Booster

^^^The shows were extremely crowded. The ride lines were short, but GW had about a 2-3 train wait, running one train. It is usually a walk on for any row but the front.

We got to the park intentionally late because we wanted mainly to see the evening shows. The evening show at the seal lion stadium was a spoof of the other shows and attractions at the park. It was the best. The evening show at Shamu stadium was called Shamu Rocks Texas although it didn't rock as much as it has in the past years. It was basically the Believe show set to a few rock songs and some non-rock songs without all of the other theatrics. They were even showing the Haunted Lighthouse movie at the theater in the evening, although we skipped it. All in all it was a good day. The kids got to ride some rides they don't normally get to ride because of the long lines and we finally got ride Atlantis for the 1st time this year. I not sure if Atlantis was the reason but the lines for Rio Loco and Texas Splashdown were short and Great White actually had a line. Typically it is a walk on. Didn't get to ride Steel Eel because we ran out of time. This was the only decent shot I got of Shamu Rocks. And Shamu. And Viva. The seal lion evening show spoofing SeaWorld security. The girls enjoying the stationary log. 2nd drop. Got to ride Texas Splashdown too. The line was short as well. 1st drop. Thru the trees. Hannah, Sarah and Sabrina in front of GW. Great White loopage. Ooooo..... The girls don't get to ride Rio Loco too often because of the typical long lines, but today it was short. Multi-jumpers. Barefoot and backwards. More ski show. The ski show has returned to being more of a demonstration show without a plot. JTA from the ski stadium. The kids get to play on the beach at the ski show. There's Hannah and Sabrina. One last shot of Viva. My favorite show in the park, even though the dolphins weren't behaving that day. And they go upside down. The Russian swing is so cool. They fling the divers 1/4 of the way across the pool. The divers even dive from the support structure of the stadium. A trainer interacting with a beluga whale. One of the divers in mid-dive. This is the pre-show guy at Viva the dolphin, whale and diving show. He is also a diver in the show as well. He has a pretty funny show. Lift hill POV. Hannah, Sarah and Sabrina ready to ride. Angry fish wants to eat you!!!!! Heading down the drop. The backwards dip section. Traversing the lift hill. JTA queue. This was about as long as the line was all day. But yet the park was still crowded. JTA portal. Splashdown at JTA. Great White from across the lake. Steel Eel from across the lake. JTA thru the trees.

It wasn't really a rapids ride. It just used the same style boats. The wasn't even a lift hill on it and it was kinda slow.

Overall it was a fun trip. It rained half of the day at Schlitterbahn, but we were able to finish everything before the rain started. We spent the rest of the time in the covered area which happened to be the girls favorite area. The food service was horrible. The teens were rude and crawling in and out of the service window with 10 people waiting in line. Of all the Schlitterbahn parks, New Braunfels is still the best for number of attractions. South Padre is great if you never want to leave your tube and stand in line, or if you like the Master Blaster water slides. They have quite a few there. Moody Gardens was nice but it was a little over priced. There are 3 glass pyramids. One contains a rain forest, another contains several aquariums and the last contains rotating exhibits. In this case it was a sound and music exhibits. It also contains an IMAX theater, Ridefilm theater and a 4-D theater. The Ridefilm and 4D theaters were pretty the same. They were fun for the kids but I kinda thought they were lame. Kemah Boardwalk was really nice. It does get a little crowded on weekend nights. I really hope it continues to add more attractions, although they are a little landlocked. Once again they are in reverse order. So start at the bottom. I've figured out why they are in the wrong order. I'll get it right next time. 1st we pay our respects to the former Astroworld. All that is left is the bridge across the freeway. Boo to you Mr. Burke. After we check in to our hotel we notice something behind the microwave. What could it be. Oh look, someone's pre-owned unmentionables. The view from our hotel. Hannah, Sabrina and Sarah at the Elissa Museum. The Elissa. This is were Elissa has sailed. Sabrina enjoying the beach. That is one big ass fan. See I told you. The indoor section. The pathways are even covered. The only 2 Master Blaster slides. They only have 2 uphill sections at the beginning. Not as good of the ones at the 2 other parks. This is a saltwater pool for a future attraction. What could be it be? There are 2 large covered picnic areas. Extreme wedgie inducer. You can rent a cabana to get away from the crowds. The only tube chute ride at the park. Schlitterbahn is right next to the airport. helicopters kept flying in and out ferrying workers out to the oil platforms in the gulf. You can see the covered area of the park. The girls wanted to eat at Joe's Crab Shack so I fed them to this alligator with a jaw full of peppermint. We took the ferry over to Bolivar Peninsula. Ships lined up waiting to go into the Port of Houston. Lori, Sarah, Hannah and Sabrina on the ferry. Bolivar lighthouse at sunset. Heading back across the ferry we were stopped by Homeland Security and our vehicle was searched. The Rainforest Cafe's volcano. Our ride vehicle on the River Adventure ride at the Rainforest Cafe. The monkey's butt. Scary multi-limbed statue guy. Moody Gardens and the Discovery pyramid in the background. The aquarium pyramid. The rain forest pyramid. Sabrina, Hannah and Sarah in the aquarium pyramid. Sea horsies. The girls in the shark tank. This was the first live nautilus that I've ever seen. The penguins. The rain forest pyramid looking up. Hannah, Sarah and Sabrina in the rain forest pyramid. Sabrina, Hannah, and Sarah in the rain forest pyramid The Dino 4D theater. It was kinda lame. T-Rex and another big ass fan. Baby Dinos. The lame Ridefilm. There were video screens showing rollercoaster footage in the queue lines. Most of it was from Cedar Point. Theming. The Colonel paddle wheeler takes you on a cruise in the bayou next to Moody Gardens. Moody Gardens has a pool, with a sand beach. And a kiddie area. There is also a spray ground. Seawall Blvd. The Flagship Hotel. Future plans are to build an amusement park at the end of this pier. We stayed in Seabrook near Kemah. Most of the businesses had these theme pelicans out front. Boardwalk Bullet. BB is just about complete. Just check out the other thread for the latest update from Jason (coasterphotos). Carousel. Pharaoh's Fury Train Aviator. Inverter. Observation tower. Sabrina on the plane ride. Hannah and Sarah on the Aviator. Sabrina and Lori on the Aviator. Some cool night time shots of the rides. They have fireworks on Friday nights during the summer months. BB at night. Heading home we cross the Hartman Bridge over the Houston Ship Channel.

Just got back from Six Flags over Texas. (see TR) In 2 weeks we will head down to Galveston to do Schlitterbahn, Moody Gardens, and Kemah Boardwalk. And in 4 weeks will head down to SeaWorld in San Antonio to check out the night time summer shows. Photo TR's will follow.

We typically make at least one trip to Arlington for visit to SFoT each year. We left about mid-afternoon on Wednesday for the 3-hour drive from Austin to SFoT. Arrived at the park around 6:30 pm to find most of the rides closed due to an impending storm approaching. We decided then to grab a bite across the freeway at Steak and Shake and watch the park to see if the rides would open soon. About halfway through our meal they started running again and went on into the park. We managed to get several rides on Shock Wave, Mr. Freeze, Runaway Mountain and Batman. We also rode several flats during this time. The park was practically empty. The impending rain, which failed to materialize, must have emptied the park. I forgot to bring the camera but we had a full day ahead of us tomorrow. We stayed there till 10:45. The following day was only a little more crowded. We managed multiple rides on Titan, Batman and Judge Roy Scream. We also caught the Coobrilla show which we found to be pretty good. Park operations were much better than the previous years and the staff was very friendly. There was some stacking of trains on some of the coasters and some of the flats only had one ride op. Overall we had a great time. OK somehow the pics are in reverse order even though I realized this before I posted and tried to fix it. The main plaza and carousel decorated in Coobrilla banners. Lots of new decorations all over the park which mimic the set of Coobrilla. Lots of characters in the park. Tweety with my youngest daughter Sabrina. They let you into the park before 10 am and queue the crowd in Mexico. Titan was 1st for the 2nd day. Lift hill shot. Extra helix, sorry Magic Mountain. Giant was in test run mode most of the day. Elizabeth, Sabrina, Sarah and Madeline on the Sidewinder. Hannah, Sabrina, Sarah, Madeline, and Elizabeth at the log flume. Sabrina riding the flume. Final drop POV. The girls pay their respects. The girls love the indoor coaster. Part metal building, part fake rock, part man-made waterfall. Where's the mountain? Coobrilla banners were everywhere. The oil derrick from below. An alligator snapping turtle in the pond next to Superman. The fish in the pond seem to be missing. The girls on the Caddo Lake Barge. I got soaked on the ride. The girls came off less than damp. The girls on Roaring Rapids. Maintenance working on Wildcatter while the ride was running. We rode it later and it scared Sabrina to tears, but I tried to talk her out of it. Superman through the trees. Mr. Freeze heading up the spike through the trees. Batman through the trees. Batman loopage. Texas Tornado, uh Gunslinger with the recycled gun adornment from Astroworld. Sabrina on Crazy Legs. Crazy Legs POV. I needed several Advil after this one. The Texas Chute Out never has a line so the girls approve of this ride. Texas Chute Out and Flashback double shot. Sarah and Madeline. Elizabeth and Hannah. The girls approve of this ride and rode it several times. I forgot to get a good pic of the ride. Multi-tower shot. The old Splashdown is the new Aquaman. The girls did not approve of the long line and just stood on the bridge. Aquaman loading station. Aquaman is behind the big splash. There he is. He gets hit from behind with a wall of water every time and then just shakes it off. The girls on El Hat. (Sombrero) Sabrina's tower touch. The girls on the Conquistador. Sabrina and Taz. Like I said, characters were everywhere. Got several girls' approved rides on the Rodeo. There was a KISS tribute band on the stage in front of the Sponge Bob Theater. We went back to Freeze the 2nd night and they shut the ride down for maintenance so I snapped a pic of the station which is still the original color. The Coobrilla show. We end the day with a shot of Titan's Coobrilla colored lift hill.