Nrthwnd

^Pardon my memory burp, but .... I did ValleyFair in 1976. Yep, I was there in late June of 1976. One month after it had just opened . The first lesson I ever learned about theme park visiting, was at ValleyFair, and it involved the sacred " exit/re-enter hand stamp." I was waiting outside for my ride, hadn't gotten the stamp, and then had 'that feeling,' and had to talk my way into a park washroom, while a staff member accompanied me for the journey. Very embarrassing, but I definitely learned from that event. I always get my hand stamp at parks, even if i don't come back .... 'cause ya never know, hmmm?

^ Thanks! It's mainly an unwritten "agreement," between myself and Mom Nature. The crocus, as did the bluebells, grew in front and back of our house for years. But, for some reason, I managed to 'coax' both plants to grow only in our front yard, last few years! And the back yard has been left alone, for all the ferns to grow better! The 'nests' (as all the kids call them) continue to be an ongoing maintenance thing. But that's okay. Easy to re-assemble them, once branches have been pushed over, etc. or run thru with dogs, heh.

Lighting packages look awesome on any wheel, in most parks! Night shot.

Opera stuff.

^ Hmmm. I didn't see that sentence above the concept art. Or under this thread's heading. But I don't think that's correct. Because, in one of the few Disney sites I follow, an overview of the area where the new Monsters Land would go was shown, with the coaster`s show building (possibly) being built beyond the Studio`s "berm". And the Animation Courtyard is is in a different location altogether, while Star Tours will be beside this new Land on one side. And Galaxy's Edge on the other side of it. It's what I've seen from overhead views and descriptions, etc.... So, IMhO, the Animation Courtyard isn't being used for Monsters Land.

It does make me wonder, if they're ever going to do anything with the Animation Courtyard in the future.....

Noted, thanks.

All that food and drink before the fireworks ..... yum. I assume you timed things "between courses"? And this castle is such a Huge Canvas for the show projections on it... awesome. Great trip to HKDL for you and the family!

Maybe on the stripped side, they're going to put .... (Cedar Fair) up there? Just a guess, really.

Oakwood was where my #100 coaster happened (Clown Coaster, lol). And (I believe) SPEED had just opened (2006) and I think I rode it nearly 10 times, only finally stopping because I was getting a small headache. And it double helixed in what I called the "Toilet Bowl"element of it. And HYDRO was a truly wet/scary ride. The water splashing in/on the face/body was drenching the whole boat, before we even went down the drop! Great visit Bert, for an awesome park.

For those of us, myself included, who can't make it to New York and BROADWAY any time soon.... we collect Cast Recordings of the musicals, that open every season. The GRAMMY nominations just came out, and although they usually don't include that category on the televised show itself, but announce the winner anyway. They GRAMMYS take place on February 2, 2025. And here's the list of nominated shows... Best Musical Theater Album Hell's Kitchen Merrily We Roll Along The Notebook The Outsiders Suffs The Wiz

And now that Hallowe'en is done... the PNE is now selling tickets for their annual Winter Fair. The Fair runs from beginning of December, to the 23rd. Lots of stuff to do, see, eat, drink! https://www.pne.ca/winter-fair/

A new video that Universal has released, shows a few of the the AA figures for the "Monsters Unchained" attraction. But I noticed at :35 of the video, the Wolfman is in a crouched position, looking down and taking a swipe at ....? It made me think that this AA is for the "Curse of The Werewolf" spinning coaster, in that barn where the back-and-forth goes through it twice. I forget the name of that coaster element. Sorry. But in the barn, it would be at the end of it, where the train is shot back through it and up into that banked curve, IMhO.

I looked it up and .... "ELLIS-BURG"

^ Makes me sad that many families will put themself into that position of income (i.e. poor house), once they start planning and paying for their WDW trips.

So, this is a baking question to all. I was planning to make/bake, what's called a Dump Cake. Pretty basic. Two can of pie filling first layer, followed by a "yellow" cake mix sprinkled all over the filling, then pats of butter added on top, DO NOT STIR TOGETHER. Bake and voila! Dump Cake. But .... Instead of what they call 'yellow' cake mix, I got the Duncan Hines 'Golden' cake mix. Now could somebody puhleeeeze tell me "any difference" between these two .... uh ....flavours of cake? Or are they just vanilla cake mixes, w/colouring? Thanks in advance.

Dame Maggie Smith. Known for (on film) the "Harry Potter" series, and (on TV) "Downton Abbey" recently, and so many, many movies in her career. Won the Oscar for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" in 1969.

I don't remember what #2 is/was. Help?

For those of us that live close to Playland (and/or visitors!), they have their info. pages up for Fright Nights in October...... http://www.pne.ca

James Earl Jones. 93.

Sergio Mendes RIP to a Boss Nova Beat, man!

For my last visit to The Fair (and it's Closing Day), I decided to bus to the Playland Gate, get my last (for this season) $1 popcorn, then work my way up through all - those - food trucks, get ribs from the other spot that was selling them (called what else? Truckin' BBQ!), and then make a real total 'tour' through the entire Market building. Easy! And I even bought something(s) there, too. Back at my 'usual' Playland Entry Gate Doesn't look too crowded, here... ...But the queue for Coaster must have been 2-3 hours' wait, since they still were using only one train. Eek. And I didn't even bother, to check on ThuderVOLT's queue, knowing it only runs one train, too. All in all, it was a VERY CROWDED (slammed?) day, there. So I was very glad I wasn't doing a lot of stuff. Whew! Both towers operating against a cloud covered sky. Last look at the midway, before it closes up, not to re-open till 2025. The Last $1 One for this season. It's still a great deal after all these years of having and using this bucket.. Up it goes! Up it goes #2. Up it tilts! Last look at the Amphitheatre site, from this angle. Not to be seen again, from here, till next year's Fair. An Arcade Prize winner's stuffie. I would not enjoy carting this around The Fair. Nope. Still not for me. Here we are. And I ordered a half-rack. With a side of coleslaw. Then got my last beer in Festival Park. And it was just as good as the other ribs we had. And I enjoyed the creamy coleslaw as well. While consuming my ribs, this big-ass band was playing on the "Music In the Park" stage. And they were great! And now ... Another great clothing stall. More Bling. Something for the kids to do. I see Princess Peaches and the Mario Brothers. And it's got a short line up, so that's good. For those with a passion for musical bowls, etc. Ooooooooo. These were the first 'variety' of candy apples I'd seen at The Fair. But... THIS Is what I wanted. And I picked up a slice of Black Forest fudge. Chocolate w/cherries. Yum! Dogs on Socks. Many many pairs of socks. But they did have a (pitiful) section for cats, too. Hats of all styles, shapes, colours, etc. It was basically an All-Leather Clothing stall. We glanced at this booth, last Thursday. But I wanted to see more of it. So I came back. These are LEGO Figures. And Lots - Of - Keychains! And .... and .... Mystery Boxes. That tempted me, and I bought one. A Pikachu Terrarium collection box. Of six. These are all for grating garlic cloves. Pretty. Back to where we started last Thursday. Sign says ADULTS ONLY. And then I headed for the Exit. I think it was a Well Fair. But with so much themed exhibits left out this season (and a LOT of food trucks), I wonder how many will return to next year's fair, knowing the Amphitheatre still won't finished until '26. Here's what $15 Cdn got me. #5 of the collection - with Kimori, a tree stump, and some weeds, lol. Bit of a better look at Kimori. So, I will go to next year's Fair, regardless of what's less and what's more, there.

Not that this house plant (?) needs much attention, except watering from time to time, I still figured this would be the best Thread to post it in. One of our small "all sorts" stores off The Drive (like a mini department store), also has house plants on racks in front of the store. This one immediately caught my eye. But the owner couldn't name it, or tell me, how long 'the fruit' stays on top. But I bought it anyway. Nearly $10 Cdn. Am going to try and find the name of this, online. Stay tuned .... It's so cute! Probably not edible, though.

This past Thursday was our annual PNE visit, me and David. After having gone there a few times already, I told him what to miss and what we should look into .... and the BBQ RIBS meal, of course. So this visit took only a few hours. The ribs were great, the drag show was a repeat (for myself) but David really got a kick out of it, and started thinking back to when we used to do shows at a very well known Vancouver Drag/Show bar called BJ's ! (Now that's another story thread, heh.) I enjoyed this show, just as well as the first time. And then we just went for it, and bought a six-pack box of .... cannolis! a raspberry pair, a lemon pair, and an 'original' pair, being vanilla and chocolate bits. And that was it for us! David spent a good 1/2 hour in The Market, I took a few photos inside, but planned to go there again, tomorrow. Maybe there will be a "PNE Final Day Sale" for me to check out...... Back to the front of The Fair, again. And where we immediately went to - for a five o'clock meal of RIBS! We looked at the portion of ribs, and thought we were getting more than the 1/2 rack we ordered. V But then, I had this photo from last year's Fair, I showed it around and most of the staff freaked! V This is that photo. And this is Steve. I made a joke about "Santa working part time in the off-season", lol. Unfortunately, he wasn't there this year. But I hope some of the staff let him know, he was missed. So we figured we got some 'extra ribs' due to us showing that photo of Steve. Or not, lol. This rack of ribs was really nice and juicy. I might buy it again (1/3 rack) tomorrow. Hmmmm. Almost finished. We didn't pack any leftovers for home. Corn bread and coleslaw were both great, too. I find this fascinating, don't know why. After eating, we headed over to the last show of the day, of .... Would have liked to see and hear the pianos. but it never happened. Maybe next year if they're here again. Not for this show. It's used for the Rollerland Building's (that is it's name) weekend skating, there. This is 'Joan Jett'. And here's 'Jon Bon Jovi'. Definitely having a great time, here. This a fuzzy 'Pat Benatar'. At least 'Prince' wore a different coat for this show. First time I saw 'him,' it was all blue spangles. The 'Heart' sisters, Ann and Nancy. Inside The Market. What we first see. Vibrating ...thing-a-ma-jigs. Lots of different clothing stalls. Bling. This was all for kids, but I have to check exactly what there was there. I need some close-ups here! YOU WANT WOODEN ANYTHING? WE HAVE WOODEN EVERYTHING! We have enough "wooden things" at home, so we passed on this. Big open space. Very rare for the annual Market. Maybe the rental space costs too much for some, since covid? Where a lot of us 'elders' ended up. Back massage, comfy chair .... mmmmm, Happy old people. So much stuff in this set up. I know nothing, about any of it. I thought of buying a 'mystery bag' for the heck of it. But ... I didn't. Of all of these display towers at this stall, this is the one I liked the best. Not sure why. Maybe it has to do with alllll those mushrooms. Hmmm. After leaving The Market, we wanted some kind of dessert. Then we saw this. It was a good decision. We ate the Original Cannoli there, and took the other four home. Two lemon, two raspberry, and my Original, yet to be eaten. Cost $40 Cdn. for all six. And our visit ended, for the day.

^ Heh heh, I agree with the 'church carnival problem.' At least they got a few extra rides for The Fair, rather than avoiding it altogether. Still. I expect next year's PNE will be much of the same, as this past season was. Hopefully, they'll make it a bit different i.e. shows etc. And I'm pretty sure that the PNE told the rides owner(s) in advance, that the new Amphitheatre construction would take some of their rides' space. So they probably still have a contract with the PNE. But in the mean time, we wait, till then.