pianojohn

They are SO close: $904 of $20.0M goal Raised by 50 people in 9 days At this rate, it will only take 60+ years to reach their goal!

Of course, they deleted my comment from the GoFundMe page since I wasn't blowing smoke up their ass! $20 million? Why not ask for $500 trillion! Either way, it's NOT ever going to happen! Oh, and the "brains" behind this scheme didn't even graduate from CCC, a local community college. Yeah. It'll work!

Since you mentioned airfare: If you're looking for cheap airfare, you don't mind driving a few hours and you're near southern California drive to Vegas and fly Frontier to Cleveland. Just check the site every day and sign up for their email list and you'll be able to fly for like $30 each way per person if you're patient and slightly flexible. From my experience, Frontier is hit or miss. Sometimes flights leave on time, other times they leave late. Once I had a 10 am flight. When I called to check the status the night before, I was informed it had changed to 7am. No email, no text. LOTS of pissed off passengers. By the time you add all of the extra costs (carry on, check bag, seat assignment, all of which cost extra), it usually ends up costing about the same to fly with a more reputable airline.

Hmmm...good question! Here's hoping for the following: King's Dominion and Busch Gardens VA in April during Spring Break week (April 2-8) Cedar Point in June for Coastermania (my 4th or 5th year in a row!) Worlds of Fun and possibly Silver Dollar City in late June. I am in Nebraska for a theater conference and these two parks are within a 3 hour drive. Hoping to finally visit these two! Possibly: Dollywood. I have a friend doing a show there, and I have not been there in many years. Hoping to make the trip AND really hoping Lightning Rod is running! Fall/Winter possibly back to CA. Although I live in Orlando and work for WDW, I have been to Disneyland and Knotts almost yearly for the past few years. Free admission into Disneyland with my cast ID and Platinum Cedar Fair pass makes it all worthwhile! That's it for now!

Ditto I have tweeted BGW twice with no response. I'd really like to know their April hours since Easter in on April 1st and King's Dominion is open that entire next week. I am hoping to fly up and marathon ride Twisted Timbers but also bop down to BGW if they're open as well.

I've been going to Coastermania for a few years now. We always end up going to Cameos for pizza following our Thursday night at the Point. If Coastermania is June 1st, then the park closes at 8pm on Thursday. Even if it's a week later, the park still closes at 8. I think Cameos is open until 10pm. And since you're already downtown, a trip to Tofts Ice Cream is a must! http://www.cameopizza.com/

Although I don't think I will step foot inside the attraction, I wonder what the reaction will be? I imagine it will be strong on both sides and nothing in the middle. Either lots of boos or cheers. Or both. And then fights breaking out. Any bets on how long before they close it to revamp?

Just got back from a weekend at Disneyland and Knotts. Question: anyone going to Knotts Merry Farm after the 17th or so? They have an awesome tshirt that was sold out, but they are supposed to get more in. They sell them in a booth in Ghost Town. The price is $9.99 and it has Snoopy on the front. I would LOVE one in size large. Just message me if this is possible! And if you need anything from the Florida Disney parks, let me know!

Here you go!

Saw it last night and loved it. That band...WOW!

Knotts Scary Farm questions! Heading to my 1st KSF on Sat Sept 23rd. Since this is my first Haunt, I have some questions for the experts out there 1) Already got our tickets and dinner buffet which gets us in an hour early. How many houses do you think we can do with this extra time? I know when we did the same thing at Busch Tampa, we were able to hit every house in an hour and spent the rest of the time seeing shows and riding coasters. 2) There are 4 of us, and we want to see a few houses but we don't need to hit every one. Any MUST SEEs among the line up? 3) The main reason we are going is to see the Elvira show. How early do we need to get in line for that? Do they do tickets or just first come first served? 4) How are the lines like for the rides? 2 of our group has never been to Knotts, so we definitely wanna do Ghostrider, Xcelerator, and any other ones. Thanks for any and all advice!

As I was cleaning out my office today, I found some black and white 8X10s I had taken for a photography class in college. These were taken in Sept/Oct of 1986. Enjoy! My attempt at an artsy shot of Corkscrew. Notice the last row with the OTSR in the up position. They were notorious for only checking the bars of people in those rows and leaving the rest in the up position. I remember one ride where they forgot to lock the bars. Eventually our screams as we left the station woke them up, and they locked them. Gotta love the 80s! Corkscrew from the Sky Tower. I think this is where X Flight or Superman were eventually placed. Corkscrew with Big Dipper in the background The Big Dipper on ride One of the Double Loop's loops

Actually, that show was the Diamond Horseshoe. The theater is still there but sadly the show is not. Hoop Dee Doo is still performed but that is at Pioneer Hall in the Fort Wilderness Campground area.

I took one last trip to ride the great movie ride before it closes in a few weeks. Here are the pictures. And here is a video I shot of the entire ride: Enjoy!

My friend and I did Kings Island the day after Coastermania. It was a Saturday so we knew it would be busy. It was PACKED. We both bought the FastLane Plus (I think around $83) and would do so again in a heartbeat. We rode everything we NO wait in line, and we even got 2 rides on Mystic Timbers while everyone else was waiting in a 120+ minute wait. SInce I am only at the park once every few years, it was totally worth the $$. The time you save is value enough.

Totally agree. We waited about 10 minutes and realized even when the shuttle arrived that there wouldn't be enough space for all those waiting. Either have buses in the morning or open the WindSeeker gate for entrance. We ended up driving around to the main parking lot, doing ERT, and then driving back to the Breakers.

Just got back from my annual Ohio trip to Coastermania. Some thoughts: The weather could not have been more perfect. Mid 70's, sunny. And the lines were very manageable. Early morning ERT: Did Millenium Force 2X with no wait. Left the park and had breakfast at Perkins. I highly recommend saving your money and staying at the Breakers. Convenient, beautiful, and just a short walk to the park. When the new wing opens next year, I wouldn't be surprised if they tear down Breakers East and do a mirror construction on the other side with a 10 story tower and 6 story wing. Longest line of the day: the French Fry stand on the main midway. They had kiosks where you order. Then you stand in another line and pay. Then stand in a 3rd line to get your food which is NOT ready. Why even have kiosks? Also, the cashier had no idea what the Platinum Pass deal was. the past, you buy one order of fries and get a 2nd order and 2 drinks free. This year? Who knows! They THOUGHT it was chili cheese fries but someone else said it was mini corn dogs. How about posting WHAT it is so employees don't have to guess? Brew and BBQ: worth the $$. Good food, great beer (if you're into that), and decent desserts this year. Evening ERT. Headed to Dragster in time to see a rollback and have it shut down. Maverick also was having issues. So rode Magnum while disgruntled and entitled "enthusiasts" complained to the Magnum staff about how they should get a refund. Hey jackasses: you just had 17+ hours in the park with 4 hours of ERT, awesome weather, good lunch and a cruise, a tshirt and pin, and you wanna complain? I'm with Robb on this one. People suck. Saturday drove down to Kings Island and some Mystic Timbers. And apparently, so did half of Cincinnati. Park was VERY crowded, so coughed up the $83 for FastLane Plus. WELL worth it! Did Beast, Racer, Diamondback, Flight of Fear, Mine Ride (forget the name), and Mystic Timbers twice and waited maybe 30 minutes total. Mystic Timbers is fun BUT I hope they maintain it. If it gets rough, that last 1/2 will be unbearable. It was closed most of the day, but when it reopened, the line was 2 hours long. The Beast needs some TLC. I would LOVE for RMC to take it over, but the fanboys would probably freak if they changed anything. Back in Orlando now and ready for my 1st ride on Flights of Passage tomorrow!

Speaking of musicals.... My show PSYCHO MODE opens one week from today at the Orlando Fringe. What is the Fringe? A 14-day arts festival that is founded on the concept of being: 100% unjuried, 100% uncensored 100% accessible 100% inclusive And 100% of sales are returned back to the artists! The Orlando Fringe is the longest running Fringe Festival in the United States, celebrating 26 years as “Orlando’s most unique cultural experience”. Orlando Fringe is a proud member of the United States Association of Fringe Festivals (USAFF) http://www.fringefestivals.us, the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) http://www.fringefestivals.com and The World Fringe Congress http://www.worldfringe.com/congress. What is Psycho Mode? The cinematic artistry of Alfred Hitchcock. The music of Depeche Mode. A psychological horror thriller set to the music of one of the most prolific bands of the 80's. A live retelling of one of the world's greatest motion pictures. Live music. Live singing. A unique twist on a classic story. From Fringe award winner John B. deHaas, creator of Theme Park Diva, Tappin' and Yappin', Just This Once, and half of Toiley T. Paper: Roll Model. 13 & Up - Violence, Adult Themes 60 minutes There is also a Kids Fringe every weekend and visual Fringe which has art for sale. Food trucks, a beer tent, and much more! If you are anywhere near Orlando, this is THE art event of the year! And I wouldn't mind if you came to see my show as well! Tickets are $12 PLUS everyone MUST have Fringe button which costs $10. The button helps to pay for the festival, and once you buy it, you can wear it all festival long. There is an awesome Orlando Fringe app that you can download and purchase tickets directly from it as well as access the whole schedule. To get tickets to MY show, just click here: https://orlandofringe.showare.com/?search=psycho%20mode

Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO Set to the music of Depeche Mode PSYCHO MODE! This will be my 17th or 18th show I have produced or been a part of at the Orlando Fringe since 2003. If you wanna help me out with production costs, feel free to check out my GoFundMe page. https://www.gofundme.com/psychomode2017 But more importantly, if you're in Orlando May 18-28th, I hope to see you at the show! Thanks!

Yeah. Leave the park and head to Cameo's Pizza in downtown Sandusky. Then a quick trip to Tofts for their great ice cream and ridiculous portions! Both are about a 10-15 minute drive from the park. Other than Knoebels, does ANY park have good pizza?

Insane. That is Easter week, and the crowds will be massive 2nd only to the week between Christmas and New Year.

I like how Larry Giles conveniently forgets to mention King Arthur's Challenge, that HORRIBLE simulator film that followed Questor. It truly sucked, and I am sure they would just hope people would forget about it.

Hmmm.....luckily I live and work in Orlando so I am gonna say Fun Spot America!

YES! So glad I renewed my season pass for 2017 (not to mention the $64.50 price cannot be beat!) Huge congrats to the FUN SPOT gang! I predict this will open BEFORE Avatar land! (Or at least Rivers of Light!)

Come on, there are two more coasters in that park. Then again, I can guess how those two would be ranked. True! I forgot about the hanging one. But the kiddie one has since been removed. Still my favorite coaster in probably all of Central Florida. Off to ride it today!