pvcoasterguy

Shari, That was my WTF? moment also. They are "lifetime friends..." er... yeah. No offense, but, the larger guy acted so blatantly gay that it was very, very easy to tell that they were not just "lifetime friends."

Great TR! I can't wait until I go to WDW with our band on the 15th! It should be a ton of fun... haven't been to Disney since they had their castle pink for their 25th anniverary!

I liked it... it finally got back to its original charm. No silly families, just real travelling (out of the country) this time. No 'family vacation challenge' this time. I think that this season is going to be very promising. It was a nice change from the crap we got last season.

A couple on my list... Raging Bull- Short but sweet. Everyone is totally freaked out about the tunnel while going down the hill. Of course, this is right after the totally amazing airtime in the back part of the train. Demon- There are some weird ones on this coaster. The rocks between the two loops and inside the second one are pretty cool, the light tunnel has some pretty good patterns, and the dive into the corkscrews is just messed up (and brutal!) You dive into the mouth of the Demon, right next to the waterfall, hit a totally messed up piece of track in the tunnel, and do the corkscrews. Bizzare, yet awesome. I also like the tunnels on Kumba, Montu, and ShieKra.

Ooh... I love volunteering! (But I wish Elissa was my volunteer coordinator...) Anyways, I volunteer at my local IMAX theatre (photo on avatar.) Well, techincally it is the Putnam Museum and IMAX theatre. However, I almost always work in the IMAX area. In total, I have volunteered for more than 200 hours (far above the required 30 at our school) at the IMAX, since September 2005. I am the only regular volunteer who works as a virtual 'employee replacement.' (I work a full day, so I have saved the museum a ton of money.) All of the employees feel that I am a staff member, and we have a great time together. We share a great bond, and we are all repectful and knowledgeable. Even when we are severly understaffed, we team up together and put the show in on time. Generally, I work as the theatre host when volunteering at the IMAX, however, I have also worked in concessions and information. As the theatre host, I am responsible for the well-being of the theatre. It is my responsibility to ensure that the show begins on time, and that guests are well in the theatre. Any problems inside of the theatre are handled by me. (There are rarely any.) In addition, I take tickets, hand our 3D glasses (the ones that cost $50 a pair), wash those 3D glasses, and make opening and closing announcements inside of the theatre. The announcing is a little bizzare (and scary), but I have gained much confidence in public speaking, and I have our speech memorized. The volunteering is very rewarding. I have made so many great friends while working at the IMAX, and we have a great time. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

It doesn't have to be a specific break... if you don't have one, tell us the time you're going somewhere and where to. (A 'spring trip', if you'd like.) Anyways, I'm going from March 16th-March 25th to Orlando. The first part of the trip is our band trip, and we're going to Disney World. Then, I'm heading over to Universal Orlando for the rest of the time. Should be a lot of fun!

^^ I didn't see any while I was in the UK, however Quiznos is far superior to Subway. Real toasted subs (not the microwaved ones that Subway does now) and some better, more original ideas make Quiznos a winner in my book.

Elissa, could you change mine to "IMAX: Think Big" Thank you!

My first post in this topic... I decided to make it interesting. "The Bean" and I in Chicago.

I'm suprised that the US hasn't stooped to the "E-Passport" level. We still have the good ol' booklets that look awesome (from the outside, at least). Sorry to hear about all of the problems! Preparations for going to foreign countries can be a hassle, but, in the end, it is all worth it.

Awww... no more music in the O'Hare light up tunnel? That's just depressing... the music was pretty cool, and it made the tunnel have energy. Now all you hear is, "The moving walkway is coming to an end- please step up." Ugh...

I'm going on a trip to China this summer, and I wanted to get some questions answered... any information is helpful! 1) Chinese. Is it worth learning? How in-depth should I get? Any reccomended programs? 2) Electricity. I'm not real sure what type of power China uses. Do I need any special adapters? 3) Visa. I'm pretty sure that it is necessary to get a visa in order to travel to China. How and where can I obtain the visa? 4) Money. What should I bring? (US $, Traveller's Checks, Credit/Debit Card, etc.) Any other information would be helpful! I really want to hear some experiences in China as I've heard very few.

I just use Windows Movie Maker. It is free, simple to use, and not frustrating. Cool things can be made with WMM, it's a very good program for its cost (free.) Currently I'm working on a movie about Bergen-Belsen for my history class, and it's coming along very nicely. Effects and transitions are easy to use, as are titles and credits. Music is also very easy to be placed in movies.

Your art is truly amazing. You made a ride with meaning and a story. The innovations you thought of are great. I'm sure the new CEO of Six Flags would hire you... it seems that he is going to do some dark rides. Great idea, great delivery. Overall, awe-inspiring. We all have talents, except your's is awesome. My talents are writing and teaching. I'm in the process of writing two textbooks (fairly basic ones)- one involving basic Spanish and the other involving design. (I'll be sure to post them here when they're done! I write for free.) Best of luck to you!

Six Flags Great America: - Superman: Ultimate Flight- If you've already been on one, don't waste your time on this one. Lines get very long for this ride, even if there aren't many people in the park. - American Eagle- Be sure to go on this. This past season it was running great, and hopefully they're sprucing it up for its 25th birthday. Ride in the very front on forwards (there usually isn't much extra wait) and the very back on backwards (the row that goes out of the station last.) Both of these provide amazing rides. - Raging Bull- Go on this, in either the last or second to last row. - Viper- Go on this, in any of the rows in the front car (amazing airtime.) - King Chaos- A Top Spin- Ran an amazing program last season, usually little to no line (one cycle wait.) - V2- If you'd like... - Batman- Be sure to go on this in any row. Extremely smooth and great theming. - Iron Wolf- Go on this. It may be a little rough, but stand up straight, and it's okay. Ride in the front row for the best experience. - Demon- Ride in the back for some amazing airtime. - Whizzer- Ride anywhere, don't miss it! - Revolution- Frisbee- Runs an insane program. - Ice Moutain Splash- One of the last Arrow Hydroflumes around- it makes an amazing jump and the bottom of its major drop- totally insane!

From my experience, Visa was the card that was most widely accepted. There were absolutely no problems with the Visa cards at all. They always worked in the ATM's that we tried them in (you do need to request a PIN,) and they were accepted at all the stores we went to. Very practical and simple to use.

Your school slogan is very interesting... "We're soaring higher." Kind of sounds like an airline slogan more than anything else...

Yes, for all of you who don't know, they still teach grammar in schools. However, the problem is the attention-span of most teens/pre-teens/whatever. Most don't care about the grammar aspect of posting, they just want to post as fast as possible, and perhaps try to get others to scream when they try to read the god-awful post. I am a freshmen in high school, so I know that they still teach grammar. Anyways, great TR! Your commentary and humor (and yes, grammar) is very good for your age. Are you in seventh grade? Your trip reports are very enjoyable. Keep up the great work.

Let's just hope the other Eagle (American Eagle) gets new paint too... it's celebrating its 25th anniversary this year- hopefully they'll spruce it up and redo the trains!

But the Six Flags parks shouldn't just add trains/vehicles when needed. Common sense tells you to look at the figures from the day(s) before, and decide whether to put on the additonal vehicles before the people get in the park.

Six Flags isn't going to prepare its own food? I could see this as rasing the prices even more! I want my funnel cake sundaes from Great America, not something I could get at the store like Ben & Jerry's!

^ Ugh... Hulk is by far the roughest of all of the B&M's that I've been on. It was pretty bad on my last visit, especially towards the back... ugh. Some of the rides on that had more headbanging than even some Vekoma's that I've been on. And, yes, it was more than just the B&M 'rattle.'

I don't think that it will be leaving. The area that it is in is very small; they just refubished the ride last year or the year before. Personally, I didn't think the ride was very bad at all. Granted, I am very tall, and my legs hardly fit in the cars. However, I totally enjoyed it. The airtime was great in the back, and I didn't get any headbanging (though I'm really far above the harness.)

Ugh... that looks bad. Now Elissa knows to heed the warning "Let cool in microwave for two minutes." No one obeys that rule, but now we know the consequences. BTW, was it a Lean Cuisine one? I had one of those and had to put it on a funky silver tray and it was really, really hot even after letting it sit for five minutes.

Hey, I just wanted you guys to know that I'll have my gate open from now until about 10:30 or 10:45 Central time.