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^The lessons of Disney have been learned well.

The proof will be in the ridin'. And it's only about 15 minutes from my house.

^Yep--Sheikra!

This gives me a great idea! Take a hot dog on a stick, dip it in egg batter (not cornmeal), deep fry it, then dust it with powdered sugar and serve with a little cup of rasberry jam! It's the Corn Dog of Monte Cristo! Start your own franchise today!

Corn dogs . . . o-o-o-o-o-o . . . smothered in funnel cake . . . o-o-o-o-o-o . . .

Now that has to be a park employee's wet dream.

Name the ship the SS Miskatonic and put Capt. Lovecraft at the helm, with Arthur Gordon Pym as first mate--that would be too cool. Our first port of call, "the Mountains of Madness"! EDIT: Yeah, I know Pym is one of Poe's characters, but he did go on a long ocean voyage. How about Dr. Herbert West attending in the sick bay and Yeoman Purser Charles Dexter Ward?

^^Just what is the "lovely creature" supposed to be? It looks like a Rorschach test.

I remember riding the Tobaggan at the Stanislaus County Fair back when I was a teenager. The 90-degree lifthill in the tube was pretty freaky, and it smelled like a cross between my Dad's musty old farm shop and a boys locker room--all oily and dank.

Great pics, Erik. Montu looks great. Yeah, as much as I love Euroburg and Tramprica, their shirts haven't been much to write home about. Their best ones use park maps. BGE's big "logo" shirt even features, for some reason, what looks like Cinderella's Castle from the Magic Kingdom in the center. Euroburg did have one cool Howl-o-Scream souvenir--a very detailed "Jack" bobblehead. What was odd is that these bobbleheads were nowhere to be seen until the last night of Howl-o-Scream, when there were stacks of them in a few stores (price a suprisingly low $4.99 each). It's like on the last day somebody realized, "Oh, crap! We have a whole warehouse of these damn things, and we never put 'em out!" Either that or they were delayed in manufacturing.

Nice work, Tom--and nice to know that traveling carnivals are very bit as frightening in the UK as they are in the US. In the string of warning signs above, what is meant by "feint hearted"? That those with artificial or mock hearts shouldn't ride?

I remember riding Montezooma's Revenge at KBF back in the 1970s, and the CM at the control board extended his arm, thumb up; asked "Clear?"; then turned his thumb down and said "dispatching" with a rather fiendish grin on his face. Used to crack up my older brother, too.

I grew rather fond of Magnum ice-cream bars during the UK trip last year. Their white-chocolate concoction is particularly good. I've gained five pounds just thinking about it.

Pretty cool--it'd be nice to have dinner served in that car while you chug around the park.

^Nicole beat me by over 1,000 points! Bah!

Thank you! dt What is "VD Day"? Venereal Disease Day? Happy Birthday to TPR and, of course, Dave!

I posted enormous pics on one of my early TRs, until someone politely advised that I reduce them (in my case, the software for my printer had a resizing feature). Thanks for sharing, and don't be discouraged from posting more photo TRs--you'll get the hang of it.

Seagulls can be pretty aggressive--I wonder if they go for Dole Whip, too? Have you ever encountered the ultra-aggressive, Doritos-stalking squirrels of Seventeen Mile Drive in Carmel? Now they're pretty scary! Reminds me of last summer at BGE, when I encountered this trash can lid (near the Griffon construction site) that was shaking back-and-forth violently. Out popped a large squirrel with about half a waffle cone in its mouth! Actually got a picture of the little bugger. But I digress--thanks for the TR and the pics.

Loved the artsy shot of Disney-MGM's water tower through the palm trees. I have to give the honors to Florida's ToT, as well (although the West Coast version is fun). The Other Chuck

Yep--the consensus is . . . FoF with lapbars good! FoF with OTSRs bad! The ride was closed for much of last summer, but did reopen sporadically late in the season. I used to hate it in the OTSR days, too. It's still kind of rough, but quite bearable.

The word you're looking for is "ravine." Griffon's lifthill tops out at 205 feet, while Sheikra's is 200 feet.

^Blazing Saddles. "I have a vewy good fwiend in Wome named Biggus Dikkus."

^Hmm--Spaceballs. (President Scroob to Colonel Sandurz.) OK, try this on for size: "Children of the night . . . shut up!" Love at First Bite

Yes, it's good to know that America has its priorities straight. The cover of the current Newsweek features Paris Hilton and Britney Spears: "The Girls Gone Wild Effect." CNN acutally had live coverage of Smith's death this afternoon, like she was the freakin' Pope or something. Our whole celebrity-addled culture really ticks me off.

Good work, Soren! It was a pleasure meeting you Alessandra last year. I'm sure our paths will cross again.