Meteornotes

^I promise that if you and Erik are ever in Baltimore, I will make some for you! I too love crab cakes, though only the Maryland style ones, which once you get used to you kind of don't like them anywhere else. Once, years ago, we were at a restaurant in SC, and the waiter was explaining the specials for that night, and one of them was crab cakes. Mary asked, "how are they prepared?". He responds with, "where are you from?" She says, "Baltimore". He immediately responds with, "Oh, you won't like them". We were amused by his honesty! dt

^What he said. How anyone could possibly defend Carnival in this situation amazes me. There are just so many things wrong here, so many things that should NOT have happened, so many things that WOULD not have happened if they had policies in place. Not to have a muster drill on the first day is an insane error that should have never happened. And that's just one of many things. I know people love Carnival because it's cheap and there's endless crap beer and whatever, but seriously, there is no way the company can be defended as more and more comes out about this story. They're the parent company, the blame lies with them. dt

Ice Bat & I were in the cooking mood! Deena made Butternut Squash Soup! CRAB CAKES!

I personally think that all TPR trips should have an add-on option for the country of Cheese! And speaking of food... Ice Bat always recommends getting cookies the size of a human head!

Did mine last night. Top 10 didn't change at all. Balder is still #1. Highest ranking new coaster for me was Wooden Warrior, in the Top 20. While the PGA Grizzly sucks, I have a fair number of coasters rated lower. It's totally dull, but it doesn't cause spinal damage like so many other rides. Anaconda and Bandit were right at the bottom. dt

^It is! It's from a place called The Real Thing in Towson. The guy that owns it used to live/work in Philadelphia, and at one time worked at Gino's. He knows what he's doing. dt

Just noticed that this thread has cracked the 10,000 views barrier! Glad everyone is enjoying it. Next week, a visit to one of the best park sin the world. In the meantime, enjoy... ICE BAT AND A CHEESESTEAK!!!

Loved this report, will have to do this some day. dt

I love the Oatmeal. This might be the greatest thing ever posted there. dt

OK, as promised, it's time for...ICE BAT EATS ORLANDO!!!! I made a very last minute decision to go to Orlando this year. My original plan was to spend two weeks at my Outer Banks house, then drive to Orlando from there, since airfares at the time apparently included the cost of the plane. Then the house got rented for a week at the last minute (income from rentals is never turned down!), so I had to switch up my plans and drive to Orlando from Baltimore. With two people, i would have done this non-stop, but since Ice Bat & Sharktopus suck at driving, I had to split up the journey. Right after I got there, I found out that my mom had died. So I had to fly home in the middle of the week and then return to Orlando, since my car was there. This made for a strange week, but really, if I'm going to be in a stressful situation, I really cannot think of a group of people I'd rather be around. There was no drama, no one freaking out or anything, just people treating me normally. So thanks, all. Anyway, here's a selection of pictures from the week. Mostly of food! And the occasional coaster. Enjoy! Let the eating begin at T-Rex Cafe at Downtown Disney! Sharktopus would like to point out he's far more likely to cause the extinction of stupid humans instead of chocolate! Of course, there are awesome dinosaurs everywhere! Ice Bat demands more dinosaur minions! Ah, if only these would dive down and eat babies. It would be the best restaurant ever! So here is the plate of cheese, featuring cheese sticks and what's basically a giant pile of gooey hot cheese that's just amazing. Elissa recommended this, and I always take food recommendations from her, as she's always right! And this is the very tasty chicken salad sandwich! I really like T-Rex, and do recommend the place And this is Piers and his scary tower of food! Fun Fact: Joey Ray could eat five of these without any sort of effort Now it's time for WORLD OF BEER! This place is pretty amazing, and since they don't serve food, they'll let you bring food in. This is extra-awesome, because... THERE'S A WHICH WICH NEXT DOOR! Which Wich is really cool, and I greatly enjoyed my sandwich I got there. Would love to see one open near me. Hey, it's Animal Kingdom! We will now look at various animals before we eat them! Tree! There's probably something on it or around it we can eat Tree! Closer! HOLY CRAP! IT'S SOME SORT OF RADIOACTIVE MUTANT ANIMAL THAT WILL EAT THE FLESH OF HUMANS! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! Oh wait, they're just standing next to each other...Nevermind... Elephant! Rhinos! Not sure what this is the skull of, but Ice Bat has demanded one for "research purposes". Of course, we must pay tribute to the main reason to come to Animal Kingdom... DINOSAUR! It is a religious experience This could also easily describe my office YAK ATTACK!!! Yak & Yeti rules. One of the best theme park restaurants ever Hmm, now where could we be?!? If you guessed that it's time for us to eat ourselves into comas at Food & Wine, YOU ARE CORRECT The country of Cheese is THE GREATEST COUNTRY EVER Various cheeses & wine. So good! Spicy sausage! Cheese sampler & chocolate lava cake from Ireland! Elissa is ready to consume potstickers! The pulled pork sandwich from Hawaii was my favorite new item this year MORE FOOD More food from Ireland - Lobster Pie and more chocolate lava cake! Creme Brule from France And a return to the country of Cheese! This time I managed to photograph the fondue before consuming it Mama Melrose's at Hollywood Studios is very underrated. Kind of like that Sounds Dangerous thing... Caprese salad! Chicken! Bigger than Disneyland's. Renee had an impressive costume this year DISCO ICE BAT MAKES HIS TRIUMPHANT RETURN! I did make it back to town to attend Busch Gardens Tampa Bash, which was awesome. Pumpkins! Piers lives here And this is what his back yard looks like Still love this ride Turtles are awesome! This sign really does describe my office BGT had a great lunch buffet for us! Ice Bat finally meets Wonderpup - and Amy! Two years later, Melissa finally takes a picture with Ice Bat. I'm sure she was excited... So one of the cool bonuses for BGT Bash was the Montu Backstage Tour! I worked at a park and around coasters when I was in college, but I still greatly enjoy these tours. Plus, we got to take a look at the coaster from angles you'd never get to experience otherwise. Here our tour group is walking to the back stage area of the ride. Jake is already mesmerized. Or is looking for Piers. I sadly cannot remember this guy's name, but he did a great job on the tour! Lots of opportunities for photos MONTU BACKSTAGE! Coaster wheel porn Melissa and Hector are apparently trying to use their superpowers to bend a wheel Close up wheel inspection Jake may have been struck in the head one too many times as a child... BOW DOWN BEFORE THE POWER OF THE WHEEL The park was in the process of rehabbing one of the trains. This is not a recommended seating configuration, just in case you were not sure Everything on the train gets examined We then got to go out and photograph the coaster As always, I took about a hundred photos and got one that didn't totally suck OK, maybe two Montu! Oh yeah, this opened this year. I really liked it! And I love the name! So there. This really is a fun ride, and a great addition to the park. And it's well named! See? It's a cheetah. And it's hunting! THE NAME IS PERFECT. I didn't do this, but it sounded interesting. Yes, this is a horrible photo, but I post it to announce that for the first time since all my eye surgery I COULD ACTUALLY DO HAUNT MAZES AGAIN! This was very exciting for me that my eyes have finally healed enough to do this. I did skip one maze, as I had kind of reached my "strobe light limit" at that point. But I did enjoy the mazes and the talent in them, as a lot of the actors were very aggressive. And thus concludes our report! Thanks, Robb & Elissa, for allowing me to spend some time with everyone that week. You all rule. Hope you enjoyed this report! ICE BAT DEMANDS YOU COMMENT ON IT!!!

^I'm seeing nothing wrong with this idea. dt

^Somewhere I have a photo of a plate full of various Spanish meats! That would likely come close to a plate full of pepperoni. Which, as you said, would be awesome! I cannot recommend those Plocky chips enough! They are amazing. For awhile, the local Wegman's stopped selling them, so I had to buy them by the case on Amazon (I get requested to make nachos A LOT by people I know!). Joey, i'm amazed this thread inspired you to eat, since you so rarely do that... dt

Glad everyone is amused by this nonsense. Should be a major update tomorrow, featuring a lot of food photos! And since you all like food... Chef Ice Bat & I made spicy chicken nachos! The chips are Plocky's Red Bean & Rice Chips, which are GODLY for this particular dish!

Not a huge Buddy fan either (like Elissa, something about the guy on TV bugs me), but those cakes look very good. I waited until after I ate to look at this, so I was immune to any temptation. Thanks for posting! dt

HOLY CRAP! I GOT FALAFEL TO POST ON TPR! ICE BAT IS INDEED ALL POWERFUL!!! Still bummed I missed you when you were visiting. You need to have your picture taken with Sharktopus! Stupid back injury... dt

^If you like food, you're going to love next week's big update (hint: Orlando). Speaking of food, we went to the Towson Diner last night for a late meal... Turkey & Bacon Club Sandwich! And this is Deena's Scary Napoleon Of Death! I felt my blood sugar rise just from looking at it!

This is among the greatest things ever posted to the internet. Though I do have a question...WHY HAS NO ONE BOUGHT ME ONE OF THESE THINGS YET?!? Very sad... dt

^I heard the most evil & foul word "snow" mentioned on the news this morning. Not pleased! Spent most of yesterday & today at the hospital (someone close to me was having surgery). So here's a late update. dt Awesome lunch is awesome!

Ah, if it was only this warm outside... Is it time for summer yet?!?

Ooops, forgot a couple of bonus photos yesterday! Here they are now... Always one to make a fashion statement, David shows that Sharktopus also makes a great hat! Spears gets bit!

I have crap eyesight, and think the text on the front page is fine. I just use the resize option in firefox if I need to make text bigger (this came in really handy when I was getting eye surgery a few years ago!). A.J., liking those icons. I do wonder if you'll still be able to see the detail when they're shrunk down. But they're a cool idea. Like Robb, I agree that having the most recent updates clearly visible is super-important. You want anyone coming to the page to be able to instantly find them, and I think the current page does that very well. Perhaps there don't need to be as many on the page, but then again, there have been days with crazy amounts of park news, so five might not be enough. dt

^The first half did provide me with some quality napping time. dt

^Yes. I have to say, dragging out these bowl games makes me much less interested. Now, if it was a playoff, that would totally change my opinion... dt

Because I've been keeping it quiet until it gets closer to being available. It was supposed to be out this month, but my situation from this fall pushed everything back. But it is coming. You'll love it! Larry, I don't think so. Though a TPR-themed episode would be entertaining. Anyway, not going to give out too many details now, but it will be very easy to watch this when it's done. There are six episodes planned, plus a very, VERY special "bonus" episode. Hopefully it will amuse... dt

Amazing photos, as always. Really cannot wait to visit Europa Park again this summer! dt