fatdaddy

Okay here's my view of the competition... Coming up, the winner...

The easiest way to do this is going to be by camera, the time stamps are messed up so just to keep them in order. I gave my kids cameras and told them to take some pictures, so here's what my youngest daughter shot... And my oldest took a few shots too... And of course, I took some pictures as well, coming soon...

Epic MLE World Boysenberry Pie Eating Contest, the setup... In case you forgot where we are. "The emotions are raw, but the pie is cooked!" Didn't realize how important the water was until the competition started. "I don't even know the words that are coming out of my mouth!" "Man, versus woman, versus boysenberry pie!" This guy walks in and stand in front of my shot, I WAS shooting video. I told him he needed to crouch, he says he's media, I point to everyone around him...we are media too! He says they told him he could be in that area, but I'm pretty sure they didn't want him to be obnoxious and stand in front of someone who got there half hour early to set up his shot. He turn and tries to look mean, but um...do you see who you're talking to?! I gave him an ear full, and he eventually sat down. The all important water! Battling for this trophy! They all had wierd ways they setup their water, put it in cups, added flavors, set the bottles in certain areas...very interesting. The LeFevre's, competitive eating couple! Steve Hendry. Miki Sudo. Hey who took my six pack of water? They were here, I didn't know it was your water! Seriously, you took my water! Dude, she took my water. She tried to put more pie in one tin, but they were only allowed two slices per tin. She was all like, Is there going to be someone bringing us pie? and they were like, Uh, yeah! Ready to rock! Still working, pie contest was epic and it's next...

Calico Saloon... Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies... Let's check out Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies! Yup, this is the place, no krazyness or hillbillies yet. I spy the Devil!!! And still more coming...

Well, the Boysenberry Festival has returned!!! What once was a small part of Knott's Boysenberry Bloom, is now it's own event. This is by far the biggest event yet, with more shows, more boysenberry flavored food, and don't forget the fun! This years event runs from March 19 - April 3, and there's plenty of reasons to make multiple visits, including everyone's favorite Fun Bun, and Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies! Food and shows are plentiful, and if you plan to try to fit them all in, you may not have time for rides, but they won't be missed at this awesome event! The most talked about draw of the festival is the food, and I will tell you it's all amazing, all boysenberry, and all kinds. From boysenberry desserts, to boysenberry BBQ, there's something for everyone, even boysenberry wine and beer. Now, this is a very popular event and you should expect lines for some items, as I said, the food is the star! Be sure to get yourself a food tasting card, which lets you sample 6 different festival foods for one low price. The card includes everything from Boysenberry Flautas, to Boysenberry Chicken Wings, and Fried Alligator bites with Boysenberry Aioli...yes, I said alligator! The lines do get long for popular items like the gator and Fun Bun, so be warned. I did notice that the line for Gator bites got shorter in the evening, so try the other offerings and hit the gator on the way out. The Fun Bun is the most talked about food of the festival and did run short at one point, but more became available later in the evening. An amazing new treat is the Fun Stick, take cheesecake, dip in funnel cake batter, and cover with boysenberry sauce and powdered sugar...OMG...OMG...O...M...G...Becky look at that Fun Stick! Now, other foods are available throughout the park that are not on the tasting card such as, Fish & Chips with Boysenberry Tarter Sauce, Corn on the Cob with Boysenberry Butter, and even Foot Long Jalapeno Sausage with Boysenberry Relish! Too many food offerings to list, possibly too many to even try in one day. There is also a beer and wine tasting card that allows you to sample 6 types of beer or wine and even includes small bite pairings. There are both boysenberry and non-boysenberry flavors, 5 types of beer and numerous selections of wine. The boysenberry beer was very good, the cider was a little more sweet, but very good as well. Remember, Knott's has boysenberry jams and sauces available to take home, so the fun doesn't have to end when you leave. The entertainment is amazing this year, shows that are on par with some of those at their magical neighbor park. Knott's has really stepped up it's game this season. The newly refurbished Calico Saloon has reopened and offers old fashioned shows in a great setting several times a day. There is Lucy's Really Big Spring Show in Camp Snoopy for the kids, it's a much bigger show than usual and I suggest checking it out even if you don't have children. Bird Cage Square has entertainment every half hour, including Dueling Fiddles/Banjos, "Vine" Dancing, and even a pie eating contest that you can participate in! Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies return to The Bird Cage Theatre with a show that has music, comedy and even some theater. Don't miss their rendition of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and be sure to give them a standing ovation. Peanuts Party in the Park includes music, dancing, and The Peanuts Gang in a springtime, blueberry infused stage show. When evening rolls around you can dance the night away at Salsa Dancing with OpaOpa in Fiesta Village, and Jammin' in the Dark at Calico Square. Both nighttime shows were excellent and had the crowd dancing to the music. Now, opening day featured the brutal, all out MLE (Major League Eating) "World Boysenberry Pie Eating Contest"! Which included names like Miki Sudo, Michelle Lesko, Steve Hendry, the Lefevre's, and last years champion Joey Chestnut. If you follow competitive eating, you know Joey "Jaws" Chestnut is one of the top competitive eaters of all time, holding 31 world records, and is currently ranked #2 in the WORLD! Joey set a new World Record with 14.5 pounds of pie eaten in 8 minutes, beating his record of 14 pounds last year. Congratulations to Joey Chestnut on a great performance! Well, there you have it, a great event with food, entertainment and fun. Don't wait until the last minute, you'll want to go more than once! And pictures... "Food Fest + Live Shows!" Let's go there! Hello. Yes, I would like to media please. And away we go! Schedule, noted. The berry stand. Remember to buy your own boysenberry plant. The first day of Boysenberry Festival was PACKED!!! Knott's hooked us up with some jam and BBQ sauce! Boysenberry of course. This guy trying to steal my look! Crazy cowboys throughout Ghost Town. A few shots of the Wagon Camp being redone... First up, Lucy's Big Spring Show... Still working, more to come...

^Why?

Cool guy with a cool.family, I figure I'll miss a few beers and help someone out. I would encourage people to just donate one week worth of Starbucks or fast food budget, it's for a good cause.

So, Ghostrider opening in June now?!!? I can wait, just don't want to!

Fascination! Arrrrgggghhhhh! I just kept handing the woman $20's and didn't win anything. By the way, these pictures make my head look big, not as big as Thad's head though. Pretty awesome day, must do it again!

From what we were told the trains are new from the ground up. Now, I'm assuming that means completely new and not referbished, but I could be wrong. In any case the design was said to be the same as the original trains.

LOL, what a coincidence. Panda Express is a privately owned company which was started, and is still owned and operated by...can you guess? A CHINESE GUY NAMED ANDREW CHERNG!!! *sound Price is Right losing horn* Credibility, gone! Nobodies comparing it to authentic Chinese food, I referred to the "$10 a plate" style Americanized version we see at strip malls and in food courts. Speaking of which, is there any other chain mall chinese food restaurants? No. And it's because most of them are independently owned and the food is pretty crappy. As far as consistency and quality, Panda ranks up there among the best. And the rest of the country agrees, as they've opened over 1,700 locations in the US and are the biggest Chinese food restaurant chain in America. NO I DO NOT WORK FOR PANDA EXPRESS LOL We will see how "extremely popular" this Chop Six joint place will be! Oh, and as for Revolution, does anyone think the headrests are a little tall and odd looking? Probably the only thing that bugs me about these new trains. BTW I loved the coaster porn pics of under the revolution train, and getting up close and personal with those bogie and restraint locking pics! Sexy! There are so many Chinese and Asian food chains it's ridiculous! Authentic Chinese food from...ANDREW?!!? Ha! His names not even authentic! 1700 locations for billions of people, wow, there are probably that many Chinese restaurants in LA county alone. Panda express is SO good that it has to compete with 4 other Asian restaurants in the same food court at the local mall, wow imagine that people eating at other Chinese restaurants when Panda Express is right in front of them. Maybe they like the taste of the other places better. Bottom line, Panda Express is...GONE...IT WON'T BE BACK! This place has good food, at least equal to Panda Express and nobody is going to Six Flags because of Panda Express anyway! Backrests? Backrest are there for a reason...but why?!

What? If you like chinese food, how can you not like Panda Express? I don't know how it was inside the the park, but compared to other similar independent Chinese food places outside the park, under the "$10 for a plate of food" price range, Panda is simply one of the best. They cook it fresh out in the open, right in front of you! They use quality meat and veggies with unique flavors, their noodles are nice and light and thin. Flavor was much better? Panda is like the king of flavor when it comes to Chinese food! Those other places have the food just sitting out under a heat lamp all day. Then you bite into a piece of chicken or meat and it's either chewy or gross. And this places food definitely looks different from Panda, first sign is those thicker gross soggy orange chow mein noodles, which is a staple across cheap-o chinese foid places across the nation. Whenever I see those, is a reason to walk away backwards, and get the hell outta there. The entres look a bit different as well, and while I'm sure it was good at the event, I wonder if it will stay that way after being open for 6 months. First off, you're making statements about food you haven't eaten, credibility gone. Second, Panda express is the most generic chain mall quality "Chinese" food there is. Bottom line, I eat at Chinese restaurants that are owned and run by...CHINESE PEOPLE!!! Authentic Chinese is very far from mall food. The team that worked on creating these dishes worked very hard to make classic dishes with their own touch. Good food, will be extremely popular.

Well, it looks the same at every Chinese restaurant. Ha! But, I am not a fan of Panda express and I liked this. Flavor was much better, of course this was with the park management present, hopefully the quality is the same when they open to the public.

And food, and some other junk, but mostly food... Lighting for the new signage, plus a facelift. Chop...SIX! Ha! I can't stop laughing, instead of "sticks" it's "six! OMG! Read it! Some custom woks. Woking is good exercise...HA! Broccoli beef and orange chicken, both very good. The bottom is tofu, which surprisingly was my favorite. The top is some sort of spicy chicken maybe, I don't remember, but it all was good. Rice and noodle, if i had to pick I'd go noodles, but why pick one, when I can eat both?! I don't think I got any of this because my plate was overlowing, but everything else was spot on, so I'm a little bummed I didn't try it. Party foul! You know who you are! Asian donut, tastes a lot like a churro if you concentrated it in to a ball of pure evil. Really I could only handle one, dispite the fact it was awesome! Okay, this is a special funnel cake for season pass holders that will be available when the World Famous Funnel Cake Factory opens. What's it called, um Berry something or other...okay I forgot. Just ask or it when it opens on the 12th. Rasberry, blueberry, cream cheese icing, red velvet, whipped cream...no, I still don't remember the name! This was just a sample by the way. Hey, I got an idea...paint it blue! Blue? Of course it's blue! Completely new lighting to really make that blue pop. New credit? And that's all I got, that and a stomach ache from too much food. Thanks for looking, leave a comment!

Today, not only did Six Flags announce that they would be adding a Virtual Reality experience to many of it's coasters, but one of those coasters, New Revolution, had it's brand new trains revealed! Now, the trains are basically a copy of the original design with minor updates. OTSR's have been replaced with lap bars, yes there appears to be seatbelts, but it's a small compromise to get rid of the head banging over the shoulder restraints. Testing has begun and there will be an opportunity or season pass holders to join in a technical rehearsal starting the 26th, you will need to visit their website to be assigned a time, and space will be limited. They will run this for about a month or until all bugs are worked out of the new trains, depending on how well that goes, they will announce a date for its opening to the public. Eventually there will be two trains, no word on when that will happen. Now, VR goggles...very cool! Not just a simple movie in front of your face while you ride, but you are able to look up, down, side to side...everywhere! You also have the ability to shoot at targets...very cool. Okay, the goggles themselves are put on over your head and then strapped under your chin. There will be help putting these on in the station, so you will be outfitted and then sent to a seat. The little room in the station will now be a charging and storage room for the VR goggles. These were tested on Batman, because obviously New Revolution is not running yet, and they wanted to really test the safety of the goggles. So, if they didn't fly off on Batman, they won't likely fall off on New Revolution. The VR experience is completely optional and completely free...no upcharge! As to the obvious question of how sanitary these are, they will be wiped down and disinfected after each use, they have ordered tons of wipes specifically for this task. Not only that but there will be a lot of goggles, so they will have a surplus in order to keep them charged, clean and ready or riders. So, then there was food! Chop Six will be the new Chinese restaurant opening in the location of the old Panda Express. All food recipes were developed in house and I have to admit the food was awesome! All the classic Chinese dishes you would expect will be available, from orange chicken, to broccoli beef, and even egg rolls. They will also offer a vegetarian option featuring tofu, along with wonton tacos, and Asian donuts. There will be a preview event for season dining pass members on the 5th and 6th, if you have a dining pass go check it out. One last food item was the Berry whatever (can't remember the name) funnel cake, available for pass members when World Famous Funnel Cake Factory opens on the 12th. Very good, but I couldn't finish it because I was in a food coma following Chop Six. Anyway good stuff, go eat it! And, pictures... From a distance, not complete, but it's on the track and testing. The blue paint looks a little darker, nice! Landscaping here. Very clean looking trains. Towels to keep the seats from getting scratched during testing. Eagle goes here. Revolution got back! Or this is the back anyway. For the shins. Brakes! Do I spy seatbelts? Put cover on when done!! Done doing what, I have no idea. I think they were playing rock, paper, scissors. New Revolution, coming this spring! No, not that spring, spring like...nevermind. So awesome even the seat covers want rides. Just like your crazy uncle's toupee it has a chin strap. Okay, I got to say, it looks a little goofy sitting with goggles on looking all over the place at imaginary stuff only you can see, but I assume it'll be different onride. Ain't no Revolution like the New Revoluton, cause the New Revolution don't stop! Except at the end, and then they kick you off, but until then... Water wise! To put up a fence to keep me out, or to keep mother nature in...wait what? Okay, taking a break, still working, food coming up!

...and the loops back to white. I hope.they paint it better than they have, because you can see the the blue streaks underneath in the light.

Yup, Riptide is dead!

One more thing...two loose article bins in the station.

Corporate deal to pay for all that blue paint.

Edit- Forgot to mention there will be 2 loose article bins in the station. Back to SFMM for a "Hard Hat" tour, or maybe a "drop cloth" tour, since they are pretty much just painting at this point. Okay, info: Lots of painting, renovation, and retheming in the main plaza. Cyber cafe becomes Plaza Cafe, new paint, renovation and some new menu items. You will now buy your funnel cake at the Funnel Cake Factory, again all these will be refurbed and painted. The renamed Six Flags Emporium will have all new floors, fixtures, paint, and lighting. Orient Express will become Helpful Honda Express, new paint and theming. "New" Asian restaurant replacing the old. The area used for Chupacabra in the X2 Plaza will become the ADA entrance. All three queues (ADA/standyby/FlashPass) will meet, with a security guard posted to prevent line jumpers. New Revolution gets blue and white paint, tracer lights in the loop, referb of the station, and all new landscaping, water elements in the queue will be replaced by landscaping. Yes, it gets a new train! No, we did not get to see it yet. Looks to be progressing at a decent pace, I haven't seen Revolution look this nice in decades! I like the fact that Six Flags went the extra mile and decided to update the entire area and not just the coaster. Okay, pictures... New revolution, old car. This gets a much needed restoration. Every little detail... very bright colors, although I'm not sure how they'll hold up to the Caliornia sunshine. very bright colors, although I'm not sure how they'll hold up to the Caliornia sunshine. Every detail painted, and not just slopped on paint either. Orient Express gets a retheme and new paint. Helpful Honda something or other, being painted and rethemed. Cyber Cafe will be renamed and updated. Hey look they are painting something. New Revolution Rocks! Serously, I don't know hat the rocks are for. All new landscaping goes here. New concrete. Bury Jimmy Hoffa here. My new office. Something went here. New Flash Pass entrance, you'll have to crawl on the floor. No more water. Okay, now coaster pictures in no particular order... And there you have it. Sorry if some pictures showed up twice, or out of order, something went funky during my upload. Thanks for looking, share it with your friends...DO IT NOW!

Thanks Robb and Elissa for a truly epic WCB! SFMM put on a great event, haven't had that much fun at SFMM in quite awhile. ERT was great, lunch was surprisingly good and a few prizes never hurts. Knott's was incredible as usual. Really enjoyed the photo op of Ghostrider, lots of awesome at the Sidewinder tour and ERT on Iron Reef was a lot of fun despite not being able to beat Elissa's score. Quest was the highlight of the day, great group of people who played. Tucker gets better every year, wouldn't be WCB without him. Friends, food, ERT...amazing, amazing weekend!

I remember doing Knott's WCB in the rain with only 3 rides open...it was awesome!

Please reinforce the weak areas and get rid of the mid course break! Glad to see they are keeping it wood, I know everyone has a boner for RMC iron horse transformations, but even as bad as it is GhostRider still has a great layout. Fix the roughness and it's back in my top ten.

Wasn't going to, but since my best friend Thad will be there I have to!