Movieguy

Good to hear. I always loved the Potato Patch fries, and I look forward to having them again.

Oh, I already know that I love Kennywood. I went there a couple of times in the 90's, and again in 2005. I still remember my sister, only 3 years old when we went in 95, wanting to go on the jack Rabbit, because she'd seen it in Kennywood Memories so many times. My parents finally took her on, and at the end, she cried, saying "I don't want it to be over." That same sister dragged me onto my first top spin, the King Kahuna, in 2005. I've created a monster now, lol. And the Lucky still exists? I've seen it in the documentary, but there was another kind of food stand in its location when I went there in the past.

^ Oh, don't you worry. I won't forget the potato patch. That spot has been ingrained into my memory after watching "Kennywood Memories" on tape so many times in the past.

The one thing I've learned from seeing the TPR crew, in all their expeditions, is that you can have just as much fun, if not more fun, in smaller parks. They just seem to have a kind of charm that the big, corporate parks seem to lack. It's because of TPR that I decided to finally see Knoebels a few years ago, and I haven't regretted that decision since.

Oh, that's fine, hehe. It sounds a lot like Cosmotron at Knoebels, and the Ultimate Trip, which used to be at Conneaut. I loved both of those.

Well, after driving for 4 hours from Ithaca down to Altoona, I probably won't be in much of a mood to rush from ride to ride anyway. I'll probably head to lakemont first, try to get in a ride on Skyliner and Leap the Dips, then just look around for a bit, before moving on to Del Grosso's, where I'll hit the spinning mouse, the Space Odyssey (I love indoor spinning rides!), and then just spend the rest of my time eating and relaxing.

Well, I am a club TPR member, though I haven't checked the park discount listings for a while. I'm not sure for the moment.

Well, that's good to know. That means I can make a quick sweep through Lakemont, and then go enjoy Del Grosso's. I lucked out with the date's I've picked so far. I'm also thinking that when I leave Altoona, I may try to head over to Idlewild first, then head up to Kennywood before finally getting to my hotel in Sharon. Then,I'll probably go to Kennywood early the next day, then consider maybe returning to Idlewild, depending on how things go.

OK, thanks for telling me that. I'll probably visit DelGrossos on the same day I go to lakemont, since I leave Altoona the next day. As for Idlewild, I'm going to be staying a couple of nights at a Holdiay Inn Express in Sharon/West Middlesex, which is about an hour from Pittsburgh. I've been there before, and I know the route to Pittsburgh from there pretty well. I'm not sure how far Idlewild would be from there, so I'd have to check, to see how I could fit both Idlewild and Kennywood into my schedule for both the days I'm staying there.

I know about Idlewild. I don't know if I'll be going there, but it seems like a nice little place. I had no idea DelGrosso's was that close to Altoona, so I'll have to keep them in mind too. If the park food is that good, it may be worth the extra trip for me.

I have to say I'm surprised...where I work, Pepsi and Mountain Dew throwback both sell out very quickly, and pepsi products in general consistently sell out those put out by coke. Then again, I'm in an area that isn't as populous as it used to be (the northeast) while coke has the advantage of its headquarters in the southeast, which is red hot right now in terms of population growth. Plus, I've never been much of a fan of diet coke when it comes to diet drinks. Coke Zero and diet Dr Pepper have always been my favorites, though I've been cutting back on the soda lately, like a lot of other folks here.

Well, I've finally figured out what I'm going to do for my summer vacation this year. I'm going to head down to PA, and hit three different parks, 2 I've never seen before, and 1 that I haven't been to in about 6 years. First, I plan on hitting Altoona, and Lakemont Park, on July 17th. I've seen all the TPR videos of the place, and I'd love to stop by for a day, and check out both Leap The Dips, and Skyliner. Then on the 18th, I'll be heading over to Pittsburgh, and into West Mifflin to see Kennywood. I've not been there for years, and since putting in Sky Rocket last season, I felt that this year should be the year I finally go back. I'll be staying near Pittsburgh until the 20th, then move on up to Erie, and hit the other park I've never seen, Waldameer. The presence of Ravine Flyer II alone made this park a no-brainer for me. I'll be staying in Erie until the morning of the 22nd, when I make my way back home. I've already taken care of my accommodations in each town, thanks to hotels.com, so I'm just posting here to see if anyone has any advice in regards to tackling any of these parks. How has Kennywood changed since 2005, and what kind of crowds can I expect at Lakemont and Waldameer? Anything else you guys could post to help me carry this out would be greatly appreciated.

Just last night, I had one where I went back to CP, and they had apparently redone Disaster Transport. I didn't dream long enough to go inside, but the entrance and exit had all this weird, holographic stuff around it...even skulls at one part of the exit. Very strange.

I really feel for you Aussie Gamers...this is almost as bad as the whole "Video Nasties" nonsense that Britain had back in the 80's...

Well, PSN is STILL down...but I don't play games online that much, so it doesn't really affect me. I'm just watching my Netflix on my Wii instead of the PS3 at the moment. I have a 360 too, but I never much cared for Netflix on that device. I got Mortal Kombat recently, and I am impressed! Easily the best MK game in years. All the new moves, fatalities, and other assorted bloody goodness are welcome to me, but I have to say, Noob is easily the most surprising character in this game. I always saw him as disposable in the past, but now, he is all kinds of awesome. His X-ray move is easily the most brutal of them all, and his "make a wish" fatality is one of the most memorable as well.

The thing that puts a big smile on my face, from all the ToT love on this thread, is that this all came about because of the work of Rod Serling...a man who hailed from the same section of the country as I, in Binghamton, NY, which is an hour away from my home. He even had a production company named after Cayuga lake, in my hometown, where he would often vacation. Yes, the south has multiple music industry celebs, California is full of movie and TV stars...but at least one man in Upstate NY, an often forgotten part of the country, was responsible for one of the best TV shows ever created, and inspired Disney to create one of the best theme park rides ever.

Robb's use of their songs has turned me on to Erasure as of late. This song in particular, "A Little Respect", has been stuck in my head since last night.

I love the peoplemover as well, because its design is still novel, even today, and never seems to get old for any age group. How come we don't see more of these in the outside world?...Oh right, the oil companies.

^ Well, What they've done so far looks promising They should also consider renaming and re-painting the former Superman. Just Ride of Steel is a rather lame handle for a coaster...particularly one that seems to be "Hauling A$$" now, as Robb put it in one TR. Doug "How about 'The Susquehanna Serpent'?" Booth

Yeah, the lazy river needs some work too. The last time I went there, I had trouble getting down some of the little hills in my tube. The water seemed a little shallow.

To be fair, I like Chicago style pizza just as much as New York's. Both have their merits.

^ I agree about Bizzaro, at least the one at SFNE. I think re-theming the rather generic looking Medusa at SFGadv to Bizarro was a good idea, since they already have a Superman coaster in Ultimate Flight... but re-theming Superman at SFNE was totally unnecessary.

I think the main thing with theming is that, as a rule, Six Flags is generally terrible at doing it...compared to Disney, and Universal, at least. For the most part, SF seems to think there's little more to theming than just putting a big S in front of the ride. I mean, they have the license to so many DC characters, and thank god Green Lantern is finally getting a shot in Magic Mountain...but most of the time, it's all batman and superman, batman and superman...it gets tiring.

Gemini a steel coaster? I've always heard it referred to as a wood/steel combo.

^ perhaps we could classify this coaster now as a hybrid of sorts...kind of like Gemini at CP. Steel integrated into a wood structure.