Philrad71

Did you happen to get into any of the gift shops or pancake houses in Pigeon Forge? They're a mix of the shirts you featured with a ton of Jesus/God rip-off sh#t thrown in for good measure. Freaking hilarious to spend time gawking at just how seriously stupid the t-shirts are. The night ride on Beast with a thunderstorm approaching would have been awesome - even better with a buzz, but yeah...I wouldn't have waited that long to get a beer either. That's why they need more beer cart vendors in parks so you can just walk up and get a (decent) beer just about anywhere in the park without waiting in some long-a$$ line. That's why I love that CP has added more beer vendors in different areas of the park in recent years. If I recall, there were only a select few places to get beer at KI, but I admit that we did spend more time than we probably should have at the Bier Garten during our last couple of visits (including Banshee Bash). Looking forward to the rest of the report!

^^ ^ They have had that BMX show at the old Oceana for years, but last year was the first time that we have ever watched it. I admit that it was a pleasant surprise - and yes, a good place to get some shade later in the day with a great view of WT.

^ I also like the Kidzania concept - it should be interesting to see how they do here in the states. I really enjoyed our time in Prague, Budapest and Vienna when we went a few years ago, so I'm really looking forward to this report from from the Danube...and YAY for Oktoberfest trips!

Probably not, because that certain person certainly would have mentioned how it would fit perfectly into the old 'Cuda Falls area. Errrr wait...someone else got here first. ^

You can go ahead and say what we're all thinking, Bert...she's a spoiled lil' bitch!

Love the sight of that MF & Maverick queue being near empty! We have encountered that a couple of times and that's great when you can get off and go right back on! Did you guys make it into any of the shows? I know that they're not Dollywood or Disney-esque style shows, but Red Garter and Lusty Lil's can be a nice stop for a rest and a drink. I thought that the BMX show in the old CP Marina/aquarium was also good when we watched it last year. It seems like we had the same exact experience at Pink's the last time we went despite it not being busy. But our food was bland to mediocre...and not very warm. Chickie & Pete's outdid that poor service last year when we had to sit and wait 15-20 minutes for a table despite the restaurant only at about 1/4 capacity with host and wait staff mostly walking around looking absolutely clueless, despite it being mid-June. But those are trivial things when you think about how great the park is in general, right? Oh, and while we didn't get to get a photo of us with Franklin, Michael and I did get a photo of us with (I know that this is a shocker)....Peppermint Patty in 2010. We wanted both PP AND Marcy in a photo of a coming out party celebration for them...although they might want to have their wedding outside of Camp Snoopy and over at the Breakers Bar instead, right? lol

I feel for the Preds...as a Sabres fan who still feels that they got robbed in the '99 Stanley Cup for what should have been a "no goal". Funny how the rule book changed the very next season. Still pissed about that one....and yes, Brett Hull is still a d#ck.

^ If I'm reading your post correctly, yes the park will often clear out during a storm and then be dead or at least somewhat dead for the remainder of the day. Obviously it depends on what time....if it storms at like 10:30 AM and the forecast is for it to clear in the afternoon, people are likely to hang around. If it's more like 6:00 PM and the storm ends at 7:00, chances are that the place will clear out and you may get some ERT-like hotness for a couple of hours.

^ From what I have experienced, Father's Day is a great day for visiting theme parks. I have found that another good time to visit a theme park is if the 3rd of July falls on a Thursday!

I definitely have to make it to NYC to do Scott's pizza tour. Everything that you have shared in this report and others, show some outstanding looking pizza. I freaking drool every time I look at the photos!

I had the same experience where you wouldn't have known it was unofficial gay day. We saw a few people wearing red (to identify, I think) holding hands, but there weren't that many.

As someone that absolutely loved Euro-Mir, I know that I would LOVE Spiderman. It's like a Tilt-A-Whirl had sex with a roller coaster.

^ I guess that I never knew the char-cup pepperoni was a Buffalo thing, but that one pizza shot in Robb's report certainly looked like that was what they used. I agree that it is a lot more flavorful than regular thin, flat pepperoni.

We ordered the same appetizers (riblets and Burnt ends) on a previous visit there and they were wonderful. That's why I think that we just hit them on an "off" day. We have been to the one in Erie a couple of times and had good meals there. It's one of the chains that I don't actually mind going to - and this coming from someone that isn't a HUGE BBQ fan and one that usually tries to stay far away from chain restaurants. I like it, but like Buffalo chicken wings, BBQ had better be done right, or it's likely going to taste like sh%t.

Pizza. Dim Sum. Broadway. Retro video games. Animal zoo porn also featuring delinquent kids and the stupid parents that don't care/watch them until they get mauled/eaten. Dali. Van Gogh. Poking fun at Trump and organized religion. Looks like a A++ trip report to me!! PS - Char-cup pepperoni is the best & should be the only pepperoni ever allowed on pizza. More pizzerias in Western NY are starting to use this type of pepperoni and that is a very good thing. I found it once at Wegmans, but only once. Booooo!

Hope you went and the weather holds for you. We have been to the park on Gay Day/Father's Day and it was dead...perfect time to go!

I know where you're coming from, but if each guest were diligent enough to know what they're going to put into the bin BEFORE the gates open, it doesn't take more than a few seconds to do. I will gather both mine and and Michael's stuff and place it in the bin to cut back on time. It usually takes Michael a bit more time to get adjusted with the restraints, but I can do this very quickly most of the time. It's when you get "those people" that put something into a bin and then get into their seat and realize that they forgot to take off their hat, glasses or flip flops...or "forgot" that they were carrying a refillable soda bottle half full of soda...that's when trains get stacked and capacity suffers.

I agree - I liked the Frontier Lift much better than the one on the midway. If they ever brought something similar back, it would make for some outstanding photo opportunities of that side of the park! As one that has never been a huge fan of Iron Dragon, I would be all for it's removal if it meant bringing back the Frontier Lift. I remember the year Iron Dragon opened and I was so pumped after seeing a POV of BBW at Busch. After waiting in the queue that went all the way back to the Skyride, I remember saying to my friend after the ride: "That was it?" The coolest part that I liked about the ride was the swing right before the brake at the end. I thought the ride would do that throughout the course versus just chugging through the trees at a slow to moderate pace. The swings over the water at the end were okay, but I really thought that they would be taken much faster and have way more swinging action. Then after riding BBW years later, I said "Now that's exactly what I expected Iron Dragon to be like!"

Just getting caught up here...I (like some of the other TPR members) are amazed at all of the details you remember from your trips, Bert. No stone left unturned! I thought the same as you with regards to the Brew and BBQ. Food was okay, but I wish there were more options - like the beer selection. Holy moly, the beer selections are amazing! Glad that you guys liked Famous Dave's. I have also had the "back door" hot sauce. I wanted to think that it was called Devil's Spit, but that is one of the normal ones that they put out on the table. While our last meal (appetizers of riblets and burnt ends) was overcooked and not very good, we really enjoyed our waitress (Peggy) and the drinks that we had overlooking MF and TTD. Ribs and burnt ends were tough as shoe leather, but we'll let this one slide as our previous meals there have been great. And I LOVE those spicy pickles and onions that they give you! Gotta love this view!

CD is fun, but I admit that I have ridden it a total of three times in my entire life and that is going to Cedar Point every year for like the past 30+ years. I love the Tilt-A-Whirl, but have ridden the one at CP maybe twice. The times that we did ride those rides were because all of the other lines were ridiculously long and it was before they had FL+. I know that I need to do a better job of hitting the smaller rides - not just making loops around the park hitting all of the major coasters (that don't suck) with Skyhawk, Maxair and Power Tower being the only flats that I normally do while there.

The road leading to the resorts looks like a cluster and the parking lot looks packed for Cedar Shores. Surprising at how many empty campsites at Lighthouse Point though.

Great report so far, Andrew! Sorry you didn't get to ride LR, but sounds like you had a really good visit, other than the ticket SNAFU. I agree with Bert, the Memphis Zoo looks really nice! Looking forward to the rest!

I LOVED ST in the front seat, but the 2nd time in the back wasn't quite as good. Voyage (as many of you know) was brutal for us a few years ago in the mid to upper part of the train. I see it as a challenge to go back to try the front seat - preferably at night. I'd also LOVE to try ST in the front seat at night - particularly after visiting Founders for a little while during the day!

^ Maybe we'll will try to make a trip out there soon as it's been a couple of years since I have been there and done one of my whacked out CLP trip reports. This might be a manageable day trip for Michael and myself (Michael's still recovering from a 6 month stint in various hospitals) to do some afternoon - just to get out of the house.

Nothing better than being at CP when you practically have your own ERT sessions on everything because the park is so dead. You feel like you've freaking hit the lottery or something! I would LOVE to go tomorrow and Monday - sunny and temps in the upper 80's. Would be a great time to check out the revamped water park with minimal waits on the slides. You'd probably even have Muffelheads swim-up bar all to yourself!