bert425

I haven't ever been overseas, or to here. . but isn't Dollywood heavily themed? every pic I've seen of the park is beautiful, and keeps with it's "mountainy" theme.

yeah, that's another of the reasons I thought this was a good one to bump. Loved hearing what he thought of the coasters back before the RM makeovers. (and as I noted, it made me very nostalgic for Astroworld). I also thought it might spark a conversation about rides that only exist to flip the rider upside-down and that's it. Cause I was serious, we simply won't get on a Top Spin any more, even tho we used to like them, since Swat "ruined" us. I still have flashbacks to how much i HATED just hanging upsidedown as the ride SLOOOOOOOWLY rotated. granted, it was just after they built it, so they likely hadn't worked out the exact cycles yet, but it was so awful. Interestingly, we rode it just after it opened, and there was almost NO lines. It was almost a walk on (maybe we waited one cycle?). I guess back then it was such a new-ish concept that folks in Houston were just afraid to get on it.

hehe. I wish it were still open. . just a big, grassy lot for many years now. unfortunately!

Went digging for older threads (via a "suggestion" I saw. . ). stumbled across this one. BEAUTIFUL pics (particularly of the Alamo in San Antonio). . but man, o man, does this TR make me miss Astroworld. Loved seeing the pics of the park in it's last operating year, and reading how even near the end they still were in no rush to get things running fast. . LOL. SWAT -- sheesh, still really the only ride we ever regretted getting on. It's what ruined "Top Spins" for us! After one cycle on SWAT, we never, ever have wanted to get on any non-coaster ride that only exists to spin us upside-down.

I was wondering if this would make the list. great cover of a great song, with a fun RCT like video!

I used to LOVE riding the Texas Cyclone in the rain -- that thing just flew when the tracks got wet. nowadays, I'm an old, crabby man. .if it rains, we do the indoor stuff

Ok.. Gretchen Wilson would be a HUGE draw in Texas. how do you think she's gonna do in Florida? (If I were able to, I'd absolutely go, and i'm not even a big Country Music fan. .yeah, she's THAT good).

You preferred Chucky over "Alf" ???

Interesting that my favorite (by FAR) hasn't gotten a mention: Coke's "America the Beautiful" just a gorgeous, commercial, with a theme that SHOULD resonate with everyone in the Country. (but of course, instead brought out the Xenophobes, Homophobes, and Hatemongers who are threatening to stop buying Coke now). me?. . I loved it, and will make an effort to support Coke *more* where I can.

Sounds like a great weekend. Curious if Kid Rock played a lot of his older "Metal Rap" stuff, or stuck to the Country-Rock that he's been doing for the past 6 years or so. I'd think with Alan Jackson there yesterday, it's likely the later. . but how fun would it be to hear him bust out "Bawitaba" in the middle of his set. . .

but as Elissa pointed out, "Now of course we all know the media can take bad pictures and selectively edit" Here's a pic of him taken 1/17 (from the prior day). . and he looks pretty healthy. no dark circles under his eyes or what looks like terrible skin. . but who knows. bottom line take away is that drugs, Heroin in particular, are a TERRIBLE thing that can cut a career short. I'll miss him as an actor and feel very sad for his Children and family.

I think the reason folks are so sad, is because yes, he was a well known drug addict. but he also had been getting help, and doing well (which I have a feeling led to an accidental overdose -- for example, if you shoot up the same amount of heroin after getting clean that you were used to doing prior to getting clean?. . yeah, i would THINK it would lead to potential overdose). not that I have any info as to details. . .but I do know he was looking and sounding really good at Sundance (just two weeks ago). so it's terrible to see someone who seemed to be doing better, lose the battle. But yes, I do agree with you 100% -- he did it to himself.

TERRIBLE: Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been found dead in his NYC apartment! http://news-briefs.ew.com/2014/02/02/philip-seymour-hoffman-dies/ I'm dumbstruck one of the best actors of our current times.

I told my partner we have to go back to Circus Circus next time we are in Vegas (and not for the Steakhouse) and he said, and I quote, "Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" so I showed him the clip Robb posted of El Loco testing? and he said, "oh. YEAH!" (yep, made me think of Kool-Aid too. . LOL).

Only thing that would have made it more fun to watch would have been if it got stuck and all of y'all had to reach down on the tracks to "pull" the car into the station at the end

Have a scorpion and main sized nachos at the Peppermill before, I dare you. The ride looks sweet, it absolutely zips around that track. ^^ Thanks Jeromy! ^ HAHA! Oh the Peppermill, my absolute favorite place in town (diner wise)! And of course the Golden Steer for my favorite steakhouse! what do you think of. . 'Blueberry Hill" (I think that was the name of it). local friends took us there last time we were in town and RAVED about it. I thought it was a lot of food, but wasn't that impressed with the *quality* of it. . .

Triple Feature with "Sharknado" ! That brings back memories of "UPNs Saturday Night Blockbuster Cinema" -- anyone else remember that? TRULY awful films with production budgets of about $6. . . but we used to get together, get drunk, and yell back at the screen in a big party every Saturday night!

Just from the trailer. . . It LOOKED like all the CGI from the "Underworld" films crammed into one movie, along with the plot of "Legion" and the set design of the "Gargoyles" TV cartoon. we passed.

the mystery DVD in mine was "Coaster Expedition Vol 8" (not sure if that's the same one others got tho). but I just spent about an hour watching incredibly fun "home movies" featuring folks I've only seen in trip reports (ie: still pics, or the occasional video that Robb posts). Makes me wanna go on a TPR trip all the more!

By Far my favorite show Music wise. the performances are good too, but performance wise, I'd pick "O" as the top show. top 5 for each: Music: 5) "Zumanity" (horrid show, but great music) 4) "O" 3) "La Nouba" 2) "Love" 1) "Alegria" Performance-wise: 5) "La Nouba" 4) "Mystere" 3) "Ka" 2) "Love" 1) "O"

I got my very first ever BoC ("Don't Fear the Reaper"?) today too! I've been slammed at work today tho, so although I've picked it up from the post box, I haven't had a moment to open it yet! (I'll do that tonight after I log off work and can enjoy the experience, and will come back to post a pic). but regardless of what's inside? Thank you so much to Robb and Elissa. . TPR is a great site, and once i discovered it a while back, it quickly became one of my favorite spots on the Internet. Heck, I was coming here well over a year before I even realized there were message-boards other than the main one here that links from the front page (I'm slow, so sue me). and I just recently joined the Facebook society (I SAID I'm slow), and TPR FB page is one the few pages I "like" and have in my feed. Y'all do a great job, and I've really enjoyed most everyone I've interacted with since joining the site! thanks again, guys! Updated with picture!

That is both AWESOME and TERRIFYING at the same time. If I were there, I likely would not have tried it! I'd be worried my fat ass would cause it to collapse. but WOO-HOO! A new video! (tho I loved watching your iPhoned Expedition Everest yesterday too).

I get the impression that "one does not rush a TPR bag of crap" the crappeth, will arriveth, when it is ready to appear Great seeing what folks are getting. . so cool. and really shows how special Robb & Ellissa make this site, and what makes TPR so special!

we saw the 2nd Hobbit in 2D, and didn't care for it. got dragged to a 3D IMAX screening by my Partner, who hadn't seen it (tho i warned him it wasn't great), and we both LOVED it. the 3D actually drastically improved this film -- in 2D all the Laketown scenes look like they were shot on a soundstage (I commented that it looked like they filmed inside a ride at Disneyland!) and that took me out of the film completely several times. But the 3D made all the difference in the world, and Laketown LOOKED like a real, existing location. Oh, the film still has problems (that river escape still goes on way too long). . but much improved by seeing in 3D Agreed tho, usually, 2D vs 3D makes no difference.

man. .the screams are going to reverberate NICELY thruout the dome. particularly from that upside-down dive!