but the dueling aspect really gave it that element that "plussed" it. It's just a shame America is so sue-happy.

Enjoying reading your adventures! And looking forward to one I think I'll be featured in.

My home park is Busch Gardens Tampa, which is about 30 minutes away from me. Next closest: Legoland Florida - A little over an hour WDW/Universal Orlando/Sea World - 1.5 hours

For me it depends on the coaster. At Busch Gardens, I can do Cheetah Hunt and Gwazi from any row, but the front is my favorite. But if there's a shorter wait for other rows, I'll do those instead. On Kumba and Montu, I'm pretty much front row only. The back is too forceful and gives me really bad migraines. But I did do the back on Montu once last Saturday at Busch Gardens Bash. To be different I closed my eyes and wow the back really takes a toll on your body! The forces were really intense.

I'm part of the "park bucket list" group. Here's mine: Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySEA Hong Kong Disneyland Disneyland Paris Europa Park Universal Studios Japan Various parks in Europe and Asia

OMG those handmade headbands are awesome! I may have to order one of those sometime.

I don't usually play games at the parks, but I like the classic duckie game. Pick a duck and win a prize. I won a cute little stuffed sea turtle at Busch Gardens this year. I absolutely LOVED skee ball when I was a kid. Sometimes I'll play Fascination at the state fair if they have it.

Very nice photos! Thanks for sharing! Europa Park looks really amazing. I hope I get the chance to visit one day. I even have a postcard of Blue Fire that a friend got for me on my refrigerator.

^ This. Last year the park offered a free safari on your birthday for passport holders. Sadly I didn't have an AP then, so couldn't take advantage of the deal.

HA! Glad to see someone else got photos of the tortoise porn too! That had to be the funniest thing all day. I was cracking up at the parents lifting their kids up to see over the fence. Here are some of my photos from the day: They're changing out the OTSR on Montu from yellow to black. Kasi is the cutest cheetah EVER! Group photo with Big Bird before taking over Air Grover (because we're sad and pathetic). Chad, Shawn & Logan got soaked on Stanley Falls! Steve and Joe got MORE soaked! Shawn feeding a wallaby at Walkabout Way. I love this section of the park. Lunch time! VP of Engineering & Design, Mark Rose, talked to TPR during lunch. This is my "serious" pose. It's Jesus gorilla! Hot tortoise lovin'. And the bird apparently wanted in on the action! We had a great driver at Rhino Rally. I think his name was Doug. He was really funny and had us laughing the whole time. KUMBA!! Could it be? OMG! It's Piers!! I'm a roller coaster nerd and DAMN proud of it! This was actually my 2nd time taking the Montu backstage tour and Norman was my tour guide when I took it a year ago! "Please don't eat me, Mr. Tiger!" These monsters during Howl-O-Scream were awesome. Scary-ass zombie hobo clown! One advantage of Howl-O-Scream: Outside of Cheetah Hunt (which had a posted 110 minute wait at 10:30pm), lines for the other coasters were almost non-existent! Steve and one of the Naughty Nurses The Vampire Casino maze was really well done. And... $2 Blackjack! Yay! Gotta love the Fiends show! Shawn and his spiffy new zebra beanie hat! Wonderpup and Ice Bat finally meet!

Fright Feast was really good. I was pleasantly surprised how good the tacos were. Pumpkin cheesecake AND bread pudding for dessert? YES PLEASE! And the Fright Feast wristbands give front of the line access to the houses until 8:30pm. My group hit everything but Nightshade and Deconstruction by then. We got to Vampire Casino at like 8:28 (we really cut it close), then backtracked to see the 9:15 show of Fiends. My legs are STILL a little sore.

Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa this past Saturday during Busch Gardens Bash. Nighttime rides are awesome!

I had SO much fun yesterday. My feet/legs are KILLING me today, but it was totally worth it. I wasn't even planning on doing any of the houses during Howl-O-Scream (because I'm a big weenie), but the group I was with managed to talk me into doing 3 of them! I really liked Nevermore and Vampire Casino was pretty cool too. This was my first TPR event and certainly won't be my last. BIG THANKS to Robb, Elissa and everyone else at TPR and to Busch Gardens Tampa for an awesome event!

Tacos and pumpkin cheesecake = WIN!

You guys have way too much fun than should be allowed! Can't wait to see and meet everyone Saturday!

That looks like it could have been a really awesome park! Keep the goodies coming, Shane!

I would have to assume this wouldn't be a problem. Yay! Ever since I found out they added a taco bar for Fright Feat I've been kicking myself. TACOS!!!

LOL! The western side of Fowler can be pretty skeezy (from the mall to 275). Stuff on the east side (USF to 75) is usually better. Then again most of the hotels on Busch Blvd are kind of scary looking too outside of the Holiday Inn Express (which is pretty new). I am totally counting down the days for this. I'll be driving in from Clearwater (which is 30 minutes away from Busch Gardens). Hoping I have the energy to last all day! Yay for 99¢ soda refills for those reusable sports bottles. I'll be chugging Mountain Dew like it's going out of style! So who are other chickens who won't be doing the houses? I want to hang out with ya'll if possible! Also, I have a question.... I didn't add on Fright Feast, but if I go and buy it myself through BGT, could I still sit with the TPR people? If not no biggie. Just thought I'd ask. Been kind of kicking myself for not adding it on but didn't have an extra $25 at the time.

That looks great! I hope Legoland Florida gets it at some point. I love polar bears so that sounds really cool.

Space Mountain at WDW on Thursday. First time I've ridden it since the refurb. They added a "soundtrack"? I could barely hear it.

I went to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at WDW on Thursday. Was crowded but a lot of fun. Longest wait I had for any ride/show was 15 minutes and that was for Space Mountain.

^ Phoenix is indeed still there and running. I was at the park yesterday and watched it for awhile. I went on it once years ago. I need to ride it again sometime.

Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa yesterday.

Wow. I'm glad I got my ticket in time! I had a feeling this thing was probably going to sell out once you guys got word it would be limited to 100 people. Really looking forward to meeting everyone and having a great time! I need to find out who the other "chickens" are so we can hang out together during Howl-O-Scream because no way am I doing the houses. The "whole park is a scare zone" is pretty cool though and I loved the different hoards out and about when I went for Freaky Preview last weekend. I had more fun than I was expecting.

That was definitely a beautiful thing. And then last night the Rays shutting out the Rangers 9-0 in game one. Matt Moore pitched another gem. I'm expecting great things from him. Not bad for an 8th round draft pick. Tonight... Shields was doing good until it all fell apart. Wow. It was painful to watch. Luckily Longoria hit that home run and made things close and made the Rangers a little nervous. Hopefully we'll get them in games 3 and 4 at home. The city of St. Pete is having a rally for the Rays at Ferg's, a bar across from Tropicana Field from 2-5pm. I'm going to try to make it out there for that. I'm jealous of my friends who have tickets to the games. I went to the playoffs & World Series in 2008 and loved the electricity of the postseason atmosphere. Nothing like it.