pianojohn

Growing up, I thought old cars from the 50s only played music from the 50s on their car radios.

Two words: Cinnamon bread! I was so happy to read this news. If they can bring all of these parks up to Dollywood levels, that would be amazing.

Any hint as to what "spring 2025" means? I will be in VA all of April doing a show, and I'd love to get the credit before heading back to Orlando and the opening of Epic Universe!

The thing that really sucks is that everyone HAS to pay this. There is no cash option. The greed is unreal.

Well....they haven't even posted hours for Haunt so I would wait until they do that before saying they cut WinterFest. Has it officially been posted anywhere?

2024 sucked. Period.

Do it! This ride has been a nightmare and a horrible design from day one. Get a B&M hyper or something as reliable to put in RRR's place. Maybe make it a few feet taller than Mako to take the Orlando record!

Just got back from a quick trip to my old stomping grounds. I used to work at Busch Gardens VA 1994-97, and I had not been there in awhile. I was looking forward to some new credits and riding some of my favorites. Started the trip at Kings Dominion on Sunday May 19th. Cloudy and a bit cool, so crowds were pretty non-existent. Rode Tumbili, my very first S&S 4D free spin. Smooth as anything, and not too crazy. In fact, since I rode by myself, I don't recall flipping upside down even once. Racer 75 was fun although I hate the seat dividers. No need for them when you already have a seat belt and individual locking lap bars. Twisted Timbers. I rode this the first year it was open and enjoyed it. This time it just felt like a never ending set of bunny hills over and over. Not a fan. Grizzly ran well esp. with the new track from last year. Did the log ride which is always fun. I was also doing a livestream on YouTube with my friend, and the viewers insisted I get my face painted. I obliged. After a few hours in the park, I headed down to Busch since they posted on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) that DarKoaster would only be running on weekends. I parked in the Italy section only to find NO TRAMS. Ridiculous. It's almost a half mile walk to the front gate. Got to DarKoaster and joined the 50 minute line. The SLOWEST moving line, and the abundance of Quick Queue made the line even worse. They REALLY need a single rider line since I saw train after train (which only hold 10 people) leave the station with empty seats. Cool concept, but when you're riding in the dark, you cannot brace yourself for the sudden turns. My neck still hurts. Came back on Monday for a full day in the park. First up: Loch Ness Monster. It LOOKS great, but even with the new track, it is still rough as ever. The effects in the tunnel are cool if you could see them. They have projections on the side walls, and with the harnesses, it's really impossible to get a good look. Verbolten was fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Finally got my first ride on Pantheon. Great area, queue, and then....they really cheaped out on the station. It looks like a barn or cheap Home Depot shed. The ride was good though VelociCoaster is WAY better. Comfortable trains and fast dispatches helped to keep the line moving. Alpengeist was closed. Like not even close to being open with park benches blocking the entrance. Strange. I worked in the Entertaiment Department when I was there, so I wanted to see what shows they had. The "Trio De Roma" show in Italy had 2 performers and did exactly ONE sort of Italian song "That's Amore." VERY underwhelmed. Anyway...enjoy the pics! Yeah...light crowds today. About to ride my very first S&S 4D Freespin All in all, not bad. Not crazy and definitely not worth more than a 5-10 minute wait. I had the whole train to myself! The best part of the ride before the non stop bunny hills. Nice job here. Lots of new wood made for a smoother ride. The queue for the log ride. Again....no one here! My face painting as decided by my YouTube viewers. One more pic and then washing it off! This is where I parked. A half mile walk to the park. Cool part of the ride. Whee! Nice entrance....horrible station. Lots of new track and paint. Still photogenic. The new monster statue at the bottom of the 2nd loop. Will still NEVER forgive the park for ripping out the iconic circular stage and putting in this travesty. Eh.... Closed. The view from the skyride. The new and improved tunnel...sort of. Cool tunnel on Invadr.

I am always amazed at the number of shows that open right before the Tony deadline. And for the most part, these shows don't last a few months after the awards and they leave empty handed. I thought that was a waste of money to get the show all the way to Broadway only to close soon after. Yet having a show ON Broadway is a HUGE selling feature when the rights are released and every high school, college, and community theater is anxious to do your show. I predict the same fate for shows like How to Dance in Ohio, The Heart of Rock and Roll, and The Great Gatsby. Once you get the Broadway name attached to it, most people outside of NYC have no idea of the show's short history on the Great White Way.

$100 PER drink? Yeah, I don't buy that unless you have a picture of this so-called $100 drink. As far as the lines go, it's EASTER week and crowds are everywhere. ROTR had a 3 hour wait this week. You cannot blame the park for the insane crowds. Sorry you had a bad time, but I always tell friends and family to avoid the parks during holidays (spring break, Christmas) and don't expect to ride anything without shelling out money for FastLane or Genie+.

So... Last Tuesday I had oral surgery to remove two lower teeth. It will be 4-8 months before permanents can be put in place. Therefore no food that requires biting for me (sandwiches, fruit, pizza) unless it's cut into very small pieces and then placed at the back of my mouth. Thursday our older dog has a seizure. 48 hours and $2500 later not sure what's going on. Sunday my husband gets in an auto accident and his car is totaled. We go the ER and he has bruised ribs and some cuts on his side from the airbag deployment. I take the day off from work but had purchased St. Patrick's Day cupcakes for my cast. I called another cast member who brought them to work for me. Two days later and not one of the people I work with called or texted or asked how we are doing. Not one thank you or anything. So over ungrateful people. It's been a horrible week.

Rode this once way back in 2003. It was INTENSE. Apparently too intense.

The absolute worst Christmas song ever:

I wasn't offended just disappointed. Anyone can say "Hey, this guy jerks off." It doesn't make it clever or funny. There are a MILLION other ways to say that or imply it which would give the joke a double entendre. Instead, they aimed for the absolute lowest common denominator. And as far as the "satanic drag show," I have seen much worse on TV. Plus they warn people over and over that the show is NOT for children.

Same thing happened to me on my one and only trip there years ago. However, this security guard harassed me implying I was doing something illegal. I wrote a letter to the park telling them about my negative experience. Don't know if I can ever bring myself to support them again.