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I rather like Bandit--and the sit-down/stand-up ride is surprisingly decent.

The poor pirates would be doomed by showers of Bud Light bottles.

^Now there's a concept: Somali Pirates vs. Klassy Carnival Cruisers!

When I rode White Canyon with TPR back in 2007, I didn't think it was all that bad (certainly not good, but not horrible, either). But when I saw the video of other riders on the same trip later, I guessed I must've bumbled into the "magic seat" or something. This POV confirms it--I was very lucky that day.

It's the Curse of Big Tex! In forty days and forty nights, he was rise from the ashes as vengeful zombie, saying "Howdy" to people before he snatches them up and eats them!

^Perfect! Riders would be pirates trying to take over a tanker or a cruise ship.

^Amen! Both Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg did a better job with their scarezones this year.

Exactly. Some who had ridden before us claimed that Hair Raiser was rough and rattly and that we would all hate it. But it turned out to be the best new B&M ride of the last couple of years. I put these folks in the same category as those who claim Verbolten is "too rough."

Word to the wise: If you plan to visit Howl-o-Scream on a Saturday night, Quick Queue is essential; in fact, I'd recommend buying the unlimited version, so that you can squeeze in one night ride on Verbolten. Larry and I did this yesterday, and it made the capacity crowd bearable. We also went through all the mazes twice before the park closed at 11:00 pm (and enjoyed plenty of rides on Griffon and Apollo's Chariot). But despite the huge crowd, HOS was fun last night--the park's team of scareactors was doing a good job (particularly the werewolves that were roaming all over the park).

It needed a shooting dark ride that used pick-up trucks with mounted machine guns to give it that real "Somalia" flair.

The Quick Queue line for Apollo's Chariot was so long they filled an entire train with QQ people.

BGW is going to hit capacity today. Whew!

It's always good to see pictures from faraway parks--thanks. T-Express looks amazing. I understand there's a dark ride there called Mystery Mansion--did you ride that?

I was very happy to see that Haunted House had replaced Elvira's Superstition. House is the best 3D flick I've ever seen in any park.

Lights out Intimidator is amazing. That is all.

Probably this year for me, thanks to TPR's China trip. Over 100!

I think the best of the Disney hotels I've stayed out is Animal Kingdom lodge. The rooms are great, and the restaurants are excellent. The "savannah" is also very nice. Disney's Hollywood Hotel in Hong Kong is excellent, too (love the Art Deco decor).

^And China certainly has bizarre parks in abundance. What I appreciated the most about the Chinese parks were the walk-through "haunted" attractions--more than I"ve seen on any other TPR trip. I liked the remaining Happy Valley parks more than Beijing's, too.

What's ironic about all this for me is that a coworker (originally from Texas) and I were having a conversation about the Texas State Fair this morning, and "Big Tex" came up. She was the one who alerted me later that he was on fire a few hours later.

Just shows how a little theming can much improve a standard B&M Flyer.

^^Everything is a vast conspiracy.

The Dallas Morning News reported that Big Tex, the famous icon of the Texas State Fair, caught fire this morning.

The little "credit-whoring" parks were a hoot. Many of them were located in very nice city parks, too.

^I'm pretty wary of flats, although there are some I like (swinging ships and magic carpets, for example). My stomach hated me until about noon for riding the Half-Pipe at Chimelong Paradise.

^Please note that our Terms of Service require posters to use correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Your post was rather garbled, and I had a little trouble following it.