chadster

Wow, Palace Entertainment failing at something? Shocking.

I have a strange feeling that come Sunday evening we will have some pictures to look at...

The Kings Island crew has the look of "These guys have worn us out!"

^^Ah yes, the Intamin cable, dammit, forgot about thought!

This sign is posted several times throughout the ride's queue. Apparently he didn't take the time to read it...

Air launched catapult.

You welcome man, see you and Megan in Canada!

I forgot something...the tree limbs might slap someone silly.

Looks like I'm back for a few weeks and to celebrate we start with a special "behind the scenes" episode of 'The Big Mike Roadshow' I had rearranged a departure date for my upper Mid-America trip to be able to meet up with Big Mike and Megan at Santa's Village Azoosment Park just outside Chicago. JoJo met me at my hotel and off we went hitting just about every Memorial Day parade in town setting us back about 5 minutes from the targeted arrival time. So after getting a hard time for being late, in we went were Kurtis (G$ Kurt) immediately yelled out for Big Mike recognizing the bright shirt. Kurtis really did seem to be everywhere and gave us the low down on the park. The firetruck and motorized cars were new for this year and they have future expansion plans. I wouldn't count on the water park re-opening as after years of neglect while the park was closed it would be an expensive venture, but do expect that great things could be coming to that area soon. The park itself is clean and vibrant, the staff were all friendly, and the zoo adds that little something the park needs to keep the kids entertained, and most importantly, in the park. Santa, as mentioned in Big Mike's report, has been at the park for the last 25+ years playing Santa (when the park was closed he was at Holiday World) and is full of park history as well as history of all the Santa themed parks. For instance he told us the park was a duplicate of another one in NY but not originally owned by the same person. Bottom line guys, the park is waaaaaay better than the horror stories I've read before it closed. The new team is dedicated to making the park a success and fits the families with small children niche that very few regions have. So if you have younger children you should without a doubt take them to the Azoosment Park, you won't be disappointed. And now, I present, Behind the Scenes of the Big Mike Roadshow! P.S. If you want to see my entire photo collection on this park Click. And here we are just a tad late, kinda like this PTR On the way to back to the credit (hey we aren't stupid, we didn't want to encounter long lines!) we stopped off to pet a turtle. Big Mike always gets ride sign photos, just in case Larry might need them. The Big Mike Roadshow uses two cameras just in case one malfunctions. And this is what everyone was taking foto's of. Whores. Wait, nope, the whore is in the front seat...well maybe the back seat too, you decide and let us know. The roadshow getting on ride foto's Hey Guys, How is Your Ride? Kurtis operated the ride personally for us! #Likeaboss Well, actually he is one, hmmm need to come up with something for that, maybe #likeapeasant ? This is what it looks like if you sit in the front seat, the back of a head. So it was time to move on and hide some ducks. There was a duck somewhere between here... ...and here. Did you find it? Oink. All of the employees were telling us we HAD to ride the firetruck and the motorized cars, both new for this year. Little did they know what they had just done. Afterall, we are CTPR members Ahem. This is the POV of that famous pose. Looked familiar to me in many aspects. After "the pose" Big Mike demo'd the proper way to handle your hose. Then it was off to the fire, running code complete with lights and sirens which helped clear the way to roll up on our target! Oh did I mention we had the attraction to our selves? Using proper hose handling techniques as shown in the video, I helped the team to put out the FIRE! This is where video was being shot! Look ma, I'm on T.V. On second thought, you might not want to... After the fire was out we still had enough for a second round of water fighting. Admission to Azoosment Park: 16.95; Ride on Firetruck: Free; Look of our ride attendants face: Priceless. Still not sure about this... New for this year, motorized cars! They did a top notch job on this attraction. Might get wet on this ride? Off on their voyage. Oh crap, firetruck, now we know why we might get wet... Taking pictures for the PTR: #likeaboss. Alert! Nut Allergies ahead! Spider scene. the "I really don't want my own spider scene" scene. We got to feed the mini horse courtesy of Megan. Dude knew when she pulled out the quarter that he was about to get fed. Feeding time! I like turtles. Next it was time for a sleigh ride. Smile for the birdie! and here are the birdies! Megan wanted to slide, like really bad, so why not. Only problem was the kid behind her was getting a little upset it took her so long to slide down! Red Herring time! Did you spot the pink ducky? They also have this cool bird thingy where the birds are not afraid of you. Why? Because you can feed them! We all got treated to nuts attached to sticks. As you can see, the birds would fly right to you! I Triple Dog Dared him. Before we left, Jo had to try out the Angry Birds game. She chose her Angry bird and launched him into the TNT, but sadly it didn't explode All in all we had a funtastic time at the Azoosment park. Thanks to Kurtis and the entire management team for taking time to talk to us about the parks history and where they hope to take the park in the future!

The seams are going to be rough, the bolts are gonna shred the wheels, steel wheels will be uncomfortable, the drop(while isn't completed) is going to be 110 degrees of OMFG, the lift chain might not be strong enough, the wood might splinter and break under all those forces, and the capacity will be too low. Did I miss anything?

^Now there is an idea!

And now comes the bolt discussion....

^It is. They have trouble keeping the air pressure up in the tanks used for launch and can't run it in the rain as the wheels just sit there and spin. It's basically their #1 item on the most downtime list.

Agreed! There shall be no further foto's until the ride is being tested...which will probably be in August, lol

I realize you guys probably want some more hints about whats going in next year right? Well if you really want to know, like really really want to know, all you have to do is sign up for ClubTPR to make you eligible to attend Coaster Mayhem at WoF in August where you just might be one of the first to know exactly what attractions are going in next year. One thing is for certain, those who like wet attractions will be thrilled! And I know some of you guys give the park grief for not putting in a 350 foot IntaBeemathing every year. But what you guys should realize is that the park is really on the path of positioning itself for good things to come, doing things that you may not see visibly, but are vital to the parks success. One of those things is food, and while the park has always had decent food, the food is much better this year and they are committed to continuing to bring in food that will keep your taste buds salivating for more. One thing I will tell those of you who get excited about dirt moving is that dirt will be moving starting first of July around the exit of PROWLER! The dirt being moved is NOT, I repeat NOT for a ride. It's a new building for Haunt that will house what I think is a pretty amazing attraction themed around the show 'Save by the Bell' The schematic also shows space for additional restrooms similar to the other Haunt building near the scrambler. Again, this is for Haunt, and NOT for a coaster Haunt will also feature street characters roaming throughout the park with some pretty freaky stuff planned. They are clearly focused on out doing Knotts and with what they've put together that last few years, might be getting ever so close....

First of all I would like to thank Kara for not only telling and showing us all about who we are raising money for but also for putting together a top notch fundraiser, GKTW is truly a charity that I can get behind 100%. Also a special thanks to everyone who donated to all of today's riders! And the final round of thank you's goes out to TPR for helping everyone raise money and getting us all psyched!! Worlds of Fun did an OUTSTANDING job today! The PROWLER! crew was really into our marathon riding and for the very few who stuck it out for all 25 rides, awesome job! While taking a soda (provided to us gratis by the park) break a parent of a GKTW alum stopped to talked to me. Her daughter who had a serious form of cancer(and survived!) and previously benefited from GKTW and was thrilled for what we were doing. The Mamba crew was all over our riding making announcements to the public waiting to ride and giving them information about the organization. The park also supplied us with brochures to hand out to people curious why we were hogging a train! On our last ride of the two hour session (27 or 28) they had those waiting in line shouting in unison something to the effect of "Welcome back Coasting Kids for Kids..." it was amazing! WoF had at least one member of the PR department with us all the times to assist in any way they could and I must say I don't think it could have been organized or ran any better, great job Brandon, Lawrence, and the entire WoF staff! Again, we had a great time raising money for a great charity. Can't wait to do it again next year! 100k combined today, AMAZING!

Wow, stepping up to the big leagues...

Coming up this Monday, I have a special treat for everyone - Behind the scenes of the Big Mike Roadshow at the Azoosment Park! Find out all of secrets and hard work that goes into the popular production including the ducky game. Get Excited!

Not having the words 'Six Flags' in the name.

Wrong color, but right size

This is simply fantastic that we've collectively raised $36k+ I've never been part of a voluntary fundraiser like this before that has raised this kind of money! (Voluntary - Not forced upon ones employer to give to a cause that you don't believe in) Fantastic job everyone!

WooHoo, take it in the rear! (of the cyclone)

I was told they previously had a spot picked out for it to try and bring more traffic to that area of the park, and that area is still available should they decide to go forth.

You the man Robb, thanks so much!!

Looks like I'm $65 from third place, don't let those ACEr's beat us, please help in any way you can Thanks!