ytterbiumanalyst

Agreed. I haven't been in a Chik-Fil-A since the incident.

There was a point at which I would have said the DH is anathema, but honestly with increasing pitcher specialization, only starting pitchers ever get at bats, and usually only a couple before they're pulled for the first reliever. We now have 7th and 8th inning specialists, as most teams assume the starter won't go beyond 6. I would support this system if it meant the top 8 teams would go to the playoffs, without any stupid wild cards. Having four wild cards is ridiculous. If you want to realign the divisions for travel, great, but then having division winners automatically advance leads to great teams being left out. Wild card is a poor patch job for this problem. Just have the top eight advance. If all eight are in the West division because every team in that division is better than any other team in any other division, then that's how your playoffs go.

Disney really goes all out for media events! Glad to see Hollywood Studios seems to me like it has the least to offer of the four parks (or maybe we're just not like most enthusiasts). Toy Story Land has me excited though; love the little touches that make it look like something a kid designed.

This event looks so fun, and as usual you did it right! Thanks for sharing.

I'm thinking anyone who goes on opening day will be lucky to get on SteVen before the park closes. Demand plus CP's terrible operations on opening day plus Ohio State Day or whatever equals go some other time.

So even using your math of $10mil+$30mil+$25mil, that would 40-50% of Cedar Fair capital expansion budget for the entire year. And that is not even factoring in the cost of whatever hypothetical expansion actually is. But you are not likely going to get a 320 room 3* hotel demolished and rebuilt for $25 million. Nah, my buddy Jimmy Bob'll do it for $25 million. He's got hisself a big ass truck and he done hauled some wide loads in his time.

QFT

You're in luck, because Outlaw Run is typically one of the last to close for weather. Powder Keg doesn't run in the rain. Everything else is temperature dependent. SDC publishes this handy temperature guide: https://www.silverdollarcity.com/theme-park/Attractions/Rides/Ride-Temperature-Guidelines

Good report, if not exactly a great trip. This event sounds like a good way to extend the season if SF is not wanting to commit to Christmas at Great America just yet. Sounds like it was intended to be set up like Brews and BBQ and they just Six Flagged it all up. Shame you couldn't get a pizza at Malnati's. At least they had beer in appropriately sized vessels.

Not a suprising announcement, considering SDC's Time Traveler opens next year. SDC had a show focus the year Lighting Rod opened too. It's a good way of having something new, even when there aren't any new rides.

Oh man, Cedar Point without SteVen is one of the best parks anywhere. There's hardly any way to make it better, but an RMC will do the trick. Anyone who hasn't been to the Point or hasn't been on an RMC should be planning a trip to Sandusky.

I'm all for Universal having more land. I'm already thinking we're going to have to split Orlando into two trips, one for just Disney and another for everything else. There's already a lot to do at Universal, and more land gives them a lot more possibilities.

Yeah, because it was one of the first clones (1995), there are very few shortcuts. Back in the 90s, the queue was frequently out to the park section, it was fine. Now that it's a station wait at most unless you suck at planning which days to go the park, it's ridiculous. Great Adventure's park section is very compact and has skippable sections, but St. Louis' park section just meanders for a long while. Boss and Mr. Freeze make a bit more sense considering that Mr. Freeze is in the middle of the rapids ride and that Boss' queue goes over the railroad and the go karts. Both of those do a bit of wandering but basically make their way fairly directly.

Except for the fact the the owners are clearly not interested making changes to the ride side. No new rides since 2006, that's 12 years. Yes, and several have been removed, including the mouse coaster and a couple of significant flats (at least by this park's standard).

Days 8-10: Philadelphia After a day at Dorney (about 3 hours total), it was time to head into Philadelphia, turn in the rental car, and head for my Airbnb in the south city. I texted Boldikus as I got into town, as he wanted to meet up, but he was busy that Thursday night. Well, I was near enough to Citizens Bank Park that I made my way over there on foot, and bought myself the cheapest ticket they had. It was around $15, which seems appropriate for a terrible team. They were playing the Mets that night, and I was treated to a masterful performance by Jacob DeGrom. Very glad I got to see him, and even though I don’t care about either team that was playing, I’m enough of a baseball fan in general to appreciate the spectacular performance. The Mets clobbered the Phillies, but you root for the home team, right? The next morning it was all about the Philadelphia Art Museum. This is one of the world’s greatest museums, and it was a major attraction on my tour of the city. I got on the bus, and as it turns out, the one that went by my AirBnB goes within a few blocks of the museum, so I was treated to the scenic tour of the city. Philadelphia is a city of murals, and there were several to see, even on my very ordinary bus line. The Philadelphia Art Museum was incredible! I do always love a good art museum, and I was definitely not disappointed by this one. It had some great exhibits; I especially liked the revolution-era furniture and the 20th century abstract eras. It was a very enjoyable day, and highly recommended to any Philadelphia visitor. Once I was done there, I headed down Ben Franklin Parkway toward Logan Square. At that point Boldikus was getting off work and we arranged plans to meet up. I had some time, so I checked out the Reading Terminal Market for a bit before hitting the subway up to his stop. I loved Reading Terminal Market; had a great coffee and some relaxation for a little while. I got off the subway and found a bench until Boldikus’ train arrived. We went out to the Barcade and then onto another bar after that. I have a good friend Jake whom I’ve known for over a decade, and he lives in my town. Boldikus has a very similar personality, and it was a blast hanging out with him. Funny how you keep meeting the same people. The next day it was time to explore the historic part of Philadelphia, including Independence National Park! I was very much looking forward to this part of the trip; as I’ve previously mentioned, this was as much about Philadelphia as it was any of the theme parks. I started near the river, which was really about the most backwards way to take the national park, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I went by the first and second national banks, paid my homage to Alexander Hamilton, and grabbed breakfast at a local diner. It had a very long meandering counter so that one waitress could effectively serve everyone. Good food, cheap food. I was pleased. Moving on with the park, I went by the Ben Franklin Museum, and the guy there mentioned that I should probably get Independence Hall tickets very early as they sell out quickly, especially on a Saturday. I thanked him and booked it over to the Independence Visitor Center for my free ticket. I had plenty of time before my tour, so I went back to Ben Franklin Museum. For $5, it was a great deal. Franklin was such a great man, and the museum really captured his life and great works. It’s small, but it’s definitely worthwhile. All right, now it’s time to tour the nation’s original capitol building, Independence Hall! It’s small but beautiful. I loved getting to tour the place where my heroes hammered out the American experiment. It is a small building, with the legislative chamber right across the hall from the judicial. It’s a great showpiece of our humble beginnings, and being in the same room as the Founding Fathers is a very special experience. The park rangers were as usual extremely knowledgeable and did their best to ensure that we understood the significance of the place we were visiting. I’m always pleased with our National Park Service. They do such a great job teaching American history to their visitors. After the tour, it was time to check off another box while in Philly: Get a great cheesesteak. Bolkidus gave a couple of suggestions, and I settled on Sonny’s on Market Street, and it was amazing! Line out the door, and very well deserved! So good. I caught the underground tram over to the Mutter Museum next. It was such a cool museum. Physically it's very small, but there's a ton of stuff to see. No photos allowed, and they're serious about it. You can take them in the lobby and poison garden, but not once you enter the main exhibits. They have lots of body parts and tumours and such in formaldehyde, and dozens of skulls, each one a bit different from the others. It's creepy and cool. I've never experienced another museum quite like it. That was about it for the day; I wandered around downtown for a bit, then caught the train back to the south side for another goal for the day: My first non-theme park Chickie’s and Pete’s. I went to the one near Citizens Bank Park, and it was really great! The portions are enormous, so I wish I had someone to share it with, but it was really good nonetheless. I’m officially super jealous of you who have one of these close to you. I walked back to my AirBnB totally satisfied with my trip. It had been an amazing week and a half. The next morning I caught the bus to the airport and flew back home uneventfully. It was a great trip, and one I won’t forget easily. Even now about 3 months later, I’m looking back on it fondly, and planning for my next trip to the Keystone State, hopefully next year. There it is, Alexander Hamilton's Bank of the United States. It's got a sign. The second most famous broken thing in America, behind Congress. This massive building is our very first seat of government. How many of these would fit inside the current U.S. Capitol? The General! The Supreme Court chamber And here is the Room Where It Happened. The Constitutional Convention occurred here. Washington's chair. This is the original chamber of the House of Representatives. The next few rooms are offices and committee rooms for the officers of the House and Senate. This is the original Senate chamber. On to the Mutter Museum The only area where you could take photos is in the poison garden. In the lobby of the Mutter. Finally! My first non-theme park Chickie's and Pete's. I didn't eat half of what they gave me. 30th St. Station--off to the airport! In the air over Chicago. I believe this is Fermilab. First stop in Philly Woohoo! I'm going to see a major league team play the Phillies! There were not very many people here. But there was a Chickie's and Pete's! VIP area A second Chickie's and Pete's! This is a beautiful stadium. The view from my seat. This is what you get when you stroll up to the ticket office and say "Give me your cheapest seat." Oh look who it is! It's the best mascot ever! THE PHILLY PHANATIC!!!

This member's reasoning for why Grizzly River Run at DCA should be replaced:

This is a great report! You've got Uncle Sam pegged. Sure, he's racist, frequently drunk, bloviates about things he doesn't understand, and goes out to the Wommerts in pajamas, but you still invite him to Thanksgiving anyway because he's your uncle. Sorry, that last paragraph was far too much negativity, so I'm now legally required to write the following. Murkah is the greatest goddamn country God ever put on his green earth! City on a hill, pew pew pew, yeehaw, support the troops, love it or leave it, I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free, God bless the American star-spangled banner!

Oh man I totally forgot you told me about that place. So see, my Hojo was better than your Quality Inn.

Seems all right to me. I like that you've set aside a lot of time for driving. A lot of people budget too little time for that and end up stressing the whole trip. For Cedar Point, I like the Howard Johnson right outside Cedar Point on Hwy 6 near Castaway Bay. Not the Howard Johnson on Milan Rd, that place is awful. For Kings Island, I like the Baymont right across the highway from the park. I've stayed at both of these in the past and have re-booked them for my trip next spring. Great, cheap hotels close to the parks. I work in the hotel industry, and I'll vouch for Bill's advice regarding Choice. I prefer Wyndham hotels, but only because they typically allow 5 in a room whereas Choice has a max of 4 unless you get a suite (where available). Since I have a family of 5, that makes a difference to me. If that's not an issue to you, I will say Choice usually has more consistent quality than Wyndham. You'll rarely find an unacceptable Choice hotel, but Wyndham's budget brands (Days Inn, Knights Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson) do dip into that category sometimes. Contrast that with Choice, where aside from Econolodge, the brands are almost never unacceptable. You're really not going to find a bad Quality Inn anywhere.

Don't worry. Elon Musk is on it.

That is true in urban areas, but we're talking about Hershey here. 12 miles in central PA is like 15 minutes tops.

Congratulations on surviving.

Smh, you East Coasters have no idea what distances are. 100 miles is nothing. Nothing at all. You can drive that without even a bathroom break. So as we say out here in the Midwest, quitcherbitchin.

Voyage, absolutely. It does everything a wooden coaster could possibly do.