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^^ First, I hope nobody gets ....uh...."hooked" by that metal piece (hand?) in the Pirate Bench, there? Second, any park with a Rock-O-Plane is A-Okay in my books!

^ Great TR! Especially all that you saw of the Disney Exhibit! It's amazing to remember, that there was a great lull in Animation for Disney... and then "The Little Mermaid" opened and the future looked better. And then "Beauty & The Beast" opened, and became the first animated feature film ever, to get a Best Picture Oscar Nomination! And after that, the Best Animated Feature Film category was created. And Animated Feature Films (both Disney and others) improved, for the better...and sometimes the worse, lol. Thanks for sharing your tour of this wonderful Exhibit! And the School Of Rock concert, too!

"Five Days Before The PNE Starts!..." I was going to go at least two more times to Playland, before The Fair started, which is this coming Saturday. Weather forecasts aren't looking too good, for now. Rain coming in by the time the PNE opens. Ick. Oh well. Life in Vancouver.... Five rides down, including the Coaster, still. I asked at the main gate if they knew what happened with the purple train, and they said, they still haven't figured out what happened a week ago. I then said "that's what comes from scrapping the Red Train!" and we all laughed. (myself, with bitterness) Picked up some more popcorn and Pina Colada fudge. And got a few prize tickets from Monopoly Quarters Drop. Easy visit. SBNO Back wall of Pizza Pizza. The pizza is 'that old' hmm? (o; Still Not Sold. "But now with newer benches to block you even more!" And that fountain keeps churning along. (Churning?) A good shot, I thought. PNE set up is slowly going on down there, somewhere. No mountains for you, today. Additional ride ticket/pass booths set up for The Fair. Today's fudge was... Noted with sadness. Hope most of this (COASTER!) is ready by Saturday.

^ We'll be at Disneyland first on Monday/9th, then DCA Tuesday/10th, with park hopping as needed. Have a four day hopper, but won't do the Magic Morning in DL until Thurs/12th. Then DCA FridayThe13th (eep?) to finish off.

^ Ooooo a steampunk overlay on SuperGirl! That visualizes very c-c-c-cool, to me.

Great start for this park, Chuck! All I remember of this park (and 2008), is f-ing little buggers jumping the Pendulum attraction queue; riding one of my first (and sadly not last) face down flying flats...a Volares? Hated it. Always looking forward to more from you. Oh, and a quick glance at this in a photo, made me incorrectly giggle. Hey it "almost" looked that spelling, right? Right? French for Nerd? Not quite. But nice to know they get table signs, too. (o;

Yes. Is the weather nice where you are, now?

^ Well, since Oblivion in Alton Towers was the first dive coaster of it's kind, I'd say they've been pretty popular through the years. And gotten much MUCH bigger, too! And honestly, everything's a "one trick donkey," even if it has a custom built layout etc.

Lots of great reaction shots there, lol. But - only two guys putting their hands up??? (third + second to last photo) Sad. Thanks for sharing these ones. The coaster looks great!

^ Yep, that's the Big Pickle Dog! After chomping half way through it, I thought this would be a good deal for two people. Don't think I'll have that again, since there's so many other "interesting eats" to try this year. On the left, there. I also got a poutine from another stall, which proved to be A LOT of food for one person. But I ate it all, lol! I also like a good amount of mustard on my dogs. Pardon the messiness, there. Nearly done! And pardon if this is a little tooooo messy for some, to see.

^Yeah, every year they have quite the stuff available during The Fair. It always amazes me how some of these food trucks/stalls pack so much variety (and supplies) in their vehicles, for these events, etc. Chicky's at The Fair, 2017. Part of what they served. I had the BIG Pickle Dog last year. It was GInormous!

That is so awesome. See? It takes a gull to do a buoy's work.

^ I am (REALLY) hoping they get this (transit connections) all going, when we make a visit there in.... November, 2024.

I know it's pricey but......WOO HOO! Just bought a a reservation (for 2) for the World of Color Dessert Party! I did it back in my 2016 visit, and really enjoyed the experience, not to mention the sweet and savory stuff to eat and drink! And the show, too! Keeping it as a surprise for David, when we're there at DCA on the Tuesday evening performance. Hope the weather (or something 'electronic') doesn't cause a cancellation P.S. What was $75 in 2016, is now $84 per person in 2019. Now too bad, for three years' difference. Quite the spread, plus two cocktails and WoC! Sept.13-2016. Me at my table, all by my lonesome, LOL!

...And have a bottle of Centrum at every table, too. Great tour start, Larry. I love the architecture of Europe, old and new! Looking forward to more of your trip.

New Corn Dogs to Try! In my trying to figure out which is The Best Corn Dog at The Fair, they've added two new additions to this summer's choices. It will be a tough Corn Dog Challenge for myself (although I usually go with just the regular plain old corn dogs), with these new ones to try: Cheesy Ramen Corn Dog – It’s corn dogs gone trendy! The classic fair fave is wrapped in mozzarella cheese, dipped in batter, rolled in crispy ramen noodles and fried until golden brown… check them out at Next Gen Corn Dog. Flaming Hot Cheetos Corn Dog – If you’re dying for some fiery goodness, look no further. This corn dog ups the game and leaves your lips feeling tingly numb. Head to Chicky’s Chicken to satisfy the craving! Cheesy Ramen Corn Dog Flaming Hot Cheetos Corn Dog!

I miss Zambezi Zinger.

Great Am'dam report, start of your trip! So much crazy stuff there, it's almost like Japan ("almost"). And when you find the right food stops, it - is - awesome! I've been there a number of times, and it's so nice to see stuff I still haven't seen yet, through other's eyes like yours and Smisty's. Looking forward to more of your trip.

^ I agree, that a change is probable. But I wonder if PNE officials (or whoever's in charge of the food stalls) ever considered what would happen, once this was posted on their BLOG? ... http://blog.pne.ca/2019/08/01/food-glorious-food/ The soft serve is located down the list a bit. We shall find out, eventually I guess. Myself enjoying the Charcoal Soft Serve on "Out At The Fair Day", last summer's Fair. 2018 PNE QUOTE: "It was great! Tasted like coconut mixed with vanilla. But black throughout."

"....or for that matter, J.K. Rowling, Universal, etc. etc....?" This is another of the newly announced treats that will be available at this year's PNE (opening Aug.17th). But, I was wondering if there was any chance this was "not legal", in the name and all. Here's their description: Will be interesting to see if the name gets changed, or nothing happens, blah blah blah. Here's the stuff. Here's where it could end up. The place where Pineapple Whip is sold. (Think Dole) Last year, they featured "Charcoal Whip". l still can't remember what the flavour was. Neither could David, seen here.

I'm so glad it's not as bad as it is in Europe, but geez it's been HOT these past days! At my and David's elder age, extreme heat and humidity are not friendly to us. Even being inside is tough, with all the doors open and a fan going full tilt. Not bad enough, to warrant getting an actual air conditioner now. But...who's to tell in future years? We may need one. Other than that,.....bleah.

^^

"How to Spend BC DAY at The Park...Stuck On Coaster!" * It didn't happen to me. I was in line for the second train after this one that had left the station. We heard the usual "noise" the train makes on the 'outer circle' of the track. Lift hill, first drop, right curve, second drop, third drop, right curve and.... When the coaster sound suddenly stopped, above the station, the ride ops started looking up, beyond the station's roof, which put them on the track the train re-enters the station on. Then, very fast, they got to the phone, and were obviously calling the onsite engineers. I decided this was going to be a non-ride, so I excused myself out of the queue. I then headed to where I could see what was going on, above the station... And there it was. The purple train stopped in the second curve, just before the straight-a-way and the fourth drop. Thankfully, no one was injured, and their evac was pretty good I thought: two ride ops walking down the lift hill with a rider between them. Didn't take too long to get everybody off. Then there was working on the train right there on the track. And eventually, they were able to push it along the straight-a-way, towards the fourth drop, and I guess hoping gravity would keep it going till it got back to the station. Which I guessed it did, as later on, you could see staff tearing the front of the train apart, trying to figure out what happened. I hope they did find out. First time I ever saw this happen to Coaster. Truth! And I am very glad I wasn't on that train. HAPPY BC DAY! *Thankfully, the whole thing was over in less than an hour. The stuck riders got FastPass cards given to them for a future coaster ride, which was nice (Hopefully, they were all local). And the remaining would-be riders in the queue quietly dispersed. A sunny hot day, today. How the queue looked after I got there. And then....this happened. First (of many) engineers to walk the lift hill. Followed by many ride ops in their blue Playland shirts. And one by one... ....The riders were brought down, safely. Here's a nice Big Shot for all to enjoy. This woman was part of the Playland staff, and not a rider. She was helping out. More blue shirts up the lift hill. Last rider escorted down the lift hill. New "Pardon Our Dust" signs. (o: From The Wheel, I see they're still working on the train on the track. They finally decided, to push it along the straight track, hoping gravity would then get it back to the station. It did. Bling! New queue fence theming. They're tearing apart the purple train, back there in the station. New fence theming on Swinger, too. Watch out for that pointy thing! Flume operator's booth. Hope it gets fixed real soon.

Your Song ~ Elton John

^ Great! Looking forward to it!