J.R.

It seems like they're always renovating Predator, and it keeps getting worse anyway. It'll be interesting if Paul Snyder, the original owner, buys it back: A dated news bit, but all the more relevant now.

Six Flags didn't have a choice in what kind of trains El Toro had. Intamin woodies come with Intamin trains. The El Toro trains are quite a bit different than those on Colossos and Balder, which are more open and don't have the sensors that will reject a larger rider if the lap bar doesn't go down far enough. Given the past incidents involving larger riders on Intamin coasters, you really can't blame them for being extra cautious. The airtime on El Toro is so extreme (based on my night rides) that the snug bars are almost a necessity. I didn't think they detracted from the ride much and at least they don't ratchet down farther while riding. -Janna

Adam was last seen in a cheap motel in Southington, CT, drinking beer with other BACT members. Some of the remains of the BACT meeting in CT. It's not the bright red clown shirt that's making him so happy, it's the Insanity.

^^Todd, there's a few pictures of West Virginia's finest in my Camden Photo TR: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25521 -Janna

Here's another beer and boobs photo. (Sorry, I only take my shirt off at Eastcoaster parties.) (Photo by Borg, styling by Derek) My credits belong to Borg.

More pitchers, y'all! I screwed up with the first batch and mislabled one of the Big Dipper pictures. The first coaster photo is actually the Little Dipper. Answers to a couple of questions: The cattails and tall grass are gone from around the log flume. Must've been attractin' vermin. The new Larson scooters are operating but we didn't bother riding them. We haven't had much success with them in other parks. -Janna The hillbilly band putting on a fantastic show. The West Virginia Grille. An air-conditioned cafeteria-style place to eat. Sadly, we couldn't find much there that we wanted to eat. The most scenic part of the park. Me and my new friends. Really bad picture of me but my friends shore look happy, probably because they all line jumped us. A and E taking video and photos from the train. Adam is representin' the B in BACT. The Leaning Engine That Could. N'at Man said there used to be a pen full of barking dogs along the train route but they're gone now. Haunted House. Borg counts this as a coaster. I bet Jeff Johnson does too. Little Dipper loading. The Little Dipper as seen from the train. It has a steel structure. Big Dipper. Watch out fer them wires! Front of the Big Dipper train. Big Dipper More of the fabulous midway. All that blacktop in 95+ degree heat is awesome! Part of the fabulous midway. That plush has been around for a while....it was real dirty! The stunning entrance to the park. Admission: $20.13

N'at Man, Borg, Adam and Ellen and I made a quick stop at Camden Park in Huntington, West Virginia on our way home from Holiwood Nights and Rumblefest. It was an interesting diversion to break up the long ride. The park has two NAD woodies, an excellent Whip (smaller 8-tub model), a cool dark ride like Devils' Den at Conneaut, a train with a leaning engine, a heavy metal Caterpillar without the cover, and an interesting clientele. I'll let these few ('cause we didn't stay long) pictures tell the story. -Janna Guess these folks need a sign tellin' 'em to flush the toilet. It ain't like the outhouse out back.... These folks were in the hillbilly band that provided live entertainment on the midway. Big Dipper ride op. More Big Dipper Big Dipper is a fun ride. We were line jumped by an entire tatooed family but were too scared to say anything. I tried to get this guy head on but wasn't fast enough. Believe me, it was horrifying... a whole flap of flesh just hung out of his shirt and wiggled as he walked. One of the coolest things about the park is the sign.

If you're going to be in Western New York and want to add to your stash or try new things, you may want to check out Premier Gourmet sometime. They have a pretty large beer selection and many of them can be bought as a "mixed" 6-pack so you don't have to commit to a whole case or six-pack for something you just want to try. Beer list and address can be found here: http://premiergourmet.com/catalog/ (select Beer List on the left) It says "Buffalo" in the address but technically it's in Kenmore/Tonawanda. They used to have beer tastings on Saturdays; I don't know if they still do. There's also an immense liquor store (one of the largest in the US) next door http://prime.premiergroup.net/about.php. They also used to do wine tastings on Saturdays. Janna

^Sharp Edge also has a "Beer Emporium" location in the Friendship neighborhood in Pittsburgh. I've visited that location but not the Creekhouse one. The selection (heavy on the Belgiums) at both locations is huge. See sharpedgebeer.com for details. Janna

Also--don't miss the Auto Race, the last Traver Auto Ride in existence. -Janna

Countries: US Canada Mexico Jamaica England Wales Switzerland Italy Vatican City Germany Austria Netherlands Belgium France Japan Philippines Finland Sweden Norway Denmark States: CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WV, WI, WY and possibly others I don't remember visiting as a kid. -Janna

You Are Samuel Adams You're fairly easy to please when it comes to beer - as long as it's not too cheap. You tend to change favorite beers frequently, and you're the type most likely to take a "beers of the world" tour. When you get drunk, you're fearless. You lose all your inhibitions. (That usually happens when I drink too much wine!) You're just as likely to party with a group of strangers as you are to wake up in a very foreign place.

^^^The rally song may be boring (http://www.steelergridiron.com/fanzone/herewego.wav) but this town knows how to celebrate. We live in a quiet residential neighborhood and an hour after the game you can still open the front door and hear fireworks, horns and people screaming at the top of their lungs. Here we go!

Even though I was threatened with expulsion from Coaster Team, I am the proud new owner of a Sirius satellite radio. Borg gave it to me for Christmas and I finally hooked it up for home and car and activated it on Sunday, just in time for Howard's debut. I haven't set presets yet (I have 20) but I am loving the wide variety of programming. My drive to work is short but it will be great for road trips and I like that I can use it in the car and at home. I hated commercial radio. Janna

I found TPR about 6 years ago when I first got into coasters. I found out about the forums via email. I stick around because I like the photo trip reports and that there are members and park coverage from all over the world.

If there's any way to check this, I would, just in case, since you'll need space for a vehicle. Can't answer the Hansa Park question but 3 hours is plenty for Bon Bon Land. Try to do both "self-operated" rides, the butterfly "coaster" and the aerial ropeway (Schwebebahnan?). We didn't take this route but we did take an overnight ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm. We chose the Silja line and it was very nice. Lots of things to do while on board. We were in a ghetto cabin, way below deck (below the vehicles, I think!), and it was perfectly fine--the only time we spent in the cabin was sleeping (no problem) and getting ready in the morning. A tip if you do have a very small cabin with 4 bunks for only 2 people: open one upper and one lower bunk for sleeping. That way you can store your luggage under the upper bunk and have room to walk around. Overall, the Scandinavian trains and ferries seem quite nice, compared to others in Europe. Other random things: Ride Balder as late as you can. It's quite sluggish in the morning but warms up as the day goes on. You'll get in early (1/2 hour?) because you're a hotel guest. Try to see Tivoli at night, if your schedule allows. I know some people have dissed Bakken, but I loved it. Guess I just had a great time there the day we went. It was pretty deserted so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It's hard to describe--kind of like a bizarre Knoebel's in Denmark. The wristbands are a little weird because many of the rides are owned by independant contactors and they have to be scanned at each ride. The guy running the kiddie coaster the day we were there was so enthusiastic that he made it a really fun ride (in the rain, even). The Fun House is very cool and don't miss the dark ride (Spogelsestoget). If you like flats, the Moser Extreme is excellent. Dillen, a water flat ride, is loads of fun once you figure out how to get the innocent bystanders wet. Make sure you take a close look in the candy store window that's next to Rutschebanen, to spot the heart-shaped lollipops that say "F**K YOU" among all the "I LOVE YOU" ones. Oh--if you like ice cream, the stuff in Scandinavia is fantastic.