TheRapidsNerd

By way of the webcams, it seems the cement edges are curing for the que lines under Sponge Bob. Anybody out for a new round of pics?

Thank you and appreciate the tip. I'll try that next time. That good eh? Hmm, never even had regular KPC. This should be interesting. Thankfully no. If I had, something strange would've been afoot. EDIT: Yep. This thread died in a hurry. Eh, waddya gonna do?

Yesterday, to cap off the work week, my coworkers and I hit the new PF Chang's restaurant in the new (and still under construction) Bridge Street shopping plaza. The short version of all this is, with the BRAC (Base Realignment And Closure) thing happening, Huntsville, Alabama is getting lots more people (military and civilian) from places like St. Louis in the next few years. The local branches of the defense contractors (Boeing, Lockheed, etc...) have simulatniously consolidated and moved over to an area called Reserach Park. Bridgestreet is a shopping, movie, restaurant plaza with the idea of keeping out of town guests close to the business's they're visiting and getting them to spend money. Definately the Disney approach. We had orignally planned to try Chang's last week, but one of our guys had some religious obligations that kept him from going. We postponed, citing it was just more fun for all of us to go. Naturally I grabbed my camera phone out of the car for this event. BTW, thank you Lakesy for some real cheer, great service and your "Bombshell Sauce" Awesome! And now for the grainy cell phone pics (sorry folks, I'm working on a replacement)... And I leave with with a colossal concreate horse's a$$. Something I've been called more than a few times. Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading. The End. Was Cedar Fair a silent partner in this somehow? Through the bench! Ha! Oh crap, there go my cool points. And I was doing so well... Nope. Not gonna do it. Not happenin'....no no no There were some architectural shades that reminded me of Fashion Island in Orange County, California. When I think high brow, I definately think automated Dipping Dots machine. Not dissin' the dots, but it felt a bit out of place here. Eh, what do I know? Strangely, Bridge Street had an IOA feel to it, though it looks nothing like that park. "I wouldn't mess with the other guy. He's not horsing around." "You better have left a good tip for Lakesy (server), you puny 2 legged human." /= marble wall at Rock n Roller Coaster, but still cool. Mother nature sent me a fax. Nuff said. Thought the tile work in the mens room was kinda cool. The Great Wall of Chocolate was knocked down in 2 minutes. Mongolians not included. Had hoped for more chocolaty detail, but my sad cell phone fails. The guys were going to skip dessert, however, I kept seeing servers carrying out containers full of little shots like these. This awesomeness is the Great Wall of Chocolate. Tasty, but not overpowering chocolate layer cake, with raspberry filling. The other choices were Taramisu, Lemon Merange, Smores, Cherry Pie, and couple others I can't remember. Yes, all in shot glasses. Just the right amount, really, if you wan't a little something sweet after the meal. Heh, I could've had a few more of these. Next was the shrimp with lobster sauce bowl. Chang's spin on it was to replace the peas or carrots with Chinese black beans, kinda giving it a southwestern twinge. While it tasted good, the combo just didn't quite work. Some traditional recipe's you just can't kick up a notch. Our lunch bowls included a soup, which was brought out first. Best hot sour soup I've ever had. Good amount of flavor, smooth, and some, but not too much kick. Really enjoyed it. Yes, I'm a dork and took a napkin picture. Sue me. Over the main dining area were these lighted circles that reminded me of 1970's decor. Kept expecting to see shag carpet, mirrors, and sputnik stainless steel lamps. Outta sight! I really liked the mixture of wood working and stone in different places. The pendant lights above the tables were also cool. We'd been given an insided tip the day before about when to show up and be able to get in without a reservation. Yes, you normally have to make reservations, even for lunch. Regardless, it was a pretty place. There were big murals high up on the walls. Chinese meets contemporary bistro, and for some reason, I kept thinking of SFKK. My first view of Bridge Street. Was a cloudy and cold day, but still happy to try a new restaurant, especially Chinese!

DH "What happened to then?" DC "We passed it." DH "When?!" CS "Just now." DH "When will then be now?" CS "Soon." DH "How soon?" Hang in there Lou.

What a shame. What more can be said? EDIT: I looked up the park on google earth and got screen caps from before the fire. Close up of ballroom and midway. The white building that zig zags in the lower right I'm pretty sure is the ballroom.

Gotham Crown Plaza anyone?

From the Avatar web cam, the crane has moved on. Over at sponge bob, there was a cement truck and looked like some new forms being built. Oh, and there was some dust on the Sponge Bob loop. Just kidding.

The new X2 trains say "We are so Xtreme, we don't need no steekeeng fiberglass! We have a 5th dimension too!"

Oh it gets worse. I just turned 33 and realized it's been 7 years since I moved back to Huntsville from DC. Where'd the time go!?!? Jahan, a virtual Frozen Coke for you. You mean this EBL?

This is why I've never really cared for licensing/brand tie ins on rides. It just doesn't have the same gusto as SOME of the original names and themes for coasters/rides. Plus, when the contract is up, or there's a change or dispute, it's a mess. This may be sacraligious, but I'd like to see a move away from branding on rides, but that won't happen anytime soon. As far as these names go, it's the same thing we've all discussed before in other threads.

That gave me a great laugh. I owe you one. Somehow, Miley's MySpace type picture looks better compared to this...Though I might just be a hit with the ACE crowd and Subway bandwagon jumpers. Anyway, back to Hannah Montanna. Son, you got a sandwich on yo head.

Slightly left of topic and mentioned before, but if Disney is going to build a new thrill park in Orlando in the next few years, why not modify Animal Kingdom instead and use your resources more efficiently? Could this Villain theme be woven into the current AK fabric somehow? As far as a Disney Canada park, nothing a bit wrong with snow cones and Dole Whip, though the idea is a strange brew.

^ Hey thanks! One trend I'm glad to see and hopefully Memphis follows suit, is an indoor waterpark of some kind. That may even be part of Pyramid and I missed it. Either way, could be a good addtition. You know, a new indoor water park might even benefit Nashville, although they do have Nashville Shores, not far from ShOpryland. Curiously, there's even plans for a Great Wolf sort of thing for Alabama Adventure of all places. So if Tuscaloosa is getting one of these places, again, Memphis might want to look into same if they haven't already. Bottom line out of all this conjecture, it'll be really nice to have several new options in addition to old favs so close by and (getting back on topic) Pyramid and whatever else they throw in will be a welcome addition. Glad to see it.

Best compliment ever and it gave me a good laugh. Thanks man, and no, I'm not quitting my day job.

Ok, based on Looty's details posted above, this is a VERY rough vis of the COLOR SCHEME only. Obviously POS (LOL! now that's a great acronym!) is tivoli type coaster with long trains and they don't look like cars. Same for station. Rough arch type thing. Not meant to be a final whatsoever. Just a guess. That said, here ya go... And, I had time a couple weeks ago, so I modified an included half-pipe track and threw together a quick quasi-spring tower. Eye-searing LEDs not included. Stripe close up. Overview.

Especially on Avatar. What's up with those boomerang 1 train ops? Couldn't resist. So the color scheme for Orange streak is green tracks and supports, orange train with green stripe, and blue station with various shades of blue circles? Hmmm.....I've gotta rough model this...Be back in a while.

Sexual Orientation? It's pointing down right now.

Hey Jahan, Happy Birthday. Hope it's a great one! My next frozen coke will be drunk in your honor.

The south just needs some better and newer parks. I'm not knocking Beech Bend, SFKK, Dollywood or SFoG by any means, it's just there needes to be a bit more. If this Egyptland, Ole South, and Splash Valley all surface and stay afloat, that'll be a great diversity and a boon for the local economies. Keeping fingers crossed. EDIT: Couldn't forget Lake Winnie, Atlanta's White Water, or Alabama Adventure here.

Very cool TR. The one shot of looping Kumba is a real winner. Also liked the MXC flamingo caption. Sorry about Beerja Vu. No offense intended.

Yeah, bummer about the web cams, but the hotel deal might be enticing. Isn't that the one with Water Park of America in it? If so,all the better. I really like that there's a goodly amount of stuff to do really close. Nick Universe, Aquarium, the rest of the mall, Water Park of America, the simulator place, the lego place, and Valleyfair is so close (much closer than I thought). And you're right by the airport. Air fare notwithstanding, that'd be a great way to spend the (hopefully) coming rebate check. Somehow, I will find a way to get up there this year.

That's some wonderful footage! Any way to get a copy of it? Sooo good to see the rides running, even Grizzly. Awesome!

You have also taught me something new tonight , though my results would likely be the polar opposite. Upload picture. -100 to friend count. Then some guy pops in from the side of the screen and says "Toasteeee!" Anyway, I dunno what to make of HT/MC. Can't really throw stones because she's doing music and making more money than I'll likely see in my lifetime. Hopefully she invests wisely and skips some of the typical pitfalls along the way.

Ok, I'll admit my first reaction to the title was "the ride is getting removed?!" BUT, after a couple seconds, it occured that "oh yeah, they changed the name". See what not enough Vault Icee will do to you? EDIT: I do not blow up for my misinterpretation.

(said gently) I found them on google when I looked up Miley Cyrus. Elissa likely did the same. Yes? Hey, everybody has their skeletons and has done seedy stuff in one form or another. Miley's pics above aren't much of a surprise.