DerekRx

I often wondered where my love of beer came from. My mom can't handle anything more than O'Douls or Coors Lite, my dad never drank, my grandfather drank, but crap like Pabst Blue Ribbon. And then tonight my questions were answered when my grandmother ran out of wine and needed something to drink. I suggested a barleywine, (being a smart-ass, since it has 'wine' in the name) and she took the bait, AND LOVED IT! Why my Grandma is, of course! Who is drinking the Victory Old Horizontal? Its super hoptacular! Next for me tonight, a double IPA

"Beyond Redemption"- HIM

Your Skull Mountain story sounds VERY typical of the SFGAd clientelle. Had the people been stuck even a mere 5 feet off the ground though, they'd be saying their prayers and fearing for their lives. Pretty sad, and no matter how good the park attempts to be, it will never be the quality that Shapiro wants it to be based on the people that visit the park.

sooperdooperLooper at Hersheypark, front of the back car, no wait! Threading the loop

Wow, I'm kinda glad TPR decided to change the plans and NOT go to Fantasy Island as part of the tour. It would really stink to get there and still see JO just sitting there like that. Pleasure Island looks crazy with all its messed up old school flats. I never knew Huss sold another Flyaway besides the one SFNE and that mainland Europe one.

I haven't ridden the one overseas yet, nor the one in Washington, but both J2 and Avalanche are very good. J2 is kind of brutal and loaded with airtime and WTF moments, whereas Avalanche is more smooth and loaded with airtime and WTH moments. J2 is probably more aggressive, but I prefer Avalanche for its rerideability. If you're in the neighborhood of one of them though, you should NOT miss out.

Hooray! I was beginning to think Adam joined AA or something! As for Tom, not so sure yet, maybe he got whacked in the head with a golf ball or something. Getting over another cold (stupid colds!) so its good to be back to drinking* Starting out with the Old Dominion Spring Brew again since it's a lovely Spring afternoon. *I didn't drink at all for 1 whole day! I may have cut my hair too short, but I don't care, I have a beer! I like the change in seasons because it means new beers come out

"Going Under"- Evanescence

The reduction of forces to the riders in the first occupied row of seating is my best guess. Kinda like how on certain Vekoma's (Vampire at Chessington) they wouldn't allow riders in the first row due to the whipping action and stuff. Since Alpengeist is much taller than the other inverts and has larger elements, it makes sense that to decrease the strain on riders, placing them back a row would lessen the whipping actions. I think it looks fugly, but I like trying to stick my head in the hole (hmmmm, that sounded dirty, but it wasn't supposed to!)

^^Yup, it also comes in a greenish grey color! After hearing about the crowds yesterday, I'm really glad I picked the holiday itself to go on. That's usually how Hersheypark works, I remember one year I went on July 4 and the park was dead, but on the 3rd and the 5th it was packed! I look forward to returning in the fall, with a stop at Troegs and ABC as well. Heath....it beckons to you..."wear me"

^You could include a trip down to Beech Bend to ride the new GCI woodie there as well as the other coasters and rides. Its about an hour and 30 minutes from Louisville. How you're going to do a trip on $300 I have no idea. It cost me $40 to go to Hershey today and I didn't buy food or need a hotel!

If only Lindsay Lohan was as hot as she used to be, instead of a twig I may have actually stayed up to watch the show. I'm sure it will be on the web soon for downloading.

"Fully Alive"- Flyleaf

^Lightning Racer wasn't scheduled to open, and since the crowds were so lite and the park was only opened until 6, I guess it wouldn't really pay to have it opened, as many people won't even make it back to Midway America. I did see the red train testing empty though while on the Wildcat, but the ride wasn't opened, nor was anyone around saying it would open. As for Tidal Force, I'd imagine the cooler temps kept that ride closed. I'm still very impressed that the park had managed to have a lot of the rides operating on a holiday where not that many people would come out to a park. Maybe HERCO could buy up some of the Paramount parks and teach them a thing or two about operations.

^Gotta give mad props to Skull Mountain. Few people understand its awesomeness, but that's mainly because they don't sit in the back of the train. That first drop is pure heaven. I also am quite fond of Gator McGee and his Runaway Mountain at SFOT. It may just be a windstorm indoors, but its loads of fun.

Yes! My homepark square includes SFGAd, Dorney, Hersheypark, and Knoebels. Knoebels is definitely among my favorite parks. The others are fun and are far from the worst parks on the planet, but I'd say they're somewhere in the middle between great and crap.

Decided to try another Old Dominion brew this afternoon. If I can taste it with a cold, I'll have to save some for when I can actually taste! The OD Pale Ale. I have a cold, but its pretty good

A few more pictures: Today's free sample at the end was those Kissables. Colorful candy and chocolate, OOOOH! And instead of the advertisings of yesteryear finale, they show lots of different cities where Hershey is consumed. Here's to you, Memphish Look Elissa, York peppermint patties! They changed the ending of the factory too, now there are more products in their final wrapping floating around This is approximately how many Hershey products will be consumed at the Alvey household today mmmmm.....chocolate Until the cow chicks came back!! AHHHH!!!! Some parts they kept the same though They sing some song that's equally as annoying as the "Hershey's Chocolate" song Rump Roast! They removed all the little Kiss dudes, and threw in a bunch of cows, which should make Robb really happy! "Quick! To the Kissmobile!" On the way out, I decided to check out the new version of the Chocolate Tour Joey's friends waited around for him, but he never showed. I think he's coming in August guys! This shirt is screaming for Heath to buy it "See! I told you" "I used to be a skyride station, now I'm just used by Joey and his friends"

Most people would have spent today (Easter) with their family. Well, not me! I decided that the nice weather and the fact that Hershey was opened today would allow me to make my first visit of the year. I've never done the Springtime in the Park event before, mainly because it was pay per ride with tickets, and the ticket lines were always huge, and cost a lot of money. Fortunately, this year they instituted POP only, just like a regular day. For $19.95 I was in the park and could ride anything and everything as much as I wanted. Only a few rides were closed: Tidal Force, Lightning Racer, Roller Soaker, Rapids. I think the fact that it was Easter really helped out with crowds too, as the park was pretty lively, but there weren't any substantial waits. The crews were efficient and fast, unlike what I saw at the Virginia parks last weekend. The weather was gorgeous, the waits were minimal, and I got to avoid my family; I'm definitely hoping this can become an annual tradition! Milton says "how the heck did I get stuck in the middle of this fountain!? And where is my Frequent Faller!?" In this section of the park, your feet MUST be dangling So I skipped it, but I took a pretty picture, see!? For some strange reason, Comet ALWAYS has a line Pepsi flavored iced tea? that doesn't sound good at all! sooperdooperLooper used to have 12 loops, but they removed 11 of them because people's heads kept falling off and you can't talk about vertical loops without showing some respect to the sooperdooperLooper! mmmm, Vertical loop And that meant I could enjoy the verical loop many times over! Great Bear also had no wait for anything other than the front row Have you hugged your Intamin today? This is where the 659' tall Intamin Gigantanormous Super Hypercoaster will be placed to interact with the B&M 240' tall 13 inversion floorless for 2007. Ooooh, Construction..... Wild Mouse was also pretty waitless, and was running with minimal braking And best of all, if you didn't want to wait for the front, you could get right on Wildcat was still running good, with lots of GCI airtime Sideloop! My first vertical loop EVER Here's that Snake Fang Dive thing I'm thinking Arby's "Hey look at me, I'm an Immelmann!" Storm Runner's station is not very "bird friendly" This shot took 3 hours, several phone calls to the stations, and a lot of standing around to get. You better appreciate it! The ride was stuck here until some fat guy in row 4 farted. Mmmm, Intamin goodness But Hershey is a good park and puts signs like this up! I don't think Storm Runner will be running two trains today It looks ready to go, too bad they didn't soft open it for a TPR exclusive! Here's the location for the new darkride, which opens with the park on May 6 Welcome to Hersheypark, all you heathens!

"Southtown"- POD

Carnies scare the bejesus out of me. But thanks for the photos, looks like you had fun!

"Shame"- Stabbing Westward How can I have sex without you!?

Today I was finally free to get my Dorney pass processed, and since I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by Bethlehem Brew Works for some vittles. And since it was close to 80 degrees outside, this lactose intollerant dude decided to include some Heavenly Hedgehog Ice Cream for dessert. Yellow Cake Batter, yum! Bethlehem Brew Works is always worth the 15-20 minute drive from Dorney I liked it MUCH better than the Anchor Steam And Beau (originally from Pyramid)came thru with this West Coast inspired Steamed brew, the Gold Rush Lager With my bratwurst I needed a good lager Very tart with cranberry aroma and flavor, and HIGHLY alcoholic at 8% First up was the newly released Imperial Cranberry Lambic, just tapped yesterday And this is the end result of the afternoon, now lets go drink! Laser, you're close to 21, plus you have 2 vertical loops, so I'll give you my backwash, if there is any Steel Force says "dude, can you get me a beer?" "No dude, you're not 21 yet, sorry." Here's the wave pool that's taking up the season pass entrance and parking lot Apparently season pass parking has been moved INSIDE the park for this year! Here's Talon, no one is experiencing the awesomeness of the Vertical loop yet Here's Dorney, its closed

Wow, they've really accomplished a lot more than I'd expect them to in the last 2 weeks. That first drop looks amazing, I can't wait until June (or July, depending when it opens!)

Well, I don't know what your facial structure is, and I don't really care for that style, but out of all of them, I guess I like the Oaks the best. Take it for what its worth, which is a LOT less than those glasses cost!