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It was fun showing you around KD, Paul. I don't know what's up with Anaconda, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as in the past (still don't care for it, though). I wonder if my sunglasses survived their trip into the OUTER LIMITS--not.

Hmm--too bad I didn't wander over to the park on Mother's Day. Oh, well--there's always media day (and all the days after that).

^Nikkol? Nicoal? Throat-Warbler Mangrove?

You could take I-81 from Pennsylvania into Virginia and pick up I-64 in Staunton, I think (about three hours or so to Williamsburg from that point). Less traffic than DC, but a longer haul.

Maybe you should come to SFA and ride their version of ROS, Nicole--looks like it's a clone of Darian Lake's, and it's been running pretty well this season.

^Hmm--actually, enjoying the pain would make Robb masochistic, although forcing others to ride would make him a sadist. Thanks for the TR--Adventureland looks like a nice place.

You could come down the Delmarva Penninsula and cross over on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel near Virginia Beach--but that's a long haul (I've done it before). The peninsula is kind of a pretty drive, though. Going through DC on a Saturday usually isn't too bad (not sure when you're coming down). EDIT: Getting through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel can be pretty dicey in the summer, but not as bad as DC (usually). The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is an expensive toll (more than ten bucks as I recall).

SFA is a pretty good park with some potential, I think. Wild One is a great woodie, and I liked Roar, Superman, Joker's Jinx, and Batwing quite a bit. The Skull Island sea coaster has been there for some time (under the name "Typhoon Lagoon Sea Coaster," I think). From what I understand, it never really worked, but here's to hoping. SFA started life as a water park, but it does look like they've added a number of new slides.

Welcome to TPR--excellent job on your first post. I had a similar experience at Six Flags America to what you had at SFKK. I'd heard quite a few bad things about the park, but when I finally visited the place a few weeks ago, I had a great time. I think spring is definitely the best time to visit some of these "mediocre" parks, before the summer hordes ride in.

"Including, but not limited to": This phrase has some use in legal briefs and opinions, but it has no business anywhere else. By using "including" you're already implying that what follows is an incomplete list. I also hate "listing" when the word should be "list," as in "I have a listing of six requests." A "listing" is either an item on a list or the act of making a list.

Exactly what would we be protesting in the U.S. with this one-day boycott--having the lowest gasoline prices in the industrialized world?

This is the real equation: El Toro = Butt out of seat.

Two of the funniest cartoon moments ever!

Very cool, but using Doom as a theme would be cooler yet.

I haven't ridden MF, so I won't venture an opinion (and will respect yours). But it seems to me that others have been responding to your question--perhaps you simply don't like their answers.

^^Sadly, many college students in the U.S. can't write an essay by the time they graduate from high school and they think plagarism is OK--just ask my two English-professor friends.

^"No alcoholic beverages"--unless you buy them from their Coors wagon, of course.

They fly all the time up in Canada. It's a pain in the a$$ thought to get them their pilot license. Too much red tape to cut through. You need to make sure not to walk underneath when they're flying around--quite messy. And whenever I'm in Canada, the giraffes always manage to bomb my car!

^Hitting Great America first might be a good idea--you can take the 101 south from the airport toward San Jose (and you'd be on the right side of the bay). The park is in Santa Clara.

KD's Togo stand up, Shockwave, wasn't operating yesterday. I wonder if the park is checking the ride out because of the horrible accident in Japan. This is just observation followed by speculation on my part--not an established fact.

^The indoor launcher is Flight of Fear. Beast and Son of Beast are at Kings Island, not Kings Dominion (just to clarify).

^Yes, "phone of wood" was irrestible to an old copyeditor like me. Vekoma does have a good reputation when it comes to wooden coasters. (I really liked Thundercoaster at Tusenfryd.)

I'm more curious about this "phone of wood"--now there's an interesting piece of technology. But seriously, folks, thanks for sharing the information.

Actually, the world's been over for quite some time. We are all the figment of some cosmic giant's imagination, who exists as an atom on the right hoof of an even more enormous space donkey. So, no worries.

OK, TOGO Stand-ups now officially have a history of losing their wheels. This happened in PKI years ago, but didn't this also happen at PKD? I don't know about losing a wheel, but there has been one death on KD's Shockwave. A mentally impaired fellow managed to get free of his shoulder restraints and fell to his death a few years back. My condolences to the family of the poor woman in Japan.