bert425

looking forward to it!

as to hints: at the moment, Wonder Woman at SFFT still is not on Flash Pass. so I'd recommend always go that way at rope drop, to try to get rides in before the line gets nuts (ESPECIALLY if you are going to do Flash Pass, since most other things you'll be able to use that benefit for, but not for WW at the moment). the park opens the front section (Los Fesitvales) about an hour before official park open - so get there an hour before open - the will let you get a park reservation for that time, so no worries there. in that section, there are two coasters: Goliath (Batman clone) and a Boomerang. both will be operating in the time before rope drop. If you're doing Flash Pass, you can use this hour to pick that up, and then start using immediately to bypass line on Goliath). Poltergeist - Premier SpaghettiBowl LIM launch coaster *rarely* opens with the park. Just keep an eye on it about 1-2 hours after open, and if you see it running, head that way. if you DON'T have Flash Pass, try to knock this out as soon as you see it running (the line is always turtle crawl slow, even if not much of a line). if you DO have Flash Pass? the entrance puts you right in the station, and you can ride anytime you want. don't miss non coasters: Bugs Whitewater Rapids (a flume, that potentially can get you pretty moist, not from the drop tho), Pirates of the Deep Sea (an in house dark ride, that's really good for a SF park, and has decent effects), Joker (tallest Pendulum ride, it's about the speed of the swing, not the spinning tho, so it won't spin that much, but boy do you get some airtime at the top of the swings - also a really good funhouse queue), Hustler (a unique teacups type ride, where you are seated in enclosed poolballs), and Daredevil Dive (new inverting "plane" ride, that will officially be open by the time you visit). Gully Washer is the park's raft ride and it potentially will SOAK you (if they have the waterfalls on).

just some quick input: -- both Texas SF are year round, so to be safest plan for weekends to guarantee parks open that day (and Sunday at Fiesta is always my recommended day anyways) SFFT will open daily in March for a week for Spring Break, and then *tend* to open daily in late April. but check the park calendars. - hotel in SA: SFFT & SWSA are literally 14 minutes from each other. .it's crazy to switch hotels. Stay at a place off the loop by SFFT, and use that as your base camp for both SFFT & SWSA (hell, I'd use it for Schlitterbahn too, as that's only ~50 minutes from the park anyways). - extra time in SA? recommend the Alamo (if you like History), the Riverwalk (for wonderful scenery, if you don't mind a touristy place ie: expensive food/drink/attractions. . but beautiful to walk anyways), the Hemisfair Plaza (Tower of the Americas, and farmers/artisan markets), and the San Antonio Zoo is WONDERFUL (with free parking, and some beautiful exhibits. . tho a large section of the "older" part of the zoo always tends to look abandoned and has some sad display areas - mainly the waterfowl, fish, and Bird sections). hope that helps!

I've signed up!

this is wonderful, and if it's anything like his Seinfeld trivia, then it will be quite challenging! (I think it was Seinfeld? could have been Friends. . LOL). I have clear memories of Japan, but not of the subject of William's trivia! I have to check schedules to see if I'm free to make it - and will sign up if I can. Otherwise, I hope y'all have a fantastic time, and hope to join in on a future session!

we don't have a dedicated TV show thread (other than this one). . so although we don't have Disney+ service? I DO have some goddamn amazing friends, who came by today and gifted me this! (it's a "WandaVision" Press Box . . which were apparently only distributed in LA and in Austin, + mailed out to some tv reviewers). So hard to get, and I now have one. I must be a good person to have friends like these

the past 36 hours have had both Larry King and Hank Aaron, but the 1st death late on Thursday night hit me hard: Mira Furlan. best known in the USA as "D'Lenn" from "Babylon 5" or as "the French Woman" from "Lost", she was also quite an accomplished musician/singer. it was a shock too, as most outside of her former castmates on B5 didn't even know she had been ill. (she passed from complications of West Nile Virus) Rest In Light, Mira. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55763658

I rode it in 2014, but I was one of only 4 people total on it, and they made us sit 2 on each side to "balance" it

^ you do NOT want preferred parking at SFOT - if you are planning to stay until end of day. they empty the lots at end of day, by opening up exits at the BACK & Sides of the main lots. . so if you're in preferred (ie: parking up front), it's a bitch and a half to get out. You'll be sitting stuck in massive traffic jam if you wait until end of day to leave. Yeah, you would THINK you could exit out the same entrance you came in, but nope. . SFOT doesn't do that. so yeah, Kim, I'd say go towards the back of the lot, nearest the exits you can find, then just make the longer walk up to the front gates. You're gonna be doing a lot of walking anyways, and it will save you a ton of grief at the end of the day (just my 2cents). this isn't an issue at SFFT, since the Exit is the same as the Entrance for everyone.

^ the moldy Garfield props are what stunk, I'm sure I'm sure it got deep clean/fumigation when they converted it over!

^ it smelled SO bad in there tho. . . I still have flashbacks to it, years after we went! great report, and pics!

last year was their 1st year round cycle (and it got funky due to Covid). SFFT went year round 2 years ago.

I do NOT need any more T-shirts. . especially "nerd" T-shirts. . . but - Offworld Designs has sent me an email telling me that as the founders are retiring (and it sounds like they are closing the business) they are having a sale on everything in the warehouse to reduce the inventory remaining. everything 50% off. . . (that's EVERYTHING. . even the stuff on sale). so? I couldn't help myself 4 for me, and 2 as gifts for friends if you want/need any geeky/scienc-y/fandom-y Tshirts, here's the site: https://www.offworlddesigns.com/

Highly unusual. . and this is the largest snowfall in decades (if not ever). the last time we had "snow" was ~5 years ago, and it was a very light dusting mixed with ice / sleet. this was actual snow. for a good 9 hours.

@dankeykang ^ oh it Snowed in Texas. (and temp was ~32.9 all day) not sure about San Antonio, as that's further South than us, but at my house we got over 4" yesterday. because it is TEXAS? People flipped the hell out (there's still quite a bit of snow on the ground - tho it's now melting - but yes, EVERYTHING in Central Texas shut down yesterday, and most are still closed today. the stores were insane too - people stripping the shelves. Was nuts. . sheesh people. this is in Austin yesterday: neighbors building life-sized snowmen it snowed for another 6 hours after I took this pic.

If I had to guess, the new Mardi Gras Voodoo walkthru (I'm assuming TPR will be posting more details) is going to be in the Haunt that's over there across from the SpassBurg Train Station entrance. (that Haunt was always walking thru a mad professor's laboratory. . so seems like it would be an easy "overlay" to make it a House of Voodoo). great use of a space that's off the main path, and isn't used other than a Haunt, if that's where it is.

only what they announced at Winterfest. that it WILL be reopening at some point in the future.

HMMMMMM. . . . from the SFOT website:

Sundays at SFFT tend to be quieter anyway, so I always recommend Fiesta Tx on Sunday.

I had hit my goal, then put some back on, and spent from Feb-August dropping it again to come back to where I was before. I got "bad" in Sept, back on track for maintenance in Oct/Nov, then had a really bad Dec - it's been rough, and I've prolly put back on ~12 lbs. so I'm guessing I'm in the 190 range right now - so still ~60lbs lighter than I was a couple of years ago, when i really started to focus on dropping weight (I was at 248#). but, 190 is ~13lb gain from my lowest, so really wanna get back to ~180. so yep, back to being serious about my "no fast food/no sodas" restrictions, and go back to exercising 6x per week (I had dropped off to every other day, or every few days) we can all do it!

the Premier Spaghetti Bowls (the 6 flags versions that run without MCBR), get faster and faster, and take the back half & that final inversion at a really fast speed. (to the point that the brakes slam you forward when they catch on the brake run) you can really feel it start to speed up at ~30 second mark in this:

ok. . spoiler free take on WW84 (which thanks to the new giant TV we just got (75" across, and equipped with HBO Max - which we get free since we pay our cable provider for it), was just like watching it on a Movie Screen anyways). Overall, it's decent. It's not *great* (certainly not as good as the 1st one), and I'd honestly give it a grade of "C+" - but it's worth seeing, even with several issues. Pros: - the design of the film/characters, and overall set design is fantastic. - the acting is (for the most part) very good, and Kristen Wiig impressed me as Cheetah - I wasn't fully onboard, and early on was a bit concerned. But she really pulls it off. - multiple moments of "oh wow" - many straight from the WW comics, that gave me joy out of nowhere. Stay thru the credits, for one of those moments. Cons: - at 2 1/2 hours, it's much too long, and multiple "tone setting" scenes should have been dropped, as they slow the plot down to a crawl - there is a serious lack of clear motivation (specifically in two characters), and it's hard to understand why they are doing what they do, when it hasn't been made clear why they are doing what they are doing. - the lighting in a key scene towards the back end of the film (a climactic battle at that), really annoyed me. Why ruin some fantastic design work, by filming a lengthy scene in grey tones? Yes, I get it - they wanted to highlight the golden armor (not a spoiler, it's been in the movie posters), but by greying out everything else? muddy, muddy, muddy - the plot device to drive the film (and explain Steve Trevor being in 1984) is just silly. It comes across as an executive saying "it's a comic book film, so why not?". . . I mean. .it's not terrible, but it's silly. and my biggest nit-pick: there is a *lot* of CGI in this film. That's not necessarily "Con". . .but too much of it here is BAD CGI. It's really looks unfinished. and that's kind of shocking, as several scenes are so bad they pull you right out of the film. (and no, none of them are in regards to the Cheetah character - it turns out the shots that looked so poor in the trailer must have been unfinished at that time, as they are much better in the finished film). so. . .yeah, worth seeing, and I'll probably get on Blu.. .but not as good as the 1st.

yeah, the cast on the arm is the "signature" of the lead character in "Dear Evan Hansen"

I love all the early industrial and techno. and it's Finger-F.O.C. (Friends Of Carlotta). . it's their theme song. it's only dirty if you have a dirty mind, Bill

^ glad you're feeling better. (also really glad I wasn't able to meet up to spend the day with you at Fiesta around this time. . . . ) !