Philrad71

Edit - double post due to server error.

^ Awesome to hear, Bert! I (being a huge King fan) have been waiting for this movie for a long time. Even though it's a gorgeous day today, I'm tempted to go as crowds might not be as bad today.

I zoomed in on that beer selection at Adventureland and could do nothing but drool! Other than going to a Hofbrauhaus, they look to have one of the most impressive Bavarian beer selections that I have ever seen outside of Munich!

It's really scary to think that some park management might agree to decide to only take the minimum amount of safety or maintenance precautions, which could potentially lead to horrible fatalities if rides aren't kept to the extremely high safety standards that they need to be. I have personally witnessed where safety and quality have been sacrificed (or oft overlooked) in the never-ending war to drive down cost and increase profit margins for the shareholders, executives and other money-hungry people of their ilk. Truly scary, yet pathetic, sad and idiotic all at the same time.

That kinda sucks as I used to love power-riding Skyhawk on Friday nights as they would usually run both sides so that there was never a line. Most times, the ride op's wouldn't even make you get out of your seat for re-rides. But that is likely the exact reasoning - not enough staff to justify keeping these rides going on a Friday night. I love Friday nights at Halloweekends early in the season as the weather is usually good and the crowds are low. We don't do many of the haunts/mazes, but the ones that we have done in the past on Friday's have been scarce with scare actors just like the previous posters stated.

Drinking and the Jersey Shore just seem to go hand in hand, don't they? I can't wait to get back there, but thanks for the memories and awesome report in the meantime, Bill!

It's a party con, but like Bert said there isn't any obvious drug use. I haven't seen anyone doing drugs, I haven't seen anyone that I thought was high and I haven't smelled weed. The raves are rather tame and nowhere near the stereotypical ecstasy filled raves. Drinking is the vice of choice and even that doesn't really get out of hand. People get really drunk, but I haven't seen any fights or anyone vomit. People are pretty respectful and follow the rules despite the craziness. I will contribute some pictures if I can find the time. Good to know...sounds like a lot of fun!

Europa just keeps upping their game with more and more awesomeness - this one will be fun to watch being built!

I finally got back on the social media bandwagon while Michael was in the hospital (per his family member request). I had quit Facebook about four years before and had never used any other social media apps on my phone before, until getting back on FB late last year. I still haven't quite found a need to take to any of the other social media sites as of yet, but then again, I'm old. Now I see that I really need to start filtering out friends that seem to only post non-stop political garbage, prayer chains and other really stupid sh#t that makes me want to throw up. Similar to Robb and Prozach, I would rather only have friends and family that actually post meaningful photos and messages, versus a lot of the idiotic crap that I have been seeing on there lately. Once I get a little down time to myself, I really need to go through my settings and start getting some filters set up on FB. Once I get that straightened out, I might actually try venturing into the world of Twitter. Edit - ^ Interesting to know, Robb. Donald Trump was one of the main reasons I have been leery of Twitter. While I know that he is one of a billion people that posts on there, every time I see something that he posts, it makes me want to vomit. I just figured that there were more uneducated, stupid people on there than on Facebook, but it sounds like it might be better as long as you filter and follow the appropriate people. I admit that I am pretty much of a social media virgin - I don't know sh%t about it, but I admit that maybe it's time for me to learn!

Man I miss riding that coaster...like really bad.

Wow...definitely looks like quite the party. Almost like you'd expect people to be walking around handing out hits of LSD just like before an old Grateful Dead or Pink Floyd show in the 70's or 80's.

Nothing should even come close to Epcot for best food. Yeah, Dollywood and Knoebels are better than your average theme/amusement park food, but they cannot hold a candle to what Epcot has in World Showcase or offers during their food events.

Stay safe down there, everyone!

This one slipped through the cracks this week...that sucks as they were scheduled to play in Buffalo in a couple of months. Walter Becker of Steely Dan Dies

Thanks! People like you are the reason I can ride coasters in December with no lines. Really appreciate it. Like shovel, dodge massive potholes, sit around wishing it wasn't winter, drive to work when it's dark, drive home when it's dark even though it's only 5:00 and eventually get so sick of winter's bullsh*t that you buy plane tickets to Florida so you can get away from the snow? That's what 90% of people do in the winter. Winter sucks hard. Occasionally we'll go skiing so we can try to embrace winter and pretend it doesn't suck but overall it sucks and we all know it sucks. Being able to ride Nitro makes it suck less. F*ck winter. Thank god theme parks are expanding their holiday events. It's great. Couldn't agree more - it just seems like summer flew by this year too. I am not looking forward to another winter yet, so I am hoping that the fall will be nice - and I will be able to get to at least one fall or winter theme park event!

That first slice of Cesari's looks nasty...like it had sat around for a while. When we got ours, it not only folded, but you had to eat it with a knife and fork because it was so gooey with cheese. Certainly not the greatest pizza on earth, but for amusement park food, not too shabby. I will definitely be heading for that pierogi shack next time though!!

Thanks for the report...looks like a fun, clean little park! And they had beer, so that automatically makes it good.

I think that Michael and I blew through about $250 on food and booze when we went...but I wanted to make sure that I had a sample of alcohol from every country so I could say that I drank my way around the world - we had a freaking blast. Now do the alcohol samples in each country during F&W count, or do you unofficially have to have a full alcoholic beverage at every permanent country for it to qualify? Given that there are a lot of other countries represented at the food festivals, I know that I had a really good buzz going on by the time Illumigaytions started.

^ I agree with you Chuck, although I wish that I could go every year like you, Robb/Elissa and others. The trip reports that you all do helps a little with the sting of that though. I seem to recall having only one or two things at F&W that I may have considered mediocre, but the majority of the samples that I have had have been either really good or just downright delicious. I have had nothing that I would say is nasty or uneatable. As a person that has been to his share of food festivals, my advice for the poster that stated the food at F&W mediocre, you might just want to stay away from your hometown's food festivals - now some of THOSE can be great, to mediocre, to downright terrible!

Love me some Knoebels. I have been pondering the idea of going down for the PPP and staying at the campground next door if Michael is up for it - that invite from TPR is looking VERY tempting!

Just got the new QOTSA and Oh Sees & so far it isn't even close. The new Oh Sees sounds far superior, although I am hoping that the new QOTSA will grow on me over time. From what I have heard of it thus far, it sounds like they were trying to come out with a different sound on several songs and I'm not quite sure if I like it or not.

Good job....love the You Tube videos and all of the effort that you put into creating them!

Craft beer! That fried Jello though...

OMG! Limoncello Mule sounds interesting. I have some orangecello in my fridge but my fave is the meloncello (think creamy cantaloupe flavor) - but unfortunately I have never seen it for sale in the US. Looking forward to the rest...I always love your Epcot Food & Wine TR's!

Looks like a great addition - I really need to get to this park one of these days.