Philrad71

^ And don't forget Witches Stew and the Tumble Bug at CLP - not too many of those rides in operation anymore.

Thanks for the report - I really want to visit Sweden one day!

Wow...those look great!

Yeah - we were wondering what that was all about when they told us to look to the right!

I said that I was going to attach the pics from the package we bought, but kept forgetting to do it. While not in front of the giant wall, it has a photo of a whale shark, so close enough right? Whale shark!!! Giant penguins! Thanks for checking out my report everyone!

Maybe not exactly at the same time, Phil...but I can attest that a couple of bourbon Manhattan's before going on coasters is a ton of fun!

^ They actually were done just right for steak fries, Bill. Although I am not a huge fan of steak fries, I managed to get through the burger and about close to half of the fries before "food won". I used some of that mayo so they tasted more like Belgian-style fries!

There's always the craft-beer room in the Festhaus. Now if they took the craft beer room in Festhaus out, I would be showing up at the park with torches and pitchforks!

Had a really great burger at a local business this past weekend. It was called The Town Drunk burger with loads of cheese, onions and a whiskey based glaze/sauce. The restaurant is called The Springs as it is located in a small town called Maple Springs. The restaurant is actually right across the street from my hometown amusement park - Midway State Park! As you can imagine, this wasn't a burger that you could just pick up and eat! Look at all that cheese!

^ That was why I mentioned that the Jags couldn't let up and that they needed to alter their attack in the 2nd half regardless of whether they were winning or losing. This is the only way that I see anyone beating the Patriots. I recall Marrone and Hackett having that same conservative style when they were in Buffalo...and of course, I don't believe that they beat the Patriots once during their stint here just because of that conservative style of play. It used to drive me nuts!! I also hope that it's an exciting game that goes down to the wire. No one really likes to see a blowout in the SB, unless of course, their team is the one that is doing the blowing out.

Hey, we have a fake Stargazer in our bathroom bouquet! Congrats Bert and Nick - I have been with Michael the same amount of time. Our 15th will be in late August, although we are not married - we still like living in sin.

I might be wrong, but I think that Geauga Lake is fenced out and is not accessible to the public. Doubt that the land owners would welcome people to wander around on their private property given that everyone is so sue happy these days. In terms of the OP's itinerary, it sounds pretty solid as you are giving yourself plenty of time at the major parks. I like that you have your priorities straight with the beer, food, bourbon, etc. My kind of enthusiast! I also made the same mistake as Bill on the toll roads in Toronto...just know that if you're using GPS and you have it set on fastest route, the ETR is likely going to be the first freeway that it's going to try and direct you towards!

Looks like a fun little park - thanks for sharing!

^ Wow - what a sucky way for the Jags to lose. But being a Buffalo fan, I have seen it happen ohhhhhh so many times where we get "Brady'ed" after building a lead, or playing them close for 2-3 quarters. Just goes to show why you NEVER relax when you have Brady at the helm, no matter what type of lead you may have. You would think that teams would learn this, but apparently they don't. Not sure why the Jags D started giving receivers so much cushion starting with that last drive that NE did before the half. As soon as they started clawing back into it, I said "Uh-oh....here we go again". Ouch. But on a postive note, Bortles actually showed himself as THE guy in Jax, so you have a lot to look forward to in the coming seasons. I was impressed with him overall in the Steelers and Patriots games after he looked pretty dreadful in the Bills game. As far as Philly/Minnesota, I never expected a blowout, but Foles looked pretty damned impressive. So much in fact that I texted my sister in Allentown and told her that we would trade all of our 2018 draft picks tomorrow to get Foles in a trade to Buffalo (kidding). Here's to hoping for a good Super Bowl!

^ It looked like they had a band set up, but there wasn't much going on when we walked by. That comment was all that I could think of when I saw that!

Fixed that for ya there, Andrew! Seriously though...take the time that you would be spending at the water park and go to a U-Pick Six Public House on Rte 20 for lunch (it's a stone's throw away) and have the bacon grape flatbread and a couple of brews. You can thank me later!

Hey everyone! It's about time that I put the cherry on top on this trip report! Hopefully it won't be too long before we get to go experience another park so I can do another report for you guys. Might not be until SteVen opens at CP (that sounds a smidge risque), but we'll see. Now where were we? Oh yeah...Stanleyville. Anyone else think of Mr. Roper when you hear Stanleyville? No? Not old enough? Well how about Justin Timberlake singing, 'Take it on down to Stanleyviiiiiille!" And damn it, Bill...I STILL didn't get to ride Stanley Falls! I was tempted to, but at 40 degrees I simply wasn't intoxicated enough to do it. I know, I know...lame excuse, but apparently no one else was drunk enough to ride it either. I admit that I really am a p&ssy, so I'll do the next best thing to riding the ever-elusive Stanley Falls - take a macho photo of the empty queue and drink some more beer. I'm from Western NY, so I know all about drinking ice cold beer in 40 degree temperatures - we call it "a good day to be out on the golf course." Let there be...lanterns? BGT going all Dollywood/SDC on the trees. This is where Michael went in to watch a show featuring peppy Jesus music while I split to go power-ride Sheikra in the frozen tundra that was Stanleyville. I had to have my nose amputated from frostbite, but it was soooo worth it. I remember actually pulling my winter hat way down over my face (like that dude from Fat Albert) for one of the photo shots. Should have bought it and posted it here, but couldn't be bothered. Because ya know...power riding. I sure as hell wasn't going through the gift shop when I could stand at the ride exit like a giddy school girl and hope that no one would come up the exit ramp so I could jump back on. I made some deep (and not creepy) friendships with other 9-15 year old coaster enthusiasts that were doing the same thing. I felt like I was the King of Cool that night - in more ways than one. I recall Michael saying that he didn't care if they were sacrificing lambs when heading into that Jesus show. If they had heat, damn it...he was going in. LOL He told me later that Jesus be all like..."Worship me down in Stanleyviiiille" at the end of the show. I was mildly distressed that I missed all of that zany, Christian fun. But power riding Sheikra with a bunch of screaming kids in arctic-like conditions? Pffft...no contest. Busch might be dark and not always smell like a bed of roses, but Busch in the deep South is pretty freakin' sweet. Maybe we really ARE at Dollywood? Speaking of smell, I think that I just caught a whiff of copyright infringement. Lipstick on a pig. No, I didn't take a photo of some woman and her daughter because I'm one of those freaky sexual predators that's on the news every night. I did it because I was getting impatient to take a photo of the poinsettia tree with just the snow princess. Because at this point, I'm pretty sure that my man-bits were frozen to the side of my leg and we just wanted to take a pic and move on! I think that the security woman may have been thinking similarly. She was just standing there looking like, "This sucks, this sucks...go away children...go the EFF away so I can go home and slip into my nightgown and a bottle of Merlot!" Candy Cane Lane. Surprised that no one was trying to lick the trees - cuz, ya know...'Murica. Here we have God flying over Jesus, Mary, Joseph, donkey's (yay donkey's!) and I think a hybrid goose-wolf (there on the right) while they enjoy a tasty sip of water from what looks to be a pre-fabricated wooden frozen pond. Or maybe it's the floor of a roller rink and they're all being hesitant about who goes first because they don't want to be embarrassed should they fall? The River Styx? F?ck, IDK. Anyway - who says that religion is made up? This hear is real, people...for the Goose-wolf told me so! Or is that the Big Bang Theory star hanging out above them mocking them while saying that Science is the real creator of man? Or is it the Star of David Lee Roth? Gaahhhhh....I'm soooo confused now!!!! Can't we just stick to pretty lights and Rudolph? At least we know that shit's real. Pssst...spoiler alert: The sheep isn't here because he didn't make it out of that show in Stanleyville. Shhh...don't tell anyone - it'll be our (and maybe, just maybe, the guy upstairs?) little secret! This is where all the people were! At this point, I didn't give a shit...I just wanted some hot chocolate with vodka! After a 1/2 hour wait, I was about ready to tell them to nix the hot chocolate and just give me a plain ole' cup of vodka, but I will say that it was quite tasty and actually worth the wait. Yay for feeling extremities again! Was going to go meet Rudolph, Yukon Cornelius and of course, I wanted to meet Bumble. But when I heard that it was an hour wait to do so, I/we said 'Eff that' and went and bought Bumble jammies for ourselves in the (WARM) gift shop. Hell, it was so warm in there that we just kept looping the store dozens of time and ending up blowing over $100 on Rudolph shit so we wouldn't have to go back out in the cold. Michael only took out a couple of kids and knocked over a shelf of over-priced misfit toys whilst doing multiple laps with his scooter. It's that damned vodka and hot chocolate people, I tell ya - it'll get ya every time! You thought I was kidding, didn't you? HA! This would be as close as we got to Rudolph...stupid kids hogging him all to themselves. Oh well, we got Bumble jammies and they didn't so na na na na na nahhhh. I would love to do my tree up like this out front, but those LED lights aren't cheap and they don't fare too well in sub zero temps and lake effect snow. I finally gave up after repeated attempts every year of hanging lights outside, only to have half the strings burn out as soon as they get a little moisture in them. F%ck those stupid LED pieces of sh%t and bring back the REAL Christmas lights that screwed in and out so you could replace one if it burned out. You know...the kind that wouldn't hesitate to burn your stupid ass if you dared to touch one or give you the shock of your life if you were dumb enough to stick your finger in the socket? Or catch the tree on fire and burn your house down if you had too much yuletide cheer and passed out in your Lazy Chair? Ahhh...I miss the good old days. This was our view in the morning from the Hampton Inn across the street. One horrible ride, a sliver of a not-so-horrible ride, and one horribly elusive ride. Oh well, maybe next time! I will end this report with this fun little yarn... When we got checked in to the hotel, I ran over to the McDonalds next door for a rare fast food treat. The cashier called my order and she says, "That'll be $13.01." I actually had a f%cking penny (I know, right?) so I gave the gal $20.01. She says to me, "I didn't bring my math book with me...can you tell me how much I am supposed to give you back?" I said $7, trying my hardest not to laugh because I knew if I did, she would likely get very offended. She hands me my change, I walk out saying to myself, "Did that just happen?" When I get back to the room and emptied the change out of my pocket that she just gave me....she gave me $9 back. I kid you not. Only in 'Murica, people - as I said earlier...this hear is REAL! LMAO! Thanks for reading!

^ June 2nd might be too early for the water park around these parts, Andrew. I will say that I have been to the water park in the middle of August and thought that the water in the lazy river felt like it was about 50 degrees. I assume (or at least hope) that the new attractions have heated water, but some of the workers that post on here regularly could probably answer that question for you. In terms of the park, I would try to get the Whacky Shack out of the way first as that usually has a fair line and it moves slooooow. The rest of the ride lines usually aren't that bad, but on a Saturday (if it's a nice day), they could be. Must do's are pretty much the rides that you mentioned, although definitely try their Music Express because they run it on full speed. Very reminiscent of a European fair flat. Another don't miss is XScream. Given that Waldameer is on a hill overlooking Lake Erie, that 140' seems like about 3-400' if you are facing the lake. This one definitely took me by surprise - one of the more thrilling drop towers out there! Take a spin on the ferris wheel & swings for more spectacular views of Lake Erie and Presque Isle. Everything else is pretty much your standard flat ride collection if you're into those...Tilt A Whirl, Paratrooper, Disk-O, etc...all fun rides. Judging from your past trip reports and posts on here, I can tell already that you are going to LOVE Waldameer! It really is a great little family park with some good thrill rides and a decent water park thrown in. The only downfall is that they don't serve beer. lol

^ Love that can!

That is just another reason why I love CP - it's flat and easy to get around for just about anyone. It's great exercise just walking the park for young and old alike.

LOL...my thoughts exactly.

Oh man...I would so LOVE to do Japan with TPR, but unfortunately Michael is still not back at 100% - otherwise we would apply for sure!

^ In all seriousness, I am not sure about those burgers in Bill's photo. I might try the ramen noodle burger or the mac and cheese burger, but the rest sound nasty as hell. I have only eaten at a Fuddrucker's once and to be honest, the only thing that I remembered was that they were like fast food, but they had beer. That's the only thing I remember, so the burger that I had must have been pretty underwhelming.

^ For some reason, I wasn't a big fan of the Fresh Hop Session IPA, but really liked the others. It seemed a bit too dry and a bit too weak for my tastes. I much preferred the Imperial Fresh Hop Double IPA and thought it to be the best of the bunch. Now that I think about it, I couldn't imagine drinking a Bud Light or some shit like that if I think that a Sierra Nevada tastes weak to me these days. What a beer snob I have become.

That Minnesota game was unreal. I thought that the Bengals/Raven finish to put the Bills in the playoffs was one of the most insane things that I have seen...until that Diggs TD. Wow. Congrats to hilltopper - can't say that I saw the Jags going in and pretty much handing it to the Steelers for most of the day. Now if they can go to NE and repeat that performance, I would say that they might have a legit shot of winning it all. What they can't do is what Tennessee (and pretty much any team that plays NE) did...let off the gas. If you can hang with NE for a half, you damned well best be changing your game plan at halftime, because you know that Belichick is going to be making his halftime adjustments based on what he saw in the first half. I have seen Buffalo do this so many times where they play them well for a half and then come out with the same game plan in the 2nd half and get their asses handed to them on a silver platter. Similar instance in last year's SB, although the Falcons just plain fell apart in the most epic fashion imaginable. Don't fall into that trap Jax!