The Bebes

Robb & Elissa, We just wanted to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! We had an awesome time! It was so nice meeting you and chatting with you. Elissa, we didn't really get to hang out We'll have to spend time with you and KidTums next time!! And to everyone else, thanks for being so cool and making The Bebes' very first TPR event unforgettable!! -The "Officially Terminated" Bebes

Great TR!!! We haven't been to this park yet either, but maybe we'll make the stop next time we head down to Knotts. We have a Knotts pass this year and I'm sure we'll get down there again. Like you, The Bebes have ben readers for years, but just recently started actively participating and Termination Day this weekend will be our first TPR / Enthusiast EVENT. Bonus Comment #1: No Comment Bonus Comment #2: That pose is NOT manly!!! -Mr. Bebe

^^JoJo, Thanks a ton! We're glad to help your work day speed by. We have been to Maddam Tussauds in Las Vegas twice and had the best time EVAR! I don't know about the other Tussaud's Wax Museums, but the one in Vegas encourages you to touch and interact with the figures. Where else could you get a picture of Al Roker groping your wife??? -Mr. Bebe P.S. - Thanks printersdevil!!!

DAY 9: Washington DC Tuesday June 2, 2009 Lady Bebe woke up Tuesday morning feeling awful and fell back asleep. She awoke again around Noon and decided that she wasn’t feeling well enough to go anywhere. She insisted that Mr. Bebe go it alone and return with some ultra-phabulous photos of our nations capital. Mr. Bebe finaly agreed and got in the shower. Once Mr. Bebe was finished showering, Lady Bebe announced that she was going to suck it up and go. We decided we’d take it easy and just ride the hop-on hop-off bus around town, take our photos and return to the hotel. We got ready and headed into the heart of downtown Washington, DC. It got too dark to get any exposure. We returned to Union Station around 10pm. Here’s another McDonald’s! We returned to the hotel. Lady Bebe was feeling fine, was super glad she came and was ready to visit Six Flags America tomorrow!!!! The World War 2 Memorial with the Lincoln Memorial in the background The Jefferson Memorial at dusk The Washington Monument at sunset The statue in front of the Capitol A small monument near the capitol in silhouette Here is the Capitol Building at dusk. We returned to Union Station just in time to take the Twilight Tour. It was the same Grand Tour as before, but there were no stops, and it was at night. We got off the bus and waited for the Grand Tour Bus to come around and return us to Union Station. The sun was low and would soon be setting. We notified the local police of the offenders. Mr. Bebe wasn’t paying attention. This was one of our bus drivers. He said that it was imperative to keep an eye out for offending tree branches while riding the upper deck of the bus. And even more Georgetown And more Georgetown More Georgetown Georgetown Lady Bebe was just kicking back enjoying the breeze in her hair. It started getting very overcast about this time. The clouds were threatening. What’s that? We would disembark the Arlington bus at the Ford’s Theater and switch to the Uptown Bus Route. We grabbed some sandwiches from the Lincoln House Restaurant, and waited quite a while before our transfer came. Here’s the house across the street from the theater where Lincoln died. Why does that make Lady Bebe sooperdooper happy? McDonald’s in Washington, DC’s Chinatown. Notice the Chinese writing beneath the name. All Chinatown establishments must be written in Chinese. Real Washington, DC types walking the streets More Washington architecture Arlington Cemetery Crossing the river into Virginia and Arlington Cemetery A view of the opposite side of the Lincoln Memorial The White House!!! We would get no closer. A building We got off the first bus in front of the Willard Hotel, where we boarded the Arlington Bus Route. Lady Bebe snaps photos while Mr. Bebe plots our route. This is the Ford’s Theater. This is where Abe Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. He was taken to a house across the street where he died. Maddam Tussauds Wax Museum. Didn’t go there either. The International Spy Museum. We didn’t go. Another bit of Washington architecture Here’s another nice building. We can’t remember its’ significance either. We’re really seriously. Yet another view of the Washington Monument, this one from across a grassy park An artsy view of the Washington Monument The Lincoln Memorial. Sadly, we didn’t get off the bus here, but should have. Another view of the Washington Monument from across the water Jefferson Memorial A view of the Washington Monument Here’s a nice building. We can’t remember its’ significance. We’re seriously. Here’s a nice building. We can’t remember its’ significance. Just kidding. It’s the Capitol Building!!!! This is the bus line that we rode. There were three different routes (Grand Tour, Arlington, and Uptown) included, but they required bus changes. We’d try to get all three done, but it was already getting late. More Union Station. It has beautiful marble floors, statues and nice woodwork. THIS Union Station is gorgeous. It’s really more like an upscale mall. There’s Union Station. This is the main hub for train and bus transportation and is where we will purchase and board our bus tour. Driving in Downtown Washinton, DC sucks really bad!

^ONE. The Voyage. We are very stingy with our 10s!! But, among our 9/10 (which is an awesome rating, considering) are: El Toro Fahrenheit Ghost Rider MF Phantom's Revenge Phoenix Ravine Flyer II Tatsu X2 TTD Xcelerator -Lady Bebe P.S. You can click on our Coaster Fanatics Banner to see ALL our ratings.

Actually, Whack-a-Mole is at almost EVERY park. Kennywood, Great Adventure, Dorney, and of course Hershey all have one, but the Hershey was the first time Mr. Bebe was photographed while playing.

The Bebes Wrote: If you’ve been following our reports, you know how much we LOVE wild mice rides (NOT!). So, yes, we disliked it just because it was a wild mouse. Also, the pre-ride theming gets you ready for something more than what is delivered. And the light-up cardboard standups cheapen the ride further. I would've much rather it have been a spinning mouse in the dark, or a better dark ride experience like Curse of DarkCastle. -Mr. Bebe

The Bebes are Going to Termination Day!!! Who else is going???

^^Calicoasters, Thanks! We still have Washington DC and three more parks to post from our Theme Park Tour Part Deux!!! And PERHAPS there MAY be ANOTHER Whack-a-Mole along the way!!! BTW, Will we be seeing you at Termination Day???

Perhaps our sarcasm comes across as negative, and we failed to RAVE about every ride that we liked. Here's the breakdown: The rides we liked: -Nitro 8/10 -El Toro 9/10 -Skull Mountain 7/10 -Batman:TR 7/10 -Superman:UF 7/10 -Bizarro 7/10 The rides we didn't like: -Dark Knight 4/10 -Roadunner 3/10 -Blackbeard 4/10 -GASM 5/10 -Runaway Mine 4/10 -Rolling Thunder 4/10 We had one bad ride on Kingda Ka, but chalked that up to the backseat and didn't get an opportunity to try another seat, but having ridden TTD & Xcelerator, we still rated it a 7/10 on our CF list. The rapids were uneventful. The parachute drop was nostagically fun. The park was clean, pretty, and much better than we ever expected. We spent a whole day (plus a few hours extra), from open to close, with very few lines and still could've used more time at SFGAdv. We had quite a good time and would recommend it to others. As stated before, our TR's are very tongue-in-cheek and all about fun. The ride reports are personal opinion and perhaps a bit critical. Take from them what you may, but we hope you have FUN reading them.

Actually, we said we liked both Nitro AND Bizarro. Simply, Nitro didn't live up to the HYPE, and Bizarro's re-theming didn't enhance the ride experience enough to warrant another hour-long wait when almost everything else in the park was a walk-on. Who would honestly wait one hour for a ride on Medusa/Bizarro when they could ride El Toro four times in that same time span? Now, if you want to defend Dark Knight, Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train, Runaway Mine Ride, Rolling Thunder, and the Six Flags Locker Policy, then you'd be talking about the things that we really thought sucked!!! -Mr. Bebe PS - ^^^Big Mike, I really love those Lady Bebe kissing pics too!!!

^CoasterPrince09, I'm sorry if our TR read like we were complaining, that wasn't our intention at all. We were just trying to give our honest opinions. We acknowledge fully that after riding 150+ coasters, it becomes more and more difficult to find a coaster that thrills us in the same way it would have a few years ago... And that's a shame! Bizarro being a "great ride" is your opinion, and I respect that! And we DID like Nitro, we gave it an 8/10. It has awesome airtime and is super smooth... But being worthy of #3, again, that's just an opinion. The statement you made: "It's the most explosive coaster in the planet for christ sake." Is what I hold issue with. I would never make such a statement, as I haven't even come close to riding all the coasters on the planet, thus, not having the authority to do so. I hope our post hasn't put you off and I hope you visit our thread again to find that we are not just whiny coaster snobs... It's all just suppose to be for fun and laughs! -Lady Bebe

DAY 8: Six Flags Great Adventure Monday June 1, 2009 Monday morning brought sunshine and a relatively good Lady Bebe. The extra rest helped and we were ready to hit Six Flags Great Adventure. This was going to be a long day. After we leave SFGAdv., we have a long drive to Washington, DC with a pit stop in Baltimore for some authentic Maryland crabcakes. Hopefully, everything goes as planned. We checked out from our Days Inn Neptune, grabbed a few items from their very small continental breakfast, and headed out. The food came. We split it up. Mr. Bebe claims the Crab Cake was definitely the best EVAR!!! It was 95% pure lump crab meat, very little filler, and had a great crispy exterior. It wasn’t a breaded and fried crispy exterior, it was just crispy. The hot wings were also top notch! The were meaty and crispy with just enough sauce to taste, but not drowning. Lady Bebe wasn’t really able to taste much, wasn’t able to enjoy it, and wasn’t able to finish either. Mr. Bebe polished off the remainder and drove Lady Bebe to the Howard Johnson Cheverly, just outside of downtown Washington, DC. It wasn’t looking good for Lady Bebe. The interior of the small pub. They had a Monday special of 35cent hot wings. So we ordered 10 wings and a crab cake platter. It took a very long time for the food to come, though we were offered the wings ahead of the crab cakes. While waiting for our food, Lady Bebes condition worsened. She wasn’t doing well and had pretty much lost her appetite. We hopped into the car and headed on our trek to Washington, DC. Lady Bebe had been coughing a lot and it was getting worse as we drove. We stopped at a Walgreens in Baltimore and picked up some Mucinex. We then stopped at a place called Duda’s Taven in the Baltimore suburb of Fells Point. It was one of the few places that was open late and was supposed to have excellent crab cakes. Another great lap on El Toro!!! When we pulled into the station, we got out of the train and realized that no one was in the lane for our seat. The park was closed and so was the El Toro queue. We casually stepped back into the seats and fastened our seatbelts. WHEEE!!!!! They were cycling the trains to accommodate the people waiting for the front and back rows, so we were able to get three laps on El Toro without ever getting off!!!! What a great way to end the day!!! El Toro is #2!!! The Voyage… Still #1!!!! We exited the ride and grabbed our 2009 souveni…. DOH!!! The wooden gates were closed and our 2009 souvenir sport bottle was lost forever. El Toro was great!!!! We glanced at the watch. It was seven minutes until the park closed. Screw Kingda Ka!!! We jumped back in line for one more lap on the great El Toro. Enough of that. We had about an hour left before the park closed. We decided to get in line for a front seat lap on El Toro, then head over to Kingda Ka for our front seat lap on that. The El Toro line wasn’t particularly long, but the front seat queue was huge. We waited about 20minutes and we counted 15 more trains before we got on. We decided NOT to wait any longer and hopped into another lane and got on after two trains. We headed across the walkway over the pond and ditched our 2009 souvenir sport bottle behind the large wooden gates by El Toro and hopped on Rolling Thunder. No wait and rightfully so. Rolling Thunder was quite a lame ride. More of the NEW theming. I don’t read the comics, so I should just assume that Bizarro lives in a trailer. Here’s the Coaster Formerly Known as Medusa in all its’ glory!!! After a solid 45minute+ wait, we were finally on. Right to the back seat. It was a fine and fun ride, but the effects didn’t really seem to add much to it. Too bad. Was it worth the wait? NO. Would we wait again for a front seat ride? No. Here it is!! New for 2009!!! The one and only!!! Re-painted, Re-themed, and Re-named Coaster Formerly Known as Medusa!!!! Re-diculous! We hid our cup behind a tree and got in the VERY LONG line. A giant wagon eatery. But is scared the peepee out of Lady Bebe! No, she just has to go to the bathroom after EVERY ride. The Bebe’s kiss eachother good bye before boarding the Runaway Mine Train. This was not such a good ride either. Very uneventful and a little jarring. Of course... by adding the Runaway Mine Train to the picture!!!! Here’s a great shot I managed to capture. Kingda Ka AND El Toro from across the pond! I Can’t believe I’m the first person EVAR to snap this shot and post it on TPR! How could we be any cooler?! The Sky lift. We decided to head toward the back of the park (Runaway Mine Train & Bizarro) before hitting Rolling Thunder as our final new credit of the day. SFGAdv. is really a very nice park. YOUCH!!! That thing knocks you around so much it makes you want to scream. Despite the lack of people in line, once was enough. We went next door to Great America Scream Machine, found a bush behind a fence to hide our 2009 souvenir bottle, and hopped on this Arrow multi-looper. This would be our first legitimate wait of the day. The line was about 30minutes, so we decided to hit the front seat and not circle back around for our backseat ride until later. It was a fine ride, but nothing too exciting. Riding this B&M Flyer really cements Tatsu as the King of Flyers. We exited the ride, grabbed our 2009 souve….. Hey! Where’s our bottle???!!!! Yes, it had been thrown away. But Lady Bebe spotted it right on top of the trash and it was still clean. We grabbed it out and headed to the restroom to wash it off. We headed for Superman: Ultimate Flight. We ditched our 2009 souvenir bottle on top of the lockers and got in line. Coming from California, we were surprised to find ourselves at Edwards Air Force Base. Sheesh, what a huge base that is! It stretches from California to New Jersey! Enjoyment pose #29. What a lame ride. Maybe nice for the kids, but pretty lame. It did, however, have one of the longest trains I’ve ever seen. I think it had 30 cars. Having eluded the cops yet again, we headed for the fan favorite, Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure Train (NOT!). But, Lady Bebe was able to use her Lady Bebe charm and we were let off with a warning. Lady Bebe even got the cop to give her a high five. As we exited the eatery, Lady Bebe was stopped by this police officer. “Do you know how fast you were eating?”, he asked. Oh NO! We’re done for. That’s Granny. We headed into a nearby eatery across from Skull Mountain. Lady Bebe got some Chicken Strips and Mr. Bebe go Granny’s Bowl o’ Comfort. ….Wiggles World??? How the heck did we end up in Wiggles World? How odd to be on a ride like Skull Mountain and to be exited into a kiddie land. It felt like a Twilight Zone episode. Having grabbed our front and back seat credits on the dark and brooding Skull Mountain, we headed down the eerie corridor toward the ride exit. Would we be able to escape this treacherous mountain of doom??? Would we be able to make it back to….. After a walk through some dark caverns, we finally reached the loading station. No wait for the very front, so we hopped in. Skull Mountain was a nice quick ride through the darkness (ala Disney’s original Space Mountain) with a few surprises. Upon our return to the station, there weren’t too many people in line, so we hopped back into the back seat. More nice theming here. It doesn’t look much like a mountain, but there IS a skull on it! We ditched our 2009 souvenir bottle on top of the lockers. We grabbed our hidden 2009 souvenir sport bottle and headed for Skull Mountain. It was a nice, sunny day and Congo Rapids was a walk-on. Lady Bebe HATES the river rapids rides because she is always the one who gets soaked, while everyone else in the raft stays dry. Never-the-less, she went on. Following our Congo adventure, Lady Bebe exclaimed, “That was the lamest river rapids ride ever!” But she was dry!!! Then, we went back to Nitro and grabbed our front seat ride. A great ride, but #3?!! We were going to grab a third ride in the front seat ride, but Lady Bebe had to go to the bathroom. The nearest restroom was very close to the Road Runner Railway kiddie coaster. So, Mr. Bebe called Lady Bebe a WHORE and we jumped on. Ouch! Those kiddie coasters can hurt. Nitro takes it’s riders up over 200 feet, then it sends them deep into the surrounding woods. The ride was full of floater air-time an a mid-run helix. It was silky smooth and pretty fast. Overall, it was just OK. Maybe it was even better than OK, but as the #3 steel coaster I was expecting something more. Still, it was fun and we grabbed our first ride in the middle (no wait) and a second ride in the very back (one train wait). This was an exciting moment, as we were about to ride Nitro, the #3 steel coaster of 2008, AND it was going to be our VERY FIRST B&M HYPER! Before riding, we wedged our 2009 souvenir sport bottle behind a soda machine. Nobody would see it there! It turned out to be the same ride, despite the color change. It was actually running a little rougher than the one as SFMM. Don’t know if that has anything to do with the yellow paint job. On our way out, the girl working the locker area warned us that some of the other locker attendants will throw away our 2009 souvenir sport bottle if we leave it on top of the locker. Noted. We collected our B:TR credit and our 2009 souvenir sport bottle, and headed toward Nitro. Next, we went next door to Batman: The Ride. Having ridden Batman: The Ride at SFMM hundreds of time, we were anxious to see what it would be like to ride one that had been painted YELLOW. We stashed our 2009 souvenir bottle on top of the lockers again and got in line. It was pretty much a standard Wild Mouse, in the (near) dark, with some pretty lame cardboard effects thrown in. If you’ve been following our reports, you know how much we LOVE wild mice rides (NOT!). This one sucked too! We waited in line about 15 minutes before getting into the first Holding area, where we were treated to a nice video featuring Aaron Eckhart (pre-two face) to set up the ride. After the video, we were ushered to the loading dock. So far, the theming was great! We entered the little mouse car (pictured) and we were off! We headed straight for The Dark Knight, as I know how Wild Mice tend to get backed up pretty easily and we knew the wait wouldn’t be worth it later. We ditched our 2009 souvenir sport bottle on top of the lockers and got in line. We got to the park at about 10:15am, and grabbed a primo parking spot right along the divider between general and preferred parking. As we entered, there was more nice landscaping. The drive from Neptune City to Great Adventure is about 20 minutes.

Here's Lady Bebe with a very young alligator from our trip to New Orleans in 2007.

Great idea, Big Mike!! That's retro-active, right??? -Mr. Bebe

^^^traincrossin, Thx for the dramatic interlude! Classic. ^We wish White Castle was anywhere near California. ^^AND HOW could somebody NOT ever have been to Taco Bell? I thought they were global. Did you ever see Demolition Man, where Taco Bell was the ONLY restaurant in the world?!

The Road to Adventure continues.... White Castle is a tasty treat that’s only found in the mid-west + NY and NJ. We took our sliders back to the Days Inn Neptune (not too bad for a cheap motel). Lady Bebe took some NyQuil and passed out. Tomorrow: a Full day at Six Flags Great Adventure..... or NOT??? White Castle!!!! An exit sign on the freeway said that a very special fast food restaurant was nearby. No, NOT that McDonald’s in New Jersey! The wait only ended up being an hour, with three train operation, and we hopped into the back seat! Whoooosh!!! 128mph up and over. Amazingly rough! Mr. Bebe couldn’t see clearly and Lady Bebe’s headache just went migraine. Horrible ride in the back. We weren’t about to wait another hour, so we’d pick up a front seat ride tomorrow (if it’s open). So we’re off to Nitro. But after only a few steps, Lady Bebe says that she’s feeling really horrible and she’ll sit out the rest of the night, but encourages Mr. Bebe to keep riding. Mr. Bebe declines, citing that he’d rather she rest up for tomorrow’s whole day at Great Adventure! The Bebes head out toward Neptune City. We were fortunate enough to see a rollback. It was exciting when it happened, but ended up taking about 10 minutes before they re-launched the train. We had already been waiting quite some time, and Lady Bebe was getting drained. We got to Kingda Ka where the line extended to the 120min mark. We stashed our 2009 Souvenir Bottle on top of the lockers again and got in line. Here is your obligatory “count the Cedar Fair trash cans shot”. Hey, wait a sec! This is SIX FLAGS!!!! The boardwalk area heading toward Kingda Ka is quite nice. While we were in line for our second ride on El Toro, we spotted Kingda Ka cycling. Is it possible? Sure enough, it started cycling with PEOPLE on it! We finished our second lap on El Toro and headed for Kingda Ka. And then…. El Toro. Our first ride, in the third row, was pretty good. We took a second ride in the very back. Really good! This is definitely a winner, but comes in a distant #2 to the Voyage. RIDE REPORT: The first drop is AMAZING! It has great airtime on the first few hills, then a bit of a lull as it turns around twice, then another amazing airtime hill and a some great out-of-control twisting and turning before ending. So why a distant #2? The Voyage does everything that El Toro does but never has a lull and lasts twice as long. On The Voyage, I find myself screaming, “When does this thing end?” as I drool down my face. On El Toro I say, “Aww, it’s over already?” as I wipe the drool from my face. Though far from rough, El Toro managed to give Lady Bebe a headache. She was still enjoying the ride, but was starting to go downhill. But first, Lady Bebe had to put something in her tummy and we picked up a slice from Wildside Pizza. Mmmmmm, authentic New Jersey pizza! Nope, look closer. It’s Papa Johns. Oh Well. As we walked we saw an empty train cycle on El Toro. We got to the line to find it closed, with about 30 people lined up, waiting for the line monitor to open the flood gates. Sure enough, they opened it. And we were IN! Nope. Wait. You have to go get rid of that 2009 Souvenir Sport Bottle first, according to the Six Flags locker policy. DRAT!!!! We stuck the bottle ON TOP of the lockers and got back in line. We started out making our way toward El Toro. We’d heard so much hype about it and we were looking forward to comparing it to The Voyage (our current #1). The Bebes ARE freaky!!!! Great Adventure actually has some nice theming. Being used to SFMM, I was expecting very little from Great Adventure, but was pleasantly surprised. I even spotted somebody planting flowers!!! Lady Bebe poses with our souvenir bottles in front of a statue in the main square. The Bebes have finally made it! This is the BIG park of our trip! The Entrance to Six Flags Great Adventure. Our plan was to get rides on El Toro and Nitro just in case they were closed tomorrow. It’s been sunny all weekend, but more stormy weather is supposed to be coming. Here’s a panoramic view from the parking lot of Kingda Ka, Superman: Ultimate Flight, Great American Scream Machine, and the Parachute Drop. After grabbing a few souvenirs and a 99¢ refill in our 2009 Six Flags Souvenir Mug, we headed over to Six Flags Great Adventure.

DAY 7: The Road to Adventure Sunday May 31, 2009 We woke up Sunday morning and Lady Bebe was feeling OK. We grabbed some breakfast, checked out of the Quality Inn Gloucester and headed out toward the Days Inn Neptune City. Along the way we would be making stops at Sesame Place, Wild Safari, and Great Adventure. After check-in, we’re heading down the coast of New Jersey to hit as many boardwalk parks as we can, and maybe a little pit stop in Atlantic City. Teehee! TR continued in next post..... Lady Bebe relieves the bladder again. Mountain goats. They didn’t stray from the mountain. Kinda weird. I can’t remember what type of animal this member of the horse family is, but mama and baby are so cute! Why do all of the horned animal charge OUR car??? A sleeping Tortoise. It’s a tortoise because it lives on land. Turtles live in water. In case you didn’t read our previous trip report explaining the differences between the two. Do Bears like licorice twists? Lets find out. Oh, yeah, rule #1. A sleeping Bear. A bathing Bear. Ostrich butt. This old gray bearded guy is a GNU. Gnu crossing. These cool things are Oryx. You could see Kingda Ka from Wild Safari, and we kept looking to see if it was operating. Nope. It had been struck by lightning two weeks prior and had still not re-opened. Mama and Baby. Zebra butt. Don’t move. They can’t see you if you don’t move. It’s a giraffe invasion!!!! I heard some reports that giraffes around the world were becoming very aggressive. And there's one that has some poor people cornered! We had to steer around a steer. A few animals were kept behind fences. These Rhinos were NOT! I’m seriously! Lady Bebe honked the horn and these Bison charged the car! Lazy Elk. He walked up to our rental car and proceeded to scratch his head on the passenger side mirror. This member of the deer family clearly has the right of way. It wasn’t really a stop, since it’s a Drive-Thru Safari. Here are the rules. And no matter how much they beg, don’t feed them after midnight! Lady Bebe was starting to feel worn again, so we picked up some Dayquil & NyQuil at the Wawa just outside of our Next Stop: Six Flags Wild Safari. Lady Bebe emptied her bladder and we left Sesame Place. It was a very clean and quaint little park that is great for kids, especially if the kids like water parks. They even had Super Pretzels shaped like Cookie Monster. Though, wouldn’t cookies shaped like Cookie Monster be more appropriate? Sesame Place isn’t just fun, it’s also educational. So, for all of you TPR members on the Scandinavian Trip in Finland: Kanisteri te erottaa we kuinka jotta panna jotta Seesami Katu?. Germany didn't disappoint. Lady Bebe LOVES all rides spinney. Here are the teacups. You can clearly see Mexico and France. If you look closely, you can see Oscar the Grouch on the Very Cool cup donning the flag of Kenya. Despite Mr. Bebe’s Italian heritage, we chose to ride in Germany. It seemed to have the best spin, so we gave it a spin. Our third and final ride would be on Grover’s World Twirl, a teacup ride where each cup is themed to a different country. Mr. Bebe poses like Elmo. Lady Bebe makes a friend on the Flying Fish. It’s no wonder kids are so misinformed these days. The instructions say to push the BLACK button, but the button is RED. The Bert and Ernie shrubbery ROCKS! Cheap Whore Mr. Bebe is excitied because his favorite sandwich is on sale for less than $1. Lady Bebe goes to the Sesame Store from some rather stale produce. She says that it tastes like cardboard. Lady Bebe studies the map. “Hmmmm, we’ve already ridden ALL of the coasters here, so what next?” Sesame place is very heavy on the Water Park attractions, and very thin on the amusement rides. They have the one coaster, a frog hopper, tea cups, spinning ship, and flying fish. The Bebes pose in front of another group of tree sculptures. Here’s a shrub trimmed and decorated to look like Super Grover. Being a Busch Property, Sesame place was covered in really nice landscaping. Lady Bebe makes a “different” face when it’s under Uranus (teehee!). Vapor Trail! It’s actually not a bad kiddie coaster, but it IS a kiddie coaster. As the train reaches the top of the lift hill, you can hear Grover says: “OK, Here we go! Wave to your mah-mees and dah-dees!” Mr. Bebe thought that was soooo funny! There it is! The beast that we came for…… Along the entrance walkway were famous handprints, like this one from Ernie! Lady Bebe with her Credit Whore face. We actually brought over-shirts, and only revealed the CREDIT WHORE when necessary. So what better place to unveil our third exclusive TPT:P2 t-shirts. In case you’re not sure what it says: CREDIT WHORE. Duh, we’re at Sesame Place. Here is the entrance to Sesame Place and the Park Rules. Notice the fourth item listed under prohibited item. NO OFFENSIVE CLOTHING. Sesame Place, here we come! We picked up Busch Company Platinum Passes from Sea World San Diego, so a stop by Sesame Place is FREE, as well as FREE PREFFERED PARKING. Yes!!!!!

I pick TPDave -Mr. Bebe

Pirouettes907, Sadly we stopped at Wawa only for gas and medication. Nobody ever told us before hand that we should eat there! No pics either. Deguy123, No Chickie's or Pete's either, but we did inquire at some place in the Reading Terminal Market about Crab Fries. Chose not to get them, though. Nobody told us. Teacups, No Franklin Institute either. Seriously, all we did was ride the bus around and make one stop at the Reading Market and another at Jim's. lil Jimmy Norton, I don't ever remember hearing ANYTHING about a Mutter museum. Though, we tend to find ourselved bored at most Museums. I think we need something more interactive. Beemerboy, Wow! Great eyes! I think you got all that I know are there. I didn't expect anyone to notice Frankenstein behind that tree. Big Mike, Actually, there are TWO photos with Lady Bebe (can you find them?) and also only TWO of Mr. Bebe. That's just the nature of the pics, since we were snapping landmarks as quick as possible as we drove passed them. And, Lady Bebe is a law abiding citizen. She NEVER blocks the box.

DAY 6: Philadelphia, PA Saturday May 30, 2009 We woke up on Day 6 for our Philly Sightseeing Day. We were slow to get up and get ready and Lady Bebe still wasn’t feeling the greatest. Never-the-less, we headed out to Philly with the plan of taking a hop-on-hop off trolley tour. So it was back across the Ben Franklin Bridge, where it’s absolutely FREE to cross back to New Jersey, and back to our hotel. We would watch some TV, surf some internet, and eventually eat that Cheesesteak (Lady Bebe had a bite). Tomorrow is our FREE day, but we have planned a lot of POSSIBILITIES (Sesame Place, Wild Safari, SFGAdv, Atlantic City, and numerous boardwalks along the Jersey Coast). Will Lady Bebe be too sick to go? Will she stay in bed and rest? Will she Block the Box??? STAY TUNED…… The employees were happy and fun, busting out Cheesesteak after Cheesesteak. And like usual, Mr. Bebe failed to get the money shot. No photo of a Jim's Cheesesteak. The line was long. The smell was great! And Lady Bebe endured it all because she loves her Bebe! After our tour, we had planned on going out for authentic Philly Cheesesteaks. Since Lady Bebe was feeling ill, we decided to just grab a cheeseteak at Jim’s and bring it back to the hotel for later. Lady Bebe’s dairy problem prevents her from eating beef as well, so this was another treat for Mr. Bebe. Lady Bebe held up pretty well for most of the day, but around 5pm she totally hit the skids and felt like crap. She had started coughing and was definitely coming down with something. That’s the Perp! On the left. He actually stopped and slurred at Mr. Bebe for a cigarette. It took him four attempts of asking before we could understand the words coming from his mouth. Uh, no. We don’t smoke. There was a bum who pushed the other bum to the ground, while another bum continued to play his guitar. Wow! Whatever you need, these spoons will serve the purpose. Mr. Bebe got this big chocolaty waffle cone with nuts. Yummy! Unfortunately, some dairy items disagree with Lady Bebe and she couldn’t chance unproven ice cream. Then a stop at Bassett’s Ice Cream, the first U.S. ice cream shop. We went to Tootsie’s salad express. It had three food bars. One with salad fixings, one with cold foods, and one with hot foods. Mostly soul food. It was good and we didn’t get a picture. Unfortunately, there were no unattended children. I was ready to bid on one so we could get on those darn kiddie coasters that require adults to be accompanied by children. This was the former Reading Railroad Train Terminal, now a sort of indoor farmer’s market. And we went! Again, just to reiterate, DON’T BLOCK THE BOX. Apparently, Nicholas Cage ran through this cemetery in National Treasure. So this one is for you Nick Cage fans. The first Hospital in the U.S. The Ho Garden. Where pimps can grow their own. This establishment is called Dirty Frank’s. A one time place of illegal gambling and alcohol consumption. The walls are now adorned with famous “Franks”. How many can you name? This giant clothespin is called: “Two people hugging and kissing”. Awww. Now: Who sees two people kissing & Who just sees a giant clothespin? Another George Washington Statue. The famous steps that Rock Balboa climbed in the original Rocky. This building now houses the “PLEASE TOUCH” museum. Sounds fun, but the admission price was rather steep. We didn't go. Townhouses lining this street. Several times during our trip we had to duck from unruly tree branches. Here was one of the offenders. Statue of Abe Lincoln. Weird statue art at a museum. This golden statue of Joan of Arc is one of four in the world. We also have pics of the one in New Orleans. Eastern State Penitentiary. You can tour it now! But we didn't. This street was lined with flags from all around the world. Mr. Bebe’s favorite was Estonia (not pictured). Shakespearian public art. William Penn atop a towering building. More Public Art. Philly has more public art than any other U.S. city due to some ordinance that requires developers to provide 1% of their land for public art (or something like that). City Hall. Freestyle Music Café Philly. Chinatown gateway. This sign is the BEST EVAR! Don’t Block the Box!!! Ladies OBEY. An aerial view shows that this police building resembles a cup of coffee and two doughnuts. SERIOUSLY! Interesting street art. This is where Ben Franklin’s grave is. In honor of his motto: “a penny saved is a penny earned”, patrons toss pennies on his grave. The cemetery gathers $Thousands a year from it. The streets of Philadelphia are full of historic old buildings, like this Starbucks circa 2001. Elfreth’s Alley: The oldest continually inhabited street in the U.S. This colonial dude on a horse may drive you into the Delaware too!!! Apparently, this car will drive you all over Philly AND then right into the Delaware River! THIS is our first president. The Bebes love old architecture, so here's some old Philadelphia architecture. Mr. Bebe thinks The Liberty Bell ROCKS! Street performers such as this sewing maid were all around Liberty Square. Congress Shall Make No Law that prohibits children from sleeping on historic landmarks. Philly Skyline. The Ben Franklin Bridge, where it cost $4 to travel across the Delaware from NJ to Philly.

Sue, Big Mike mentioned that you might be coming to Dorney later in the evening, but The Bebes were so burned out from a week of theme parks and tons of driving that we just needed to get to Philly and rest a bit. Sorry we missed you! Traincrossin, Hanging with Big Mike was tons of fun! We're looking forward to meeting and partying with TPR on Termination Day on June 28! Also, we had a spontaneous trip to SFMM yesterday and will have a spontaneous trip report about it here after TPT:P2 reports are done. -The Bebes

Too Funny! I was also confused by the fluffy fluffy bunny. I thought that maybe someone was replying to the wrong post. P.S. - stay tuned for our wonderful SFGAdv TR where there will be a our very own experience with the Six Flags locker policy. LOL! But today, here comes our Philly TR!

Day 5: Dorney Park Friday May 29, 2009 Thursday night at the Quality Inn Allentown was the first night that we had internet, so we weren’t sure if anyone had tried to contact us. Friday was scheduled to be Music In The Park at Dorney, so we were expecting some big lines throughout most of the day. We decided to get there early and get as much done before it got too crowded. We sent Big Mike a PM and headed off to Dorney park, arriving around 9:30am. We got a primo parking spot and it seemed they were already letting people through the main gate, so we proceeded forward with our KBF season passes. BZZZZZ! They didn’t scan. Bus loads of kids were already starting to filter in as we were re-directed to the Guest Relations window to get a sister-park ticket (I thought this was fixed at all Cedar Fair parks). We had to wait behind four or five bus drivers that were checking in at the Guest Relations window as more busses unloaded kids. Mr. Bebe’s blood began to boil. We finally got our tickets and entered the park, just as Big Mike called. He said he’d arrive around 1pm and we chose to meet up by Talon at 1pm. We stood at the roped-off path that leads toward Possessed, Steel Force, & Thunderhawk until 10am when they let us loose! Stuffed beyond reason, we headed for the Quality Inn Gloucester, NJ (our Philly area hotel). It was a nice enough hotel just outside of Camden, NJ across the river from Philly. Fealing a bit under the weather, Lady Bebe fell fast asleep. Hopefully it’s just a case of Post-Dining Car Syndrome and Lady Bebe will feel better tomorrow for a day full of sightseeing in Philadelphia!!!! Lady Bebe ordered the croquets & the French Onion soup. Mr. Bebe ordered a Crab lovers platter (Crab stuffed mushroom caps, crab imperial, and deviled crab). Forgot to snap a picture when it all looked pretty, but here’s the aftermath! The French Onion soup was indeed the Best, out performing Lady Bebe’s long time favorite at the Bellagio Café in Las Vegas. The croquets were just OK. And the crab dish that was served in the tin boat was awesome (don’t know if this was the deviled crab or the crab imperial). The other was like a crab croquet and it was OK. Toward the end of the meal Lady Bebe started feeling extremely worn down and had a headache. First we were served some bread. Not your normal table bread, though. It was Cinnamon Bread! Yummy!!! We arrived in Philly just before sunset and went to The Dining Car and Market, a local eatery that we saw on Diners, Drive-in & Dives. They are supposed to have a good French Onion soup and famous Chicken Croquets. With the rain coming down, all our credits accounted for, and a drive to Philly ahead of us, we parted ways with Big Mike and left the crowded park. Goodbye Big Mike! Thanks for coming out and spending the day with us! We had a blast! You can see that there aren’t very many cars, but a ton of buses. There’s our primo parking spot!!! Shortly after we left, Big Mike sent us a text that he forgot to have us check Pennsylvania of his shirt. DRAT!!! Maybe we’ll meet up again this year and we can still check it off. NO. Big Mike, on hands and knees, pleads to guest relations to allow him a ride on the Contest Coaster. Seeing Big Mikes puppy dog eyes and his desperate determination to add to his stellar coaster count, park management’s only response could be……. Another day of rain at another park. At least we got all of our credits already. Except for that one…… But first, a quick spin on the Octopus. It started raining pretty good while we were on the ride, & the pods didn’t spin much. Lame octopus ride and we were getting wet! Mr. Bebe exclaims, "Credit Whore!!!!" The only other credit at Dorney that Big Mike is missing is the Contest Coaster kiddie coaster. He approaches the ride op (the same who shot The Bebes down earlier) to inquire. Big Mike is shot down as well. Perhaps if he uses his Big Mike Charm he can sweet talk park management into a ride…. We head toward the front of the park. While Big Mike "snapped photos" of Woodstock Express, the Bebes played around in this waterfall. Big Mike stepped away to get a photo of the Woodstock Express sign. Is that Big Mike sneaking in a ride on Woodstock??!! Or is that ACTUALLY ANOTHER park patron with a yellow shirt??!! This plaque marked the site of the Flying Dutchman roller coaster, a credit the Bebes will never have. And now, for the stupid people of Dorney Park Award: This cubby was at the entrance to Steel Force. It READS: “Personal Item Storage SAMPLE”. Apparently, many people thought it was just a small cubby for EVERYONE to put their personals into before entering the ride line, hoping it would still be there when they got off the ride in an hour. Stupid People. Anyway, we got our backseat ride on Steel Force with Big Mike. It was sprinkling during the ride and Lady Bebe got beaned in the eyeball. OUCH! But the back seat was great fun on Steel Force!!! Big Mike defied her by standing precisely where she said not to, while pretending to videotape some kids playing basketball. She was NOT amused. But The Bebes WERE! This lady was trying to keep people from converging at the recently closed line for ThunderhawK. She was quite vocal and loud about it. She was yelling at a group of kids that they couldn’t stand at the ride entrance and to “Go find another ride”. Lady Bebe enjoys going to the bathroom. Hmmmmm. More on that later. Big Mike enjoys a Root Beer float. Mmmmm! Mr. Bebe enjoys an ice cream cone. Mmmmm! Mr. Bebe took some flat ride photos of his own too! Dominator. While Big Mike took photos of flat rides, Mr. Bebe took photos of Big Mike taking photos of flat rides. Big Mike had an ulterior motive for visiting Dorney. He was taking pictures of ALL the rides (not just coasters) for the TPR Index. Oh Big Mike… Always out to help others! Big Mike also hid a Mikestery Treasure Hunt card (it was great fun helping out on the placement of the card) and Big Mike brought his little Zebra Duck friend with him too! The only other B&M Floorless that the Bebes have ridden is Scream at SFMM & Dominator at Geauga Lake. Lady Bebe calls scream a “sleepy” ride, because it is so smooth and glides along so peacefully that it puts her to sleep. So we were expecting a similar ride. NOPE. Hydra was fairly rough throughout in both front and back seat positions. The layout was relatively standard except for that WEIRD beginning. Hydra is a B&M Floorless coaster with one of the oddest beginnings. Right out of the gate you slowly creep through a tight little corkscrew. WEIRD. Really Weird. The only other roller coaster that we hadn’t gotten on before meeting up with Big Mike was Hydra, Dorney’s newest coaster. Talon was a good invert, with the front seat being a much better ride. Mr. Bebe loves B&M inverts and usually prefers the back, but this one was an exception. After taking several photos together, The TPR Trio heads for Talon, Dorney’s world-class B&M invert. The line was about 30min, but chatting with Big Mike made it fly by. We rode twice: once in the back & once in the front. The Bebes and Big Mike at Dorney!!!! Mr. Bebe spots Big Mike over Lady Bebe’s shoulder!!! 1PM was approaching and we thought we’d grab a bite to eat and head toward Talon. Every eatery seemed to have a line of at least 30 minutes, so we grabbed a bag of $4 Peanut M&M’s and headed toward Talon. Woodstock Express had no line, so both Bebes put on their best whore face and grabbed CREDIT #120!!! I feel dirty. These spectators are about to experience an “unacceptable amount of wetness” from the viewing bridge. Dorney’s 80ft tall White Water Landing, where a large 20 passenger boat plunges down, creating a large wave that can best be viewed from the bridge that crosses it. On to the Wild Mouse. The line was pretty long and Lady Bebe declared that she is NOT a whore. She WILL ride a lame kiddie coaster for a credit, but won’t wait 45min for a LAME RIDE just to get a credit. Mr. Bebe, however, is a total whore! Lady Bebe was forced to wait in this 45minute line to ride a really horrible wild mouse that she didn’t care to ride in the first place. And it WAS horrible. Credit # 119!!! It was on to ThunderhawK, Dorney’s old wooden coaster. It’s really in need of a paint job and I noticed a lot of patchwork wood throughout the track. We waited about 20 minutes to get on. The ride was relatively fine, but not too memorable. We chose not to wait again. Got a ride in the front seat of Steel Force and it was fun. It had a nice mid-course helix and several air-time popping bunny hills to finish up the ride. Not as good as PR at Kennwood, but a good hypercoaster. The queue line was starting to fill up quite quickly, so we decided to move on and come back later for a spin in the back seat. Here’s the sign for Morgan’s 2001 entry Phantom’s Revenge. OOOPS! That’s not a Phantom (i guess)! It’s Morgan’s 1997 entry Steel Force!!! Morgan MFG is sooo creative! Speaking of Cedar Fair, here is the obligatory “count the Cedar Fair trash cans” photo. Here’s a shot of Possessed climbing it’s front spiral spike from the area of Revolution, a Chance-Morgan spinning pendulum ride. Knotts Berry Farm has the same ride in thier Mexican Village section called La Revolucion, Spanish for The Revolution. Cedar Fair is so creative!!! Now, time to whore it up on Dragon Coaster! Lady Bebe stands next to the Dragon’s STICK (teehee) and once again, she towers over it. BUT That’s a GOOD thing on the dragon coaster! You must be taller than the 40-inch DRAGON’S STICK (say it fast, teehee). We’re on for four crazy kiddie coaster laps. We’re whores. However, the ride op says “No”. 54” is the height of the robot’s stick, not the line under the word 54” on the safety sign. We’re dumb Bebes. Now, time to whore it up on Contest Coaster! Lady Bebe stands next to the safety guide, which states that you must be under 54” to ride. And the line is just above her head. YES!!! The Bebes are at Dorney Park! This is the first park where we were able to use our existing passes, and it’s all free admission from here (SF, CF & Busch)! Possessed screams through the station. I always liked this ride when it was Superman:UE and it’s still fun., though a bit rougher running than when it played at SFO/SFWoA/Geauga Lake. We rode the front and back seat, with Lady Bebe preferring the taller spiraling effect of the front seat and Mr. Bebe preferring the higher straight back spike in the back seat. We met Timothy (aka TPR member Dannerman) at the queue for Possessed. He was really cool and we talked for quite a while. He doesn’t post much on the web-site but he has gone on some TPR trips and said he’s going on the informal China trip. The Bebes are jealous. Despite having ridden this numerous times in the past, Mr. Bebe was still frightened by the pre-ride show. Our first ride of the day was Superman:Ultimate Escape, errr…. Steel Venom, errr….. Voodoo, errr…. Possessed. Mr. Bebe has ridden this exact ride under three of those names at two different parks that went through four different park names. Shheesh! We unveiled our Theme Park Tour: Part Deux T-shirts. The front reads: 2 Bebes, 8+ Theme Parks, 50+ Roller coasters. The shirts turned out to be great conversation starters and sparked interest from park-goers all day! The front entrance from our primo parking spot.

The windows of the kissing tower were really clean and clear. The ride was lame (except for the kissing)/ Our main reason for riding was to get a picture of the REAL Hershey smokestacks. We've never went on the tower at Knotts (after dozens of trips)! Hershey Stacks