The Bebes

WOW! Just saw this and it made my day!! We are so honored to be mentioned alongside such TR Greats!!! Thank you sooooo much!! And we will do our best to continue to entertain! <3 The Bebes

I'd love to see THunder Run relocated rather than smashed to bits. I think it's a nice, underrated ride that could find some fans with a new name at a more popular park. Of course, I understand, that it all comes down to whether or not SF considers the cost of relocating/refurbing an old woodie to be a viable financial move (Is it worth it). -Mr. Bebe

^ Definitely, we're soooo excited about WCB!! Happy to hear that you'll be there Mechanic!

^Thanks so much for the kind words, Printersdevil.

DAY 4: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Wednesday August 18, 2009 & DAY 5: Monterey Bay Thursday August 19, 2009 After bidding farewell to Gilroy Gardens at around 4pm, we hopped in the Jellybean and headed out through the twisty mountains on a journey toward the Pacific Coast. And after stuffing ourselves silly, we hopped in the Jellybean for the long 5 hour ride home. Thus putting an end to TPT:P3 (Theme Park Tour: Part Tres) and our 2009 Theme Parks. See you again in 2010!!!! Mr. Bebe rocks out with some crab. Walter followed us from the Lighthouse Lodge and joined us for lunch. How nice! Is that Walter down there??? “Hey Walter! Up here!” There were sea lions sunbathing on rocks in the bay. This was our AWESOME view from our table. The aquarium was NOT the best we’ve been to by a long shot and definitely NOT worth $30 (in our opinion). Another coupon opportunity brought us to Fish Hopper for lunch. Lady Bebe is a rebel. The sign says: “Please don’t flash the octopus.” LOVES ‘EM!!! Lady Bebe LOVES seahorses. We had an opportunity to get REALLY CLOSE to this injured Albatross as they transported it to a demonstration. Sweet!!! Lady Bebe insisted there were sharks, but Mr. Bebe never saw any. Hi Fishy!!!! Admission to the aquarium is a steep $30 per person, and we couldn’t find any discount coupons anywhere. But some guy approached us as we were heading toward the box office and offered us his TWO DAY tickets (He had gone the previous day) FOR FREE!!! That’s a savings of $60. Thanks Dude!!! Now that we are tipsy, it’s time to hit the aquarium. We went directly to A Taste of Monterey, where we had a coupon to try four different wines for $5. Yummy. Bull Wacker’s. tee hee!!! We checked out and headed for Cannery Row. Our plan: A little wine tasting, Monterey Bay aquarium, and lunch. There’s our room from the outside and our PRIMO parking spot. This seagull sat by the window watching everyone eat. He pecked at the glass a few times. We named him Walter. The spread. Breads, danishes, cereal, some scrambled eggs and sausage. In the morning, they served a deluxe continental breakfast in the clubhouse by the heated pool and Jacuzzi. We stayed at a boutique place called the Lighthouse Lodge. This was our room. It was OK. We got in really late and went right to bed. Farewell Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! We had a great time and will definitely return. Now it’s off to Monterey for the night! …By a LOT!!!! Guess who won??? It’s one of those ‘shoot the targets’ rides, where you compete for a high score There was a whole lot more at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk than we anticipated (most not included in this report). We finished our night at 11pm with Ghost Blasters. Lady Bebe and Puff pose for a picture. Credit #3: Dragon coaster We realized just how different a ride program can be on Fireball. Usually these rides rock back and forth more than they spin, but this one actually did quite a bit of spinning and it did it in very specific spots. Nice Ride. FYI - Wipeout at Knoebel’s was intense and forceful while the same ride at Waldameer was tame and forceless. “I think I might pee myself a little on this one.” Giant Dipper at night (Yes, we rode both day & night) The Bebes stole this on-ride photo. TRES OLE!!!! The dipper releases you into a really long, dark, winding tunnel before sending you up the lifthill and into the ride. It was quite smooth and full of great forces and nice airtime. This was a VERY GOOD wooden rollercoaster and finds a spot in our personal top 10. And with a fairly short line, we rode it numerous times in numerous seats. Always a good ride. The train on the Giant Dipper is obviously not an original train. It was quite comfy. Another informational sign Celebrating its’ 85th year of operation, making it the 6th oldest in the U.S. The walls were flooded with plaques and facts for this classic wooden coaster. We actually had a bit of trouble finding the entrance to the ride, but eventually we found it. Let’s head for credit #2, the main reason for our visit!!! SCBB’s Giant Dipper!!! Credit #1: Hurricane. It’s a strange steel coaster with three-car trains that sits on the rooftop of the arcade. The line was a bit lengthy and the ride was ho-hum, so we only rode once. Overview of the beachside park Special Pepsi Wristband Mr. Bebe: “I heard that I can turn in a Pepsi can and get an all-day ride pass for $10” Attendant: “ Where did you hear that?” Mr. Bebe: “It’s printed right here. On the Pepsi can. The Bebes are looking for three new credits here! About an hour and a half after leaving Gilroy Gardens, we arrived at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Welcome to Santa Cruz!

CaliCoasters, The Bebes are planning on a trip to KBF this Sunday. Will you be there??

TRES! OLE!!! The trip was called The Bebes' Rollercoaster Tour: Part TRES (spanish for THREE). So instead of devil horns or peace signs, we flashed a crazy three fingered salute and axclaimed: "TRES, OLE!!!"

That picture was taken before we even had the duckies. The object you are seeing is the base of the dashboard GPS.

^^^ Homeboy, you were totally right! In fact, there was originally only going to be ONE ducky in the report (the infamous "big mike" boobie duck), but at the last minute I decided to add the foreground ducky. But if Big Mike wants to use the Multiple Ducky idea for a harder challenge, he may do so. Mechanic, Thanks for the correction. I uncharacteristically didn't do my homework and verfify the maker. Rather, I ASSumed that it was so much like GoldRusher etc that it must be an Arrow. errrrrrr. History Lesson aborted. -Mr. Bebe

DAY 4: Gilroy Gardens Wednesday August 18, 2009 It’s Wednesday morning now, our last day of theme parks, and we’ll be splitting the day between two parks. In the morning we’ll make our way to Gilroy Gardens and then trek to the coast for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for the evening. But first… a stop at Falafel’s Drive-In in San Jose. Goodbye Gilroy Gardens! We had a lovely time at a very charming place. But now, it’s off to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk we go!!!! In 2006, Bonfante Gardens contracted with Paramount Parks (now Cedar Fair) to manage the struggling park. In 2007, the name was changed to Gilroy Gardens. In 2008, amidst a ton of debt, the park was sold to the City of Gilroy. In 1997, Bonfante sold the family supermarket chain to focus on his dream of opening a horticultural themed amusement park. And in 2001, he fulfilled that dream by opening Bonfante Gardens Amusement Park. In 1985 the trees were purchased by Michael Bonfante (owner of Nob Hill Supermarkets) and transplanted to Gilroy. Bonfante rescued 25 of the 74 original trees (19 are currently on public display at Gilroy Gardens). Axel Erlandson’s Circus Trees stood in Scots Valley near Santa Cruz for many years after his death in 1964. The “arborsculptures” eventually began to die from lack of care. Erlandson was very secretive and refused to reveal his methods on how to grow the Circus Trees and carried the secrets to his grave. History Lesson: As a hobby, bean farmer Axel Erlandson (1884-1964) shaped trees – he pruned, bent, and grafted trees into fantastic shapes and called them “circus trees”. At the core of Gilroy Gardens is their collection of Circus Trees. 10 are outside the main entrance with the other nine found throughout the park. Pick up a map when you get in to find them all! Here are a few. Nearby Castroville is the artichoke capital of the world, and this little food stand was exactly what we were looking for. No corporate lame Johnny Rockets or Panda Express here. Local cuisine and Park Goodness!!!! We had the fried artichoke hearts and Gilroy Garlic Fries. Yessss!!!!!! The Artichoke Dip was adorable, but stunk to ride. If anyone watches horrible VH1 reality programs (like the Bebes do), you’ll recognize the girl in the middle as CALI from Real Chance of Love and I Love Money 2. And here it is from the inside. The Garlic Twist was a nicely themed teacup sort of ride. Here it is from the outside. Lady Bebe entices the whole worm train to join in our festivities. Tres Ole!!!! Apple and Worm. It looked like a kiddie coaster. We didn’t know if it counted as a credit or not, but we rode it anyway. Jeff?? Animal topiaries we plentiful throughout the lazy river ride. We hopped a ride on a lazy river ride. And a Drive-thru Car Wash (Acceptable Amount of Wetness). I would’ve liked to see the stuff on the other course, but the line was the longest of the day and we had places to go! It had some fun touches like this 1950s Gas station. It was a nice, long ride where you would, at times, pass the drivers on the other course. The scenery was gorgeous. Corvettes!!!! Hey, we finally found that car ride. But which side do we take? 1920’s Model T’s or 1950s Chevys and Corvettes??? Lady Bebe HATES mushrooms, but REALLY DUG the mushroom swing. All over it It’s sort of hard to find in the back of the park and tucked into the trees. It’s your standard arrow mine train ride with two lift hills and a couple of good turns, but otherwise uneventful. We rode it like 3 or 4 times without stepping off. The “big ticket” item of the park was upon us: QuickSilver Express. Somehow, Mr. Bebe didn’t see the shaved ice stand right behind him. If he had, he’d be ALL OVER IT! Bebe di signora. Mangia!!!! There was a section with various different waterfalls. Some you could even walk BEHIND. The giant rock maze was super fun. It had tunnels that you could crawl through and some people got lost in it. We caught the workers behind a wall prepping the ground for something. A new ride perhaps???? And what better place to proclaim our catch-phrase of the trip, “TRES, OLE!!!!” They had a nice old-fashioned carousel. Don’t let anybody see me in the Strawberry ride. They’ll think I’m soooooo uncool! And they didn’t seem to mind on-ride photography (uncommon for a Cedar Fair park). Wheee!!!! It’s a banana themed pirate ship!!!!! Since most everything at Gilroy Gardens is “Garden” themed. Most of the rides at Gilroy Gardens are aimed for younger children. Banana split was one of the more exciting rides. Sorry, you must be at least 1ft tall to ride. That arm better be the ONLY thing he grabbed during the ride!!! J The Bebes skip the scenery and run to the ride, a snake themed junior coaster similar to Cobra at SFDK or Treasure Train at SFGAdv. Since the seats were rather small and the line was short, Lady Bebe and Mr. Bebe take separate cars. After Lady Bebe got in, some kid literally stepped over her and sat next to her. WTF??!! Hmmmm. Scenery or Ride? Our first hit would be the Timber Twister coaster. We want to make sure we get all of our credits! Hmmmm. Where to go??? Of course, they have rides too, like this car trek through the gardens. We couldn’t see the entrance for this ride, but I’m sure we’ll come upon it. …and the scenery. That’s really what Gilroy Gardens is all about. The beautiful foliage… Upon entry, you notice the beautifully landscaped foliage. We had our Platinum Cedar Fair passes, so entrance was free (though parking at GG was NOT). After our breakfast we hit the rode, on our way to Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world, to visit Gilroy Gardens (formerly Bonfante Gardens). Hardly a drive-in with only like 4 parking spots, this little Greek outdoor café was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. They were lauded as having the BEST falafel sandwich anywhere. Neither Bebe had ever had a falafel sandwich, but we like Greek food and wanted to find out what all the fuss is about. Lady Bebe ordered the Falafel Sandwich with a banana milkshake (that’s the combo #1 and, by rule, you MUST get it). Mr. Bebe, however, got the Gyro Sandwich. RECOMMENDED.

The correct number of duckies in the CGA trip report is............ * * * * * D R U M R O L L * * * * * TWO!!!!!! And the "Big Mike" ducky between Lady Bebe's boobies. CONGRATS to Chronic and Derek_Lentz who correctly guessed TWO DUCKIES! BOTH will get a mini bag-o-crap! The ducky in the bottom right corner.

The Bebes had SOOOOOOO much fun at SCBB during our Theme Park Tour: Part Tres! Check out our trip report later this week. Guy, I would totally recommend you go again.

As with any season pass, it depends on how many times you expect to go in the given season. If you can find a one-day admission (discounted of course) for around $25, then a season pass @ $90 is only good if you plan on visiting 4+ times this year. If there are other perks (such as a bring-a-friend or such) then the value may be more.

Did anybody find a ducky in any other photo than the ones in the prior posts??? The winner will be revealed this evening!!!!

Allright everybody, The first and last Bebes' Find the Ducky Game is over. It's time for you all to post some pics showing where you thought you found some duckies and then we'll reveal who was RIGHT!

This trip report has been so entertaining and so hysterical!! Really made me want to go on another cruise... like tomorrow. Thanks Robb and I'm glad you had such a great birthday! - Lady Bebe

Guessing for Find The Ducky ends tonight at 12AM PST. Get 'em in. Last chance!!!

Get your guesses in!!!!

^^ LOL David & "Hillary"!!! Thanks!

Greatest thing I've ever seen!!!! EVER. - Lady Bebe

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG MIKE!!! Love, The Bebes

^ Good to know! We'll have to keep that in mind next time we visit!

I haven't read one of your reports in quite some time, Enthuseast (sp), but I was interested in this Washington fair so I thought I'd give it a try. MUCH MUCH better than the previous reports!!! I am impressed and pleased to see you improving your storytelling! Great job and nice TR!!!! -Mr. Bebe

Robb said: " Would anyone be interested in a TPR Cruise at some point in the near future? --Robb " The Bebes LOVE cruising and TPR, so YES!!!

Here are the guesses so far: 2 duckies - guessed 2 times 3 duckies - guessed 4 times 4 duckies - guessed 1 time 19 duckies- guessed 1 time Good luck everybody!!!! Contest open through Monday!