SharkTums

Yeah, we normally don't eat inside parks unless we like one of their restaurants! My advice would be to get there for opening, bring a water bottle...grab a snack (bag of chips, churro, pretzel) to hold you over, then leave and get food outside the park. Elissa "rarely spends a full day at a park...if I do, I still just grab a snack to keep me going!" Alvey

Yes! Remember that some of us here are more Waterpark Enthusiasts than Roller Coaster ones! If you can get some great pictures I'd really appreciate it. I'd love to see some onride, and the loading area pix too. Elissa "possibly going out to ride those in April!" Alvey

Spain is definitely on our list of places to hit. We're thinking about doing one of those Med Sea cruises that starts or ends in Barcelona and doing the Spain parks from there. Elissa "it's all about the Intamin Invert that rolls back!" Alvey

Food Finds...my TV only responds to the Food Network! Elissa "Ooo a Good Eats commercial!" Alvey

Soeren, Of course we have a Food Network in the US, look at how fat we all are! Elissa "it's all about Alton Brown!" Alvey

The first thing I'll say is never plan to go to a college just because of its proximity to parks...that being said, I did the drive at least twice a month to Orlando and you can do it in about 1H45Min! I really loved UF...it was one of those schools that you could totally cater to your needs. There were classes where I was a number in a sea of 500 other people, and there were classes where I was one of 12 and my professor really knew me. I didn't see any of the horror stories of being taught by TA's and never knowing your professor. I really think that big schools get a bad rep, when in reality they have pleny of individualized attention and you have so many options and choices. No matter what you go to school for, you can always dabble in something totally different because there are all of those options available in a large school! Elissa "not into the sports, but still a Gator!" Alvey

We still had a good time...but it's kind of a downer when the ride you want to ride the most is closed. Elissa "we can always amuse ourselves...even at the crappier parks!" Alvey

Our main site is more for bigger or more unique updates. If we're just doing a mini-trip report from a local park, or something that's not quite that big we'll just post it here in the forums! Elissa "Universal update should go up today!!!" Alvey

Surprise Surprise...once again a new ride not opening with the park...grrr Elissa "Anyone else think PKI might steel a train from PCW???" Alvey

There are some really great Powered Coasters out there! You're right tha the majority are those Dragon Coasters from Zamperla but Mack makes some really fun ones, and lots of parks theme around them and make them great rides! Here are some pictures from the one at Europa Park: In Europe there were ones that went through mountains, had fire effects, interacted with other rides and more! Probably the best one in North America is at Paramount's Canadas Wonderland. Elissa "wish I counted them as credits" Alvey

Yeah...the only thing I would suggest is maybe to add an extra day at Disney and cut out Cypress Gardens unless you're a credit whore! Elissa "too many kiddie credits!" Alvey

We all know that the coolest coaster on the planet is Mr. Freeze! Elissa "sorry, I couldn't resist!" Alvey

Ugh, don't get me started on that guy!!!! I hated that 'documentary'. Elissa "that guy was such a drama queen" Alvey

He gives me a hard time about it...but he has all of his little quirks also! Elissa "I've been dealing with it so long it seems like second nature!" Alvey

At which park? Elissa "different techniques and tricks for each park!" Alvey

^Yup! Elissa "we had some winners that had almost all onride footage, and some that had none!" Alvey

Actually, we're talking about it on the Ask Alvey Board! It is in my top 10 wood! Elissa "I totally agree with you, it is really underrated!" Alvey

^ LOL Nice! Seriously though, if we do this, we'll ask for everyone's input...I want our shirts to be cool, not just generic coaster crap! Elissa "Stupid Tommy for taking the 'We put the F U in Fun!'" Alvey

Good Eats with Alton Brown! I love that show! Elissa "going to name my kid after him!!!" Alvey

A) Where are you coming from? Flying, driving? How long do you plan to stay? What do you want to see? Usually when we do Long weekends we fly in on the red eye wednesday night so that we are in Orlando by 7am Thursday morning and fly home early Monday morning. This gives us 4 full days of which we usually do 1.5 at Universal/IOA, 2 at Disney, .5 at BGT or Sea World. B) I liked the Segway Tour better because I sucked at Surfing. I don't think that the Surfing class is the best way to learn. They use BIG, FAST waves, not like if you learned at a beach. I am a really good swimmer and I still ended up swallowing A LOT of water! The Segway tour was a lot of fun! We even went back and did it again with my family! C) Honestly, you can't even compare them. The Orlando one blows away the Californian one. As a matter of fact I just rode the Hollywood one this weekend for the first time since riding the Orlando one and it was even worse than I remembered! I really think that the Orlando one is in my top 20 coasters! D) Must Eats: Mythos at IOA, Ohana's at Disney's Polynesian Resort. Other good places include: Spoodles at Disney's Boardwalk, Tepanyaki at the Japan Pavilion, the Italian place in the Italy Pavilion, and pretty much most of the sitdown table service restaurants at MGM. Offsite, I love Carrabbas and this little hole in the wall indian place on I-Drive! Elissa "hope this helps" Alvey

I like Disney a lot so I read some of those boards, especially the DisBoards. The only boards I check regularly are these and westcoaster. I check out Screamscape once every few weeks to read the funny rumors! Elissa "also wishes she had more time! Alvey

I would guess at least $40 each way in no traffic. When Robb and I were there we made it in about 25 minutes one way, and hit traffic and weather on the way back and it took an hour...that could ruin you! Have you contacted any car services in the area? Sometimes they can be a better deal than a taxi and charge just a flat fee. Elissa "Hopefully it will be around for awhile!" Alvey

Did they ever finish re-tracking RWB? I remember how funny it was going from the old to new sections! Elissa "doesn't mind the G trains too much!" Alvey

I think we need an addition to the poll... Waited way too long, only open 1 out of 3 days! I wonder how far in the lead that option would be! Elissa "waited a combined 7.5 hours over 3 days for ONE ride" Alvey

Was Acrophobia tilting or rotating? Any signs of life near Deja Vu? Elissa "needs to get that new kiddie credit there still!" Alvey