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Which ever company puts the next water slide at The Ravine Water Park in Paso Robles, CA. We need more water slides here.

I've been reading this TR little by little over the past couple of weeks, and finally got caught up. Thanks for sharing, great stories and pics so far. I can't wait to read more.

It's crazy that this happened, especially on a clear day when SF has so many foggy days. I heard reports that the pilot was using auto-pilot for the landing, though this is not 100% confirmed. I'm glad not more than two people died so far, and hopefully no more will die. One of the passengers onboard who was interviewed on CNN yesterday compared the landing to a jarring roller coaster ride. I've flown out of SFO numerous times, including trans-Atlantic flights to London and Amsterdam on 777s. I much prefer SFO over LAX ( I live halfway between both so those are my main international options).

I guess they are hoping that another hurricane like Sandy won't hit the Jersey Shore for years. Is the whole ride complex on the pier new or just the wheel?

Wow! This may end up being a good idea. If I was in a park that offered this I might try it out just to get the feel of the experience.

Cool TR of the Disney Fantasy. When I finally do a cruise, DCL is on the top of my list. No Klassy Karnival Kruise for me. And it must be a Caribbean cruise for me, no LBC to Mexico cruise for me. The food choices look really good too, and I'm glad you took advantage of the seafood options, being a seafood lover myself.

Last time I went to Knott's for Knott's Scary I used Priceline to book a room for the night. I bided $50 (comes to $64 with taxes and fees) for a three star hotel near the park and I got the Courtyard Marriott which was less than two blocks from the park. We were able to walk over to the park and avoided paying for parking. This Courtyard was really nice (if you been to a Courtyard you know most of them are really nice) and really convenient. I'll will be driving down to SFMM from the Central Coast very early in the morning and will most likely drive straight to Buena Park after the day at SFMM and stay at a hotel by Knott's so I don't have to drive to Knott's in the morning (LA traffic is much smoother at night). I will be using Priceline again, hopefully I get lucky like last time and get the same hotel.

I would like to see more fresh Asian options like Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese. Also food dishes inspired by the gourmet food trucks of LA, SF, NY, etc. Yakitori would be really nice and would be easy to make and easy to eat on the go while walking through a park or waiting in line. Any food that is innovative/interesting and not something you can get anywhere like the same ole burgers, fries, pizza, etc would be a welcome sight. I like the Bengal BBQ and Dole Whip at Disneyland. I would also like the US Disney parks to implement the different flavors of popcorn.

My favorite mainstream candy bars are Twix, Snickers (any variety), Take 5, and M & Ms Peanut and Almond. I also love any type of sour gummy candy, especially watermelon and grapefruit flavored ones.

106 by my house today when I left for the beach 30 minutes away and 66 at the beach in Cayucos, CA. 62 when we left the beach a few hours later and only 89 when I returned home.

^^^Coca Cola Life should taste pretty good if its well executed, as Stevia has a less diet-like taste than Aspartame, Sucralose, and Ace K, and its being blended with sugar (or HFCS probably if it comes here). Coke Zero has been successful by tasting less like diet than other colas, so Coke Life should taste even closer to regular Coke. Stevia is already blended with sugar in some iced teas, juice drinks, flavored waters, and energy drinks. I think Coke has learned it's lesson from Coca Cola C2 (nine years ago), and the packaging and name of Coca Cola Life reflects that, along with the choice of Stevia over Aspartame, Sucralose, and Ace K (also a way to differentiate itself from Pepsi Next). Which of the following cans is more visually appealing and stands out more? Coca Cola Life with HFCS/Sugar and Stevia Coca Cola C2 with HFCS/Sugar and Aspartame, Sucralose, and Ace K

You guys didn't go all the way to Japan to eat at America Town, did you?

I had a Pepsi Next last night. Not bad when you want a lower calorie soda (60 Kcals a can) but don't want to go all the way to diet soda. Not something I'd drink on a regular basis but once in awhile. Speaking of Pepsi Next, Coke will be introducing Coca Cola Life, first in Argentina, and then possibly across the globe like with Coke Zero. It could eventually become part of the global line-up of Coca Colas along with Classic, Diet/Light, and Zero. www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/28/coca-cola-life_n_3516512.html I love the green color they chose Pepsi will be green with envy if this goes global No one will confuse Coca Cola Life for regular or diet.

I've never worked in a theme park, but my dad worked in the Men's Shop of Disneyland Hotel in the Summer of 1980 and got to attend Disneyland's 25th Anniversary Birthday Party with my mom (before I was born), which was a private event. He gave me one of these buttons!

Depends on which Arrow coaster your talking about. A back seat ride on the Matterhorn Bobsleds is going to be different than a back seat ride on X2 or a back seat ride on Viper. The only way to answer your question is to ride every Arrow coaster in every seat and take notes. Now you've got a lot of coasters to ride, so I suggest you get started soon kailisun98.

^Are they getting rid of that bridge? I hope not. Otherwise the project looks good. Having Hershey's World and M&M's World across the street from each other will have some tourists who wouldn't necessarily pay attention to one of them by themselves visit them both. Now they just need a Ghiradelli Store nearby, say at Planet Hollywood.

^ Sometimes Apple's weather app is wrong or it has to be refreshed. Sometimes I'll turn it on and will list the weather from the last time I opened it up and it will take a few minutes to update. And the weather numbers aren't nearly as accurate as Weather.com or Accuweather.com. I used AccuWeather to post my numbers.

I may have to check this out. Hopefully this book becomes successful enough where they can make a Summer TV series out of it like Under The Dome.

^Death Valley living up to its reputation. Yesterday It was 99°F here where I am. Today it will reach 100°, although it will cool down to 61° at night (that's the great thing about only being 20 miles inland from the coast). Sunday it will go up to 106° here supposedly so I will be heading to Pismo Beach where the is high is supposed to be 81°(which is high for Pismo). Those who say 80° is hot are wrong. 80° is warm, not hot. There will be extreme heat in most of Southern/Central CA this weekend with levels cooling down to normal summer hot (90s around me) around next Wednesday.

Cool pics so far, can't wait to see more. Pissed off owl would be a cool pet to have. I love the way it stares at you.

I didn't know EDM had rides! That would be cool if more concert festivals had rides. Nothing like killing time on rides in between bands.

^I only walked that part of the strip from Sahara (where the nearest monorail station was) to Stratsophere and back to Sahara to take the monorail back to MGM. Normally I won't walk past the Venetian/Palazzo on the Strip.

The Santa Monica Pier is definitely under-utilized. If they could add a coaster like an Eurofighter or some unique flats it wouldn't take up too much space and people would line up to ride. It's too bad a park (if you can call it a park) in such a nice setting is represented by a helix coaster with no real drop and a few mediocre flats. They're not taking full advantage of the LA market and tourism and are only the third best beachside park in CA, and CA only has 3 beachside parks.

@singemfrc My DVR was doing the same thing, where it was cutting the very end of ICW when Robb is talking, and I have Charter. Travel Channel shows tend to run 15-20 seconds late from official time and jump into the next show after one ends without a commercial break. I solved this problem by setting my DVR to record one minute over the show's normal time.

What an experience you got being evacuated out of Thunder Mountain. I got evacuated out of Journey to Atlantis at Sea World San Diego several years back but it wasn't nearly as interesting as this. Our boat stopped right before the elevator lift after the first drop and a few other boats piled up behind ours. We were given front of the line passes to return later in the day as well. By the way, how were you able to afford flying first class being a SFMM employee at age 21? Excuse me if I'm being too personal with that question. I'm glad you've seen the city of Paris before being you didn't see it on this trip. I've been to Paris twice and have yet been to DLP. Next trip, I promise myself. Thanks for sharing.