bert425

Thanks! I'm really enjoying your report too! (looks like you had the same Hershey weather that we had ). we'll have to agree to disagree on Skyrush!

Took me way longer than I had intended to get back to this and finish off our trip report – apologies! Day 9 – Culture day in Philadelphia. This was the last full day of our trip, and I really wanted to make the most of it and see as much of Historical Philadelphia as we could squeeze in. We already knew we were going to skip the National Constitution Center, as we had seen on the evening News that they were packing up all the life-size statues of the Presidents to put them into storage prior to a re-model. And without those statues? Honestly, the museum seemed a bit dry (nothing we couldn’t see online. . since most of what was remaining seemed to be interactive/online exhibits). But we absolutely wanted to tour Independence Hall – and the only way to do that (since I hadn’t been able to get tickets online. . the limited online tickets were already given out) was to go to the Independence Visitor Center when they opened in the morning and stand in line for the timed tickets (free, but similar to Pearl Harbor, you have to have tickets for timed tours to get in). The in-person tickets account for about 70% of the tickets handed out, so I knew if we got there prior to the 8:30 am opening, we’d have a really good shot to get timed tickets for whatever tour we wanted. The Independence Visitor Center is at Market and 6th, and our hotel was at Market and 13th, so we got up and out fairly early (they opened at 8:30) and headed down Market street towards the Visitor Center. Similar to how Seattle likes Starbucks, man, do people in Philadelphia like Dunkin Donuts! I swear, in only 7 blocks, we must have passed 5 different DD stores! It was safe enough to walk downtown, tho a little bit skeevy . .I was glad we were there on a Tuesday morning, so lots of “work” traffic on the sidewalks. We got to 6th and Market, and I headed towards what I thought was where we needed to go to line up, but luckily we stopped at a crosswalk light, and I happened to strike up a conversation with a lady also crossing who told me that she would show us where to go (and when I commented on the Dunkin Donuts everywhere, she offered us some of the Munchkins she had in the bag in her hand -- LOL), I was glad we bumped into her, since she brought us around the back of the Visitor’s Center (NOT where it shows you on the maps/flyers I had picked up), and we joined a line of about a dozen other folks (tho it filled in behind us). A Park Ranger came out with a megaphone (it was only about 8:05), and entertained the line, and told us about the history of the National Park area, and the opening times for the different buildings, and what charged admission, etc. He explained how it would work once they opened up the doors, and where we should go to get our tickets if we wished to tour Independence Hall. He also pimped the Visitor Center gift ship (most of the stuff in there was tacky), as well as the museum displays inside the visitor center. At around 8:20, they opened up the Visitor Center, and we went to the Park Rangers who were handing out the tickets for the Independence Hall tour. The tours run every 15 minutes from 9am until 4 (if I’m not mistaken). As the Liberty Bell opened up at 9 (and was right across the street from the Visitor Center, and on the way to Independence Hall), we decided that we’d do the 10am tour, which would give us time to look at the exhibits in the Visitor Center, and stop at the Liberty Bell. As you can see from the lack of pictures from the inside of the Visitor Center, the exhibits there – while interesting – were not photo worthy. The exhibits in the Visitor Center mainly focused on Slavery in the time of Washington, and I suppose that is because the President’s House/Slave Quarters Memorial is just across the street in front of the Liberty Bell center (we found that memorial to to be more informative). We finished at the President’s House memorial, and got in line for the Liberty Bell Security screen with only about 8 other people (and it was already 8:45!). I was shocked that there were so few folks lined up, but it was all in the timing, as the school groups (it was the last week for Penn. Students) hadn’t quite gotten there yet. So our timing was perfect, as once they opened and we went thru security, we had pretty much the entire Liberty Bell Museum to ourselves! Resulting in some spectacular photos (although somehow, even tho there were so few people there, Nick managed to get “legs” behind the Liberty Bell in almost every picture he took (heh). The Exhibit around the bell are fascinating, and you can actually get really, really close to it! They had a guard stationed next to it, and we were chatting and he told me that they need to keep someone stationed so close to stop people from touching – and LICKING – the Liberty Bell. Yes, that’s really a thing! (I googled it when we got home, and apparently it’s based on an episode of “How I met Your Mother” where one of the characters licks the bell to “taste freedom’). Bizarre. We had been told by the Park Ranger at the Visitor Center that there is another Security Checkpoint outside of Independence Hall, so we should arrive early for our tour. So we headed across the street and thru security and sat down to wait for our tour. It was now getting close to 10am, and here came all the school groups. I didn’t mind in the least, that our 10am tour consisted of us, and a school group of about 40 kids, and their chaperones. Although the Ranger leading our tour spoke clearly, and answered questions well, it was nice to hear the “teacher” expanding on what the guide was saying to her class. I love stuff like that, as it gave us a “behind the scenes” tour, with info and tidbits that the Ranger Guide doesn’t cover on the tour. Being that it was only the Capitol for a few years (Congress only met there twice after Declaration of Independence/Constitution was signed, but before the Capitol moved from Philadelphia), Independence Hall mainly consists of just two large rooms – an Assembly room, and a Supreme Court room for Jury trials (as in old England). The Assembly room is where both the Declaration of Independence, and the US Constitution were drafted and signed over a several year period. We then went next door to the “Congress Hall” and took a brief tour of the House Chambers, and got to go upstairs to the beautiful Senate Chambers. Between Independence Hall and he Congress Hall, there is a small building with an exhibit called Great Essentials (that we almost missed, since it looked like a gift shop). But what it actually is, are displays of surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States, along with the inkstand that was used during the signing of the Declaration and Constitution. If you ever get a chance to go, make sure you don’t miss this. Fascinating stuff. As there are no toilets on site, we decided to make our way back towards the Visitor Center to use the rest-rooms, as well as grab something for lunch. There were food carts everywhere, but I had seen some flyers that an office building had re-done their first floors into a Food Court/Shopping Center, so we asked for directions there, and it was just across Independence Park. That’s where I had my GOOD Philly Cheesesteak, and Nick had some Tacos (I think). We again timed it perfect, as literally moments after we got our food and sat down, *hundreds* of school kids on field trips flooded the foodcourt and lined up for Cheesesteaks. (luckily they all sat downstairs together). We finished off a very good lunch, and headed up 5th street towards Christ Church Cemetery, admiring the horse drawn carriages (and feeling bad for the poor horses out in the heat), on our way to look at Ben Franklin’s gravesite. I had considered going into the Cemetery, but when we actually go there, Franklin’s grave is set by an open gate, so you can look at it without actually going in. So even tho they encourage entry (and were selling souvenirs!) we just continued up Arch street to Betsy Ross’ house. Ok, now Betsy Ross’ house? THIS is a tourist trap. You enter in the gift shop, and there’s a short self guided tour. It didn’t help that as we were starting in the first room, a huge group of school kids gathered in the courtyard, and started their own tour. Unlike at Independence Hall, they zoomed thru the house here without really stopping to read or look at anything. Now granted, it’s a small house, but damn, it was crowded (and hot) in there. The stairwells are teeny-tiny (folks in those days must have been toothpick thin), and steep! The basement was cooler, and it was interesting to learn that Betsy made gunpowder and bullets in addition to sewing all the flags. Once the kids cleared out, we spent a bit more time here (10-15 minutes tops), but honestly? The nicest part of the Betsy Ross house was the courtyard, where we sat by her grave, in the shade, and enjoyed some water. They had a woman in character telling stories in the courtyard as well. . but she seemed to be geared towards the kids, so instead of listening to her we headed further down Arch street to 2nd street and hung a left towards Elfreth’s alley – something that had been recommended to me to go see by the concierge at the hotel (and since we were near it at Betsy Ross’ House, we made the trip). Elfreth’s alley is the oldest residential street in the Nation, founded in 1702, and still lined with tiny houses from that era that are occupied. It was long and narrow, and very, very cool. You could imagine being in the 1700’s and living on the street – as I’m sure it’s very similar to how it looked back then. I believe it’s designated a historic monument. It was one of my favorite sites we stopped at while in Philly, and you could tell that most of the houses are still occupied (there was one up for sale -- $900K ! – and unfortunately, they were doing some work on it while we were there, which brought some modern trucks/workers into the alley. But luckily, it’s one of the end houses, so once we passed them and got into the main alley, the illusion came back of being transported in time. Just lovely. By then it was almost 1:30pm, and although we were exhausted, having been walking non-stop since we left the hotel that morning, we still had plans for the rest of the day. I had gotten a coupon the day before (at the Allentown Tollway plaza) for a discount at the Franklin Institute – the big hands on Science Museum in Philadelphia -- and Nick wanted to try going there (since he loves Science Museums and they were open until 5pm). As a bonus, two days earlier, the Museum had a grand opening of three new exhibits: Your Brain (featuring a giant climbable Neural Net), Circus! (the physics behind circus performer’s acts), and the 100 Greatest Inventions. They also had a display of underwater photography by one of “National Geographic” best photographers. I figured if we walked back up to Market Street (a main artery) we could get a cab, so we headed down 2nd street towards Market, passing all kinds of little shops (and a comic shop Nick wouldn’t let me go into (boo!), and we passed right in front of the beautiful ChristChurch. As we had bypassed all the other Churches we had seen (Nick joked we’d probably burst into flame if we stepped inside), I really wanted to go in, but we were cutting it tight for the Franklin Institute, so I settled for just looking in on the grounds as we walked by. The architecture on the church is beautiful tho. I hailed a cab on Market street (pretty easily, it turned out) and we headed over to the Franklin Institute, getting there just prior to 2pm. The cab (of course) took the “scenic” route, but I had familiarized myself with the area from the prior Sunday, so I called him on it, and “miraculously” we arrived soon after I commented he was going the wrong way for the museum. (funny that). Anyways, he dropped us off out front, and went in thru the main atrium, past the large statue of Benjamin Franklin. This museum is huge! In addition to the 3 new exhibits, the Museum also sports a large Biology section – with it’s “famous walk thru human heart”, a large section on the weather/Earth, a large area devoted to electricity, a wing that was devoted to Flight/airplanes, and on the floor below that a wing devoted to trains/steam power. Also sections on ‘the science of sports’, an interactive inventors lab, a whole bottom floor devoted to space exploration/gravity, a Planetarium (included with purchase), and IMAX theatre, Sir Issac’s Loft (interactive physics and laws of motion displays) and quite a bit more things to do! https://www.fi.edu/exhibitions The Lady at the counter, hadn’t seen my coupon before (yay?), and had some trouble figuring it out (it was a percentage off coupon). . .but by the time she was done, I think we got in for only $9 each (instead of the $18.50 / person price). So that was a very nice deal. There were a TON of school kids here too (around Junior High-High School age) – most of them acting like idiots, and misbehaving. I assume the chaperones figured the kids were old enough to wander the museum without much supervision, but they would be wrong. Luckily, as we got here after 2pm, we only had to deal with them for about an hour, as they started leaving around 3pm, or going to the main lobby for IMAX shows. I even had a conversation with a Franklin Institute employee who agreed that although it was GREAT to see kids in an interactive science museum. . . there were KIDS in the interactive science museum, destroying the experience for others. We missed the first Planetarium show by minutes, but were able to catch a showing about Telescopes and how they work – tho I really do miss the old-school giant star projectors that Planetariums used to have. The Franklin Institute uses a new, digital projector, which while cool. . just wasn’t the same as sitting around the old projectors in the center of the room. Nick loved the Train wing, and we both very much enjoyed the new Brain Exhibit (tho we declined to climb up the neural pathways – basically an indoor ropes course!). We DID both go thru the giant human heart – wow, was that a tight squeeze in places! I didn’t get stuck, but it was close in places. Made me wonder how many fat folks have gotten clogged in an artery We had a great time looking at the perpetual motion machines, and we both hated the 100 Greatest Inventions exhibit. It was simply too immersive (you start off in a room that’s entirely flooded with projected objects onto the floor/walls/ceiling. It felt like being inside one of “Blade Runner’s” neon billboards. To much stimulation, and we got out of that exhibit fast. The Circus exhibit was quite enjoyable, tho they obviously had gotten it from another museum (so it was “new” to them). The exhibit signs were all written in both English and French, and some of the exhibits were showing a bit of wear/tear. But it was still good. As was the Optical illusion alley in the Brain exhibit. I think my favorite part of the whole visit was in the Electricity Room, where you put your hand on a Van de Graaff generator and use your body to complete the circuit and light up bulbs, and move dials. Nick got a little too close to me (and hey, it didn’t say NOT to), so I reached out my hand and touched him. What a Zap! It was so loud, and startled us both, that we burst out laughing. It was great, and he kept saying for the next 20 minutes that he “couldn’t believe” I had done that! It was getting close to 5pm, and the Institute was announcing that it was closing, so we skipped the Sports Physics wing (quick walk thru only) and did a very quick look at the Underwater photography. It’s too bad we had to look so quickly, as these photos are gorgeous! We did a quick look thru the Gift shop on our way out (Nick was worried it was after 5pm, but I knew they wouldn’t thow out folks who were shopping!) but we didn’t buy anything. The Institute was setting up for a function in the big room with Franklin’s statue, and that’s when they did start hustling folks out. We knew exactly how to get back to the hotel – we had walked this way on Sunday afternoon from the Philadelphia Art Museum – so although we were exhausted, we headed back to the hotel on foot. This trek again took us thru JFK (ie: Love) Park, and again there were tons of homeless folks hanging out on benches. This time, there was a homeless lady taking photos for folks in front of the “Love” statue (for tips, of course), but there weren’t many folks around. So I handed her our camera (and a few bucks), and she took some decent shots of us – tho we refused to follow her posing requests: “Hold hands” “Kiss on the cheek” “stand back to back” I guess she thought she was a DisneyWorld Photographer.. . still, the pics came out decent. We also stopped at the office building across from City Hall, that for some reason has giant game pieces in their courtyard. Giant Monopoly pieces, giant Sorry pieces, Checkers, etc. . . so I took some pictures of those. We got back to the hotel (once again) only to find out we had missed Market Street Terminal. . but we were so tired we didn’t care. We had intended to just go across the street to the Chili’s, but the Concierge recommended a burger place one block up – Burgerfi (which, funnily enough, I just found out they have one in Austin). It’s a “natural” burger place, with grass fed beef, and gourmet hot dogs. It was pretty good, and relatively inexpensive. But the time we finished eating, it was close to 8pm, so we slooooowly walked back up the street to the Marriott, went up to the room, packed for our flight the next day, and collapsed into bed. And that’s our trip report – really the next day was such a disaster that I could write another 10,000 words complaining (as I said at the start of my reports, we will NEVER fly American again. . delays on every leg of our flight). Overall tho, we had a fantastic trip, and no major hiccups throughout our trip thru Pennsylvania. I’m looking forward to coming back to this part of the USA again in the near future – spending a week or so in Washington DC is my next goal. Thanks for reading! bert View of Independence Hall from the line up at the Visitor's Center Nick in the early morning, lined up at the Visitor's Center (that's the National Constitution Center in the background) Nick in front of Independence Hall (outside Liberty Bell Center) The Liberty Bell Me and the Liberty Bell (just after 9am, NO ONE else around ) Liberty Bell with Independence Hall in the background View of Independence Hall from the Security Line at the Liberty Bell Center Independence Hall thru the window at the back of the Liberty Bell Center. (that's George Washington out front) Independence Hall clock tower Independence Square (behind Independence Hall -- taken while we were waiting for our tour). Me and George Washington in front of Independence Hall. painting of the signing of the Constitution. Nick in Supreme Court room. Assembly Room --where Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were drafted and signed. Painting over the Supreme Court room in Independence Hall. Supreme Court room (cage on the right is where Defendant stood) Leaving Independence Hall and headed over to Congress Hall. House Chambers in Congress Hall Senate Chambers in Congress Hall Senate Chambers in Congress Hall Senate Chambers in Congress Hall Senate Chambers in Congress Hall me and a plaque in front of Congress Hall. Elfreth's Alley Elfreth's Alley Nick on Elfreth's Alley Ben Franklin's gravesite Ben Franklin's gravesite Courtyard of Betsy Ross house. Courtyard of Betsy Ross house. Walking back towards the Hotel after 5pm. that fountain behind Nick is in JFK (Love) Park Christ Church's steeple (as we were walking by) hard to see, but our skeletons/ nervous system on display at the Franklin Institute. I'm the one waving, Nick's got his arms crossed Train at the Franklin Institute (not sure what I'm doing. . Nick took the pic while my back was to him. . LOL) Circus! exhibit at the Franklin Institute Circus! exhibit at the Franklin Institute in JFK park, under the famous "LOVE" statue. in JFK park, under the famous "LOVE" statue. I believe this was a FreeMason's church. my Humunkulous from an exhibit at Franklin Institute. with a giant "Sorry" game piece. Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall More giant game pieces

I'm husky, and by far the snuggest fit was on Wildcat. I had no issues at all on Skyrush (other than I HATED it), SuperDuperLooper, Great Bear, StormRunner, or Racer. if you've been to Dorney, that park is the only one that I even had a slight issue with, on Talon, in the "regular" seat. . it clicked, but the operator had to push. But that was the only coaster on our cross Penn trip we had issues with in regards to size. if that helps.

they ruined the themeing in Rockville in front of Hustler with that awful Basketball game too. I know it's super popular. . but just completely blows how beautiful the Hustler ride really is when coming from the boardwalk.

^^ was Superman not running? Krypton Coaster is one of the best Floorless in the Six Flags chain.

just thinking out loud, but is it POSSIBLE that Runaway Mountain is moving from SFoT to SFFT? Isn't Runaway Mountain closed due to work on the raft ride at SFoT anyways? maybe they are moving the whole ride to SFFT?

that band that plays out of the car is missing, right? wonder what's up with that?

Thank you for mentioning this. He was a remarkable talent, and I'm sure to keep on enjoying his music. Here is an article I shared about his life and death. a cover, but it's a good one: [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

I'd start with the 4th Doctor's 1st episode (season 12 premiere): Robot. it's got terrible special effects, and focuses on the Doctor's relationship with a new traveling companion (Harry) who joins him and Sarah Jane in adventures going forward it also frees him from "Earth". .since he's bored working with UNIT.. so it allows great episodes like "the Arc in Space" as well as ones set on Earth such as "Pyramids of Mars" really tho. . you can't go wrong with any 4th Dr. episode. . or "Terror of the Cybermen" or "Tomb of the Cybermen". . . classics from earlier Doctors

Yep. . Tom Baker will always be the Doctor to me, since that's who I discovered it with (and then caught reruns as much as possible). but I remember clearly watching "the arc in space" live on PBS as it was broadcast! and SaraJane. . . I was so sad when she passed last year

"season 8" ? (and you call yourself a Whovian!). but yes, excited for the newest season, and I think Peter Capaldi is some perfect casting.

without OTR restraints?. . . I'll never get on Skyrush again. I did not feel in the least bit "safe" and I hated my one ride on it.

because it's near the front of the park, and is almost the first coaster you come to? (particularly if you avoid the hill and go to the right, bringing you into the park under Skyrush's struts and out near the entrance to it). Otherwise, you just walk past Comet to get to the entrance. anyways, we were there during rainy days, so nothing really had lines, but Skyrush had NO line at all on either day we were there. Not Farenheit, and Storm Runner. . those both had decent queues despite the weather.

Somehow I just KNEW it was gonna be you who posted Elaine Stritch to this thread We were focused yesterday on Johnny Winter's passing. . . haven't seen any cause of death listed (which is a bit odd). We were fans of his, and have an autographed guitar hanging on the wall of our music room

KISS/Def Leppard on Sat 7/12. it was sold out, and both bands put on a hell of a show!

I've been to hundreds of concerts (hell, at least 30 of em KISS), but there truly are only a dozen or so that I think back to time and again, and the memory makes me smile. my taste is all over the place, so I've been to tons of Metal, Rock, Alt., Thrash, and yes, even top 40 shows. . I saw Olivia Newton John w/ Quarterflash opening (whom I love!)). I've seen many fantastic concerts over the years (Nine Inch Nails in a tiny club in Austin, with the Aquanettas opening (Pretty Hate Machine Tour), A Split Second (on one of their few USA dates, where they blew the power TWICE during the show), Raven/Slayer/W.A.S.P. at the Maceba Theatre in Houston, Siouxsie and the Banshees at the University of Houston Cullen Auditorium ("Tinderbox" tour), the Smiths at the Cullen auditorium . . as well as, many, many, many KISS shows -- we just saw them Saturday with Def Leppard and both bands put on a fantastic show. so here's my top 5 to 1: 5) KISS Revenge Tour (1992, Backstage club, Houston): they played a Club tour, for this album, mainly to introduce "new" drummer Eric Singer. I clearly recall the hubub in the line with some fans bitching that the new member was a blonde! Once we got into the club and realized KISS would be playing on a small stage in front of less than 250 folks?. . the most intimate, sweaty, and insane show I've ever seen from them. As such a huge KISS fan, being just 5 feet away from Gene and Paul is something I will never forget! 4) U2: Boy tour (1981, Cardi's club, Houston): They had not yet "broken" in the States, but my best friends were huge fans because they thought Bono was "cute". .so we went. The show absolutely blew me away, and the very next time U2 came to Houston, they played in the Summit. . the big arena in town. So that we got to stand so close to them and watch them play a small club in Houston?. . .just stunning show. I STILL recall the chills I got from hearing "the Electric Co" the first time at this show. 3) K's Choice, Tonic, the Verve Pipe (1997, Austin Music Hall, Austin): I was a big fan of the Verve Pipe album, "villains" - loving the title track and the song "photograph" (but hating "the Freshman" song) The only thing I really knew from K's choice was "not an addict", and I couldn't have named a Tonic song. but the show was so, so strong, that I went out the next day and bought the K's choice album, as well as everything Tonic had put out to date. I'm still a Tonic fan, and just was listing to the "Cocoon Crash" K's choice CD the other day. unfortunately, Verve Pipe only does Children's music these days. . I wish they would go back to doing pop/rock. .but I guess the kids music is more profitable. 2) Ratt & Twisted Sister / Motley Crue (1984?, Astro Arena / Sam Houston Coliseum, one weekend in Houston) -- I had heard the singles, but wasn't a huge fan, then I won a radio call in, that included not only Ratt & TS current albums (Out of The Cellar & Stay Hungry), but also Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil), and tickets to the shows that were on back to back nights. The next day, I bought the previous TS and Motley albums that were available, and became fans of all 3 (at least for two albums for Motley. . Ratt and TS I'm still a fan of today). 1) KISS Creatures of the Night Tour (1982?, Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston): At the Sam Houston Coliseum, this is memorable to me because: a) the crowd turn out was not huge, so we were able to move to the 2nd row on the floor. . . getting me several guitar pics (the prior album, "music from the Elder" was a huge flop, and everyone thought they had gone soft, so sales were bad despite it being one of my favorite KISS albums) b) Vinnie Vincent had replaced Ace, and although I was disappointed at the time, I was one of the lucky ones who got to see Vinnie in full Pharoah makeup. . something many folks never saw live, since they took the makeup off after this album. c) opening band, the Plasmatics blew me away! d) much of the merchandise from this tour is extremely collectible (it was the 10th anniversary tour). .and I have all of it still. . >BWA-HAA-HAA

^ that's. . . odd. we were there first week in June, and it was terrible rainy weather both days we were there (hint, if you stay on property - Hershey Lodge, Hershey Hotel, or the campsite, the preview night is 3 1/2 hours (you get in at 6:30) and you also get in an hour early on the day of your main visit). anyways, we were there during a lot of rain, and EVERYTHING ran. They did not shut down coasters unless there was thunder heard or lightning spotted -- something we were told at Hershey Lodge, and reiterated by ride-ops when it started to rain when we were boarding coasters. so that's odd they shut down coasters on you just because of rain. (and I had the same complaints in my trip report about the HersheyPark maps. . we had to keep asking employees for directions)

This. this makes the absolute most sense.

Agreed!

yeah, it's sensationalism, and I'm not sure what they want the companies to actually DO about it. Particularly, since it seems Disney, Universal, etc. . ARE doing what they should be doing -- firing those being caught immediately. I guess I just wanted to share and see what others think of this? (since it seems to me, that while shocking, CNN is just using the predator angle to sensationalize something that's not true -- making it seem as if things happened at the parks). I'm surprised to see Anderson Cooper involved, he's usually better than this.

Agreed 100% on Steel Force. we rode in the middle car, and I thought it was a bit dull. then rode again in the front seat on the right side -- not only a TON of airtime, but plenty of G-force in the Helix. good coaster.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/14/us/theme-park-employees-child-sex-stings/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 They talk about Disney Employees, Universal Orlando, & Sea World. not sure what brought on the sudden story -- and they DO clarify that *none* of them involve anything that happened in the parks. but still, pretty eye opening that potential predators were working at the parks -- even if I fully believe that CNN is using "scare tactics" here. edit to add: If you watch the whole story, I think Disney's statement towards the 8 minute mark is actually very good. What more would CNN want them to do?

remind him about Rockville -- the show's been playing for over 20 years (updated here and there), and has won the Golden Ticket Award many times over. (the line for it gets LONG, so you want to be there early for the showings -- partially because it's an indoor/air-conditioned Theater ) https://www.sixflags.com/fiestatexas/attractions/rockin-rockville-high I have not seen the show playing at Zaragosa, but it seems like "Ovation" is a Broadway revue -- with songs noted as being "from Broadway hits such as "Beatuiful," "American Idiot," "Wicked," and many others!" https://www.sixflags.com/fiestatexas/attractions/ovation

I knew if I kept checking, someone somewhere, would eventually have a POV of The Serpent -- Astroworld's awesome kiddie coaster, that lots of folks never even knew was back there (since it was "hidden" behind walls, and down a path in the Asia section of the park). I have many, many fond memories of this coaster, and we ALWAYS made a point to ride it a few times with each trip. and finally (less than a month ago!) someone posted a POV on youtube Not mine, but I hope you enjoy as much as I did re-riding this thru the computer! [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

This is the truth. If I had to choose between a more interesting ship with better clientele over crotchety old people, I'd choose RCCL even going to lame ports over HAL, but HAL is light years, seriously insanely better than having to choose Carnival. At least you know the quality is high even though the dining room may smell like a hospital! I'm trying to find bright side, that with so many older folks, they must have a good medical staff on board. so that's good for my sick Mom. (the agent told me my Dad insisted that we get a table for 6 reserved dining. . so he doesn't want to interact with anyone but US in the dining room. Joy. But hey, at the end of the day, it's a gift, so we'll smile, say thank you, and TRY not to fight at dinner )