jray21

That is early! Can't believe it's already time to think about next season.

That is a great looking drop! Riding this and eating cinnamon bread, definitely worth a trip.

I agree, totally nerdy, but totally awesome. Can't wait to see it. Adam is still wiping away his tears of joy. By the way Adam, did you ever get your carbon thing? I don't remember seeing it.

It would make for a great haunted coaster maze!

Awesome news! I really hope we see more of the freestyle machines soon. I'm so glad to see all of the improvements CF is making!

^^^when I read that I totally had a flashback of all the best foods. Now I'm super hungry, what a surprise. ^but drinking around the world is so much more entertaining for everyone else!

I could see the iPad mini being used in a lot of businesses. Restaurants and stores would benefit from a smaller size, versus having to carry a big one around. I could also see it used in industrial applications. There are a lot of apps already that are business specific, and a smaller device would be perfect for some of them.

Wow, that really does look good. Artery clogging deadly, but amazing. I will definitely try this one soon!

Amy and I just had to deal with this just a few months ago! Disneyland is very wheelchair/handicap friendly. For the most part, you just rent a wheelchair (not too expensive) or ECV and that is your 'pass.' You don't need to get a special pass, the wheelchair is your pass. They do offer additional passes if you have mental issues with waiting in line (Autistic kids for example), but for a knee surgery, just the wheelchair would be fine. They will give you a brochure that will outline what and how each ride works. It will tell you where to go for the handicap entrance (a lot of times it's the normal line), and what will be required to ride the ride (whether you will have to transfer, or if you can just take your wheelchair on the ride). Amy had torn her ACL and meniscus about the second day of our trip to Orlando but she was still able to get in an out of everything. I had to help of course,but it's really up to the individual. WDW is very doable in a wheelchair! The link to WDW's accessibility information is HERE.

Awesome photos Hanno! So jealous I couldn't go on this trip! What was in that random plane in your first set of pictures? It looks like a prison or glorified concentration camp!

Splitsville looks like a great addition! I wonder which will finish building first, Splitsville in Orlando, or Earl of Sandwich in California DTD! Do they still sell the Frankenweenie? Sounds like a fun idea.

I really like the Super Mario Bros. games on the 3DS (New SMB2, and SM 3D). Amy and I have the 3DSXL and really like them. They're a little big, and embarrassing, to carry around, but they are really nice and super tough. We rented Roller Coaster Tycoon 3D on Gamefly the other day so it should be arriving soon! It doesn't have the best reviews, but it may be different when a roller coaster nerd plays it. Also, if anyone is interested in Gamefly, I have a coupon where we both could get a free month. Just PM me if your interested.

Whizzer is a great ride! That was my first ever roller coaster, well, the California version was. When I visited SFGA a few years back it was like I was going back in time to the old California Great America. It was awesome! (Yes, I'm getting old)

I was getting so hungry posting it! The Spanakopita was really good. It was one of Amy's favorites! It ended up being about $350! I definitely think it was worth it. That's just one night at Victoria and Albert's, which is amazing food, but I got tons more, and it fed me for two days! The snails definitely had tons of delicious butter and garlic! There was a few more countries I didn't get to yet. We went back two days later and finished them all!

Part 1: First round of the Food and Wine Festival! Part 2: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! This fall, Amy and I decided to go to Orlando for the pilgrimage to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival! Amy had never been, and it had been over 13 long, terrible, and starving years since I had been. We also wanted to check out the Orlando halloween offerings, since we usually do LA for halloween. Let me tell you, the Food and Wine festival did not disappoint! The food was absolutely amazing! There were a total of 75 individual dishes, small tapas sized, and I tried them all! It took two days, at about 6 hours each day. To be fair, I didn't eat every dish entirely. A few I didn't care for, and sometimes people would try a bite. There were also 4 'commercial' dishes that I couldn't believe were actually part of the festival, but more on that later. I would guess that I ate a total of 60 full plates. I missed a few pictures of the food, but I have almost all of them! We had a ton of fun meeting up with the TPR members, and can't wait to do it again! On to the pictures! Hello Epcot, it has been a while! Looks so much better without the wand. The cranberries are the first thing to greet you! Where's the turkey? What a tough job. They also had a watermelon patch. You learn something new every day. Yay, I finally made it! Let the eating begin! Each 'country' has a booth like this. It is put up temporarily, just for the festival. I met up with everyone in China because the whole front gate system crashed right when I was about to go through! I was so excited and hungry I devoured the first dish without taking a picture of it! It was the chicken satay from China and it was awesome! Next up was the Lettuce Wrap with Roast Pork and Kimchi Slaw (left), and Mung Bean Pancake with Shrimp and Kimchi Slaw from South Korea. The lettuce wrap was ok. Nothing special. The Mung Bean Pancake sounded terrible, but it was actually really really good. South Africa - Filet of Beef with Sweet Potatoes and Braai Sauce, and Spinach and Paneer Cheese Pocket. Filet anything is always a winner. The Country of Cheese! The fondue was was a little too strong for me, but it was still very good. The Artisan Cheese Selection. It had cheddar, goat brie, and blue cheese, all cheeses I don't like so I only tasted this dish. They had this really really stupid thing where you could stamp a 'passport' each time you visited a country, so of course we all got one. Poland was next with Zapiekanki - Toasted mushrooms, caramelized onion and cheese bread, with homemade ketchup. The cheese was way too strong on this one. They also had Kielbasa and Pierogies! Amazing! Italy didn't disappoint! Cannoli and Cheese Ravioli! Sweet Italian Sausage as well! So good! Morocco was next with Kefta Pocket (pretty good), Merguez Sausage (ok), and Baklava (always delicious!). New Zealand had a Scallop with Kumara, which was amazing, and a Lamb Meatball which was also really good if you like Lamb. Amy approves of the Créme Brûlée in France! France had the Créme Brûlée, Escargots, and Coq au Vin. The Coq au Vin was really dry, but had great flavor. Snails anyone? They were also really good. We decided to take a small break and headed through Jolly Jolly Jolly England. Shirley had never done Living with the Land so we had to do it. Giant bugs like the chairlift of death in Jamaica! I'm suddenly getting hungry again! I love tapioca drinks! I guess this is where it comes from? I tried growing vanilla once. It didn't even get as big as one of these leaves. If you don't know what this is then your nothing to me. Caviar anyone? Fried catfish sounds good about now. It should be like Red Lobster where you pick your fish. These lemons look like tumors. Wait, aren't these supposed to have faces on them and be at Potterworld? Shirley has also never been on the Nemo ride! Deprived! Jellyfish. Having a shark makes this a good ride. Of course I'm particular to the RAY! Yay for the turtles! Real fish, not as fun. Real turtles are awesome! So there can be 100 Nemo's, but only one Mickey Mouse? Steve didn't do very well at the simple trivia. Stupid Gaijin. Did we mention it was also Texas' birthday! He turned 21! I think he might have mentioned it on Facebook. He was very proud of his button. He had to argue with a cast member with an odd sense of humor to get it! Oh no, Amy is stuck with Jake! I'm a terrible husband. Like a grand and miraculous spaceship.... Thank you Phoenicians. Is it terrible that I could only think of delicious garlic through this scene? I never noticed Mouse Trap before! That was such an awesome game. Thank you for an amazing phone and computers that work! (Yes, Disney fanboys, I know it technically isn't a single person or event.) In the future I clone and live with myself! Amy and Jake spacewalk in the future while Jake eats a marshmallow. Cameron has Ed Grimley hair, and Shirley has a permanent smirk in the future. Gotta love free soda! China and Germany are my favorites! Ok, back to the food! The country of Hawai'i is next, with this super delicious Tuna Poke. They also had this perfect Kalua Pork Slider! On to the Country of Desserts & Champagne. Clockwise from top - Lemon Custard, Dark Chocolate Mousse (Amazing), and Yogurt Panna Cotta. All were very good! This is the one thing that annoyed me. Greece just gave you supermarket yogurt containers for the greek yogurt dishes. They could of at least pretended to make it themselves or dress it up. They also had Greek Salad, Griddled Greek Cheese with Pistachios and Honey (Amazing), Chicken Souvlaki (Very Good), an Spanakopita (Very Good). This was my absolute, bar none, number one dish of the entire event - Warm Chocolate Lava Cake with Baileys Ganache from Ireland! Next up was Belgium with some Steamed Mussels (not a fan of mussels at all). The waffle was also awesome. This was also the other place that just had a commercial item. I didn't get a picture, but the Guylian Chocolate Truffles were like a Chirstmas stocking stuffer box of two truffles. Pretty annoying. The waffle was so good I wouldn't share so Amy had to get her own. Jake can now legally drink. It was on Facebook if you missed it. Holy Crap! It's Aunt Edna from National Lampoon's Vacation! The Mahi Mahi from Singapore was one of my favorites. It was so good and flavorful. The Beef Rendang looked like brown vomit, but it was really good. America had Clam Chowder, a Lobster Claw, Lobster Roll, and a Pumpkin Mousse! All very good! The claw was massive and well worth it! Sugar Ray was there. It took us quite a while to think of just 4 songs he sang. Back in Canada I got the Cheddar Cheese Soup (awesome), the Chicken Chipotle Sausage (the polenta was the best part, and the Wild Mushroom Beef Filet (2nd favorite item of the event!). Jake is happy with his drink and dumplings. Since it was raining and storming, it was time for Malestrom! Our last items of the night, China's Beef Bun, Potstickers, and Mango Tapioca Pudding, which were all amazing. Goodbye Epcot, see you in two days! I ate about 54 dishes out of 75! I was so full, so naturally we........ ...went to Alehouse and ordered the 35 shrimp platter! It was such an amazing food filled day. I felt like Augustus Gloop in the chocolate room!

Wow, that's quite the change! That's awesome, congrats! Do you do any races? They really are a ton of fun, especially the Disney ones.

I know it's been a while, but any update? I would love to see it brought back. I could only imagine how fun a TPR takeover would be!

The ride and restaurant are probably one of the only things making me think about another trip there in the future. Looks to be coming along great. Can't wait to see the ride.

It is a good water park. The heat can be so terrible though. When we went with TPR a few years back, and we decided to go on the enclosed slide. It was like being in a sauna, and the water was really hot! We were hotter after we got off the ride than we were before it! I think the new structure is a really smart move for them. Like Shane said, you've got to build what the people want. After working at a water park for over 7 years, I've seen that many times. When we got our Half Pipe, everyone was all excited but it ended up having one of the shortest lines in the park. People just wanted the family friendly tube slides. Of course we were under Six Flags at the time so what did they do, they gave us a tornado!

Every month, the President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, Adam Goldstein, takes a few questions from the GP and posts them on his blog here. The third question was amazing. Reminds me of a question at WCB a few years ago about candy and a vending machine. I mean honestly, is that an appropriate question to ask a CEO? What a wast of time! But, they did post it so either it was a low question month, or they are trying to show they care about the customer. But in all honesty, I hope I never have the displeasure of meeting Ed T. People like that just really annoy me. Reading Ed's rant, I thought that Royal Caribbean just had a plain crappy walmart hot dog, and just a few packets of ketchup, mustard, and relish. After reading the CEO's response I couldn't believe how much of jerk Ed was being. I really really can't stand people like that. I'm sure many of you can relate.

^Haha! That's totally going to be it, but worse because it is boy band songs!

Thanks for all the updates! I was really hoping to get down there this weekend, but I have to work. I can't wait until next year. Definitely will be there for opening, and hopefully they'll need extras for a commercial shoot!

Awesome videos! I loved the angles you were able to get. Really did a great job, can't wait to see more.

Agreed. Silent Hill is a good case in point. Unless you saw the movie, the maze made no sense at all. I saw the movie last week before and it still didn't make sense to me. I recognized the beginning ant some characters, but that was it. I also agree with Dave, the licensing seems to take a lot of the money out of the houses. Some houses seemed underwhelming and put together last minute. Glad to see Singapore is doing so well with the event! The more places that do it, the more new ideas and new scares are created!

As long as it rides good, I dont mind what it looks like. While it would be nice if it looks good, any new ride is better than nothing. Although, Xcellerator's colors are definitely some of the ugliest.