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1. Nemesis - Alton Towers 2. Afterburn - Carowinds 3. Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe 4. Flight Deck - CGA 5. Silver Bullet - Knott's

Seems pretty similar to the John's Incredible Pizza place we went to on West Coast, I'm pretty sure they had that same freaky flat ride (and the Miner Mike, of course). Loving the TR!

The Leisure Society - Into the Murky Water

Scritti Politti - Tinsel Town to the Boogiedown

Same! It's the sort of 'coaster that would scream 'value for money' to me, if it was actually a case of having to hand over cash at a ticket booth before riding, like the 'good old days'. As it is, Andrew, when you said the launch reminded you of Volcano, I was immediately sold, and having watched that POV - I wish I could be there right now. Sigh.

I edited a podcast, drummed, listened back to said podcast - it was an enjoyable Final day.

De La Soul - Can U Keep a Secret?

I am OBSESSED with Dole Whip. Same--and DL has a Dole Whip stand in the preshow area! Nothing like putting yourself to sleep in the Enchanted Tiki Room, with a Dole Whip bought from the double-sided bar, after you've stupidly forgotten to pick up a spoon. Then, due to said combination of ETR and Dole Whip, ACTUALLY falling asleep on Pirates.

That sounds perfectly fine, I figured as much from the various reports and POV - not too much 'twisty', loads of airtime - but thanks for supporting my assumption. Can't wait to actually ride it some time.

Intensity-wise - if I ever get to Texas (fingers crossed), is it going to be my cup of tea?

I just produced the best episode of the podcast I do yet - granted, it's only episode 16, but when the podcast I produce almost makes me tear up a bit myself (it's a Jim Henson tribute episode), that's got to count for something. (castletocastle.libsyn.com!)

FYI, I'm sincerely jealous of anyone actually able to ride this anytime soon. Enjoy what you've got. It's got ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with my being an intensity pussy, honest.

That chesapeake burger and bread pudding look amazing.

Absolutely no problem with more family shuttle coasters being built, this looks pretty good.

Sounds and looks great!

I'm just happy I've ridden two of the top 10, that's unlike me.

Glad we actually have an opening date, as a Lego nerd I'm looking forward to this a lot.

You listen to the podcast I do (Castle to Castle: A Tale of Two Disnerds), right? You should totally email us in a trip report to read on the show! If you're not who I was thinking of: but looking forward to the update either way!

Castle to Castle: a Tale of Two Disnerds podcast - Episode 15 Just finished editing it, listening back to make sure it all sounds good enough to release on Sunday.

You can't go wrong with Elbow ever, but lyrically Starlings is probably my favourite of their songs: How dare the Premier ignore my invitation? He'll have to go So too the bunch he luncheons with It's second on my list of things to do At the top is stopping by Your place of work and acting like I haven't dreamed of you and I And marriage in an orange grove You are the only thing In any room you're ever in I'm stubborn, selfish and too old I sat you down and told you how The truest love that's ever found Is for oneself You pulled apart my theory With a weary and disinterested sigh So yes I guess I'm asking you To back a horse that's good for glue And nothing else But find a man who's truer than Find a man who needs you more than I Sit with me a while and let me listen to you talk about Your dreams and your obsessions, I'll be quiet and confessional The violets explode inside me when I meet your eyes Then I'm spinning and I'm diving like a cloud of starlings Darling is this love?

I don't think that's Spiny Norman, he's a little too small to scare Dinsdale Piranha. Do I get nerd points for that? And was the squid 'n' chips as amazing as it sounds?

I find G-Force painful, and I didn't find Rip Ride Rockit to be that much better - haven't ridden any other X-cars, seems like the concept is great, but the ride experience doesn't do it for me. Maurer's spinners, however -

Shockwave at Kings Dominion.

Final set of photos! It's fun to see the leftover bits of theming from the ride that previously sat where Excalibur is now, a Jungle Cruise rip-off - there's a very simlar one still operating in Europa Park. I think this guy is in cahoots with the crossbow archer at Legoland to get unsuspecting park enthusiasts. (Neil) Luckily, we survived unscathed so we could bring you this photo that I'm sure some of you will enjoy. No idea why, though. Next I rode this, the only shooting dark ride that takes place in pretty a single room (I believe), while... (Neil) ...Neil rode this on his own, because I'm a pussy - but more on that later. (Neil) We decided to take a ride on the skyride, which had an oddly long queue, but afforded us nerdy shots like this. But also: Skloo... ...ooo... (Neil) ...ooosh! And of course a peek into the gaping maws of hell, to which, again, we'll return in a bit. (Neil) Ben 10, again. 'Mummy...I think we're going backwards...' G-Force had almost no wait, and we were feeling like getting a headache and a stomach cramp, so we rode. In fairness, it wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered. Just almost nearly. (From here, all photos are Neil's.) And yes, Neil got me to brave Apocalypse. That's...um...a long way up. Actually, in the end it really wasn't that bad. After I headed home, Neil took a few more fun photos of Ben 10. Intergalactic lost property. This card is worth 42 dork points. And I close this TR with a photo for Sy-Fy viewers and giant octupi everywhere. Thanks for reading!

I enjoyed Ben 10 a LOT - I've only ever ridden one shuttle (Revolution at BPB) and that put me off going through inversions backwards, so I've never experienced a full-sized Boomerang - but the Junior model is fantastic. Nice middle-ground in terms of speed, decent forces (but not too much for myself or any kids, I expect) - just generally good fun. Anyway, after Ben 10, Neil and I headed into the Zoo... ROOAAARGH! - I mean, welcome to the Dino Trail at Drayton Manor. (Neil) These guys are having a bit of a disagreement about the rent, they've been butting heads over it all week. (Neil) 'Just casually ignoring the bin-liner wall behind me...' (Neil) After visiting the cool exhibition of original sets and trains from the Thomas series (yes, that's THE windmill)... ...we took Percy... (Neil) ...back to Thomas Land, which I still maintain is the best of any that have existed. (Neil) We rode the two rides featured in this photo, Shockwave and Splash Canyon - I think this is a pretty nice view from the SC queue. From r to l (Neil): 'Oh, the pain....' 'Sheesh, you'd think this would be flagged in the Geneva Convention or something!' 'I dunno what you guys are complaining about, that was AWESOME!' 'I don't quite know what happened, but I am LOVING how my voice is like two octaves higher, and the extra space there seems to be in my underwear...' And we rode this. It spins, goes high, and makes me feel a little woozy afterwards. Then it was time for my favourite of the bunch. (Neil) NOTTED! (Neil) Dark ride boat vehicle station propulsion system nerds REJOICE! 'No fear of evil curses, says you...properly warned ye be, says I...' - Pirate Adventure was pretty much as normal, only with even fewer effects working. Still a nostalgic favourite of mine. Following PA, we rode this... ...and were very pleasantly surprised to find it running well, with almost-complete 2002 audio. (Neil) For those not in the know, Excalibur, a medeival-themed towboat ride, has been the victim of even worse neglect than Pirate Adventure, over the years. I hadn't heard some of the audio in years.