[Coasting for Kids 2012 - Be part of Team TPR!]

Thank Odin's beard it is Flight Deck. I would have needed a medic had they picked the Demon.

[Coasting for Kids 2012 - Be part of Team TPR!]

I'll be crashing at the Hilton the night before for Great America's event. Other than that...the weekend is a mystery to me still.

[The Bag-Of-Crap Giveaway Thread!]

Pizza is awesome...now I'm searching the net for pizza just to eat tonight lol

[The Bag-Of-Crap Giveaway Thread!]

my interest is peaked...yes another clue might help

[Coasting for Kids 2012 - Be part of Team TPR!]

I was born at home on a cold January morning back in 1978. My birth certificate has my grandmothers name as delivering physician. I have lived most of my life in Stockton Ca and the small portion that I wasn't here, I was in the small town of Linden Ca 40 miles East of Stockton. Growing up, I did normal things like playing Little League baseball and riding bikes. When I got older, and led the league in hit by pitches, my coach recommended I take up hockey. I did and I was a natural. In high school I played on a competitive inline hockey team. When I saved enough money to get the very expensive goalie gear for ice hockey, I did. I transitioned well but I was too old to get much further than recreation level. I have worked at a few retail jobs, most recent Red Wing Shoes. I have a perfect 4.0 grade point average in college, but I've only taken 2 classes. Now on to the checklist!

 

-Favorite Disney character is Chip and Dale...but really that is two so perhaps more Dale than Chip

-Fast Food is easy In-N-Out double double ketchup and cheese only, fries well done, Dr. Pepper with a slice of lemon

-Pizza topping either pepperoni or Hawaiian

-how I got into coasters....ghetto carnivals...then I got real

-if I won the mega millions I would have, in this order, paid off my credit card debt, bought a car, spend 6 weeks doing all the Disney parks worldwide, build a house with my own ice rink, buy a vacation home on Kauai, give a crap load of money to charities like this one, invest

-right now I am wearing olive dockers, a work polo shirt, and my waterproof Red Wing boots

-apps on my iPhone...sorry I have a droid...but the apps I use most are Fandango, Facebook, Foursquare, Netflix, The Chive and Nhl and ECHl....why there no TPR app?

-Favorite band...hmmm I did a short stint as an internet DJ so I have a lot of music on my hard drive....Bowling for Soup, Foo Fighters, Aquabats, Metalica, Ac/Dc

-where was I when John Carter flopped? In an IMAX 3d theater with my wife enjoying the movie...I liked it.

- my high school mascot was a Lion

- I have raised my pet cat since before her eyes were open. Her mother was hit by a car a few days after she was born and I had to care for her. I've now had her for over 15 years.

- I got married last September 18. I was engaged for 7 years. I proposed at Disneyland

- I was my high schools top scorer for Academic Decathalon

- The food I cook best is spaghetti

- My drink of choice is Cherry Pepsi or for more adult tastes MGD, Mojitos, or Mai Tai

- I love chips and salsa, as a kid I hated spicy food

- I am named after my father and his father before him...so I am the 3rd

- I am pretty good at fixing computers and see them as a personal challenge to figure out.

- Xbox live gamertag is Phreke33

-I own around 30 hockey jerseys

wedding

more wedding

Santa Cruz

Log ride at Santa Cruz

Kayak not dot com

old goalie

USH

There is only 1 place in the US you can still do this

Lake Tahoe

Big Blue behinds me

Hawaii

self pic from underwater

more Goalie guy

The Stanley Cup and Kelly Cup (ECHL)

one of my mom's kittens

doh wheres the toe

my brush with celebrity

my cat

not really flying

trick shot!!!

Just to incriminate myself...one of my prom pics

and the other one

[Coasting for Kids 2012 - Be part of Team TPR!]

Big thanks to Alfred for kicking off what I hope is the first of many donations....and big thanks to Robb for the promo and the chance to be part of one of the best groups of people in the world!

[Coasting for Kids 2012 - Be part of Team TPR!]

I've been here in the shadows for a while. I don't post much because I rarely get to the parks like I did when I was younger.I play ice hockey part time as a goalie. I have always been a fan of thrill rides. My family would take me to mostly the traveling ghetto carnivals as a kid and I loved every minute of it. In high school, I picked up a Paramount's Great America season pass and used it every weekend. Those were a good few years. I even got to season pass preview Stealth...way back when. I have rode at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and I am a huge Disney fan (though I've only been to California's parks). I would say my favorite coaster is Medusa as Discovery Kingdom. I am 34 years old now and have a great wife (though she is not a thrill ride fan), so I don't get to ride as much as I would like. I sell work boots for a living and saw this event as a way to both give to a very good cause and FINALLY get some more rides in. If anyone out there wants to help an old goalie out here is my link http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/raymondmahnke/CaliforniasGreatAmerica and here are some pictures

[Coasting for Kids 2012 - Be part of Team TPR!]

Well I know I'm not the most active user around here...but it's a good cause. I'm doing California's Great America! http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/raymondmahnke/CaliforniasGreatAmerica

See you all there!

[BAY AREA BASH 2010 Live Updates!]

I totaly regret not being able to participate. Living in NorCal this is my best chance to enjoy the antics of TPR on my budget but unfortunately I had to work that weekend. Well the boss can only go to his kids college graduation once right? Looks like he will need another reason to keep me in town next year.

[Bay Area Bash 2010! May 15th & 16th! SFDK & CGA!]

sounds good i will talk it over with mrs toxie and try to hit up both days. We had a blast last year. She's not even a coaster fan and she talked about it for days. Thanks to all the fun (and the penguin) last year this should be an easy sell for me.

[Bay Area Bash 2010! May 15th & 16th! SFDK & CGA!]

for us NorCal folks, will there be a way to do either park alone or will they be a package deal? I'm hoping I can make both days, but if not I'm sure I can do at least one.

[CGA’s HALLOWEEN HAUNT MEDIA DAY (Video Posted!!!)]

I was planning on going on 10-10 but a bunch of things kept me in Stockton. Man I am so bummed I didn't get to go.

[TPR's Deep South 2009 Trip!]

wow its nice to see pics of this park before mother nature turned it into a waterpark.

[Bay Area Bash! Six Flags Discovery Kingdom!]

I will totaly be be back for the Halloween event as well as the Christmas time event. I had a blast. Everyone I met who worked there, be it food service, animal ambasadors, ride ops, and shop keepers, were polite, engaging and fun. The park was very clean throughout the day and ride waits were well within reason (even without a Flash Pass). I cant wait to go back and get more pics of Leo coughing up a hairball.

[Bay Area Bash! Six Flags Discovery Kingdom!]

glad they had a great time. they are now internet celebrities!

[Bay Area Bash! Six Flags Discovery Kingdom!]

Well it is the animals that makes this park so one of a kind on the west coast. All pics on my posts taken by either myself or she who needs a scream name aka Leanne

sunset on the coasters....thats all for me I'll save the ert shots for everyone else

See what I mean...Vault on tap!

best thing in the world...after Vault

geek shot

roar or hairball?

Leo the big male

lionesses

no

acceptable amount of wetness?

this photo has my seal of approval

only decent shot I got in the butterfly house

Shouka!

oh yeah they have coasters here as well

tasty

chow time

dolphin

did I mention I love penguins?

HEY YOU GUYS!!!! oh sorry wrong sloth

feel free to i.d. these nice folks

someone who is used to being photographed and a park mascot

a whale of a good time

some of the prizes that were won...notice the art painted by animals very cool

relaxation after lunch

Robb telling us we would be having burgers and frankfurters for lunch.

My kind of bird!

Wonderful woman!

It was too cool for me to ride this, but some did

if this one gets out...you will NOT out run it...so out run at least one other person

a fox

Acers were here too

a whale a dolphin and a woman...all mammals by the way

four looney toons

extra credit for the loop?

people enjoying a great coaster

A big thanks to these folks, without them this wonderful day would not have been possible

poor poor souls

Kong, I didnt ride it this time...my neck is still healing from the last time.

some people bad as many as 6 rides durring this time that someone complained about...really it was awsome

Leanne took this while I rode Medusa a few times durring our "only" 15 mins of ERT

through the trees!

tail gatoring is allowed at this park

I think that one was saying "hey babah, get in mah bellah"

Water cat

will this footage make the cut?

a bird that is not a penguin

more animals of some sort

I otter mention that they had a lot of animals for us to see

if you know what this is...you have a dirty mind

Toxicphreke and a camel...I'm pretty sure I didnt take this photo

theme park reviewers waiting for directions

In case you forgot where we were

Park theme

early morning coasters

[Bay Area Bash! Six Flags Discovery Kingdom!]

close...we have been engaged for over 5 years....she just wont set a date. Glad we could help. as for the rest of the pictures....well most are of animals but we do have a few token coaster shots

[Bay Area Bash! Six Flags Discovery Kingdom!]

Well I'll get things started

Odin giving Robb the bunny ears?

Robb interviews a camel? And I thought it was a non smoking park.

Thanks again Robb!

I'd be lion if I said I didn't have a great time.

Mr. Six!

the real reason I went to Discovery Kingdom!

[Bay Area Bash! Six Flags Discovery Kingdom!]

I too was there...fist TPR trip of any sort and it will NOT be my last. I had a great time. The park was the best hosts you could ask for and Robb and the gang made the whole day well worth my time and money. I took tons of pics and vids I hope to update later tonight when I am not at work. Have a great rest of the west guys!

[Memorial Day at California's Great America]

i was on an outside seat..i guess i do have a bit of a barrel chest though. I'm not too sad about not ridding it.

[Memorial Day at California's Great America]

On Sunday May 24, the Mrs. and I decided to roll out of Stockton after work for a night at Dave & Busters and then a day at CGA. We haven't been to Great America since 2001 and had many reasons for not returning. In 01 we found the staff to be slow and lazy, park cleanliness poor and just overall not worth the time.

 

We took advantage of a package rate at the Hilton which shares the parking lot with CGA of $150 for the room and two tickets to the park. Since we didn't get into Santa Clara until about 7pm we decided not to use the "after 3pm the day before" feature of the tickets. I would have allowed us to get into the park after 3pm the day before we use the full day ticket for just $10. Since this isn't a Dave & Busters review I'll just say that it was great and move on. Oh and that it is about a 15 min drive from the park/hotel. The hotel too, was nice. Clean, friendly and with free parking which we were allowed to use the following day even after check out time.

 

On to the park! We lined up at the gate at about 9:30 am when the park was to be open at 10. The cloud cover broke and the sun came out just as the park opened about half of the gates. First impression of the park, very clean with the plants and flowers looking very nice. We had our picture taken and then move to ride Flight Deck (which I last rode as Top Gun). I think there may have been 1 train dispatched before us or we would have been first ride of the day. Very smooth and fun and the pond didn't smell bad as it has in the past. Rode Flying Eagles for the first time ever. Much more fun that it looks. Again no lines yet. Noticed that Firefall had no wait at all so I rode that with out the Mrs. she saw too chicken for it. This ride looks a lot more fun than it was...perhaps I had a bad program, but it didn't do much for me.

 

Time for my first complaint...Delerium. While it had no line at all. I learned that "the light didn't come on. sorry, bro, you cant ride". This is the first time I've ever no been able to ride something based on my size. That is to say i'm not a very big guy. I'm about 5'10" 205 lbs. The guy really tried to pin me in, almost to point of pain so perhaps it's good I didn't ride. I don't blame the ride op, he really did his best to allow me to ride.

 

Had about a 5 min wait for Psycho Mouse. The underside of the ride has seen much love since I rode in 2001, then it was all weeds, now it's grass and gravel. Not a bad little coaster. Very short 2 cycle wait for me to ride Survivor the ride. Very smooth and fun. Next had about a 3 train wait for the front of Grizzly. Seemed a little slow, but I was riding it early in the day. The Mrs. chatted up the girl working near our waiting zone and I found her very polite and professional.

 

I decided to ride Invertigo for the first time since it opened way back when. I remembered not enjoying it in the past and wanted to see if it had changed. I has not. I think my ears are still bleeding from it. Almost no wait for the front of the Demon and found it showing its age. Much more jerky and shaky than I remember. The Mrs. summed it up with "ouch". The park was still at this time (about noon) a lot more empty than I had expected.

 

Mrs. Toxie want to eat at Nicktoons Cafe since she really wanted the hot roast beef sandwich. So we hopped on the Delta Flyer and rode across to the back of the park were it would be a shorter walk. Get to Nicktoons Cafe and learn about the biggest flaw in CGA, food service. This place is a buffet/caffeteria style restraunt. The line stretched nearly out the door, we got our food, drinks, and kept waiting...to see why this was taking so long. The had just one cashier working at lunch time near a kids area of the park. We find some seats after paying for the food and see trash bins overflowing and a LOT of debris on the ground.Total time from getting in line to first bite about 30 mins. We finished up just as they found more help by opening 2 more cashiers and cleaning up the dinning room. Mrs. Toxie finished up her pudding near the exit of Endeavor. From this seat it was clear the legacy of Cedar Fair parks. I counted 9 trash cans withing about 20 yards.

 

Next rode Sponge Bob 3D with no wait, a lot more fun than I expected. We walked around the water park area since that was new since we last visited. The Mrs. told me that we could try it next time (shocking since I know she hates water parks).

 

Rode Loggers Run after about a 10 min wait. Didn't get too wet but enough to cool down a bit. Decided to give Survivor another go. A little longer line now at about 15-20 mins. Still fun. At this point we decide we want a little snack. Go to the Coke stand near Drop Tower, order 2 Cokes and a churro. Was told that the registers tape was broke or something and I couldn't buy anything. We walked to the front area near Vortex to the next Coke stand that sells churros and was told the same thing. This is the first time I've seen an amusement park that DIDN"T want my money. Food service at this park SUCKS.

 

I then rode Vortex with no wait for the front row. A lot of head banging going on here. We then decided we had done all we wanted to do and since this park didn't want any more of my money to head for home. We had planned on getting the little key chain pictures like we had in 01, but I had a bad taste in my mouth from not having Coke in it so we just left. Had a nice walk across the parking lot to the hotel lot and rolled out at about 5pm.

 

Overall we had fun. For a holiday weekend the Monday at the park was very slow in my mind. This meant short lines except for food. If they can fix that I would score the place higher. It's not Disney but it was a nice little get away.

 

edit: They now have cheerful people who sweep up the park and hand out maps. The bright yellow shorts they wear are no where near as sunny as their personalities. Every one of the sweepers I was near had big smiles and they asked how my day was. This scored points with me.

[The Official TPR Spain & Mini-Europe Trip 2007 Thread]

post more big mike...and hope he doen't get edited

[KidTums is here! Kristen Taylor Alvey born 3/3/07]

"When a baby is born, it is the symbol of all birth and life, and therefore all people must rejoice and smile and all people must lose their hearts to a child."

---Kenneth Patton

 

my your nights be longer than they are short.

[Skate Boarding in Gym?]

skateboarding for pe is ok....but i played ice and inline hockey for pe at my school.

[Army Draft?]

I'd go...in fact i would have gone already but for a bad eye...and a draft would help them overlook such a shortcoming...let me tell a little story that a good friend of mine that serves posted.

 

Today I got home from drill, and started walking in from the parking lot, still dressed in uniform. I saw my neighbor lady struggling with a big box, trying to take it inside from her car. Some kind of big plastic toy ridy thing thing for her kid. Being the nice guy that I am, I lifted it and helped her take it upstairs onto her porch. She tells me thanks and begins to go inside, I turn around and head for my apartment.

 

Then the door opened. Apparently her degenerate boyfriend, typical young gangsterish male, dressed in a stained wife-beater and sweatpants atsks her what she bought, in a less than respectful tone. She tells him its for thier kid, and that I helped her carry the damn thing. He tells her that he was inside watching the football game and asks her why she didn't bring any food home. Two kids spilled out of the door, curious about the new box.

 

"Ay, don't you live over there? The new guy?" he barked at me.

 

"Yeah," as I turn around, "was just coming home from work and helped her with that box."

 

"Whats with the uniform? You in the army or sumpthin dude?"

 

"Yeah. Just the reserve for now, used to be active."

 

He looked at me and smiled. "Why would you do something stupid like that? Doin all that (Explitive)"stuff" for nothing."

 

I felt the coldest expression I have ever gave another person spread across my face as I looked at him, felt my pulse begin to rise. "I do it so people like you can sit on thier couch and waste thier lives. I do it so you don't have to. I do it so your kids can have a choice for thier future."

 

Disgusted, I walked away.