DerekRx

Day 2: After successfully finishing off 3 parks in 1 day and a stop at Three Floyds, we were ready to tackle an additional 5 parks and make it back to Columbus before our flights out at 8pm. A little tired from the 6 hours of sleep we got, we were up and out of our hotel by Indianapolis shortly before 9am and at the Indianapolis Zoo shortly after it opened. Luckily I figured arriving late wouldn't hurt, as the coaster didn't open until 10am, so we got a little bit more sleep and managed to check out a few of the animals before heading for the credit. What a great idea it is to incorporate rides into a zoo. It keeps things educational, but also includes a little bit more fun into the mix. Kombo is a standard giant Tivoli coaster from Zierer, great for the whole family, with a nice safari like theme. Finally, we head out, but not before pounding it. Dude! Ah! Look out, these hideous animals will steal your beer and whore your coasters Now the otters are climbing a tree Down in the water are some playful otters "Grrrr, why isn't anyone riding on me!?" says SharkTums' cousin Another ride at the zoo is the creepy carousel with giant bugs! Here's something familiar to our Aussie a$$hole friends. One's got a joey, (not the Jewish kind) This elephant is all "I wish I could fly, then I'd totally go to Disney World!" "I'm kinda like a donkey, but with stripes and stuff" And a whole bunch of white rhinos, just sitting around waiting for someone to try to steal their horns Afterwards we hit the savannah area. Here you see Steve Nuss and family The indoor desert pavilion was nicely themed and very personal with the animals These aren't meerly cats, they're meerkats! A whole sorority of them! The desert tortoise was on the move, how cute! After getting the credit, we had some time to see some animals. New is the desert (not the dessert) Always fun rides, never too rough. Probably some of the best starter coasters for the youngin's Cute little jeep themed trains And there it is, thru the grass. Credit! After I boot up the automatic ticket machine, I don't have to wait in line to purchase my ticket to ride. ($2) Kombo is all the way in the back corner of the park, away from most of the animals The giant tortoise has been trying to make it over to ride Kombo for a good 3 years now. By 2009 he should be there Something tells me this will actually see the light of day before Marineland's does Ah, the Indianapolis Zoo. So far thats 3 "nature" parks in 3 weeks for me, thanks to coasters

As long as they build them with a single rider line or Flash Pass, it'll be no problem. I've been looking for another good reason to go back to Texas. While I like the Mauer Sohne spinners better than the Gerstlauers, both kinds are fun and more unique than your run of the mill wild mouse.

Last night I was lucky enough to have a gate in the same terminal I arrived in on Friday, which meant I was able to quickly enjoy some CBC beer before heading back to Philly. I went right for the IPA. Not too bad, it was no Dreadnaught, HopDevil, or Stone IPA, but it was nice and hoppy with only a little watery-ness Aw yeah, this time it was opened!

Nice TR! Looks like the park was a LOT nicer on your visit than on mine, though it was also more crowded. Glad you enjoyed the park, I really liked it for a small traditional park, moreso than some of the places I've been recently.

Day 1 Part 3: Indiana Beach None of us needed any credits at Indiana Beach, but we love the park so much that we figured "we're like 2 hours away, lets go!" Though we could spend at least a full day at the place, we only had a few hours, but it was probably the most time we spent at any park the entire weekend. And so did I, but as my hand gesture shows, "I need beer" Heath and Kim had a great time at Indiana Beach on this visit Another shot of Splash Battle From the Skyride, you can see how booming and shoehorned this park is This Double Shot is seriously INSANE Its definitely still popular, and fun! Apparently GCI did some work to this ride in the offseason Lost Coaster also had too long of a line for us, sadly For all you freaks who love the bumper cars at Indiana Beach Frankenstein's Castle should not be missed. Its well worth the extra money 3rd Sea Dragon of the day! The Den of Lost Thieves had too long of a line for us today Indiana Beach is TPR approved This almost is classified as Coaster Porn From the start, Cornball ownz How's it going, Joe? Indianaian for "Filing Cabinet" Cornball is still airtime filled and loads of fun, even with only 1 train I finally got to ride the Air Crow. Not as great as Knoebels flyers, but the location is hard to beat! Somewhere in that mess is a Galaxi. This park took lessons from Blackpool Pleasure Beach on how to cram a lot into a little Best food at the park, and these people know it! The newest ride, Splash Battle, was more fun for the onlookers than it was for the riders Almost every ride is somehow over the water, which makes for some really neat visuals See how crowded the place was? The park was booming on a Saturday night, and Hoosier Hurricane was rocking with 2 trains A train full of riders want to know "Hoosier daddy!?" There's the park, tight in space, but packed with fun And we all had loads of fun even before we were IN the park! I took us to the South entrance since Kim and Heath had never been over the suspension bridge

Day 1 Part 2: Fun Spot After a 3 hour drive, we arrived in Angola, Indiana, home of Fun Spot. The park should be called Fun Speck, or Not Much Fun Spot because there really wasn't too much to do there. The park had really weird hours, closing at 6pm every night, and not being opened every day in the summer. At least I don't have to go back here until they add a woodie (which probably won't be for a REALLY long time!) But even Kim loved the butter burger! Heath and Kim never heard of Culvers before. Those newbies! I loves me a cheese curd I saw a sign on the Interstate for this, so we got a random bonus! Culver's is godness! Oh, BTW, this was our ride for the weekend. $14 a day from Hertz, sweet! Heath was all excited about the hoodie, until I pointed out it had mountains on it, and there ain't no mountains anywhere around the place! All the coasters are right next to each other, handy for credit whoring The flyers weren't too bad, probably the best thing at the park Dude, I'm SO glad we came here. I've been waiting to ride one of these scarce rides Fer Evah! 2nd Sea Dragon of the day! They had some cool rides though, like the Troika Troika Troika We were denied the kiddie coaster credit, but its ok because we weren't expecting to get it (Heath wanted me to flirt with the op, but I said "nay nay!") And its got OTSRs, fantastic Woohoo, a Zyklon! From the Afterburner you get a great view of....corn And this time its actually traversing the loop instead of being stuck in it! Behold, an Arrow shuttle coaster! There are paths, but they're smaller than Animal Kingdom's, so just walk thru the grass like everyone else This is where you buy your wristband for the day Fun Spot, you shall elude Heath and Kim no longer!

Apparently August is the month where I decide to do some really strange things; last year it was 7 parks in 1 day in Chicagoland, this year its some of the smaller parks in Ohio and Indiana, not in 1 day, but 8 parks over 2 isn't bad either. The idea was the work of Heath, and the driving was done by Kim. The goal; Wyandot Lake, Fun Spot, Indiana Beach, Three Floyd's Brewing, Indianapolis Zoo, Coney Island, Stricker's Grove, Wonderpark, and PKI. Without Kim's awesome driving and ability to stay awake, we'd never gotten anywhere close to accomplishment. Day 1 Part 1: Wyandot Lake Since the park was sold out of the SF family, we knew we'd at least be able to ride it in the future seasons, but decided since its free, we may as well get there now. Saturday we got there at opening. Not too much to the park, 1 Jr coaster, a few old flatrides, a few kiddie rides, and a few waterslides and activity areas. Creepy 1980s water slides scare me And the crazy carts are always a hoot The park may not have too much to offer, but this classic carousel was a pleaser OMG, there's two new rides, next to each other! Whoa, looks like Six Flags may have actually added a new ride in the last 20 years! and a junior Turtle Other ancient rides at the park include this grandfather to the Wisdom Tornado and Weee! Others showed up and enjoy their ride on this classic junior woodie With no line we rode 3 times without getting off. BACT ERT rules! The return run A view from the lift Sea Dragon, the 50 year old Jr coaster is nicely built inside the lazy river This old Ferris Wheel is one of the first rides at the park, most of them themed to the ocean The parade of a pelican, some SF employees with flutes, and a random pirate parrot officially opens the park While waiting for the park to open, this kid got some ERT on the new for 2006 "Puddle: The Experience" We got there before opening, the American flag wasn't even out Here's Wyandot. A member of the Six Flags family...for now Arriving at the Columbus Airport, they show their sense of humor and their love for Ohio State

Wow, funny how we managed to have a very similar trip, with very similar pictures, yet we managed to only see each other for like 2 seconds. We would have talked more, but never saw you guys again (and thats really hard to do in a park the size of Strickers!)

Our final destination for Saturday was really WAY out of the way, and kinda annoying to find, but the final product was well worth the trip! So ended our visit to Three Floyds, can't wait to get back....someday And I finished off with a bowtie of Dreadnaught IPA. A beer so hoppy, I coughed up pine cones for the next 2 days Next Heath went with the Drunk Monk Weiss, extraordinary beer! Great banana smell and taste Kim enjoys her huge cone of fries I enjoyed it so much, I licked the rosemary For starters, I had the fried green tomatoes, with rosemary straight from the garden out back Heath enjoys the Calumet Queen, a kolsh style ale I start out with a Gumballhead Wheat. Really nice hoppiness to it too for a summer wheat Lots of their own products to enjoy, as well as a nice collection of guest beers, including Stone The place was kinda small, but had a really nice atmosphere (and it wasn't too crowded, we easily got a seat) Didn't get there until late, but luckily it was still opened, and we were hungry! Hooray, we finally made it to Three Floyds in Munster, Indiana

^^As Wally said, welcome to the club! and happy 21st! Its another jet set weekend for me, this time out to Ohio and Indiana. Hitting up the less traveled parks like Wyandot, Fun Spot, Coney Island, Strickers, and hopefully Indiana Beach and Kings Island, as well as a stop at Three Floyds. Stay tuned! Its like they know I'm coming or something (too bad it was closed, but there's always hope for Sunday) And when I get to Ohio, whats right at my gate?! While waiting for the flight, I'll read some good stuff I loves me a HopDevil Followed by another HopDevil with dinner, nachos (no lettuce) Time for the usual, a HopDevil This place is like my new local hangout! at an airport none the less Which meant I had time to go back to Independence Brewing! Security wasn't as long and delayed today as everyone was saying

"Petrified"- Fort Minor

Wow, people are all just dying at random now. Either you've got some serious issues, the comic is about to come to an end, or you're going to take it in a whole new direction. I'm starting to get scared. At least I was the first to die.

Wow dude, you pounded the heck out of Disneyland! I bet their hands hurt! But you showed some vertical loopage and mentioned Bangladesh, so its definitely a worthy PTR. Glad you guys had fun, despite the crowds.

My college roommate wasn't bad at all. Heck, her senior year she was only there like 2 days a week! The only problem I had was the fridge was too full with Polly-O Ricotta Cheese that I couldn't stock up on beer. She cooked good stuff too, occasionally.

I really can't remember if I tried one or not. All I remember is they had beer, I got the sampler, and I finished it. I think some of the beer was good. Its definitely a place I'll return to next time I'm in the Dells, whenever that may be.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Skydiver when I rode it there. Silverwood is a really nice park with 2 really nice wood coasters and other typical rides. When I saw "hanging coaster" I totally thought SLC, as there is no competition out there, so why bother trying to lure people in with a more expensive B&M. Of course, it seems like they're going to stick with the waterpark for a few more seasons, as that's a big draw.

"Call me when you're sober"- Evanescence

^Cool! If you go, you'll have to post pictures (just make sure its in this forum). Apparently Buffalo had an IPA Festival last weekend, but none of us knew about it. Have fun if you go!

I figured I'd have another Three Floyd's to follow up tonight, as I want a taste to compare with the real deal this weekend. Of course, now I won't be able to bring any back with me, how lame. Finish all liquids now! (Sorry Wally, this also means I won't be able to bring you out any Victory or Great Lakes stuff!) Alpha King IPA , a Three Floyd's favorite of mine

^Brave AND stylish! Since its finally cooling off here a bit, I'm really starting to enjoy summer. Let's have a Hefe! My look of refreshness Pyramid's masterpiece, the Hefe Weizen, in a Bethlehem Brew Works Hefe glass

Plus that whole "funcard" type season pass for the remainder of the year may bring in more crowds at that time too. The best of that weekend would probably be Sunday, if you get there at opening.

Just keep in mind the restaurant has really weird hours. Depending when you go, they may close at like 3pm. It usually opens between 11 and 11:30 and you can see the hours and menu when you are granted access to the Lost Continent, so check that out first, and get reservations if their doors are opened. I'm not sure if they are still periodically closed on random lite crowd days or not in the offseason.

As they're like an hour from me, I've been to both plenty of times. While I like Pat's for its chipped steak over the Geno's style, I slightly prefer Geno's. Of course, nowadays when I go down there, I usually get one of each!

Time for some Dogfish Head tonight! Really strong alcohol flavor, not very citrusy. Highly alcoholic (10%!) and really tasty. Burton Baton, the oak-aged Imperial IPA

As many others have said already, the best park for food has to be Knoebels, as its the only place where I have a checklist of food that I must complete before I leave the park, otherwise I feel like I've missed a crucial part of the park experience. Other bests: Best homemade ice cream- Silver Dollar City Best pulled pork- Dollywood (served with little skillet grilled potatoes!) Best elephant ears- Cedar Point Best sandwich- Monte Cristo at Disneyland's Blue Bayou Best fries I'm actually going to say Idlewild, same Patch fries as Kennywood, but you can put your own amount of toppings on (and mix!) If you go to DelGrossos, you have to get the Mert's Potato Salad. Its awesome! If you go to WDWs Magic Kingdom or Disneyland, you have to try a Dole Whip or float. yum! Its well worth the brain freeze! One final park food I try not to miss is Busch Gardens' German Potato Salad at the Festhaus.