cfc

And, once again, as a public service, I am going to tell you "Where Robb and Elissa Are Not." Robb and Elissa (and Joey) are not: 3. sharing a nice plate of corned-beef hash and eggs at Mama Steve's House of Pancakes. I wonder where else Robb and Elissa are not? 2. waiting in line for a car wash at the Texaco station on Richmond Road; or 1. hiding in my holly bushes;

Seconds or minutes?

Yes, it is Screamin', but the two Rock'n'Roller Coasters and Space Mountain in Paris are also launched rides. Or were you referring to just the California parks?

So much of Phantasialand just ruled--especially River Quest, Winjas, and the awe-inspiring (if difficult to find) Hollywood Tour. Who can forget Hollywood Tour's re-creation of that unjustly neglected classic "King Kong v. PT 109"?

The park's Web site says "Opening Soon," but I think it's said that for over a year, at least.

OK, I have found three other places where "Robb and Elissa Are Not." By some strange quirk of fate, all of them are located in Firebaugh, Calif. Robb and Elissa are not: 3. enjoying a nice carnitas platter with rice and refried beans at this restaurant. Hmm--I wonder where else Robb and Elissa are not? 2. shopping for high-end merchandise in this local emporium; or 1. taking a refreshing dip in the community swimming pool;

There must've been some federal law that required each state to have a Christmas-themed amusement park. When I was a kid we had Santa's Village, which I think was in the hills near Santa Cruz, Calif. My family has old home-movie footage of it somewhere.

Sherlock Holmes once said, "Once you eliminate the impossible, what ever remains, how ever improbable, must be the truth." So, perhaps we can determine where Robb and Elissa are by first determining where they are not. Robb and Elissa are not: 3. under my house. Tune in later for another thrilling installment of "Where Robb and Elissa Are Not." 2. in my dishwasher; or 1. in Angus McNasty's cat bed;

^I tend to agree. Thank you for sharing the information, but, most likely, this thread will degenerate into a lot of gassing off about "stupid woman, blah. blah, blah" or "stupid park, blah, blah, blah." That being said, I'll leave the thread unlocked for now. But if it degenerates into complete stupidity, it will be locked. And as for my take on this, if the bench was seriously defective, the park is at fault--and the case will probably be settled out of court.

^And to be fair to the ride ops at Grizzly, a lot of the group did descend on them there at the same time. Still, they seemed pretty puzzled by the "exit passes."

This trip sounds like the coolest birthday present ever.

Those barrels in Flight of Fear's queue are actually part of a Haunt maze--they never took it down after setting it up in October 2007. It really screws up FoF's queue.

Just got my Bag 'o' Crap from the caption contest! Woo hoo! Thank you, Robb and Elissa.

I moved to Virginia from California in the mid 1980s and found Kings Dominion to be, at least, on par with Busch Gardens in Williamsburg; in fact, KD may have had a slight edge, thanks to Rebel Yell and Grizzly (which were both excellent rides then) and a good selection of rides for the whole family (particularly the Haunted River and the Smurf Mountain train ride, which were both where Volcano is located today). But since then, the equation has changed. BG steadily improved and developed a solid selection of coasters (Drachen Fire being one misstep) and a world-class dark ride (Curse of DarKastle), while KD has, frankly, fallen behind--especially when it comes to customer service, food, and atmosphere. That being said, I do enjoy visiting KD. The park is at its best in the springtime, before the temperatures become brutal and the crowds too large (the staff is usually happiest then, too). And Haunt, while cheesy, is fun. Dominator and Volcano are great rides, Flight of Fear is good, and Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion is a decent shooting dark ride. But the quality drops off quite steeply after that, I think. The park just seems so "generic" now.

What is this? ET--Master Ninja? Really, it looks like a whole army of alien ninjas are out to kick our butts and insert probes into unmentionable places.

Apparently like this:

My god, do you realize the implications of this? If tacos could walk and were as big Great Danes, they'd wipe us out within a month! With jogging chili rellenos as their allies, there'll be no stopping them!

Anaconda--all that kindling going to waste. Yes, Lou and Steve's Bandit on-ride video must be shared with the world.

Wow--Sea World's Manta theming is more immersive than I thought.

Much better than anything in the actual movie.

^Because you went to bed two hours too late the night before. Why is a "free" range chicken so expensive?

^Yeah--especially the ones who go around eating brains and ripping out people's guts.

Happy Birthday, Kristin! Enjoy your "walking on a curb" ERT. "Bestest thing ever!"

^You caught me. I'm actually a homeless guy who lives on the Universal Backlot. I scrounge through City Walk dumpsters for food, and after midnight the local bartenders sell me the runoff from their bars all mixed together in one enormous jug (great buzz for only a quarter). My summer home is the wrecked plane on the War of the Worlds set. ^^And, Robb, it's always about the bush with you, isn't it? I'm glad that you recognize the important role the bush plays in scrubbing our atmosphere of greenhouse gases.

^None of my coworkers who lived up in Richmond made it to work today--I'd heard it was pretty bad up there.