Hilltopper39

I really like the new trains! I've never had a problem with the flyer/wing rider trains but always did find the inverted trains to be a bit restrictive so maybe these will be an improvement.

How does the City Museum still exist in America? Seriously that place is way to awesome to be real. When I finally make my first visit there I'm wearing a full body spandex suit and a helmet so I don't have to worry about road rash or concussions, I don't even care what people think.

I have always thought music themed mazes have a lot of potential so it't nice to see the parks exploring those idea. I want a TOOL maze, that could be incredibly creepy and awesome all at the same time.

For whatever it's worth it seems like I remember way way back when new SOB replacement rumors were first arising Screamscape reported that from a confirmed source the new addition would absolutely be a Wingrider, then over time the rumor has slowly evolved into an invert then a Mega coaster back to an invert and so on. So maybe this thing was a wing rider all along that the park just wanted to try to create a bit of a diversion, I guess we'll find out on Friday. A giant wing-rider is honestly more marketable to the general public than an invert would be. I mean, despite how we enthusiasts feel about them, why would a park ever buy an invert when they could get a wing-rider for a similar price?

There's a great little fish camp here in Jacksonville about 10 minutes off of I-95 called Clark's Fish Camp that I would highly recommend for anyone traveling south towards Orlando that features (what they claim to be) the worlds largest private collection of stuffed and mounted animals. It's like a Rain Forest cafe but real and kind of redneck but the food is pretty good! They have a specialty menu with exotic meats and sausages like yak, elk, gator, python, ostrich, rabbit, gator ribs, frog legs etc. Good frog legs are great and not that weird I guess, and the gator ribs were surprisingly good. Next time I'm there I'm gonna give the python a shot... Shameless plug for Clark's Fish Camp, one of the weirdest most awesome palaces I'v ever been.

I bet the operators at Steel Eel just love love working on an uncovered station platform, in Texas, in the Summer . Despite the minor set backs from unforeseen ride closures the trip looks great so far. Hopefully Outlaw Run will more than make up for it.

Looks like the new ride is going to be a real......Hair raiser

Wow, I had no idea that the number of coasters built per year was in the 100's, I figured it was more like a couple or three dozen. I guess was mainly thinking about the more "major" installations but forgot someone is buying an awful lot of wacky worms out there.

Beats it in that "so creepy, I feel like I need to take a shower" kind of way? Yes! Between bronies, mermen, and furries there needs to be a new smiley icon for "so creepy I need shower"....

I hope while you were in West Virginia you hit up a Biscuit World, best fast food chain breakfast dive ever. I've been through Huntington 100 time but have never mad the stop off at Camden, one of these days.

This is a bit of a random question but if you stay in a Universal Resort property during Horror Nights does your room key act as a fast pass during the HHN event like it does at the parks during normal operation? Does it work for rides only maybe, or rides and mazes, or does it not work at all since HHN is a separately ticketed event?

Interesting development, the scope of the project seems to be pretty large. If it is a hotel I wonder if they will include an indoor water park section? I've always wondered why more regional parks weren't I interested in building on site hotels with waterparks, it seems like an indoor option that is open year round would be a real draw in some of these major metropolitan areas (and yes i do realize there are Great Wolf lodges in some of these cities). I would think the parks could add some interesting season pass options for the facility as well.

Wow, this place seriously looks amazing, I wish more parks in America would strive to achieve this level of themeing. I also love the playgrounds everywhere, such a simple concept but what a great idea for families visiting the park. A couple of notes.... Topple Towers are still the weirdest flat ride ever invented. I can't believe no one in America has built a Gerstlauer bobsled coaster like Thor's hammer yet, those things look like the perfect family caster.

^yeah that's gotta sting a little bit. I guess you could blame the agent but I think I would have to know my own contract especially if there was a $2 Million dollar clause in it based on me showing up!

Georgia@ Clemson (and Ga. Tech every other year) Florida @ Miami (and FSU every other year) South Carolina @ UCF and Clemson every other year Ole Miss @ Texas Arkansas @ Rutgers Alabama vs Virginia tech in Atlanta LSU vs TCU in Arlington Mississippi State vs Okla. State in Houston Your point is valid historically, I'll give you that, but there's more substance than originally meets the eye with SEC schedules.

^Your a fool, everyone knows those footers are for a Hyper diving diving aquatrax.

My favorite below the belt shot of the offseason was one directed towards Meyer...... Muschamp take jab at Meyer at media Days And Eric, the following is an excerpt of the insurmountable mountain known as the Tennessee football schedule.. 9/14 @ Oregon 9/21 @ Florida 9/28 South Alabama 10/5 Georgia 10/19 South Carolina 10/26 @ Alabama 5/6 opponents might be in the top 10 when Tennessee plays them, wow, have fun with that Butch Jones and welcome to the SEC....

Yeah the smell is noticeable but it really wasn't that bad. Around the 2 week mark when you opened the fridge you would notice it but it wasn't so strong that it jumped out and completely overwhelmed the room or anything.

Dry Aged Ribeye Steaks So for the past couple of years I've been experimenting with Dry Aging beef at home. There are a few websites out there that have a pretty good scientific description of the process and directions for achieving that magical dried beef and here a a few. The Food Lab, dry aging at home Cooks Illustrated quick aging method Dry aging beef compound the flavors inside of the meat and creates a completely different tasting cut a beef that I would almost describe as buttery and rich, and yes the difference is absolutely noticeable! From Wikipedia.. The process changes beef by two means. Firstly, moisture is evaporated from the muscle. This creates a greater concentration of beef flavour and taste. Secondly, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle, which leads to more tender beef That translates to if giant giant chunks of beef flesh are left sitting in a cold climate controlled environment they will turn into tasty magical meat snakcs similar to how a caterpillar in a cocoon turns into a beautiful butterfly. Aged Beef is the sweet and semi-stinky buttery butterfly of the culinary world. A coupe of tips... -Age the largest piece you can afford to buy, there is a lot of weight loss due to moisture evaporation (almost as much as 30%) and there is even more loss after you trim the final cut. -Buy a fairly high grade of beef, preferably prime or choice. You need a lot of fat content in the cut because the fat is what breaks down in the aging process (I think, I'm not a scientist). -Keep you fridge as cool as possible and circulate the air with a small fan. I wrapped mine in a cheesecloth for the fist week while the moisture was still evaporating but after that it get pretty dried up so I just left it exposed. The cooking process for this was simple, get the grill as hot as possible then cook to the desired tenderness. I bought a 7.5 pound boneless Ribeye (would prefer a bone in, maybe next year) then aged it for 14 days. We cut off steak at the 14 day point then I let the remaining portion age another week to 20 days to cook the rest. Here are some pics. Here is the roast before I put it in the fridge to begin the process. I didn't get a picture of the setup but I wrapped the raost in a cheese cloth and placed it on a wire rack set in a baking sheet to get some air flow around the beef. The next couple of pics are at around 6 days, you can tell that the edges have started to discolor slightly but the internal color of the meat is about the same. The next couple of pictures were around 12 days, now you can really see the edges have started to dry out and the meat that isn't dry has begun to turn a bit of a rosier red color. Now comes the fun part, carving this sucker up for the feast. You want to try to shave off the dried pieces as thinly as possible until you reach the portion in the middle that is still "good", there is a lot of waste involved but with a really sharp knife you can minimize some of the waste (I didn't get any pictures of the waste pile I trimmed off from 154 days but I did at the 20 day mark). The next couple of pictures I took before and after slicing into the dry aged cut with the flash on and off. You really see the change in color of the meat at this point. It looks incredible. steaks on the grill Here are the steaks on the grill for July 4th at 14 days. Excellent flavor, very tender but I probably should have cut them a little bit thicker. The next set of pictures is from a week later when I let the remainder of the roast continue to age. I think that the 20+ days is really the sweet spot, next time I dry age I'll have to play for a atleast 20 days. You can really see how much moisture was lsot and how much the thing dried up after the 20 days. The previous picture was the same thicker "Rib Eye" end of the cut that was larger than my hand in the begin of the report. You can also see how much waste there is in the trimming process in the next couple of pictures. Ready to throw on the grill Use a piece of beef fat to clean the grate off Decent grill marks I grilled them a little more well done than I would have liked but I think part of the darker color was a result of the aging. The beef was still as tender as could be, you could almost cut it with a fork, so I don't really know what the actual level of "done" was, but it was delicious so I don't really care. You can really taste the difference, the meat has a rich almost buttery flavor to it even though the preparation involves nothing more than a light dusting of salt and pepper before grilling. And I know your thinking it but the answer is no, not a single guest got sick in the near future after consuming my home aged beef. The process, if properly executed, is safe and yields amazing results. That wraps it up! Now go forth and age a large piece of beef for you next party, gathering, or family dinner, you won't regret it!

Oh there are are more that I haven't posted that are equally as strange, I just don't understand recruiting anymore. Kids that want you to send 150 hand written letters and tweet them, it's all weird. There are some some great games early on in the season here in SEC country that should but the SEC race into perspective very early. Georgia opens at Clemson then gets South Carolina at home week 2. Alabama plays Virginia Tech in Atlanta week 1 then goes to Kyle Field for a rematch with Texas A&M in week 2. Alabama is clearly the favorite but we saw last year that teams like Georgia and Texas A&M aren't that far behind. My SEC prediction is a re-match between Alabama and Georgia that turns into a bit of a shoot out between Mccarron and Aaron Murray (georgia is going to be really good on offense this year) with Alabama winning another close one. My dark horse National Championship teams are Ohio State and Louisville. Ohio State ran the table last year in the weak Big 10 and shouldn't have trouble doing it again. Louisville plays one of the weakest schedule I've ever seen and if they play to their ability should go undefeated and might be tough to leave out of the NC game is there are a slew of one loss teams. NC prediction, Alabama vs Ohio State, Bama wins by double digits.

I've probably seen 100 trip reports and videos of Journey to the Center of The Earth but I still have no idea what the ride does which is why it's so fascinating. Test Track through a mountain with monsters or something? I don't know but I can't wait to get to this place one of these days. Great report so far Chuck!

This sounds pretty interesting, can't wait to see what they do with it. Is their existing Jungle Cruise essentially the same as the American versions? The press release mentioned 32 passenger boats, how many do the normal Jungle Cruise boats hold because 32 seems huge! I've always felt Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom was one of the more outdated rides there so maybe if this overhaul is successful well see some similar upgrades stateside.(I still wish in Orlando they would scrap the ride at Magic Kingdom and rebuild a bigger better version with real animals at Animal Kingdom, but that's another discussion altogether).

That's a great looking little water park, I love how the half pipe slide end into a slide section. I wonder if riders ever enter that section backwards?

^That may be all of them, I can't really think of any more. The point is for the pacing of the ride a lift followed by a launch might have been more effective.

I've been doing a little cooking this summer but nothing very unique or interesting. I did dry age a 7.5 pound Ribeye to cut into steaks for July 4th that I'll get around to posting some pictures of eventually. I've got a bout 1/3 of it left that is still aging so maybe this week/weekend I'll carve up what's left and post some pics. By the way dry again at home is easy to do and yields incredible results. You need to age a pretty big hunk of meat to make it work so it's great for a party.