milst1

^^^ Good one!

Back to school time for Spring semester. I need to steal across the street to see how the new construction on Turbulence is going. In the meantime, we take off our hats for the beloved Hurricane, which served the small park well for a quarter century.

Amazing park, hope to visit again soon.

lol

Good thread. Journey into Imagination with Figment is my big guilty pleasure. I used to love the Old Mill at Kennywood until the Garfield re-theming made it intolerable. Nevertheless, I will ride just about any crappy dark ride I can find.

Many thanks for checking out the report; here's Day 2! Day 2 found us heading to the southern part of Metro Manila known as Alabang. There are two malls, each with a kiddie. The first, X-Site, can be found in the Festival Supermall. As we have found in other Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore, mall culture is big in the Philippines. It's safe, there's lots to do, and it's air-conditioned. There's our target. Getting closer. They had all of the entries roped off except for the first. Vekoma Juniors can be lots of fun, especially indoors. I'm sorry that I didn't get better photos of X-Site. It's basically an FEC. Literally across the street from Festival Supermall is the SM City Fairview Mall. Nice to have a theme park in the mall. Starland also occupied a massive indoor mall space. Starland was a bit sad but it was open for business. It wasn't wholly without charm. Astroworm is an excellent name for a wacky worm. There is the Astroworm! We always get more track circuits than we want. There was this huge castle thing and a bunch of kiddie flats. Here's another view from a lower level of the mall. Notice giant ceiling fan. The mall was quite dead that day, but we did find a sorta hip coffee shop. After the malls we were on our way to the premiere theme park of the Philippines, Enchanted Kingdom. Here we see another common site in the Phlippines, the motorcycle with sidecar. After the jeepney, this is the most common form of public transit. There is Enchanted Kingdom in the distance. We're here! It's a busy day, coming at the end of the New Year's holiday weekend. Only the Pope's open air mass had more people. You can see umbrellas for the sun. Whoa, utter chaos. We did not have a good experience. There were queues upon queues, confusing signs, people stopping in the queue and nobody going around them, etc. Cheryl basically cut everything and got us tickets, then cut everything again to gain entry, but people were just standing there so we weren't actually cutting. It was weird. Just so you know, it's about 45 Philippines Pesos to the dollar, so one entrance came to a little over US$13! Here's what you see after entering and turning to the right. There are two credits, Roller Skater, a Vekoma Junior shown here, and Space Shuttle, this Vekoma Boomerang. Lunch was also a crowded affair (we were a little starving by now), but better organized. Here's what we got. It was good. Cheryl loved her chicken. I loved my corn soup and my Lumpiang Sariwá was pretty good. Thankfully, I had my Philippines Food App (yes, there's an app for that!), so I knew (sort of) what it was before ordering. The final cost of lunch was a little over $17 for the two of us. This was actually on the expensive side relative to our other comparable meals in the country, but not unreasonable. Well, the sign says no line jumping, but there was plenty of it. Alas. It was about 90 minutes to ride the Boomerang, but most of the queue was thankfully covered. The sun was brutal. Another notable point here is that the majority of signs in the Philippines are in English, even though people aren't speaking English. It's weird, but it makes it easier to navigate the country. There is some nice theming about. Themed kiddie rides in this dinosaur section. Another dino kiddie flat. For families, there is this ferris wheel. There were one or two other big kid flats, but we spent so much time in the queues that we didn't really get a chance to photograph much. This drop tower is apparently an upcharge attraction (I read that somewhere, maybe Richard B.'s page?) but it was disassembled at the moment. There were some interesting food choices. Corn is a very popular snack. Pizza Hut for those longing for American fast food. Decent ice cream too. Our wait for the roller skater lasted into dusk. Thanks to Enchanted Kingdom for calling our driver for us when our phone wouldn't work. Thanks also to Mario Manon, who was out of town but in touch with us. If you don't know, Mario Manon is the CEO/President of Enchanted Kingdom and is immediate past Chairman of the Board of IAAPA. Back in Manila means back to the malls near our hotel! FYI, Philippines has McDonald's! And they're really pushing their Chicken McDo. Fried chicken seems to be huge here. Basketball is huge here too. The Philippines Basketball Association is enormously popular and tons of people are sporting NBA clothes. Yes, this caught our eye for obvious reasons. But it's an acronym that actually stands for "Supreme and Most Honorable Society of the Children of the Nation", which was a Filipino revolutionary society formed in 1892 that fought for independence from Spain. No relation to that other KKK. But this is also like naming a restaurant "Sons of Liberty" or "Founding Fathers" or such. Finally, we discovered Beard Papa, a cream puff chain, but once again, we've discovered that there are plenty of these in the States. I guess I could have read the sign more carefully. Hope you're enjoying the report! Thanks for reading. More to come!

^^^ And that wasn't the only gift shop we saw, Chuck. Lots of papal merch available everywhere. Ironically, the Pope went to visit victims of last year's hurricane and his visit has been cut short by another storm.

2015? Time to go get more credits. We didn't even wait for 2014 to end. We left on December 31st and didn't have any midnight as we were flying over Alaska somewhere. We were generally delighted and surprised by the Philippines. The people are friendly, they love to have fun, they love Americans, and they love food! And the food is pretty good. And cheap! Outside of expensive name brand stuff and electronics, were were surprised by the low prices overall. We hit a few parks on the first day. Hope you enjoy! Top shelf to Manila. This is a jeepney. They are a cross between jitney and jeep and they are ubiquitous. Usually you see a million people inside, sometimes even riding on the top out in the provinces! First stop was Storyland at the SM Fairview Mall. Unfortunately, it's gone. There are still some signs. But the few remaining remnants are scattered througout the mall. We were stuck in the mall for a bit, so we walked around. Pope-Mania was certainly taking hold. The Philippines is mostly Catholic and it's the only Christian nation in Asia. Kenny Rogers Roasters! We must be in Asia because there are none in the States! Next stop was Sky Ranch Pampanga, which just opened. I don't know how I discovered this. It wasn't even in rcdb until I sent it in. It's outside of another mall. There are about 15 rides or so, and it was hot and packed with people. Loop Coaster was moved from the now-defunct Carron Dream Park, which was only open for a year, or less. The other credit is Dream Coaster, which moved from a different defunct Storyland mall park. The Carron Dream Park founder also has a ride company called Westech, so the guys are still in the business, even if their park isn't. Oddly, Westech is the name of a Swiss ride manufacturer too, but the Filipino company comes up first if you google. There are a few other flats around. Apologies to Larrygator, but it was hot and crowded and we had to find our driver. Nice logo! This is the second Sky Ranch in the Philippines. We'll show you the other one later. Next stop was yet another mall park, World of Fun. Again, very crowded. Twenty pesos per ride comes out to less than 50 cents! There was actually some theming at this park, like the Eiffel Tower. London Bridge Egypt. And the credit actually encircled the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Here's the sign. Here's the train. This was actually fun. Decidedly low-tech form of DDR, but it was incredibly fun to watch the little kids try to dance along. Lots of little babies in the Philippines, despite condoms being sold everywhere. It's a young country. Circle of Fun was the last stop of our exhausting day. This is an amusement area inside of a huge city park. There are tons of vendors and flea markets and stuff in the big city park. Wild Wind was the credit. This is actually pretty intense, and I tested my OTSR and it locked away from my body, so it was doubly terrifying. There's also a powered dragon coaster. Most of the other rides are kiddie rides. It was fun. Lots of people just come and pay admission and then sit on blankets, hanging out. Okay, some fun Philippine facts: Babies wear cologne. Instead of giant family sizes, household products are sold in tiny packets. Japanese favorite Pocari Sweat is available! Jolibee is the Filipino answer to McDonald's, and I was shocked to learn that they have 32 locations in the USA. dippin' dots can be found in the Philippines! Check! And a popular ice cream desert is called Halo-Halo, a mix of soft ice cream, fruit and syrup, and red beans, shown here on the side. Yum. Hope you enjoyed Day 1! More to come!

Philippines edition #2, Star City!

^^^ Lol

That was my 1200th coaster! Okay, live from the Philippines, my first Filipino park t-shirt, Enchanted Kingdom!

My 1200th.

^^^ Thanks for the photo, Andy!

Haters gonna hate.

California!

Great idea for a thread. After we got into the hobby we bought FUN, SIX, DIS, BUD, and BX. Each of them is a good story. Bought BUD in 2008, but they were acquired by InBev later that year and we were forced to sell. We didn't buy SeaWorld when ABInBev spun off the parks business. SEAS is hurting and we wouldn't buy it until there are clearer signs that things are turning around. I didn't think that the Blackfish controversy would get any traction but I was wrong, and the company has never gotten completely in front of the problem. I have to admit that after the disappointment of Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, I was doubting the previous leadership's decision-making, so I hope that the new CEO has a plan. We bought BX at 15. They have since sold their half of Universal Orlando, but they still own 22% of Merlin. We're probably not buying Merlin as we're already exposed and buying foreign stocks is always a transactional nightmare. SIX went bankrupt in 2009 and we lost all of that, which really sucked. We never invested a great deal because these were really just vanity stocks for our hobby, but it always hurts to lose money on a shitty bet and know that you're a little worse off for retirement. We bought because we were happy with the management, but I didn't look closely enough at the balance sheet before doing so. Bought DIS at 35, now 94. I still like this stock but I can't buy more at this price. If I were younger, maybe. But my favorite story is FUN. We bought at 27. During the recession in 2010, Kinzel and his cronies on the board panicked and accepted a buyout offer from Apollo Global Management LLC for an absurd 11.50 a share. Thankfully, all of the moms and pops in Ohio who own Cedar Fair stock rejected the board's recommendation to accept the offer. The stock has since been has high as 53, now at 47. If I could, I would invest in Arle Capital Partners, which owns Parques Reunidos.

Great report, Neil! I really enjoyed it!

Here's another, much cooler, Canobie Lake Park shirt.

Even the shittiest park has its charm, Thad!

Thanks for the warm thoughts, Bill. That pyramid in the background is actually a shoot-the-chutes. Best holiday wishes to you and yours!

Hi GwaziBSRider1. Cheryl got Pteranodon Flyers the old-fashioned way, by creepily asking other guests if she could ride with their kid. You need a strong stomach to try this method, and I wouldn't recommend it for a single male. We were able to make arrangements with Playland at Rye to enter the park and ride Kiddie Coaster before park opening in exchange for financial consideration. Maybe we'll meet you at a TPR event or on a TPR trip someday!

And here is the last part of 2014. Hope you like it. Skyline Park (Germany) Freizeit-Land Geiselwind (Germany) Freizeitpark Plohn (Germany) Belantis (Germany) Six Flags Great Adventure Schnepf Farms Arizona State Fair Enchanted Island Castles n' Coasters Traintown (Sonoma, CA) Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Universal Studios Florida Magic Kingdom EPCOT Thank you so much for joining us in 2014! Happy Holidays! See you next year!

This was another amazing year. Since we started taking the theme park hobby too seriously , we've tried to hit around 70 parks a year. That's been the goal, but this year we blew the doors off and went over the century mark! We did not one, but two Theme Park Review trips, which were both amazing. Add to that a bunch of trips on our own and we end with a record-breaking year. Since we're over 99, this will be in two pieces. So once again, without further ado, it's one photo for every park we hit in 2014! Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean Park (Hong Kong) Pixieland Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Zoomer's Family Amusement Park Washuzan Highland (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) New Reoma World (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Himeji Tegarayama Amusement Park (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Kobe Fruit and Flower Park (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Tojoko Toy Kingdom (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Universal Studios Japan (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Misaki Park (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Adventure World (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Suzuka Circuit (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Japan Money Park (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Enakyo Wonderland (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Tokyo DisneySea (Theme Park Review's Weird Japan Tour) Enchanted Forest (Turner, Oregon) Oaks Amusement Park Adventure Wonderland (UK) Paultons Park (UK) Funland Amusement Park (Hayling Island, UK) Clarence Pier (UK) Blackgang Chine (Isle of Wight, UK) Pirates Cove Fun Park (Isle of Wight, UK) West Sands Fun Fair (UK) (Sorry, I can't figure out why this is upside down!) Harbour Park (West Susses, UK) Brighton Pier (East Sussex, UK) California's Great America Fun Town at Micke Grove Funderland Amusement Park Blackbeard's Family Entertainment Center Rotary Storyland and Playland Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Playland Park (Rye, NY) Sommerland Sjælland (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Bakken (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Tivoli Gardens (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) BonBon-Land (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Hansa Park (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Legoland Billund (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Djurs Sommerland (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Tivoli Friheden (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Fårup Sommerland (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Tusenfryd (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Liseberg (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Skara Sommarland (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Gröna Lund (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Funpark (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) PowerLand (Kauhava, Finland) (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Wasalandia (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Särkänniemi Amusement Park (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Linnanmäki (Theme Park Review Scandi Tour) Miracle Strip Pier Park Waterville USA Sam's Fun City Jolly Roger Amusement Park Jolly Roger at the Pier Trimper's Rides Baja Amusements Six Flags America Adventure Park USA Hersheypark Knoebels Amusement Park & Resort Luna Park (Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY) Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park Fantasy Shore Amusement Park (Staten Island, NY) Adventureland (Long Island, NY) Funtown Splashtown U.S.A. Palace Playland York's Wild Kingdom Atlantic Beach Park Canobie Lake Park Funworld Game Center (Nashua, NH) Santa's Village (Jefferson, NH) Story Land (Glen, NH) Fort Jefferson Fun Park Donley's Wild West Town Six Flags Great America Wisconsin State Fair Little Amerricka Bay Beach Amusement Park Brookhaven Exchange Club Park Kings Island Coney Island (Cincinnati, OH) Stricker's Grove Indianapolis Zoo Washington State Fair Wild Waves Theme Park Remlinger Farms Kermis Gouda (Netherlands) Walibi Holland (Netherlands) Conny-Land (Switzerland) Flugplatz Sitterdorf (Switzerland) Kinderparadies Sedel (Switzerland) Valleyfair Schwaben Park (Germany) Legoland Deutschland (Germany) Bayern Park (Germany)

I bet it's cold there now.

Going crazy tonight, off the hook!