bert425

"Klotti Coaster" just fun to SAY!

Finally a video that doesn't make me miss the Texas Cyclone (sniff). love those skipping-stone boats! Looks like you can be seriously hurt, but fun!

my gifts are all done, tho waiting for one to show up (likely by Thurs). I have to wrap them, get a card, and then get to post office. . .so likely will be in mail by Sat

cut and paste from earlier in the thread, for whomever got me. (if T-shirt ends up, I can fit in XL, but prefer XXL). Pretty much, I'm easy to make happy. . so surprise me! You really can't go wrong (unless you get me a Country CD )

yep. .got mine in my hotmail inbox so I'm all covered and ready to shop for my Giftee! (bwa-haaa-haaaa)!

as much as I'll miss the vast openness, of that corner, it's been a long time coming. Trop, in particular, had a LOT of wasted space in front of Casino Entrance, and it was more obvious in that it was right across the street from MGM & NYNY -- both of which come right out to the corner. truth be told tho, we hated the re-do, and preferred the old-school Vegas feel of Trop before all the remodelling. but hey, progress is gonna happen.

I'm not all that familiar with the folks here (despite lurking for a while, and posting more than ever). But yeah, I'd like to participate. LOL. if you give me someone from the "gay" thread, I'll likely do better, as I know those folks a little better than most (NO -- not in *that* way, you pervs). I've only ever been to the "main" parks in Florida & West Coast (and never out of the US), so I'd love any kind of Park Maps/flyers . . basically a TPR bag o crap would make my holiday other things about me. I like all music other than top40 or Country. Paticularly late 70's-80's bands (favorite bands KISS & Goblin) I like Horror movies, and still watch TONS of DVDs (favorite Movies: "Demons" & "Return of the Living Dead") I like Broadway shows, and am salivating over the new Deluxe original cast recording of Wicked (tho my partner will likely buy that for me). but yes, I'm in! hugs, bert

a true music pioneer, Lou Reed http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-velvet-underground-leader-and-rock-pioneer-dead-at-71-20131027

well, poo on a stick Marcial Wallace has passed. http://www.imdb.com/news/ni56352740/ makes, me so, so sad, as I remember watching her on "the Bob Newhart Show" and finding her to be the best part. of course, you young-uns know her as the voice of Mrs. Krabappel on the Simpsons (wonder if that's the character they were teasing killing off this season?. . they certainly knew her Cancer had aggressively returned).

oops! sorry. .will bring buffet discussion there

but you're not forced to go to every station. in addition to the Bone Marrow (that I don't like either), they also have braised pork belly (YUM). not a standard food on most buffets. (oh, another one that started great and went downhill -- "M" -- the first few times we ate there, we loved it, and hated it twice in a row since (years later). We haven't been back).

LOL. . Buffet thread! We go to Vegas a LOT, and I'd rank the best in town as: Cosmopolitan (Wicked Spoon) -- it's fantastic, and we always eat there several times during a trip (be sure to catch the Sun. Brunch with the Mimosas!). if I had to list top5: 1: Cosmopolitan 2: Bellagio 3: Mirage (no, really, it's great). 4: Aria 5: Golden Nugget (on Freemont -- the weekend seafood buffet is fantastic) in terms of "decent" and "Value for Money": I'd go for: 1: Rio 2: Flamingo (totally worth it for the view) 3: CircusCircus and one that USED to be great, but is just awful these days and we'll never go back: MGM Grand. (always crowded, but expensive and crappy quality food).

yep. one of the best steak houses in town. it's great, and worth every penny. the buffet? eh. it's edible. Not great, but better than the other close options (Riviera's buffet is disgusting, and Stratosphere's is WAY overpriced for the quality of the food).

this may have gotten missed in the shuffle of Avatar land announcement We only go every couple of years, so you might get a better answer from someone more local (or Robb/Elissa themselves). . but at Epcot, we ALWAYS make reservations at: Marrakesh (in Morocco world showcase). An evening reservation gets you belly-dancers along w/ the great food, and if you time it correctly, you come out in time to watch Illuminations. we also really like the Steak-house in Canada world showcase, the restaurant in the Pyramid in Mexico (all sit down/need reservations places). or for more casual, the kraut/sausage buffet place in Germany is good, as is the downstairs French bistro in France. hope that helps. (in Animal Kingdom, the only place we've found that we like is "Yak & Yeti" -- always has a long wait, but the food is good (I think it's owned by Landry's restaurant chain).

did you not do the Tram at the Gardens? I know you said you are cheap -- tho we didn't do the ziplines either -- but if you took the tram, you get out halfway around the plantation, and a young Hawaiian girl whacks open a coconut with a Machete and lets you try the fruit!

adding my Congrats

here's a link to the CNN story: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/travel/universal-orlando-roller-coaster/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

you missed out on one of the best Restaurants in Vegas (no really). . the Steak House in CircusCircus is worth it (both for the cost, and for having to go into this awful, awful place).

^^ wonder if they'll do a Tower/Wheel combo ticket offer. since (you know), Paris and Quad are both owned by Ceasar's (aka: Harrahs)

when we were there in May, we were told that they were expecting it to be ~$22 per person. (which sounded WAY too cheap to me). my Aunt, who works in Flamingo at the desk, told me that she's hearing it's going to be $35 per person, and that's what she's been telling people who have been asking. so I expect when it opens, it will be $39.99 per person, with discount coupons all up and down the strip to save a few bucks here and there. was just in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, and their big wheel (across from Olympic Park), was only $15 per person. . .but that one is a child's ride (22 stories) compare to the size of High-Roller.

lordy, lordy. . I'd be $300 in the hole before even getting halfway thru (we did the sorta/kinda one they had at CaliforniaAdventure when we were last there. The cooking demos were fun, but the food was included after the demonstrations, so we didn't spend too much money -- at least not all at once).

so question (since I've always wanted to go to this, and here seems to be the place to ask) can you buy a "passport" of some kind that lets you try food from each booth? or is each booth "pay as you go". . . if so, I can imagine that must get hella expensive if you stop at more than just a few places. I guess, bottom line, I'm asking, is there a set price? or just pay as you go?

There will be beach photos in Part 2. Oahu and the Big Island might have the famous beaches, but I think Maui has better beaches. it's funny, on Maui, we actually didn't swim on a beach, tho we stopped at the black sand/pebble beach on the way to Hana. And we did actually sit on the small strip of beach outside the resort we were at. . .but just didn't swim in the ocean (tho we did at the resort pool NEXT to the ocean. We didn't notice how weird it was until after we left!). we were on Maui for 3 days, and that's the only Island we didn't swim in the ocean on (tho we did swim on both Big Island and on Oahu. . but we HAD to swim on Waikiki beach. . it was on our bucket list. . that and: Going to pearl Harbor, doing the Hula at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Going to the top of Mauna Kea for stargazing, seeing Kilauea with our own eyes, and doing the road to Hana. . . . yeah, our Hawaii trip was a bucket list thing ). can't wait to see more of your pictures!

I hope so too.. tho Maui really only has that one famous Black Sand beach, and some minor beaches (the 7 pools are famous and a well known place, but not really a "beach"). all the most famous Hawaii beaches seem to be on either the Big Island (Black Sand (with Sea Turtles), lava flow beach, Green Sand) or on Oahu (Waikiki Beach, Diamondhead beach).

how did my dog (Roxxi) get to your house???