BarryH

I can see the good and bad sides of a Queue Skipping system. The good thing about the system is that you can reserve a time to come back and wait a short time for the ride. While you are waiting, you can do other things in the park that have a shorter wait. For example, if I get a Fast Pass for Test Track and my ride time is 2 hours away (while the regular wait is, say, 2 hours), I can do other rides like Spaceship Earth, Journey Into Imagination, the Living Seas, the Land ride, the Land movie, and eat in the 2 hours that I'm waiting for my ride time. I can accomplish other things instead of waiting in the Test Track queue, listening to noisy machines. On the other hand, the system makes the regular wait longer than it should be. One good example is the Spider-Man ride at IOA. In the days before Universal Express, you would stand in line. In the last queue room before you pick up the 3-D glasses, you see a video of Jameson yelling at us to board the Scoops. Before Universal Express, you would barely be in the room for 1 cycle of the video before you enter the other room. Now with Universal Express, you can see a few cycles of the video before you leave the room. A 75 minute wait for Spider-Man could be cut down to 30-45 minutes without Universal Express. Queue Skipping systems also make some people less patient with waiting for rides. You don't want to know how many times I see people grabbing Fast Passes for Dinosaur at AK when the regular wait is 10 minutes! I've seen guests at USJ use their Universal Express pass on Backdraft when the line had like 20 people in it and the wait was 5 minutes! The guests who used Universal Express on Backdraft just got to stand in the first preshow room for a few more minutes than the rest of us. However, do I use Fast Pass, Universal Express, Q-Bots, and other Queue Skipping systems? You bet! I would not have been able to ride what I wanted at SFOT during Spring Break without it. Granted, I try to visit parks when I know the lines will be relatively short or arrive early so I can ride the E-ticket rides a few times before the crowds come in. I don't visit a Disney park without picking up a Fast Pass for at least one ride. Although Queue Skipping systems can be bad things, the good things about it outweigh the bad.

I went to SFOT over Spring Break on a weekday and it was packed! Nearly every coast had at least an hour line. Good thing I had Q-Bot goodness. I went to SFFT on a Saturday and it was fairly packed. The longest I waited was 45 minute for Polergeist. I went to Sea World San Antonio on the last day of Spring Break (Sunday) and the park was pretty deserted. No lines for the Great White or the Steel Eel!

I'm 6'3" and 260 lbs. I fit into Tastu, Superman: Ultimate Flights, and Air with little problems. I think I get two clicks. On B&M floorless and sit-downs, I can pull down the OSTR, but sometimes I need help from the ride op to buckle the strap.

^And, to a lesser extent, Mapquest.

True...I went to Myrtle Beach and I found a hotel advertising $32 rooms and it was by the beach. The outside of the hotel seemed to be put together with tape and gum. The rooms did not look good enough for even roaches! I did find a Quality Inn near the beach for around $80/night and it was decent.

^I've lived in Florida nearly all my life. I've rarely seen "cheap hotel" and "near the beach" in the same sentence. The nearest beaches to Tampa are in St. Pete and Clearwater.

^You can also stop by Wild Adventure on your way down from SFOG.

By 2043, we should be up to the DVD "Coaster Expedition 9,257." It may not be on DVD, but a futuristic media. It might be all digitial or something we download directly into the chips in our brains.

No one has said it, but I will... It's a credit only if your name is Jeff Johnson.

Also while in Tampa, if your friend likes animals, be sure to visit the Lowry Park Zoo. It's one of the nicer zoos in Florida. If you like marine life, check out the Florida Aquarium in Tampa as well.

No, this is the song you should sing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JC7fyl7SzI

Actually, the price of a room for the Royal Pacific on your dates is $244/night. I checked for a AAA discount and couldn't find one. You can also get the Hard Rock Hotel for $269.10/night with a AAA discount. Also, consider that your room key acts as an unlimited Universal Express pass. You can use it as many times as you want. For the paid Express pass, you can only use it once per ride. The room key is good from 7 am on the date of your check-in until midnight of the date of your check-out. As for Dueling Dragons, you can use the re-entry door near the exit if you want to ride again. It allows you to enter and be very close to the load station.

I don't remember what I said to Lou to make her laugh on the lifthill, but it was probably something dirty. At Tivoli, I couldn't stop singing the "Welcome to Tivoli" song. Too bad the park didn't have a soundtrack CD or I would have used it in my video. The "Amazing Typhoon Race" was a very interesting time. I remember standing in a crowded hallway between trains. By the time we arrived at Nyoga, iwe just encountered high winds. The typhoon was just a category. As a Floridian, I laugh in the face of cat 1 hurricanes. It takes at least a cat 3 to scare me!

^If you are visiting on Thursday and Friday, crowds will more than likely be light. You should be able to do all the credits and even do re-rides on your favorites. You can even look at the animals or do the shows.

^You mean the future when Skynet takes over?

^Does this contest count?

I bet $5 that Robb and Elissa will try out for this show! They can sing a duet of "Endless Love."

I would watch this show, only to see the terrible singers. Next thing you know, we'll have "Hanna Montana 4-D."

If you can, visit BGA on February 19th. Park hours may be shorter, but so will lines. Every coaster will probably be a walk-on or have a short wait. Over the President's Day weekend, you'll probably encounter large crowds.

^I'm waiting for "Ron Jeremy: The Ride."

Now I can sing this song again! "New Kid (On The Block)" I didn't ask to be famous, but I'm not sore. 'Cause you can see my face in the window of every store. You can buy my lunch box, and you can wear my clothes, You can remember my name just as plain as the face under your nose. I'm a new kid on the Block, 'though I may not be Johann Sebastian Bach. So we may not write the songs we sing, but look at Elvis, he sold his soul and you crowned him King. I didn't ask to be famous, but I'm not sad, You see, I've got everything that I always wished I had. I thank my manager and I thank the screaming girls, I thank my hairdresser for giving me such beautiful curls. Now I'm a New Kid on the Block, well I'm twenty-three and they won't let me grow up. I went down to register for the draft, well I got up to the counter, and the lady there just laughed. She said You're a New Kid on the Block, young girls scream and old boys mock, well you broke my youngest daughter's heart. I knew you kids were trouble from the start. I didn't ask to be famous, but I'm not sure that we're as apple pie as you always thought we were. I can stay up all night. I can have a blast. I can breakdance, I can fight, I can kick your sorry ass. I'm a New Kid on the Block, and 'though I may not be Johann Sebastian Back, there's no need to be afraid of us 'though it just might be your daughter on our bus.

How about...HOT SHOTS!

I say CF should just call it "That White Thing." That's what most guest call it. They point at it and yell, "I want to ride 'That White Thing!'" Still, was was so wrong with just "The Jet Coaster?"

I think it's OK to bring your own food. Some parks don't allow outside food, though. I have seen people at BGA with coolers and they were eating hot dogs. I've seen some people in Universal Orlando's parking garage eating sandwiches by their car. It's a tailgate party! Break out the grill! As a side note, some of the bigger parks like Universal and Disney officially say they don't allow outside food, but I've never seen anyone thrown out for sneaking in sandwiches. Sandwiches and light snacks are OK. A turkey dinner is another matter.

Great photos! Where will the 2010 coaster go at Morey's Piers? I wonder what GCII will do with Cheetah. Anything would be an improvement in this hellishly rough ride!