Angry_Gumball

Good morning guys! I'm back with some new CGA hotness, that is Global Winter Wonderland! It was definitely an interesting night out with the group and there were plenty of insane moments to be had, and some great "WTF" moments that could rival my normal CGA season highlights! The night started off a bit rough as we had the e-tickets for the wrist bands we were supposed to exchange for a voucher so we can exchange it for a wristband...confusing? I say so. Since it's the first weekend, I'll cut them some slack and since this was the first time rides were involved, it's a fresh experience for all of us. After getting the tickets squared away, we headed off and got our first ride on the Flyers, where we got some good rides off of it...until we were told that we were 'jerking the eagles, and we can hurt someone.' After that, we headed into the Picnic Pavilion area where most of the carnival rides live! In the carnival area we were treated to a surprise ride that wasn't listed on their site: the classic Tilt-a-Whirl! This ride provided some wtf moments later in the evening, more on that later. In the mean time I took my own pod and got some nice twirls out of it. I think I timed a 3-minute ride cycle on this! Next was the face-ripping sinus-popping Starship/Gravitron! I had not ridden one of these since I was little and I forgot how forceful these things really are! Then what was originally to be our holy grail of carnival rides, the Dizzy Dragons! However, we found out that we can't really spin these too much as it will trigger the ride to e-stop, which we found out the hard way. Honestly, it felt like the whole thing was going to rip apart, so I'm glad it did e-stop! And then we found our hidden gem...situated right to the left of the bumper cars, this simple, non-mechanical contraption kept us busy and we provided plenty of entertainment for attendants and GP waiting for their kids...this was the yellow wavy Super Slide of Death (or what we call the "Meat Slapper" or what I call the "Tail Bone Smasher" or the "Fart Knocker" which I will not go into detail). Let's just say I rode this thing probably close to 10 times, possibly more...my poor coccyx hurts now, but was totally worth it! The final hump gave me a foot of air. Blue Fire Guy was flying down so fast that he smashed into the gate so he had to figure out a way to stop himself at the end. So yea, insane moments to be had racing each other and hearing nothing but *thump...thump...thump....ow!* In the end we made a name for ourselves when we went back for some final rides and the ride op asks "You're back to smash your tailbones again?" Gotta love carnie ride ops...really, they have a lot of character! The light displays were pretty amazing to see in person! Also it felt weird being in CGA while Xmas music is playing throughout the park...and the park felt like as though a 'ghetto fair' had moved in as most of the food places were what you'd find at the fair! Unfortunately we missed the shows as we were too busy riding death machines, catching up on Gold Striker stuff, and riding 'real' CGA rides. Other insane highlights: -4 person 'clench 'n squish' on Tilt-a-whirl...don't ask how we did it but we did...and got strange looks! Totally worth it! -Several awkward moments in the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" funhouse (like the pink 'bung hole' slide and the almost toy factory butt cheek squeezing action in the punching bag area) -Ferris Wheel that felt and sounded like it was going to fall apart -Foamy snowball fights (from their artificial snow machines) I'd definitely check it out, I thought it was definitely worth a visit! And I have some videos of the insanity that happened, but will have them up later. Anyway, enjoy the many photos! Kicking off the evening, we've got some Gold Striker hotness! The lift is getting higher, looks to be about halfway up to its apex now! Getting our ride on the Flyers to kick off the night. As the sun sets, the park comes to life! You'll see some more of this one later. Some space-themed lanterns, heading back towards Flight Deck. And a UFO lantern to go along with it. Yes there's a kiddy train ride surrounding it...Flight Deck Jr? And now we will take the tunnel into the carnival section of CGA! Dinos Alive! Oh yay! This thing! (Never turn your head on this, you will be completely out of whack!) OMG YES! A tilt-a-whirl! I love these 'variable experience/rider-controlled' rides! Can't get enough of the Gravitron ride Yay, the Century Wheel (that felt like it was going to fall apart ) Looking down at the midway. Dinosaurs Alive! And Dinosaur maze... Noted. And now for some random lanterns now that it's nice and dark! Random laser 'bugs' on the ground...my cat would have a blast with this! Wait...popped gooey? eeeww... Yay more lanterns! Animals! Underworld Alley...no more... Now for some very fattening (and very expensive) food! Here is the so-called Rocky Mountain "Outlaw Run" burger (was really called the "Outlaw Burger"). Castle! It's possibly bigger than Disneyland's castle! And it's snowing! More random lights. And as much as you may not really notice, this is the backstage service road we're walking down! Just in case you forgot where we were at. Not sure what was happening here. No Blue Fire Guy! Don't eat the lantern! More lanterns! Remember that peacock earlier? well here it is in all of its glory! And now a break from the lanterns and such...here's the yellow slide of death Time to smash our tailbones into oblivion! Um...yea, this doesn't look right. Down the pink bung-hole! ...Gold Striker... And to end the funhouse with the claustrophobic slide of death! Alright, now to wrap this up with some Gold Striker! The lift to...nowhere! What it currently looks like around the tower, no foundation yet but it's getting close! What was the entrance to Star Tower... And for you Pictorium fans out there (you know who you are) the doors were wide open tonight! You can see some Club Blood walls laying there. And now back to some lanterns...forgot I had these Oh yea...more Gold Striker with xmas lights! And the snow/soapy antics begin! Just a little more weight and this big glob will fall down on someone Poof! Mr Gingerbread Man with the awkwardly-shaped mouth! Wait...what? Haunt and Xmas FTW! My 1-minute exposure of Gold Striker! While the trees and such are blown out, the coaster looks great! Taking a spin on the Carousel (with xmas tunes) And now to finally finish off the evening with some reptilian hotness! LOL...dizzy dragons...sans the dizziness aspect as it will shut off if spun too hard! For you control panel enthusiasts out there... Final look at the carnival before we head out. Take the tunnel! (Yes, we really ran through this and shouted it loudly!) Ending it with some lantern stuff. Inverti-castle And...lights out! Actually, for a second due to how dark it was, it kind of looked like the rest of GS's lift and maybe the drop...with a little imagination Thanks for reading!

I really love the fact that I have made several friends through TPR, ones I regularly meet up with when we visit CGA! It's take a few seasons but now I pretty much have a regular group of TPR members I hang out with on a constant basis! And there are plenty more local TPR members to meet! And of course, this site has a huge amount of traffic flow, keeping it fresh daily (unlike other sites which remain unnamed). There is plenty of park updates to keep all of us happy, both official updates and updates through other members. Best of all, I feel 'at home' here, felt that way when I first signed up in 2005. Sure there's plenty of rules to follow but in the end everything's pretty much 'down to earth' here.

So, my off-season ended a bit...early I'm heading to GWW this Saturday, and have a 'season pass' for it. For the cost of the admission, they had a promo for a season pass for the cost of a single day. They are also running a promo for half off on a rides wrist band (I really wish rides were included) but it will still be fun...really excited to try Dizzy Dragons, but at the same time I'm nervous. Also since I'm a sucker for light displays, I'm sure I'll thoroughly enjoy this! Anyone else interested in doing GWW? Order your $18 season pass here, tomorows your last chance to get it: https://www.vendini.com/e/viewEmail.php?documentID=05c0ded1d361da654b4c5e8a87b75e89 Code: GWWSP12 And their "Black Friday" promo good for Fri, Sat and Sun this weekend: https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?e=4f30a43a86359bfec183e11de89a9314&t=tix Code: HalfOffWB Sorry if I'm coming off as an advertisement but this is definitely a pretty good deal if you're itching to hit up a 'diet' CGA.

Time for a Black Friday rant, and how it seems to affect Thanksgiving... To me it seems like Turkey Day is slowly going to be getting the boot out the door. Why? Some stores are deciding to do early morning sales on Thanksgiving, and doing evening 'door busters' prior to Black Friday. So much for just being home and/or with family on Thanksgiving, so much for reflecting on what you're thankful for...instead we reflect on what we want and let greed settle in. rant> BTW, I admit, I did have to run to the store to pick up some sodas and needed to grab an extra wiimote (so we can get some New Super Mario Bros U action at home going) and there were people all lined up for this evening's sales. I didn't spend more than 15 minutes in the store.

^While the 3DS has a harder 'clicky' feel, the Wii U pad has the more softer 'rubbery click' feel, like the majority of the controllers out there...if you've used a PS3/Xbox controller, it's pretty similar. The 3DS sounds like it has those metal bowl-shaped contacts while the Wii U sounds like it has those rubber membrane contacts (think of that calculator you may have taken apart when you were younger).

Checking out the rest of the mini games on Nintendo Land, pretty addicting stuff! The Balloon Fight/Balloon Trip game feels quite natural, would be fun if you could do 2 tablets on it and have 2 players duke it out like in the old days when we had to mash the "A" button to get the balloon guy to fly. And then I decided to see what MiiVerse is all about, which is pretty much a social networking thing Nintendo has pulled off! I have heard you have to keep your posts PG otherwise it could get removed. You can write out status updates or doodle them out. I decided to hop into the Youtube thread and do this, being the coaster nerd I am...maybe someone will look it up on Youtube...

Work, then head home and play Wii U. I have a feeling its going to be crazy especially with the new Wii U console being this years hottest item. I'm glad I snagged one without the crowds and the wait in a long line. I know history doesn't repeat itself but I would not be surprised if my local Walmart has problems again (last year, a shooting happened as someone was too lazy to go in the store and purchase the item themselves.

^honestly, don't bother with Target or Walmart when it comes to trying one. Their displays just show videos, no actual game playing. I would hit up Game Stop instead, you can test drive Rayman Legends.

The update's now complete! So that took about 90 minutes or so. Now I'm really excited to hit up NSMBU. Was looking at the booklet, the overworld map immediately made me think of Super Mario World for the SNES. With this said, I'm excited to play it! An update: Played NSMBU, awesome game! Feels like the child of Super Mario Bros 3 (NES) and Super Mario World (SNES). Of all the New Super Mario Bros games, this one feels the closest to the Mario titles we grew up with way back when! Tried Nintendo Land, highly addicted to the DK Crash Course! Still need to try the other games. Ninja star flinging is quite fun too! Last but not least, Tekken Tag Tournament seems to show what kind of graphics the Wii U is capable of. Granted, I never played the PS3/Xbox versions of it but looking at the graphics, initially I would be thinking I was looking at a PS3 title! (Ok, maybe not quite when one of the fighters are decked out in a Mario costume ) Really liking it so far! The convenience of being able to put your game play on the tablet controller is pretty neat...at a critical spot on Mario and don't want to pause, yet you're busting to use the throne? You can take your little Mario adventures with you! (Not that I'm going to do that haha)

I finally got my hands on a Wii U. My local Target happened to get a shipment in today and something told me to check with them when I get off work. Target also had the "buy 2 get one half off" deal going on so I picked up Tekken, Mario, and since I snagged just the basic set, used my 'half off' towards Nintendo Land. In the end I spent enough money for a while...last time spending a huge chunk was at CGA when getting the newest Haunt gear and renewing my Season Pass. Now for the painful moment of...this...

Had a little moment earlier...was typing the word "Intimate" and began spelling the first 4 letters as "Inta..." You can kind of see where this is going....since I type out "Intamin" more than "Intimate" naturally my nerdiness gets the better of me.

GCI added a couple photos to their Facebook, though no real changes, just some clearer views as to what's gone up! A look at the foundation area being prepped for the lift/drop And a look back at the lift and the bottom of the 'double-down' drop.

Seeing that this is Cedar Fair, I don't think we will see much theming beyond the queue and station. I hope they put some greenery back in afterwards to make the area around the coaster look nice...especially around Star Tower. Though buly the looks of it, Star Tower looks like it will have a huge slab surrounding it.

I was fighting temptation on picking up a Wii U. I did not preorder (like I should have) so I'm now kicking myself in the rear...pretty hard. The whole thing goes like this...last night I'm at Target and noticed that there's nobody doing the camp out thing for the console...This gave me hope that maybe it won't be a repeat of 2006. Today I check online at various stores as they show that the item's 'in stock' and some stores say 'limited quantities.' I had to make a run to Walmart anyway for something and the store I was going to supposedly had them in stock (Yea, I should have called to verify...as much as checking online is a lot more convenient...especially since the stores around here take forever to answer their phones). I find out by surprise that all they have on hand is for reserves only...thus making the whole 'in stock' thing a bit misleading. Oh well, I'll get it one of these days. From what I was reading, quantities should not be as limited as the original Wii console so we shall see. In the mean time, I've been playing Black Ops, at level 22 now. Yea, I'm not the fastest progressing person in this game, still what I like to describe as a 'newb' as my scores are...lackluster...but I'm improving a lot! In fact I'm getting a bit too caught up in Black Ops that I'm leaving Team Fortress to collect dust...I did get back on that game the past couple nights to join some fellow TPR members for some midnight massacres

Having your toilet paper-less stall have doors that don't lock properly, thus having to brace the door with your foot. What's worse than really having to do a No. 2 and all toilets are a nasty mess/clogged up?

Finding 3-month-old twinkies at the neighboring 99¢ store next door. What's worse than being spawn-killed on Call of Duty?

...

The Angry Gumball! (And not me )

^^For sure! While the others have their Zero-G rolls and stuff, Gold Striker remains 'tried and true.' Reminds me of the whole Buzz and Woody situation ^I believe it hits 80-degrees on that "Midway Turn." http://www.cagreatamerica.com/goldstriker/the-ride/facts-and-figures I could swear though that the Prudential turn banking looks 80 degrees too!

CGA posted more photos on their facebook a while ago, the lift has gone vertical! Attached photos taken by CGA.