Philrad71

I would have definitely skipped those lines and went to Troegs Brewing, which is is right down the street. While we only sampled the popcorn (which was really good, I might add), I would like to go back to try out some of the other food offerings that they offer. The poutine sounds wonderful! Thanks for the report - I need to get back to Hershey soon!

^I'm going to go with "to piss off whiny enthusiasts". But seriously, I do like the color because it's just different from other coaster colors.

PS - I would definitely be down for trying the jalapeno, butter, ranch and onion cotton candy!

^^^ Thanks Andrew!

^ LOL - true enough!

You had me at Pasta Purses!

^ Heyyy...you forgot to mention the beer in said cooler! Sorry for derailing the thread for just one minute, but is the brewery close to SFStL, Zach? Not sure if we will be stopping at the park on the way through or not, but if we do, I certainly love breweries and places with good burgers!

^ I basically echo what you said... FL+ is usually not needed for coasters or rides on Friday nights (but a Haunt pass would be handy if you're into those), but Saturday is a definite must on both fronts.

^^ I echo what Bill said...THANK YOU for everything that you do to keep our cities safe! That is a downright grueling schedule for you...I guess that I have no right to complain about my 7-3:00 PM office/desk job then? In terms of ranting, I CAN bitch about the fact that it's frigging snowing here on April 16th in Western NY!

^ Thanks for the update about the mac and cheese bowls. I will either choose this place or grab a slice of pizza and a beer if we get there this season. We typically eat a big breakfast/brunch before we go into a park, so we usually only get one "meal" at a park per day.

^ My sister is the same way. She already said that she is not sure about SV if there isn't anything to hold onto. She also won't go anywhere near Skyhawk because of the super small grab bar and how it scared the living crap out of her the one time she did muster the courage to ride. Michael won't go on it because of that too, so in the mind of a lot of the GP, I think that they do feel more secure if they have OTSR's or at least big grab bars in the front of them to clench. I did show her the SV video last night and now she thinks that she will likely go on it, but she may change her mind once she sees it in person. She has already booked their stay at Lighthouse Village and bought two tickets with FL+. She said that if she can't get enough courage to ride SV, she always has Valravn, which is her absolute favorite ride there. She loves Gatekeeper and MF as well, but doesn't care for TTD or Maverick (I know, weird LOL).

I think that I've already mentioned it, but...

My co-workers dared me to eat a bacon-cheese flavored (dehydrated) cricket the other day and I did...but this is just absolutely disgusting. I would vomit instantly if I bit into that. Plus, don't they have venom in their glands...how would you not get sick eating that?

We have toned down our park visits since Michael's cancer/surgery, but we did make it to BGT last December, which was our first park since late 2016. This year, we are planning on SDC in May and depending on weather and how Michael is feeling, we may try to hit up SFStL, or perhaps KK, KI or CP on the way home. My thinking is that it's likely going to be CP on the way home because I am getting really impatient to ride Steel Vengeance. KD or BGW could be in the cards later in the year so that we can visit Michael's son, daughter in law and grand-kids in Richmond.

My second home growing up was Vegas so I grew up there back when the city was not the large, urban canyon that it is now. My great Aunt and Uncle and Aunt and Uncle lived next door to each other on a dirt road that was less than 8 miles out of downtown. Now that property is in the center of a metropolis and their houses (which they no longer own) are surrounded by 8 lane highways, high rise condos and golf communities. Our last visit left us with the same feeling as what you and Robb mentioned & I was ready to go somewhere else after a couple of days. And we did...we drove to California and went to Knotts. Vegas is way too over-commercialized and over-crowded for my tastes now. I loved it back in the day when the casino's were more spread out and the city had more of a western town-like charm. If we end up going out west in the near future, it's going to be to hit up the national parks in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, California, Oregon & Washington. We'll likely skip Vegas unless my Dad is out there snow-birding in the winter and we want to go hang out with him and wife for a few days.

Are there any local supermarkets that are offering good discount deals to get into the park? I checked Tickets At Work, but $52 still seems too expensive for this park.

If Darien Lake can get a new coaster, anything is possible for MA. Not the same owners, I know...but it's a similar sized park in a similar sized market.

I think that I have to agree that they're just being assh*les. lol We had the same problems when we were there last time...took about 15 minutes to get a beer because only one of the employees was old enough to serve it. And the look that I got when I asked if they had any IPA on draft was priceless. "Uhhh...I don't think that we have that brand." While I do like the location and don't get upset because I can't leave beer jail, I would much rather stroll around the park drinking my beer and just taking it all in.

Love the beer selection at BGW now and the fact that they are so lenient. Still not sure why it's okay there, but at KD we were not allowed to leave the patio at Outer Hanks with beer because the sign said it was VA state law. Is BGW exempt because they're Busch, or do they pay the state money to allow you to walk around with beer?

Looks awesome - can't wait to see the rest!

I tried it last Thursday. They start by giving you a huge base of mac and cheese for the price. It would have been better if the base was a little cheesier. I added grilled chicken, bacon bites, deep fried shoestring onions and jack cheese. I really liked my concoction but wish I cold have added more of the base cheese versus a second cheese. In the end I could only eat half of the macaroni because the portion was too big. I'm sorry I can't remember all the possible items you could add besides the pulled pork and plenty of veggies. You could also top it with ranch, buffalo or BBQ sauces, but I don't like mixing sauces. Thanks to Larry and others for their reports on the mac and cheese bowls - definitely something that I plan to try the next time we go!

Unfortunately, this is one of the few areas where KD could probably step up its game a bit. Ask anyone if they have tried the new gourmet mac and cheese place as that sounded interesting. If no one has, why not try it out and give us a report? We have had the pizza at Victoria Gardens and the one on International Street - if you get it fresh, it's not that bad. Plus they both have beer, which is always a bonus.

Great report, Adam...glad to see that this event looks as tasty as it was when we visited a few years ago. Goo Goo Dolls showing some Buffalove in Tampa...cool!

^^ If Great Escape is the red-headed stepchild, then La Ronde would be considered the equivalent of...

Seems like proper expectations to me. I'm going for the first time also in a few weeks, and this is pretty much what I'm expecting from it as well. You will love it then. It's basically like a mix of Knoebels, Waldameer and a sprig of Hershey all rolled into one.