timberskara

Wow, I'm not ashamed to admit that it was really exciting to have a random package from a random stranger show up at my door! (Maybe that wasn't such a good way to phrase it...don't get any ideas.) But seriously, how often are we able to be surprised by something these days? Package in hand and anticipation growing, I was able to experience a little bit of childhood again-- before the world of amazon wish lists and gift cards when things were actually a surprise. What could it be? Packing peanuts....yay! Oh wait, and some other really fun stuff . Note: Banana not for scale Bananagrams game, Moose Munch, Jeff Daniels DVD and a card! Really, really thoughtful card Excited to watch this Can't wait to munch on this Thank you, thank you! Amazing gifts! I think I hit the Secret Santa jackpot! I really love my "survival pack" and will enjoy sharing laughs and smiles playing the game and DVD with friends and family this holiday...just not sharing the Moose Munch, that's allllll mine. Thank you Jessica for such a thoughtful, fun gift!

Really enjoying this tradition, and this thread! Got the last piece to my gift yesterday and shipped it on its merry way today. Happy ChrisHanKwanSivus, everyone. Great job spreading cheer around the world .

Thanks for organizing, Brandy! I'm looking forward to participating with the TPR family this year....and I like surprises.

I'm totally loving this thread! As the resident Coasting For Kids ninja, I can't resist poking a little fun...

Hope you guys didn't talk bad about me to my boss (Mayor Clayton)... Seriously, though, way to go! What a great event Attractions Magazine organized--so glad TPR was part of it. Thanks for coming out and showing your support, and for raising more than $3k! You are all awesome.

Fun and thorough coverage (as always), TPR! Thanks for sharing. When I was there earlier in the month they were doing a lot of painting, landscaping and other general improvements to the area and it looks like the hard work paid off. The coaster definitely surprised me and was a lot of fun, very smooth and the staff were really excited about it. Kudos to the Daytona Fun Parks family for bringing this great addition to the Boardwalk. I will be back!

WOW...absolutely phenomenal job fundraising this year, Team TPR! It makes me so proud to see how dedicated and passionate this group is, and the creative ways you garner support for the mission of GKTW. Although cold and rainy, I had an awesome time at Valleyfair-- I swear Coasting is my favorite day of the year . It was nice meeting my fellow TPR'ers. There is truly not enough thanks to go around to those who participated, donated, supported and promoted, but we thought this might make you smile. We had one of our special guests make a sign especially for you all...check it out! Lastly, the invite is always open-- if you're in the Central Florida area, please contact me and I'd love to take an hour to show you around our storybook Village so you can see first-hand the difference you are making in the lives of these deserving families. Yes, I'll even let you ride the carousel.

Fellow TPR members...you have done an extraordinary job rallying around this event and raising a tremendous amount of funds for GKTW! I cannot say thank you enough to all those participating, all who have donated and to Robb and Elissa for their support. I know I haven't been participating in this thread as much as I had hoped, but I've been keeping an eye on all the great things you all have been doing and couldn't be more proud. I'm excited to announce that, as of this morning, Carowinds has changed their itinerary to include Intimidator! This is something many of us have been pursuing for over a year, and we're thrilled to see it come to fruition. To my Carowinds riders, thank you for registering for this year's event regardless of the coaster selection and for enduring previous years on Thunder Road. The Carowinds itinerary is now as follows: Intimidator 10 a.m. - Noon Break for Lunch Carolina Goldrusher: 1 - 4 p.m. If you know of anyone who may be interested in two hours of ERT on Intimidator, please spread the word and encourage them to register as part of Team TPR. If the park sees an increase in participation, we're more likely to secure this ride for future events. Registration will be open through Noon EST on Thursday, June 6. We will also be running the final reports at that time, so those registered must have met the $75 minimum in order to participate. With Team TPR's commanding presence of $28,500+ raised, all participants at all parks have collectively raised more than $83k for GKTW! Less than two weeks to go...can't wait to ride with some of you at Valleyfair .

I had heard that after yesterday's outrageous wait times, the ride was going to open early today. Some friends and I arrived at eight (advertised open is nine), walked straight to the new area and got on right away. If you're interested in checking it out, go early! The queue was full by about 8:50. The theming in the area and queue is really spectacular. The employees were top notch, very friendly and helpful. The ride vehicles were impressive. I felt the actual ride itself, however, was pretty terrible. And I say this as a huge SeaWorld fan. My hopes weren't even that high, for what it's worth. I'm also a little bummed that the penguin exhibit is not currently accessible any other way. We asked an employee if you were able to just see the penguins and not ride...to which she said, "Yes, but you still have to wait in the line." I love the pass holder bypass on Wild Arctic and would be thrilled if they could figure out a similar option for this attraction. I definitely encourage everyone to check it out and form their own opinion. I feel bad that I didn't enjoy it, and have spent much of the morning trying to pinpoint what turned me off about it so much. In this case, I actually think the super awesome vehicles put too many limitations on fully developing the atmosphere. The floor is flat with no obstructions and the transitions between the rooms are a little weird, going through industrial-type garage doors. If it weren't for the pretty lights and music, I'd feel like I was riding on a forklift through a warehouse.

First, congratulations to Fun Spot and GCI on a fabulous new coaster! This thing has something for everyone to love and will surely attract families, teens, spring breakers and of, course, enthusiasts. I feel lucky to live nearby. HUGE kudos to Robb, Elissa, Jake and Jack for their professional and in-depth coverage at today's shoot. The TPR Crew is the most knowledgeable, efficient, thorough and personable group I've come across in my professional life in the industry and personal experience as an "extra" on past shoots. These guys worked really, really hard all day long and should be proud of the time and effort they put into capturing still and b-roll shots. One last shout-out to all my fellow riders today...everyone was in good spirits so early in the morning and was really understanding about switching seats and the small amount of downtime we experienced. Way to represent! All in all a really great day for the park, GCI, TPR and, well, me . Now, for a nap.

Had a lot of fun hanging out at the park for a couple of hours last night. Each time we go, I am more and more impressed with how nice the expansion is and how quickly everything is coming along. While many enthusiasts have been riding Iron Rattler, GateKeeper and Outlaw Run these last few weeks, nothing can compare to the soft-opening of a Junior Vekoma! Seriously it was a really fun little ride with an interesting layout and some surprising moments. The pricetag for one lap is pretty steep at $9 a pop. What else is there to do while standing around waiting for WL to test than to beg the GCI guys to let you climb in their box? Robb was able to mount his cameras on multiple parts of the train. Lucky riders!

Totally woke up with after-event glow this morning...I had an awesome time with an even awesomer group of people! So impressed with Robb and Elissa's mad tour-guide skills, the generous and friendly teams at Sally, Adventure Landing and Bob's who came in on their Saturday, and the TPR members who continuously expressed their thanks and gratitude throughout the day. All-around amazing event with $3,520 raised for Give Kids The World! When can we do it again?

Really looking forward to the Florida Amusement Industry Tour! What we have lined up is truly special and both Sally and Bob's are excited for the group to visit. A HUGE thanks to Robb and Elissa as well as all of the corporate supporters that made this event possible-- it's truly remarkable that 100% of the registration cost is coming back to GKTW. See you on the 6th!

Look what came in today... 83 days until the event! How many times do you think you'll ride on the big day?

Doing GREAT TPR! Definitely feel free to pull from what I've posted. All these families are media okay, so it's fine to share. If you're looking to make a flier or something of the like, check out our Tools Page. We just posted a new video that I would HIGHLY encourage you all to watch and share with your friends. Check it out on our YouTube page .

Thanks for posting the photos, guys...and I'm glad you enjoyed the gingerbread cookies! They were baked fresh in the Village's Gingerbread House restaurant and two amazing Coasting For Kids fairies tied the tags on and carefully shipped them off to the park.

Fantastic words to live by! This tiled quote can be found at the entrance to our Park of Dreams pool. Keep up the great work everyone...you make me so proud to be part of this community.

^Looking forward to meeting you, Curt! Yes, I'm super excited to be at VF for this year's event. I worked full-time in Marketing at the park for three years and am thrilled to go back to my old stomping grounds. Other than my day-of duties and any media interviews, I'll be in it with you guys from start to finish. I like to switch seats and talk to people, so promise not to look at me weird if I plop down next to you randomly, ok? I pinky-swear I'll shower and wear deodorant.

Oh! One more thing...we've updated coastingforkids.org to display the top three fundraisers at each park. There's a ton of Team TPR avatars in the bunch! Game on to the Valleyfair people...catch me if you can .

Happy Monday TPR'ers! Today I'm going to share with you my most favorite thing that's happening right now at the Village-- villa renovations! First, for those of you that don't know, the wish families stay in their own private villa for their weeklong vacation. Each villa is two bedroom, two bathroom and the cool thing is it's the kids that get the master bathroom while the parents get the small bathroom. Each villa is truly the family's home for the week and we even put their name on a sign by their driveway. There are two villas per building (think duplex-style) so that if there is a large family we can give them an adjoining villa. Today we have 140 villas on-site, with 64 more to be added with our expansion plan over the next 10 years. We have about 40 villas that were in our "Phase 1" construction from the late 80s and early 90s. While we have been very diligent in keeping these villas up to code and extremely clean for our special guests with weak immune systems, the Phase 1 villas are an eyesore and in dire need of upgrades. Over the course of this year, we will always have at least eight villas under renovation at any given time and when it's all said and done we'll have 40 "new" villas by the end of 2013. The team just got done with the first 8, which took them about two months to complete. I am truthfully more excited about the renovations than I am about the new villas or other major construction projects we have planned. I've posted some photos below, and I think you'll see why! Some may be interested to know we do a "reverse auction" with contractors for all of our construction projects, where vendors out-bid one other on who can do it cheaper. We also do these projects in a piecemeal sort of way, where there are different providers for the roof, electricity, tile, drywall, paint, etc. We are fortunate to have all of the materials heavily discounted, if not donated. Take a look .

On Friday mornings, characters from Universal come visit! Check out these adorable girls with their new friends--

Knott's info has been updated on Page 1 of this thread and at http://www.coastingforkids.org.

Just a little reminder of what's important in life:

^Thanks Shawn and everyone else who has posted similar comments! If you can't tell, I'm pretty enthusiastic about what we do and I love sharing it with others. TPR members are some of the greatest fundraisers and advocates we have for this event and for GKTW and I hope these posts give you a better understanding of what it is you're helping to provide. If our riders could remember just one of these tidbits and, when the train pulls into the station and there's a member of the general public standing behind the airgate for your row, take 30 seconds and share it with them. It will help them understand what this event is all about, alleviate any discouragement they have from waiting in a longer line and ultimately strengthen our partnership with Cedar Fair and awareness for our mission. Plus, it's a good way to break up your day!

Hooray for more sign-ups...thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! On Wednesday and Saturday mornings families can mosey on over to Keaton's Korral for horse and pony rides. Three of our wonderful Korral volunteers (all trained in horse therapy) assist each child as they go for a guided trot on these amazing animals. If the child isn't able to support themselves, a volunteer will ride on the horse with them. We have a ramp that raises to the same level as the horse's back to make it easy on the little ones and for those transferring from wheelchairs. After they finish their ride, each child is rewarded with a certificate and a souvenir cowboy hat. I just love the mornings where I see the kids walking around proudly in their hats! Because of this special program, many children ride for their first time at GKTW. Parents who thought it would never be possible for their son/daughter to participate just smile in awe as their child experiences what it's like to be a kid again. I'm positive I've shared the below photo before, but it's worth posting again...a picture really is worth a thousand words.