dj snow

Just felt like quoting that out of context. Carry on!

Yes! Please post your trip report! Spread the City Museum love! Were you already planning to visit, or did you find out about the place here?

That's right, the Zoo is free, as is the Science Center and I'm sure a lot of other attractions. Lots of great, free attractions in St. Louis. The City Museum, however, is not free. It's not operated by the city or any municipality, so it must fund itself. So please go! No, you do not. The slinkies are just another option to get from one place to another. There may be certain individual elements that require slinky travel, but it's not as if you must use a slinky to get to entire floors or exhibits.

Sorry, I did not get a picture of that, but the school bus is safe and sound, still teetering off the edge of the roof. Speaking of the roof, any day now they should be opening up a new assortment of stuff on the roof. Originally they were going to put some sort of waterpark up there, but I think now it's going to be dry sculptures/attractions. Here's a picture from their website. (Yes, that's a giant praying mantis on top of the white dome.) As steel indicated above, they were handing anti-Scientology flyers out. Keep the comments coming...

Last week I made an intense two-day trip to St. Louis. I flew out there after work (and after a two-hour monsoon storm delay), met up with a friend, and then we hit Six Flags, the City Musem, the St. Louis Zoo, the Science Center, and Ted Drewes. Believe me when I say that good times were had. I even have photographic proof: And finally, what trip to St. Louis would be complete without a stop at Ted Drewes? Not this one, I tell ya! And thus concluded my trip to St. Louis. Thanks for reading! We saw a car with its front bumper slightly askew. A man on a motorized scooter picked up some food from the White Castle drive-thru. And I found some stuff for my DVD collection. Later on, back in town, this happened. The grounds were beautiful. Shield your eyes, children! A beautiful butterfly. This penguin was keeping watch. Their carousel includes a caterpillar! Shield your eyes, children! There were frogs. The next day we went to the excellent St. Louis Zoo. And if you need to take a break, please enjoy these parking lot tram cars. How many people can you count in the ball pit? This slinky is suspended from cables and reaches about five stories into the air. Yes, it moves as you climb it. Outside is MonstroCity, which includes two airplanes, plenty of things to climb, a giant ball pit, lots of slides, and more. And of course, you can indeed slide down the Shoe Shafts to the basement, where you'll find some caves to explore. These are the Shoe Shafts. They are roof-to-basement spiral slides that were original to the building (originally a shoe factory), used to transport shoes. And that's a pipe organ in the background (not original to the building). Throughout the building you'll find various passages. Some take you to other rooms, levels or caves. This one led to areas beneath the skate ramps. There's also a skateless skate park. Slide down, run up, and swing across all the ramps! And how could we forget the Midwest Spatula Museum? There are also beautiful displays such as these. At the City Museum you may also enjoy the glory of the World's Largest Underpants. Circus acts daily at the City Museum! Throughout the City Museum are slides to take you from one level to another. This one is made from rollers. Whee! Or, if you insist, you may climb in from the other end. In the lobby is this big whale. You can climb in its mouth... Farewell, floor-friend. We looked down, and there's somebody scooting along beneath the floor! Hi, floor-friend! The City Museum is open til 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and there are two bars inside. Everywhere you look there's stuff to climb on. This means fun. Later, we went to the City Museum. This is what you see as you enter. Note the people climbing the spiral slinky. Evel Knievel was a great ride. It efficiently ran two trains throughout our visit (even in the pouring rain). Bugs, where are you? "Mmfffmfffff!!!" Big Spin reopened and it was fun. I was getting thirsty. Luckily, I found the chilled water. Crabs = comedy gold! There was a man in the waterpark wearing a kilt. We did not investigate any further. The pathway was very nicely landscaped. So we took a little detour through Hurricane Harbor. It started to rain, which meant that Tony Hawk's Big Spin shut down for a bit. (Nice poncho, lady.) If you choose the back row of Batman The Ride, you could stop the ride. (Note: I did NOT say "you should stop the ride.") The Boss is hard to get a photo of, so I hope you at least appreciate this effort. Mr. Freeze, meet Colossus. Who is this supposed to be? Anyone? They have this newfangled wooden contraption. The first stop was to Six Flags (West of) St. Louis.

I really think that Silver Dollar City requires a slower pace to appreciate it. There's lots of little details all over the park to take in, there's the 45-minute cave tour, the craftsmen, lots of shows, etc. To me, SDC is one of the best theme parks in the country, easily on the same level as a Busch or Universal park. Next time don't attack the park as a credit run, but rather stroll through and take it all in. On another note: You could have saved a little money by purchasing the two-park combo ticket. Sure, it's good for three days, but it's still cheaper than buying each park's one-day tickets separately.

You're talking about their log flume, right? I remember seeing gum there a while back. Next time you ride it, go ahead and touch that wall and you'll see how they manage to keep it so free of gum now. I hate gum. I don't see the point of chewing it, I hate the sound of it (especially snapping), and I think that when people chew it (especially mouth-open chewing), they exude a certain state of mindlessness. Guess I'm a GumGrouch.

WDW's Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in California are the world's #1 and #2 amusement parks by attendance, respectively. That alone tells me they have room to raise their prices. I say, go for it, Disney!

Regarding the Grand Canyon: It can be very cold, snowy and/or icy there in January. If you go, check the weather beforehand and be prepared with appropriate clothing! Only the South Rim is open in winter. Enjoy your trip.

I also did a PTR last year on this park, hope you find it useful: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37427 Hope this helps you out! It's a nice park. I wish I owned it, as it must be making a BUTTLOAD of money.

I should probably clarify that my "hopefully not LAX" comment wasn't to mean that you can't find flights from there to Las Vegas. In fact, you can find many. My comment was just to say how much smaller and more manageable the other LA-area airports are compared to LAX, that's all. So, if that LAX comment was a determining factor, then you might wish to reconsider. But hitting the beach after a 14-hour flight doesn't sound like such a bad plan at all!

Looks like maybe a 4-5 hour drive each way. I'd be willing to bet you can find tons of reasonably-priced flights to Las Vegas from any of the four LA-area airports, though. Probably about a 45-minute flight each way. Figure out which airport you'll be nearest to (hopefully not LAX!), then I'd check out southwest.com to find your options. Good luck! I did the Star Trek Experience last year, and found it good, but not great. The simulator portion of the attraction had some issues with poor motion sync to the screen. Glad to have done it, but I probably wouldn't do it again.

I'll be in Anaheim for work next week and I'm thinking of taking Friday & Saturday to see Disneyland and DCA. Anyone down for a meetup? It's been forever since I've been to Disneyland, and I've never been to DCA, so I'm looking forward to seeing everything. Will be even better if I have a guide! Followup here or send me a private message if you can make it either day (or both days)!

If you go up to French Lick, don't forget to drive a mile further east to see the West Baden Springs Hotel. It's part of the Frech Lick Resort operation and is magnificent. This place is over 100 years old!

I have to say, "celebration of poultry" is one of my favorite phrases that I've read here. Hmm, what other fun phrases could be used to describe this event... Fowl fiesta! Drumstick debauchery! Gizzard gathering! Okay, I'm done.

Actually that attraction was being constructed in one of the two existing structures. It's probably open by now. Toverland is great; it's good to see them grow.

I'd suggest reading every page of the official reportand then see if you still agree with ComplexAudio99's statements. I did, and I don't.

Hmm... Holiday weekend, minimal crowds, and they're pulling dates from their operating schedule. Not good.

Another story can be found here. Could this be true? I sure hope so! What about baby!? WHAT. ABOUT. BABY. Behold. BABYCOASTER.

That's about as good as it gets. Although I will mention that I've been at Great Adventure's Medusa when they've dispatched trains with the train ahead still in the cobra roll. Now that is hauling! I'll give SFMM midcourse brake, though. That's pretty darn good. And if I ever see a cobra roll dispatch, what the heck, I'll buy the crew a Coke.

I don't have any inside information, but it is possible that Knoebels might be buying this ride new. They are still available from the manufacturer, after all.

So did you watch the movie on DVD, or did you trek out to a movie theater to see an authentic midnight showing? The theater is where you'll learn the most. And then you'll be prepared for this year's HHN!

I hope the RHPS tribute comes back for this year. That was perhaps the best part of last year's HHN. Great performers and lots of park-encouraged profanity from the audience equals a good time!

I loved watching how that ride used to be run. [Train stops in unload] "Get out, get out, get out!!" [Train moves forward, stops in load] "Get in, get in, get in!! Pull down your lapbar!" [Train begins moving out of station 5 seconds later] Guests: "Wait! My seatbelt!" "Don't worry about it! Fasten it later!" [Attendant checks each lapbar as the train moves past him toward the lift] Repeat. It was quite the operation to watch, but I knew it couldn't last.

I snowboard. In fact, I've posted a couple photo trip reports here of visits I've made to Arizona's two largest ski areas. As far as ability, I'd probably qualify as expert, but my preferences aren't necessarily to look for the absolute steepest trails, and neither do I usually seek out glades or parks. I usually like cruising runs with a decent pitch to them. I go fast enough that I'm usually passed by only a handful of people over the course of a day. Among the mountains/resorts I've been to are Jay Peak, Okemo, Mt. Snow, Holiday Valley, and Ascutney in the east. In the west, I've been to Sunrise and Snowbowl here in Arizona, Snowbird, Brighton and The Canyons in Utah, and Schweitzer in Idaho. Of those I'd say Schweitzer was the best, but I wouldn't turn down a trip to any of them. Sadly I don't think I'll get out any more this winter... But ski season's still in full swing, even here in Arizona. Both our big mountains are still 100% open! For those who can, get out there before the snow's gone!