Nrthwnd

So ... it's Austin for the Blues ~ the BBQ ~ and now the BIG coaster!

Great! Wish I could go again. But I can't. Still hope that everything works out, both for organizers and attendees. Bert and Snoopy, with myself holding them up. After a Sunday afternoon of BBQ, friends and drinks at Famous Dave's. CoasterMANIA! 2017 Weekend.

The first half of this one instantly reminds me of Taron in Phantasialand. But in this one, the rock work is so foreboding and "dangerous" how it juts out here and there, around the track. Wonderful shots of the whole area! Thanks for taking the time to stick with it, and get those test shots, LOL!

Oooooh, one of these years, I have got to get myself down to this awesome Festival! And it's really a nice train ride down to the Buena Park area. F the rides and parks! It's all about Boysenberry! (Not a Boysen, but close enough.)

Personally, and for now, I will go with Cedar Point for North America; Nagashima Spa Land for Asia; and _____________ for Europe. Still working on that. And...." Best In The World"....? I really don't think that's possible, even if only based on coasters. Everybody's opinion, y' know? Europa Park does have a nice share of coasters. TPR 2010 Europe Tour.

^^ Yay, great stuff! I am still wondering if there's any little addition or change to any of the scenes, etc. for this version? There's no restaurant beside the exit (with viewing windows), but whatever they figure out, will be interesting to see. P.S. All the times we/I went on the Paris version, we went into the right dome for the "1st scene". There are two of them, opposite each other.. But I never saw how they dealt with the "right exit" from the other dome, and what was on the screen. Neat that you got to see/film it, and that they obviously took that into consideration with how both dome scenes would work, in exiting into the pantry. SPOILER ALERT! Dome, dome de dome! How the Paris version layout goes, with the "1st Scene" domes. After ZONE MANEGE 4.

Now listening to one of my absolute Go To CDs, in all the recordings I have.. LPs, 45s, CDs, etc. It's a classic. It's 1993. It's live. And it's Marc Almond! I love it, still!

I'll buy the whole idea, if they put itty bitty wings on the cars' sides...and a small propeller in front, cause.....y'know.

^ We wanted to see all four of those films, "Raya/Last Dragon" especially in a movie theater. And "Chaos Walking" was intriguing to us for the cast, and the way the trailers have been done. Thanks for your input on them. We're still undecided... but then, we ain't got our vaccines, yet. EDIT TO ADD: Also, want to see "Soul" and "Onward" "Mulan"and a few 2020 others on The Big Screen again. I mean, once rules are in place and we can see movies in theaters again, why not studios bring back the ones that didn't make it there, the first time, due to you-know-what? I know people would flock to the complexes again. Not huge numbers. But you never know hmmm?....

^ Oh okay. Just guess I am reading particular threads too many times, heh. Still, even picking that date for any opening. I wouldn't do it. Not that I'm superstitious or something silly like that......

I am finding it fascinating, that on The Day of All Days....April 1st (usually called April Fools Day?), that this is The Opening Day for a lot of parks around the USA. And I am really hoping that it is indeed, NOT such a thing they're all pulling, en masse. It's too Big a Deal to pull on the gp. They'll riot.

After my first trip to Japan in 1972 (incl. Fuji-Queue Highland + Hanayashiki parks) ..... NOT immediately learning Japanese, and thus, NOT (probably, I am that sure) getting hired by Disney for their new, first ever, overseas park, in 1983. I mean, a non-local, Japanese-speaking Cast Member? Would have been golden for them...... ...... And I'd want to be hired, as a Jungle Cruise Skipper! Hmmmph.

I would really REALLY like to see a TR on this Event. Shots of cars, standing still. Awesome. We've had a "Car Show" at the PNE once or twice. Had to walk by it, though. This one was in the 2018 Fair. Opposite the Hastings Horse Race Track, which also runs during The Fair.

Great for you guys! We have to wait until at least April or May till we get our first dose. Up here in Canada, they're announcing that the time period between the two dosages might be a bit longer, since they've found the first dosage is working significantly better % wise, and a longer time between doses seems possible. Which means a lot more people can get their first dosage, sooner. Which is great! Whatever the case, we hope everybody IS getting their vaccine ASAP. And to all you people who are against getting vaccinated...

^ So so true. Unfortunately.

Robb has just posted a great video of COASTER, that was produced in May, 2014, with several of us gathering together for the taping. It's a great coaster AND this is an awesome video to show it off. Enjoy! BTW, Corkscrew in the back there, is totally gone, now. Boo hoo. And eventually, there is "supposed to be" another new coaster in it's place. Can't wait! Thanks Robb and Elissa, for putting together a really great video of Playland's Coaster! Here we all are, about to ride (RIPieces) Corkscrew. May 16, 2014.

Did you hear the one about the Dalmatian Wannabe?.... No shame, hmm?

A&W Canada just posted, their Double Cheese Double Bacon Burger is now available, till mid-April. And don't forget, there's the DoubleCheese-DoubleBacon-DoubleBEEF Burger, too!

Backyardigans: Mission to Mars Movie Park Germany (Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) Me whoring my #300 Coaster - next to Big Mike in yellow. Photo by Steve C. thanks! TPR 2008 Europe Tour.

^ Cast iron skillets are awesome for a lot of meat cooking! Like bacon. And burgers. And nice dinner sausages, too.

New burger spot opening soon in Universal Studios Hollywood's Citywalk.... https://www.habitburger.com/locations/universal-studios-citywalk/ Double Double YYUUMM!

I was going to say, our StarFlyer (AtmosFEAR) here at Playland(PNE) has the same setup with each pair of seats on it. When I've been brave enough to actually look up, I could easily see it's the same rigging as what's been shown here. Scary, especially when it's windy, but very safe to ride.

Got two very nice phone calls, earlier today... The first one was from one of the main board members of our annual Vancouver Queer Film Fest, Out On Screen. They got my Holiday Donation and just wanted to thank me for my continued support. Which was nice to hear. They also got a kick out of the "Cats In Wigs" card I sent the cheque in, heh. Made them have a good laugh, and whoever opened it, photo-ed the card and sent it on to other board members. Cool! The second call was from across Canada, in Toronto, from someone with The ArQuives, which is our national LGBQT2+ archives and history place. I sent them a cheque in the New Year, so this was another call thanking me. We ended up chatting about a lot of Vancouver queer history stuff, including my and David's involvement with (original) Gay Radio (1978) in the city, and we were two of the original Board Members for our just-formed Community Centre in1980 ... and other things David and I have both been involved, together and separately. From the mid-1970s to the late 1990's. They were both lovely phone calls. Made my whole day, today.

Waterfalls TLC

^ I honestly believe, that with all the publicity that USJ started putting out in the world, they got very carried away with the "racing" theme of this attraction. Then, as opening day approached, they started pulling back on that description, and went into more of the tech for this ride. The VR overlay, etc. The fact that it was/is basically, another dark ride, I guess a lot of Western Universal Fans put Way More Expectation into it. than they should have. IMhO. My 7 (?) cents worth. By the way, has anyone asked the general local population about this new land, and told the rest of the world how they like it? Or not? Thought I'd ask.