Philrad71

Great report...looking forward to the rest. After seeing the photos of the Japanese Denny's menu items, I might actually want to eat there (as opposed to the ones in the US). Not sure if I would want to drink something called Pocari Sweat though??

^ That's what I remember about Vortex the last time we rode it...getting totally jacked on that turn before the MCBR - none of us were prepared for that at all. The rest of the coaster isn't horrible by any means, but that turn into the brake = not fun.

^ Bill - I actually DID try to get something "halfway healthy" the last time we went to Melt. I got the 1/2 Mushroom Melt with spinach, onions and provolone. Of course, then you throw in a pile of fries with all that bread and cheese...and it's not quite as healthy anymore! The Mushroom Melt at Melt Bar & Grilled

Oh yes, I agree...Wildcat was likely the inspiration for the Tooth Chipper on The Simpsons.

The only other splash boat ride I'll ride besides Pompeii is the one at Hershey when I have my water park clothes on and I actually want to get wet. All the rest of them can get torn down as far as I'm concerned as I would much rather do a flume than go up a jolty lift hill, go around a bend & then drop 50 feet and get soaked. I personally feel that it's about the most thoughtless ride ever invented.

^ Thanks Andy...it will be an interesting add if they do. Wonder where they would put it? Maybe in the now empty restaurant at Sandcastle?

^^^ I'm pretty sure that The Thirsty Pony is attached to the Rain water park and Quality Inn - and they are both pretty ghetto. The food at TP was decent and the beer was cold, but I do recall several empty tables that hadn't been cleaned off as as well as shoes sticking to the floor while walking to our table. Maybe we just hit it on a bad day. ^^ Great photos...thanks for sharing! I love retro photos of amusement parks, especially CP! Also, I thought Melt was confirmed to be coming to CP in 2017 about 1,000 boat jokes and 1,000 stupid ride names for Mean Streak ago?

^ What he said. I admit that there were a couple of socially awkward kids that I have been paired up with during ERT at TPR events (once Michael burns out from riding coasters). I recall one younger kid on Banshee that told me that he knew all of the secrets about what Cedar Point was going to do in the coming years because he had worked there the previous summer. I had to restrain myself from asking if he was the Dippin' Dots guy, but I couldn't bring myself to say it.

I can't believe that I have never been to the Bay Harbor Inn for as many times that I have been to CP over the years - probably because it's sort of "hidden" to folks that normally don't pay attention to the marina side when in the park. I guess it's just that we just never tied "fine dining" and Cedar Point together in one visit. I'll be most curious to see how Melt fares this year. I love the funkiness of their sandwiches, but after visiting a 2nd time in October, it seemed like the Texas Toast-style bread that they use is just a bit too much for me. Don't get me wrong, it's still tasty...but I think that the next time that I visit a Melt that I may just remove one of the slices of bread and eat it with a knife and fork...or just go with a half sandwich. As far as The Thirsty Pony goes, I agree that it's a bit ghetto. I think it's likely due to the clientele at the shi%ty hotel and sorry excuse for an indoor water park that's connected to it. We stayed there once...never again.

Oh, I forgot to mention in my text above that I saw a total of *ONE* ECV in my entire four days at Tokyo Disney and those dreaded "double-wide" strollers are few and far between. For some reason this is a really huge deal for me. The abuse and over-use of both of those things here in America is just embarrassing. I feel the same way as thrillseeker about WDW, but I already know that I would like Tokyo Disney and DisneySea a lot better based on what I see in the trip reports...just based on the flavored popcorn and Haunted Mansion conversion alone! I wasn't sure whether to laugh or SMH at Robb's comment because of the truth and that I feel the same way. The abuse over those two things in America IS embarrassing. When we visited Dollywood a few years ago, we were there at the rope drop...we figured everyone would be running to Thunderhead and Mystery Mine (the parks biggest attractions at the time), but it was like a mass stampede (albeit like feet stuck in molasses) to get to the ECV's and strollers. We ended up being one of the first riders on Mystery Mine and we certainly weren't walking fast to get there! Oh...and Ikspiari: OMG that food looks awesomely delicious!

This. We have been to three awesome TPR events - West Coast Bash at SFMM (the one where it sleeted); Behemoth Bash & Banshee Bash. Out of those three times, the only time I ever recall speaking with Robb was at the conclusion of night ERT on Leviathan at CW. He had the mic and was getting all of us pumped up as we just kept doing laps - most of us without getting off the train. Once I had my fill of laps, I headed for the exit and simply shook Robb's hand and thanked him for an awesome day and for everything that he and Elissa do for us on TPR. Every other time I saw the Alvey's during these events, they were always working hard to ensure everyone was having a good time, so I wasn't going to bother them with some type of mindless banter. I can only imagine what a long, exhausting day that must be for them, so I just let them do their thing - putting on great theme park events! For a 52 year old man to call out the Alvey's after basically kissing ass in a trip report is disturbing. Calling out their young daughter however...is simply disgusting.

^^ I'm just leery of anything that can sit under a heat lamp for extended periods of time before serving. Somewhat unrelated rant - that's one of the reasons why I kind of lost faith in BDubs. Being from Western NY, I'm somewhat of a chicken wing "snob" so when I order wings at BDubs and they come to the table in like five minutes, I know that they are coming from straight under the heat lamp...and they usually taste like sh%t. Good wings need to be deep fried for a minimum of 14 minutes....if you get them any sooner than that, you know that they were pre-cooked and they are likely going to suck. Back on topic...I can't even remember what we had to eat the last time that we were at SFGAdv to be honest. Although I do remember paying $11 for a 20 oz draft Heineken at the restaurant near the ferris wheel (Grannies, maybe?)...so it's possible that that could have been my dinner! ^ That's quite a feat for you losing so much weight...glad to hear that your program works for you. Congrats!

King Crimson - Elephant Talk Makes you wonder if this song was an influence for Les Claypool/Primus?

^ I cracked up at that comment as well! And yes, count me in as one that likes a friendly buzz while at a theme park. And no, I can't say that I have ever had (or would have) a chicken strip basket at a theme park (ewwww).

I am pretty sure that I easily went through around $100 in food and drink during the spring garden/flower festival, Bert. And that's certainly not a complaint - it's just like you said...there is so much good stuff there that you want to try it all! The main thing is to pace yourself and try not to overindulge on the heavy sweets (or beer) early so that you can eat a little, go do some attractions, rinse and repeat throughout the day/evening.

^ That's exactly what they had! I bought three small bags of different style garlic along with some seasonings and sauces. Also had some parmesan garlic wings...they were just okay.

Awesome food, drink, music and art....looks like Epcot has another winning festival on their hands. Although my wallet wouldn't like it either!

^ Hopefully a report coming for that as well...I like weird and cool! We went to the Cuba Garlic Festival this year...that one was interesting as well, although I don't believe that I took many photos.

One could almost compare Carowinds to Canada's Wonderland - I refer to Carowinds as "Canada's Wonderland South". A couple of good B&M coasters and after that, the quality of the rest drops significantly.

Fixed that for you! Holiday Valley/Ellicottville is about 40 minutes from our house. We have done the mountain coaster about four times although it is the only one we have ever been on - we'd like to do more. You're right in that it's difficult to get photos of the coaster and they seemed quite strict (understandably enough) about about the no camera policy before boarding. Not sure if you had time, but they do have a very nice brewery and restaurant in downtown called Ellicottville Brewing Company - good food and tasty draft beers.

Shivering Timbers Happy Valley Wuhan

I think it's a tie for Dominator and Kraken for me - both very fun floorless coasters. And while Rougarou is much better than Mantis, after the drop and the first two loops, the rest of the coaster is pretty bland in design, IMO.

I believe that the new LED lights were added in early December. I would like to see for myself as well as the old lights were pretty decent (just outdated). I pulled the coasterbill trick on the front seat of Predator and had a pretty fun ride this past August! We were also grouped on Wild Beast so could not do the front seat. We ended up in like row 4 and it was bad....like Hurler at KD bad! Yep, it's still there and also one of my favorite NF attractions besides Maid of the Mist.

^ I would vote for the season beer pass without the food, but that's just me.

That bowling/billiards game looks like a lot of fun - cool idea. And yeah...not to sound too weird, but yay for the bonus Asian Smart Toilet shots - you are right in that those toilets are smarter than most people!