DerekRx

Looks like a good day. I hope to get to Cliff's at some point soon as Rattler looks like a really good ride. Thanks for the photos!

I didn't see the whistle on him this time. We've seen him around before. Last time was up at SFNE where he was decked out in all Superman attire, and yes, he had his Superman whistle with him then, and he wasn't afraid to use it on the ride!

For me it was Batman: The Ride, backrow about 6 hours ago! Old Skool B&M rox hard!

Enigma looks cool, but I'm really excited for the Tri-Star! Sadly, I don't think the boomerang will be ready for us by June

Awesome feature! It works fine on my Treo 650 with Sprint. Actually does what its supposed to, load faster without all the pictures and stuff. I like it for when I'm desperate for a good fix. Thanks!

The trains for El Toro could be seen today in the parking lot by Kingda Ka during Ka's return from the brakes. Yes, the trains do look different, almost like a mix of GCI and Gerstlauer meet Intamin. I don't think it will hinder the ride at all though, sure is better than throwing the OTSRs on it!

That's kinda disappointing. While I really liked the Preshow with the secret entrance and the fact that you got the whole background story in that little room, I guess it did really slow the line down. Too bad they didn't think of that before they finished the ride originally, they could have done the Haunted Mansion thing and just have 2 rooms showing the preshow and just load each one while the other starts playing. Hopefully they'll find a compromise.

Happy Birthday, Erik. Hopefully somebody bought you a new jacket as a birthday gift!

After a fun day at Great Adventure, Heath, Jay, Kim, and myself decided to stop off for dinner at Rock Bottom on the way home at the King of Prussia Mall. Heath tries the Confused Derek while drinking his Fire Chief Ale, but he looks more like Bewildered Heath I tried to do the Heath Face while drinking my Penn's Curse Amber, but it just looks like I'm really sunburnt and sleepy Heath does the Heath Face while drinking his Penn's Curse Amber Ale Which went great with my smoked chicken enchiladas I started with the Prussia's Pride IPA First one here! (and sunburnt!) Rock Bottom uses the space formerly occupied by Brew Moon. They've got their own entrance, so they can stay opened late

Last night I was too busy drinking to post! And I finished out the night with a Magic Hat #9 since I was already apricotted Followed by a Pyramid Apricot Weizen It was nice out, so I followed up with a Troeg's Pale Ale Went down to Jackson, where Bret and I both enjoyed some HopDevils

"Do You Call My Name"- Ra

Lots of new stuff going on at Great Adventure this year. For starters, there's that giant Intamin plug and play, which is still like *maybe* 50% done, and by my estimates will open in June (though I won't say what year) Opened new this year now is Bugs Bunny National Park, another kiddie area located between the lake and the Frontier Adventure flume. There's a few new rides, new theming and colors, but all of it is meant for the youngins, unless you're totally into going around in a circle really slowly in miniature airplanes and what not. Cosmetically, the entrance music was really fitting, the park has lots of flowers, and surprisingly really happy employees. Every employee I saw was pleasant, asking how our day was, if we had any questions, and told us to have a great day. There's also lots of street players, from a director and actress in Movie Town to a couple of bands, and some comic acts roaming the park. Lots of costumed characters, including a Bugs Bunny before you even get off the main road INTO the park! I don't know how long it will last, or if the Jersey-folk will tolerate it, but it was really cool. I didn't walk the park scowering every inch of it for changes, so if you want that, you'll have to go elsewhere. I'll let the pictures and captions do most of the talking, especially for the El Toro pics. The members of the Beer And Coaster Team (BACT) had a really good day at Great Adventure and actually look forward to returning soon! One thing I'll conclude on, I've been to 2 Six Flags parks in 2 weeks on other sides of the country, and the staff has been friendly and actually made my day enjoyable. Well done Shapiro! Mmmmm, old school vertical loop forces Ellen got a free phallic crayon from the DJ, which she immediately stuck in her mouth At least for now, Nitro is still my favorite ride at the park, and was running great Batman, its 1st vertical loop, and another Zamperla Samba balloon Heehee, Wanger! Another kiddie ride at BBNP You can never have too many of these Zamperla things at SFGAd Sadly, no more McDonalds. Not that it was ever opened or that you wanted to pay $9.98 for a 6 piece McNugget meal Here's the new for 2006 kiddie area The floorless coaster may be a gimmick, but Great Adventure was made way better with the addition of Medusa Vertical loop! Medusa is still lightyears smoother and more attractive than its younger brother Scream!. Now the coat hanger airtime is actually pleasant! Heath and I are very excited Oooh, individual lap bars instead of that awful Arrow T-bar Oh yeah! And Runaway Train got some TLC in the offseason, now with new paint and new restraints! From the other side of the lake, this looks way more attactive than Viper did, and this is only half finished! Rolling Thunder looks like the offspring of El Toro and Kingda Ka, when in fact its the oldest! WHOA! EXTREME banking!!!! Heath thinks if he gives El Toro some refreshment, he'll get built faster. Shortly after this photo, some union guys grabbed Heath and he was thrown into the Hudson wearing cement shoes Opening sometime when its finished will be the highlight of my 2006, El Toro! Street performers play some "Take me out to the ballgame" in front of Nathans Ellen, Adam, Kim, and Heath enjoy their launch Finally, shortly after 12, the ride opened There was even a DJ there to entertain us while we waited to ride For some stupid reason we all decided to ride Kingda Ka again. And what trip to a park would be complete without a scary ACEr, this one was too excited about riding the Batoosey that he even forgot to put pants on! Lots of street actors including these stilt walkers They gave giant souvenir maps with your parking which is a great idea, and they also had balloons, beads, and stickers as soon as you got thru the metal detectors So here's the 2 newest coasters, both Intamin goodness

Considering today IS April Fools Day, and there is usually not press releases done on a Saturday, I'm saying this is an attempt at a joke. Especially since the "Press Release" has not been um, released. SFA will still be there in 2007, and may even get a new coaster by then, well an old coaster reassembled.

I'll be flying for Holiwood Nights, and plan on only bringing carry-on luggage. Therefore, no beer bringing from me. If Indiana or Kentucky has a place I can stop and pick up some good stuff on the way though, maybe I'll do that. Maybe some Three Floyds or something.

I don't really care for stand-ups because they take the longest time to load, and are really pointless. "Let's STAND in line for an hour so we can STAND on the ride." Just really doesn't make much sense to me. Though the strangest ever was when at SFOG, a girl in a wheelchair waited thru the queue and then attempted to try to stand on Georgia Scorcher, even though she had absolutely no use of her legs. We were baffled, and even better, the ops were baffled. It was quite an odd site.

I didn't have time to drink a beer before heading to see Larry the Cable Guy. Fortunately for me, the Sovereign Center has some pretty decent brews around. Knoebels may not open for another 5 weeks, but I was enjoying the Phoenix tonight (in Pale Ale format thanks to Sly Fox) Git R Done! But the civilized professional in me vetoed for a glass But my night was far from over! The redneck in me wanted beer...in a can! And he finished the night with some songs and fart jokes Grandma was excited to see Larry but because I also had a spectacular view of this. Too bad the camera phone didn't do them justice! I had a pretty good seat, and not just because I could actually see Larry I went with the Flying Fish. At $5.75 a pop, I didn't want to spend too much Here's 2 good selections right from the start!

"Tell Me"- Ra

"Ya think anyone will notice if I take this camera off the coaster? After all, its only being held on by duct tape!"

Sounds like a good addition to the park. Thanks all for the reviews. I'm looking forward to next month's ERT. Maybe I'll even be patient enough to wait for a backseat ride....then again, maybe not! There's always Sunday for that.

I don't play many games anymore, but I enjoyed the first KH for PS2, so I'll probably get this one too. I thought it was kinda cool mixing characters from Final Fantasy and Disney together.

Heath if you can get me some Curve Ball, you'd be even awesomer than Wally (though still not as awesome as me). Tonight I'm going to see Larry the Cable Guy, so I'll probably only be able to drink some of Wally's finest brews. Maybe I should leave work early and kick back a Victory or something quick.

Awesome now I can get a $4 Papa John's pizza at Six Flags and pay $10. I'm sure it will be just as good a quality as a real Papa Johns, which isn't really that spectacular to begin with.

"I'm So Sick"- Flyleaf

I'm booking my flight now. Its better to ride a powered kiddie coaster than just stare at half finished El Toro. At least I'll get one credit this weekend, and it won't be Deja Vu!

Yeah, rub it in. Still, since I haven't had it before, I really can't be jealous. And besides, even when I do try it and then can't get it anymore thanks to the seasonality of it, I've got 3 cases of HopDevil in the basement, and the brewery is 45 minutes away Of course, any time you want to send me some Curveball and Legunitas Maximus, etc, feel free! I don't know what the bartender at Pyramid thought of it, but I sure enjoy it! And speaking of HopDevil, I may as well have one tonight