bert425

^ just keep in mind that loss tends to ebb & flow, so it often is not consistent. in the past 2 weeks, I've dropped .2 lbs. . . yeah, after losing 2-3 lbs a week, not even losing 1/2 a lb in 2 weeks is disappointing. . but at least I'm maintaining, and even a .2 lb loss is a loss, so trying to keep from getting discouraged.

^ thanks. and someone posted on the TPR facebook group, that they have started the "wrapping" on the Whirlygig with the DC villains, so apparently the overlay has now started happening. it looks great thus far, and can't wait to get back in a couple of weeks to see the progress on that!

^ very cool, Kim, appreciate it! if anyone will be out at the park on Sun, say hello! or meet up to ride things, since Nick can't, so I'll be doing a lot of solo riding. (pretty sure I'll be doing Flash pass, but gonna wait until there to see crowds).

this is a fantastic pic! can't believe I've not seen it before, since been on TPR for a while now

Saw "Godzilla: KoM" today. (at Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline, in Austin. . and dressed appropriately, of course) very good, tho the story needed a further tweak, as some character motivations just don't work. the film also felt a wee bit too long both of these minor issues could have been solved by cutting out the kid and her mom subplots . .but oh well, didn't distract too much, and visually the film is stunning. the final battle in Boston is spectacular to look at. (and there *is* a post credit stinger. . not much of one, but there is one, if you want to stay thru the credits).

Nick is excited about the Moon Cars. . he was worried that the park might be closed next weekend due to the rain. yeah - even tho I advised it's a short route, and y'all said here not really worth any wait. I told him I don't *think* SFStL are close enough to the rivers to be affected, but who knows. . .we're planning on going on 6/9 even if weather is poor, since we'll be there. he's panicked because the Arch called and told me they are cancelling all River Cruises due to weather/raised river, and they were going to refund our cruise tickets (but the Arch , museum, and movie are still expected to be open).

incredible immersion by Disney (the attention to detail is pretty mind blowing), and some fantastic pics and video Robb and Team TPR. looks like y'all had a great time, and even tho I'm not a big Star Wars fan, I look forwards to visiting this in upcoming years.

most of them have custom theaters built. for shows like "Ka" & "O" it's an absolute necessity.

oh no!! they removed Glitter Gulch and the iconic Vikki? that makes me super sad. . but I guess it was expected, since they are trying to make Freemont more family friendly/tourist friendly - what with that zipline there now.

LOL. yeah, we love Vegas. . we need to go back in the next year or so (tho yeah, it's gotten expensive these days). two further "hints": 1 - I wouldn't rent a car: use shuttle service from Airport to Hotel (the go to the strip and to Freemont hotels). if you want to do tours, then book via a tour service, as I noted, most will pick up at Hotels and drop back off. of course, you wouldn't have a car, but really, there's a monorail, buses, taxis, lots of ways to get around and no car means no parking fees. 2 - as mentioned above, there are two central "casino" areas in Vegas, that most people don't realize. there's the Strip - very famous with Stratosphere at 1 end, and Mandalay Bay at the other (in between are the hotels like Tropicana, NYNY, MGM Grand, Mirage, Bellagio, Ceasar's Palace, Bally's, Flamingo, Paris, Circus Circus, etc. . . the other famous area is Freemont street - that's where all the "classic" Vegas casino's/neon is (tho they've really updated over the past decades, and places like Fitzgeralds, Lady Luck, etc. . are now gone). . . but Golden Nugget, Horseshoe, Plaza, are still there, along with Glitter Gulch (adult bar with Vegas Vicki neon kicking her leg), and the other famous Cowboy Neon. . . that area is closed to traffic (pedestrians only) and the whole street is covered with a giant LED screen that projects "shows" once it get's dark (the Freemont Street Experience)

if you've never been? ABSOLUTELY worth a 4-5 day trip. book a full day trip to Grand Canyon (most tourlines will pick you up, and drop you off from your Vegas Hotel and give you a few good hours at the Canyon, as well as a stop at Hoover Dam). You can also easily book a day trip to Hoover Dam itself, which will give you enough time to tour it if you want, as well as most include a stop at Ethyl M chocolate factory & Cactus Gardens (Ethyl M are the famous liquor filled chocolates). many shows tend to be dark on Mondays, but I'd highly recommend if you stay at least 4 nights, to see 2 Cirque shows (my choices would be "Love" at Mirage & "O" at Bellagio). . and if you want to squeeze in another show, we *adore* "Absinthe" at Ceasars' - tho it's pretty NC 17 rated (language, not nudity). There's also a Madame Trussaud's wax museum (tickets cheap when purchased from the discount booths up and down the strip), the Bellagio fountains, the Mirage Volcano. . all the fun stuff on the strip. Keep an afternoon (and night) open to take the Deuce double-decker bus down to Freemont street to see the lights, and to check out the Neon Museum, the Mob Museum, and all the classic Vegas attractions (the Golden Nugget & the shark tank in the pool at the Golden Nugget; the picture with a million dollars cash (free) at Binions Horseshoe, a picture in front of Glitter Gulch!) we always stay center strip (with preferred hotel the Flamingo, simply for location - it's basically a glorified Holiday Inn. . but the location really cannot be beat. . and many of the shows I noted above are easy walking distance.. as well as the Flamingo has a monrail stop). well worth the trip, even if you're not a big gambler.

incredible photos. Brings me joy to see them, when stuck behind the computer working thanks for posting em, Hanno!

agreed 100%. in particular the parking fees. shows are hurting, and a large part of that I would say is due to locals not wanting to pay to park. I have family in Vegas, and they have stopped going to the shows, even when discounted for locals - as the $25 parking fee (at some of the strip resorts) are killing any benefit they get from seeing a Cirque show for the umpteenth time, even if the ticket is heavily discounted. it's a shame. I remember the alarm being raised when the resorts started charging for parking -- and the response was basically: well, they've been charging resort fees for years, and it hasn't kept folks away, so this won't matter. but of course, parking fee affects locals coming to your resort, not necessarily the people staying in your place (who very likely took a shuttle from airport and don't need to park anyways). just my 2cents.

thanks Bill. yeah, Wonder Woman packs a hell of a punch, in such a fairly small footprint. start lobbying Playland to get one

^ congrats! glad you had such a good time. (don't most B&M have "big boy" seats tho?. . . so you shouldn't worry about that). good job, keep it up!

Photo TR now up: https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75911&start=130

took a trip down to SFFT Saturday, and despite being super crowded (of course, it's Memorial Day weekend so was expecting that), had a great time. multiple rides were having issues, but most everything eventually came back up - only exception being Gully Washer (looked like the lift back into load/unload broke - there was a MASSIVE pileup of rafts stuck down below lift - as seen from the Iron Rattler break run. It took them a good 40 minutes to get everyone off the ride, and then it went down for rest of day - and it looked like they were draining it when I was leaving around 7:30. . so maybe to get under the lift mechanism to try to fix? Bug's Whitewater Rapids flume is back open post refurb - and was pulling a 2hour line (so skipped that today), but the spitting dragon is back up and working again. Wave Runner (the scrambler) is *still* down. . wonder what the heck is going on with that? *super* windy today, but huge kudos to SFFT, in that several things never went down for wind all day (IR, Batman (!), and even Scream & Skyscreamer operated all day. Poltergeist and Goliath were up and down a few times, but they kept starting them back up again, and I was able to get rides on both with shortish lines. as to Joker - photo update below a little disappointed they still don't have any shows running in the theaters (only a couple of live music shows in the Los Festivales amphitheater). . .but, I guess it IS still May, so it's early yet. on to pics: I'm here again. It was crowded as all hell, but I knew it would be due to the Holiday weekend. Still, most of the crowd was in the Waterpark, and all coasters were running at least 2 trains, which kept lines manageable (I'd say most were between 30minutes to an hour - tho SF is continuing to hold lines before Flash Pass merge points, so on some rides where the merge point is fairly far back from the load station (Iron Rattler, Superman, Batman, Pirates of the Deep Sea, Goliath), what looks like a long line, really isn't more than 15 minutes, there's just a large "hold" area they keep open in case any Flash Pass folks show up, and if not, then they let the line move every 5 minutes or so. It can add some time to waiting in the line, even if it doesn't really add any time to the ride wait - since once the standby line is released, you go all the way up to the stations. they sold a TON of Flash Passes today, as I saw lots of folks using them. . tho I got by without any issues (course, I had the whole day, so didn't mind waiting in any lines). It was windy, but since I saw it operating on my walk in from parking lot? first stop was Iron Rattler. even with Flash Pass operator holding line prior to the last two ramps up to station? Not much of a wait when I first arrived. No sign of the Rattlesnake fountain/sculpture at the entrance to Iron Rattler either. .that's been gone for "Refub" for a while now too. . . but they otherwise are still keeping the theming on the ride queue, so that's nice. the whole queue was set up, in preparation for the large holiday crowd - tho when I swung by for a re-ride post 5pm (after a lot of school groups had headed out), they had opened the bypass gates again, so the queue went directly from the entrance to the "ramps to station" without having to snake thru the rock gardens ChopSix had a way shorter line this time, and the Salad was nowhere near as fresh as it had been on my prior visit (soggy "crispy" noodles. . ew). . . but it was OK. I always get the pics now since i have the season photo pass hopped on the train, to let lunch settle. . and it promptly shut down due to "mechanical issues" they had it back up later in the afternoon, but after sitting for 10 minutes, decided just to walk over to Superman to get a ride. looks like majority of ride is now on site, the supports -with a great Green/Purple color scheme. that is gonna look fantastic on the skyline. Can't wait to see what those LEDs are gonna look like at night! looks like the fun-house queue has progressed really nicely (is that a "barrel of fun" entrance to the queue? . .hard to tell since it's so dark in there) Tho the ride chassis itself was nowhere to be seen. Supes was running fantastic, and had a great ride. two photo frame options for Supes now too. noticed that Wonder Woman wasn't running tho, so instead wandered over to Batman, stopping to take some pics of Joker Construction along the way speaking of chassis - Whirlygig now has the chassis back on the foundation (instead of rusting in the grass by Batman's queue), and looked like some maintenance work is getting done on it. No sign of any of the covering wrap, or the chairs - and oddly, the "Whirlygig" sign is still in place at the ride entrance. Wonder if they tabled the re-theme for the moment, and just are going to reopen as is? no idea, but the thought did cross my mind. I'm just happy to see something back on the pad since I was over there, I went ahead and got in line for Batman (which due to the way they hold the line for Flash Pass, actually was filled out into the overflow queue - even tho it was only about a 20 minute wait). this original S&S Freespin installation still packs a hell of a punch, and I flipped no less than 6 times during my ride. . it was GREAT (as long as you know how to ride: *tight* restraints, and push back into the seat so you flip with it, instead of bouncing in and out of the seat / restraint during the flips). what's this I see over in the area off of Batman's queue? (over where they had been storing Whirligig's chassis)?? A logo sign (2 of them, actually - so either one for ride entrance, or on either side of the top) for the new Joker Ride another angle of the Joker supports from over by the Eagle zipline queue, but I noticed the train was now running again. so. . since it was hard to get a pic of the Joker signs from the Batman queue, and they *were* right next to the train tracks. . . . I decided to walk back over to the train, to take a lap of the park they've done some decorating in Los Festivales since I was last there, including a nice (if generic), SFFT sign, and some pretty cool sun and flag decorations. I noticed from the train, that SFFT now has fountains to make the area near the fireworks stuff a bit more interesting. Bellagio fountains they aint. . but still, nice of them to try something a bit interesting. (there was piped in music and the water "danced" to it). view of Joker from the train close up of one of the supports, from the train better view of the Joker signs from the train I noticed while on the train, that Wonder Woman had started cycling empty trains, so got off in Spassburg and walked over to Wonder Woman, and was rewarded with almost a walk on - 2 train wait. the Flash pass operator told me they had been down for mechanical issues, and just reopened. So it really worked in my favor. and of course, they placed me in back row (again). . LOL. I love it in the back on this coaster. .it just FLIES with massive ejector air, but the support is on the shoulders not the legs, so I don't mind it at all. it's a much wilder ride in the back. I decided to get off and get right back in line, even tho in the short time I had been on my almost walk on ride, the line grew to over 30 minutes (but again, I was here for the day, so didn't mind). here's what it looked like when I got right back in line. By the time I got to the short section to the station, the line was already stretching back up to the main entrance - at least an hour 1/2 wait by then. . so glad I got my rides in almost back to back. was able to get some fun pics from the queue, and the sun hiding behind a cloud. wheeee 2nd ride, and yep, they placed me in the back. but when I finally got up to the station? DENIED!.. ride down for wind. waited it out, or at least planned to, since Goliath had gone down too, but after about 10 minutes, that one started cycling trains, and Poltergeist was still down. Another 5 minutes, and they announced they did not know when/if Poltergeist would re-open, but we were welcome to wait. another 5, and the line completely cleared out, and since Goliath was now cycling with riders, I decided to go ahead and head over there to get a ride, and would try Poltergeist again later. .. after Wondy, headed over to Poltergeist (my favorite coaster in the park), which didn't have a large line, but due to the loading of these trains, even a short line *always* takes forever. the restraints are just funky, and not forgiving at all of some body types - especially if a person has larger thighs, or a decent belly. (it's that side seatbelt connector that's the culprit). . so it always takes forever to load, as people always get walked after trying it out. wish this coaster would put in a test seat, to help with load times. . but oh well. So this wait was about 35 minutes, but not too bad, since I had an Icee to sip on while waiting. only about a 5 minute wait for Goliath, since they were cycling 2 trains, and it had just reopened (and it was near the front of the park, so unless you're on that side of park? you don't see it running). the paint on this still looks fantastic from the repaint late last year, and it's still as forceful as ever. Great ride. whee. while in Queue for Goliath, I noticed the massive amounts of cars/buses leaving the parking lot. it was close to 5:30, so decided I'd take a lap of the park (gotta get my steps in ) and check out what kind of line Iron Rattler had now. it was actually shorter than it had been earlier in the day (and as noted prior, they had opened up all the queue gates, so I was able to go all the way up the 3rd ramp in the queue). So only about a 10 minute wait. worth it. . I always go for the back car on this coaster, the dive from the canyon wall into the tunnel is so much more intense in the back. . as is the barrel roll over the drop. shoulda sad on the left to get a better picture tho. I continued my way around the park, and a quick check on Wonder Woman showed a pretty full queue still. So since I had ridden twice, decided not to be greedy, and went to the boardwalk, and over to Pirates. only one other person was in the line outside. . it looked closed, so I actually asked the flash pass guy if it was? he told me that they were open, and feel free to get in line. so. . . yeah. no one in line, but he was holding if for flash pass (oy). it's a shame, really, because they spent so much effort on the fantastic queue for this ride, but because of where they hold it? once he let us in? walked right past all the theming, and right onto the loading platform, with no time to even glance at the queue theming, unless you make an effort to stop to look. anyways, got my best score ever on it. . not bad, and well above the "high" score needed Pandemonium also had no line, so although I don't often ride this spinning coaster (typically only when visiting with my spouse), I hopped in the short line. and it promptly went down for mechanical issue. not sure what was going on, a few folks left the line, but I decided to give it 10 minutes or so. Never saw any maintenance guys come over, or anyone come talk to the operator at the panel.. . but after sitting with nothing moving? the ride just started moving again, and they started loaded cars, and we were off. so, yeah. . that was weird. it was nice to see them back up to 6 cars on this tho, as last time we rode it? they were only cycling 4 cars. had a fun ride, tho not all that much spinning. but still fun. it was getting close to 7, so figured I'd hit the Carousel and head out. on the way back to the main gates, noticed Poltergeist was running again -- and the line was only to the bottom of the station stairs (so maybe a 15 minute wait?). . so hopped in line for that, and got to ride my park favorite. then it was Carousel time. and, yay, got to ride on my multi-colored eyes, white rabbit. so ended the day on a great note. as noted . . didn't ride Bugs, since with Gully Washer down, the other water ride really had a long line. but they fixed the spraying dragon.. so stopped on way to front to take some pics of folks getting sprayed

Poltergeist on the way out of SFFT Saturday evening (it had been up and down all day due to wind, including shutting down when I was just outside the station earlier in the day. . . luckily, opened back up just before I was ready to head out, so bee-lined over there to get a lap on it).

most days this week involved eating leftovers from going out to dinner, or actually going out to dinner. for example, my Fajita dinner on Sunday, lasted me thru Monday/Tues/Wed lunch too. . . so even tho not eating "great", at least I'm only eating a portion of my restaurant meal (tho it would be best if I DIDN'T eat out). I *did* continue to exercise daily, and at least trending in the correct direction. . but would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that in 8 days, only dropped 1 lb. but at least I'm at 20lbs lost exactly, and going in the correct direction: so: started back on plan on 4/1 at 218 lbs 1st check in was on 4/14 at 211.6 lbs 2nd check in was on 4/22 at 208.2 lbs 3rd check in was on 4/28 at 206.2 lbs 4th check in was on 5/10 at 201.8 lbs. 5th check in was on 5/18: 199.2 lbs. and today, 5/26: 198 lbs. that's my status. bert

it's not really a "mouse" (more wild mouse adjacent) . .but yeah, those turns get sharper as the ride goes on, don't they. LOL

the Mini Golf at Fun Spot Atlanta looks amazing. We didn't have enough time when there last year to play, but I did get a pic of of from the Ferris Wheel (I'm back in ATL over Labor Day weekend, for Dragon*con, and we're already planning to spend that Monday at SFOG with a stop at Fun Spot to play mini golf)

took a trip down to SFFT today, and despite being super crowded (of course, it's a holiday weekend so was expecting that), had a great time. multiple rides having issue, but most everything eventually came back up - only exception being Gully Washer (looked like the lift back into load/unload broke - there was a MASSIVE pileup of rafts stuck down below lift - as seen from the Iron Rattler break run. It took them a good 40 minutes to get everyone off the ride, and then it went down for rest of day - and it looked like they were draining it when I was leaving around 7:30. . so maybe to get under the lift mechanism to try to fix? Bug's Whitewater Rapids flume is back open post refurb - and was pulling a 2hour line (so skipped that today), but the spitting dragon is back up and working again. Wave Runner (the scrambler) is *still* down. . wonder what the heck is going on with that? *super* windy today, but huge kudos to SFFT, in that several things never went down for wind all day (IR, Batman (!), and even Scream & Skyscreamer operated all day. Poltergeist and Goliath were up and down a few times, but they kept starting them back up again, and I was able to get rides on both with shortish lines. as to Joker - looks like the fun-house queue has progressed really nicely (is that a "barrel of fun" entrance to the queue? . .hard to tell since it's so dark in there). . . .and looks like majority of ride is now on site, the supports -with a great Green/Purple color scheme, and a logo sign (2 of them, so either one for ride entrance, or on either side of the top). Tho the ride chassis itself was nowhere to be seen. speaking of chassis - Whirlygig now has the chassis back on the foundation (instead of rusting in the grass by Batman's queue), and looked like some maintenance work is getting done on it. No sign of any of the covering wrap, or the chairs - and oddly, the "Whirlygig" sign is still in place at the ride entrance. Wonder if they tabled the re-theme for the moment, and just are going to reopen as is? no idea, but the thought did cross my mind. No sign of the Rattlesnake fountain/sculpture at the entrance to Iron Rattler either. .that's been gone for "Refub" for a while now too. a little disappointed they still don't have any shows running in the theaters (only a couple of live music shows in the Los Festivales amphitheater). . .but, I guess it IS still May, so it's early yet. ChopSix had a way shorter line this time, and the Salad was nowhere near as fresh as it had been on my prior visit (soggy "crispy" noodles. . ew). . . but it was OK. anyways, I'll have TR up with pics by end of weekend.

eh. . it's a brand new ride (and a version that is the 1st a Six Flags has installed). it's gonna have issues.

I really like the "S" shield logo on the ground there. .that was added for Supergirl ride, correct?

I'm a local to Stl. I'm just interested in defunct attractions ah. . the name and "location"threw me. we went to BGW a couple of years back and the park started handing out free water, and folks were "fainting" from the heat (it was the low 90's) . . and we were shocked by it (and just looked at each other, and kept riding things). When it's over 100 almost every day down here in the summer, you get used to it