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And now, our brief stop at Six Flags America. Will Six Flags get a chance to redeem itself? Stay tuned! We waited an hour while Will processed his season pass. Yeah, I feel your pain, Taz. And it is the best ride in the park. Oh well--at least Wild One still kicks butt! Here's one of three Batwing trains we saw dispatched during the 45 minutes we waited for Superman. Hmm--why do I have this craving for a bacon-and-tomato sandwich? "Or not." At least we got a free Flash Pass out of it (this was nice of SFA). "Let's use it to ride Superman!" "Yay for evac credits!" . . . and Superman. Will and I amused ourselves by watching Wild One . . . "I dunno! I push the button, and it just makes a farting noise." "Sounds like the work of the Joker, Commissioner Gordon!" What's this? It looks like the Clown Prince of Crime has had the last laugh on Erik! "You're mine at last, Joker's Jinx! All mine! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" "OK! Let's go snag some credits!"

Next up were Kings Dominion and Six Flags America. The plan was to snag the credits for Will at KD as quickly as possible, then stop at SFA while on the way to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. It was, indeed, a day of contrasts. KD was humming along pretty well, while SFA was, well, not. At least Will was able to get the credits he wanted at KD (he skipped Taxi Jam and Ricochet), and Erik got his FoF and Taxi Jam credit (he's also been all all versions of Back Lot Italian Job Stunt Coaster). But SFA . . . sigh! I hope it was just opening-day jitters. They did pretty well last season. Hah! I told you I'd live long enough to dance on your grave, Hypersonic! Onward to SFA! . . . before riding Grizzly. Erik takes a moment to reflect and pray . . . . . . this is Knott Paramount's Avalanche! Yes, despite what the sign says . . . "Are you the credit whore, mister? In that case, you owe me a dollar now!" "There! We got 'em! We'll turn them loose as soon as we attach our tracking device." "It looks like two fine specimens have fallen for our snare. We wait quietly for the trap to be sprung!" "Welcome back to Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom! We decided to trap and tag some elusive coaster enthusiasts so that we could trace their movements before the all-important mating season." Hmm--Jeff looks like a Romulan in this shot. "This way for fudgin' fun on Volcano, folks!" "Fudge yeah, we're ready for some fudgin' fun!" OK, who's ready for some fudgin' fun at Kings Dominion?

The Astroliner rules! It's so incredibly lame it has to be experienced! I love the mad house, too--DW is a fun place to kill a few hours.

Meanwhile, back in Euroburg . . . OK, this gets my vote for lamest t-shirt ever. Next up will be KD and SFA. "Er, maybe we'd like that bull-whacker job better." "I'm gonna test the hell outta this flume, you bet!" "We'd like to apply for the flume-testing job." And Alpengeist through Griffon! Griffon through the mist! . . . I'll watch from the safety of my blind--cunningly disguised as a green rock!" "But as the predator swoops in for the kill . . . "Here's brave little fellow! A little water doesn't scare him." "Uh oh! It looks like bird of prey has swooped down and taken our little friends! But it's all just part of the natural cycle in the Wild Kingdom." "Marlin Perkins here! It seems that our coaster enthusiast friends have migrated elsewhere." But thanks to some judicious tree pruning, you can get this shot, too--over by the Festhouse. Yes, most everybody has a version of this shot of the Big Bad Wolf. Is there corn beef in your future, East Coast Trippers? But Nessie is so durn photogenic. Yeah, Griffon is bigger and faster. "Hah," says Will. "Totally nailed that one!" Wait for it . . . Cousin Alpengeist says "hey," Yeti Ball. If Alpengeist's trains whipped around as fast as the trains on this model, all that would be left of the riders would be their torsos in the OSRs, as their arms and legs would've been torn out by the roots.

It's roadtrip time, folks! Erik and Will flew to sprawling Newport News-Williamsburg International on April 24 to start the first leg of a long weekend roadtrip from Busch Gardens Europe to Kings Dominion to Six Flags America and, finally, to Six Flags Great Adventure (with yours truly at the wheel of the mighty Saturn Ion). It was a long haul, but a great time--at least at three out of the four parks. First stop, Euroburg, where Erik needed his Griffon credit, and Will needed, well, everything (it was his first visit). The park was a bit busy for an April Friday, largely thanks to it being School Group Hell Week in Williamsburg. Yes, there were big buses and matching t-shirts all around Colonial Williamsburg that week--and at BGE on Friday. Still, the park handled the crowds quite well. Here are the pictures. "I double dog dare you!" More to come. We hit the DarKastle line just in time. The queue filled up behind us. "Notice how they sprinkle cocaine on the ground to distract the wild squirrel, who may attack and disrupt their picture taking." "Here we see two coaster enthusiasts, possibly from the same burrow, in their natural habitat, playing their role in the Wild Kingdom." "Welcome! I'm Marlin Perkins, and today on 'Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom,' we go 'In Search of the Wild Coaster Enthusiast.'" Here's a bit of Alpengeist themeing I'd never noticed before. Everybody should take this leg of the sky ride--it is really quite cool. Look! There's the wheelchair seat! Here we have Griffon through the sky ride through Will. And then you cruise through this thing. Got it. Then, somehow, you head up there. Then it curves around here. Now, let's see if I have this straight. You start here. "Hmpf! The fools!" "Yeah--waitin' for Corkscrew Hill when they could be in the 'cool-guy single-rider' line for Griffon!" Silly people! They could be lined up for this! Hmm--seem to be a fair number of simulator enthusiasts in town today. Or perhaps you'd prefer a Chia Loch Ness Monster. . . . Chia Clydesdale! It's springtime at Euroburg, folks! So get ready, get set, to grow your very own . . .

I don't know anyone who uses them, either--but the "hey, why not add RSS feeds to our site?" question comes up from time to time at my office. I don't think they're necessary for a site like TPR, though.

Finally got around to watching the Indiana Beach Video--excellent work! Setting it to "High School Never Ends" was great.

I had a great time hitting the parks with you and Will, Erik. Angus sends his regards. I hope that SFA gets its act together again. The park was running pretty well last year, and it does have a good set of coasters (I also prefer Jinx to FoF).

^Yes, Big Mike is El Santo!

Both were captured at a most unflattering angle.

Very cool--looks like a good replacement for the old mine ride (which I'm glad I checked out last year).

Valencia Falls--now there's a sight I haven't seen in thirty years. Good for Magic Mountain!

Hmm--by George, I think you're right! Or it could be my evil twin, Skippy.

ADMIN EDIT: I edited the title to make it more descriptive than just "Flash Pass?" It is a very good question.--Chuck

Aw, I miss Tokyo Disney. But I'm all the more excited for Paris Disney!

Hmm--I figured that you'd probably have better luck in Mexico than in Gordonsville.

Thanks, Paul--Behemoth looks good.

Wow, think of all the homeowners' association rules I could break with something like that.

Hmm--I shudder to think about "Baby Mind Eraser" or "Baby Boomerang."

^The best rule of thumb is to avoid either park on Saturday--they'll most likely be mobbed. It's best to go on a weekday. You can also buy a pass that gets you admission to not only Busch Gardens, but also to Water Country USA (Busch's water park), Colonial Williamsburg, and the other historical attractions at Jamestown and Yorktown (these are located at either end of the Colonial Parkway, which passes through Williamsburg). Enjoy your time in Virginia.

^Disney owns ESPN and the Power Rangers (bought them some time ago), not to mention ABC.

Actually, there's new about this at all. Without coporate sponsorship, Disneyland may never have been built. Disney talked ABC into coughing up a third of the park's cost in exchange for his producing a weekly TV show for the network (which, in turn, was used to sell the park to the public). My problem with the guy's article is that it really isn't anything "new" at all. Richard Schickel made similar points about Disneyland in his book The Disney Version back in the 1960s. But the man is entitled to state his opinion--and others are entitled to disagree.

^^I'm guessing that this concept art was produced by B&M, not Sea World. It isn't unusual to reuse shots, either--why reinvent the wheel?

I don't know who's crazier--the drunken Darth or jaded Jedi.

Dominator will have grass under it; it's not finished with everything yet. Yes, I figure they'll be doing some landscaping around and under it--but it rather close to that parking lot. Adventure Park does look like a nice little place. Looks like you rode a piece of BGE's history, Mike. According to RCDB, the Wildcat started life as "Die Wildkatz" at Busch Gardens: The Old Country from 1976-83.