Movieguy

Hey! I visited EPCOT back when it was "boring", and I loved it. But that's not to say I don't enjoy it now either As for which parks I'd like to visit, I'd want to say IOA, but that park seems to rely on dark rides and 3-D shows that specialize in getting you to jump out of your seat, and I hate those things. I'd love to see any park in Europe though, especially in England.

I've never been to IOA, but I always hear about out being so well themed. It sure seems to have a lot of color. To me, the best themed park I've been to outside of the Disneyworld parks has been BGW. To me the theming was anything BUT overrated, and until I encounter a better one, I will continue to think so.

Well, I've never been to the Lake, so I'll have to take your word for it, lol. The Pyramid company is apparently going to start with DestiNY USA, the proposed plan to expand and change the Carousel Mall into the biggest mall in the US, even without full permission of the local government, and I for one applaud them for it. It's about time somebody thumbed their nose at all the bueracratic BS that's made places like Syracuse suffer for so long. Who knows, maybe this will inspire somebody to come along and start cleaning up that lake, whether the red tape idiots like it or not. We can only hope.

The 40 Year Old Virgin was great. Simply put. Way better than I expected it to be. Loads of great lines, and gags that are actually effective. The chest Waxing scene is even funnier than it is in the Trailer. And that is by no means the only hilarious thing in this raunchy and hilarious breakout hit from the brilliant Steve Carell. Quite possibly the best movie I've seen all summer. I also recently bought The Blues Brothers on DVD. This is another winner that I never really got into until I was in college. John Belushi was a master comedian, and I miss him terribly because of this film as well as Animal House. The musical numbers are passable, and of course the car chase scenes turn pointless and hilarious mayhem into an art form. I just rented two DVD's today. One was the special edition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (The original 70's version), a film that makes up for it's lack of gore, with it's genuinely freaky and disturbing atmosphere. I also rented Ong-Bak, the Thai Warrior, which I haven't watched as of now.

I was on CP's Wicked Twister in the rain. I thought it was really fun getting rained on like that while riding, since it wasn't a heavy downpour.

As of right now, my last coaster ride was on The Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood, back in Early August.

Due to my business at work and at other sites on the web, I have not been able to document my recent amusement excursions from August until tonight. But I'm finally able to do it now. At first I thought that my big trip to WDW in July would be my only trip for the Summer. It turns out I was wrong. I discovered I needed to go down to Western PA just before my birthday on August 9th, and help my Grandmother move from her old home, to her new Apartment up here in Ithaca. Well, my family and I decided that on one of the days we were there, we could go down to West Mifflin and visit Kennywood. I had not been there since 1996, so I jumped at the chance. As soon as we arrived, just before the rides opened, my sister and I immediately got in line for the Phantom's Revenge. I'd heard a lot of good things about the coaster formerly known as the Steel Phantom, and it did not disappoint. Great speed and loads of airtime throughout. However, there was so much airtime for me at one point, that the G-forces slammed my elbow on the edge of the car from all the time I spent with my arms in the air. Didn't feel too good, but I lived. The two of us quickly headed to the Thunderbolt soon after, which had NO line when we arrived, so we got right in the front seat, which I'd never done on Thunderbolt before. The ride was as great as I remembered, and my sister had a great time slamming into me from the Lateral G's. We went on a couple of spinning rides after that, and then my sister dragged me onto the King Kahuna, A Huss Top Spin that squirts water on you. I had never wanted to go on a Top Spin in my life before that day. They just freaked me out too much. But my sister, who grew up with a love of thrill rides thanks to me, had a lot more guts, and just took me right on. I was nervous as all hell, and I won't lie to you, I screamed bloody murder once that thing began to turn us upside down. I guess I ended up having fun, but I was still holding onto that restraint pretty tightly after the ride ended. After a while, we met up with our parents, and took a ride on the Jack Rabbit, followed by the Racer, before I finally went on my own to get some cheese fries from the Potato Patch. From then on I just casually walked around, snacking and riding, going on the Phantom's Revenge again, before riding on the raging rapids and getting soaked. I met up with my parents one more time, and then just felt like walking around. I got some more food, a bag of cotton candy, and even got to play a couple of great pinball machines in the arcade, before buying a great DVD of the PBS documentary "Kennywood Memories". Once I met up with my family again, we went to a sweet shop in the park, got some fudge and candy, and then headed back to my Grandma's. Kennywood's still a great little park. It's so nice to go to a place where it doesn't take an eternity to walk to the other end. ********************************************* I got to have one final fling at thrills when my family took its traditional trip to the opening day of The New York State Fair. It may not be as attractive or as well maintained as most Theme Parks are, but there are lots of lovable things about this place if you just know where to look. My favorite part of the place, is the food. Not many people realize that Upstate NY has a fairly sizable dairy industry, in fact there's an entire building at the fair dedicated to dairy. In this building, you can get an entire carton of ice cream, ben and Jerry sized, all kinds of flavors, for just $1.50. My favorite, was the Black Raspeberry Blast, Black Rasperry ice cream mixed with bittersweet chocolate flakes, and little chocolate hearts filled with raspberry. They also have a lot of pastires and desserts to choose from, including 4 different kinds of cannoli. But enough about food. The Midway is also a big attraction. And contrary to popular belief, many of the people running the rides and games didn't all fit the "Carny" mold. Many of them were actually wearing uniforms, reasonably clean ones too. Though a few of them looked like they didn't have a complete grasp of the English language, if you know what I mean. As for the rides, in recent years, the Fair has had the privilige of trying out all kinds of new flat rides from Chance and Huss. This year however, was fairly devoid of any of the new stuff, but there were still plenty of old favorites to make up for it. My favorite was the Fire Ball, a combination spinning/swinging ride. The seats face inward in a circle as they spin on a single arm, which then begins to swing very high, back and forth at the same time. It was quite an experience the first time, and after I got off, I got right back in line again. I then went on the Orbitor, a kind of scrambler ride that extends its arms outward as it spins and twirls, before heading over to the Top Spin. Thanks to my experience at Kennywood, I finally went on the thing myself, and was totally exhilerated this time. After taking a ride on the Re-Mix, a scrambler type ride that also extends its arms, only it has seats like those on an inverted coaster, I walked back to the exhibit area and enjoyed all of the food there, before heading back to the midway and meeting up with my sister, riding the Top Spin a second time with her. We then parted ways, I went back and looked through some more exhibits, and then met up to get some dinner at the Dinosaur Barbeque's popular tent, before finally heading home. Overall, this was a very nice August for me in terms of thrills and leisure.

I have returned from my solo trip to WDW. And this was indeed an experience I won't soon forget. I've never been to that park during the Summer, and something tells me I'm going to wait until one of the Winter months to try this again if I ever get another chance. That's not to say I didn't have fun, though. I just had to stay one step ahead of the crowds. Monday: This day was the roughest, not because of WDW, but because of the travel down there. The remnants of Dennis were still in parts of the Southeast, including the area of Atlanta, which was where my first stop was to be. Consequently, my flight, which was supposed to leave at 8:25 AM, left after 10:00 AM instead, because the airport in Atlanta grounded us in Syracuse, because of all the rain. As a result of this, I missed my scheduled flight to Orlando that left at 11:35 AM, when I finally arrived in Atlanta. Instead, I got on the 2:35 PM flight to Orlando, that the automatically re-booked me for. I finally arrived in Orlando around 4:00 PM, and took the magical express bus to the All-Star Music resort. I discovered that my room was in the Country Fair section, which was all the way in the back, so walking back and forth from there and the lobby was a bit of a chore. I then got settled, and later walked back to the front, where I got on the bus to EPCOT. Once I arrived in EPCOT, I headed right for Spaceship Earth, for the sake of an old favorite I hadn't ridden in years. I made it through the entire ride without making one stop, not minding the noises it made underneath one bit, as I got off... ...That was when the rains came. It rained, and it rained, and it rained. It did not stop for the entire night, but I endured it. I walked over to the Mexico Pavillion for dinner. After realizing that trying to get dinner at The San Angel Inn without a registration is no good, I settled for the San Angel Cantina outside, where I ate my food out in the rain. I went back inside, and rode El Rio Del Tiempo, before going up and seeing another old favorite of mine, The American Adventure. After seeing that delightful old show, I grabbed a snack at the Liberty Inn, and headed out just in Time for Illuminations, walking back to Future World quickly as I watched, knowing the park would be closing soon. Soaking wet, I made the bus trip back to my resort, and headed back to my room, where I got right into bed. Tuesday: I got up and prepared myself for this morning, heading right out to the bus without any breakfast (not the best idea, but I was still confused about meals here). I went to the Magic Kingdom on this morning, and arrived just in time for the opening, heading right for Space Mountain afterwards. I decided to try out the Fastpass with Space Mountain, while I went and rode Buzz Lightyear and the TTA. I then went back to Space Mountain, used my fastpass, and got right into the main boarding area with it. Things were going smoothly until the lights on the ride suddenly turned on. Something had happened on the ride, and they had to reset the whole thing apparently. But, some good came of it. I was standing behind a nice family from Tennesee that I chated with, and they told me how to make reservations for restaurants among other things, being Disney vets themselves. After that assistance, the ride went back into Operation, and within minutes, I was onboard. Space Mountain is still a grand old ride, and while it may need some refurbishment in some areas now, it's still one of my all-time WDW favorites. After my adventure on Space Mountain, I headed right for the Haunted Mansion, where, to my surprise, no one was in line except for one or two couples. So I was able to get right on the ride, which is still running extremely well, and is a timeless Disney classic, as far as I'm concerned. It was after this and some more sightseeing that I began to feel hungry. I grabbed some popcorn and a soda to tide me over, as I decided to head back to the resort for some lunch. I took the bus back to the All-Star Music resort, and promptly got in line for some counter service. After that, I decided that I had been out baking in the sun long enough, and needed to get some place where I could cool off. After making dinner reservations with the Concierge, I took the bus to Downtown Disney, where I promptly got a ticket for the AMC movie complex, and bought myself a big soda to sip on. I went to see The Fantastic Four, which I thought was a lot of fun, before heading back to resort and hopping on the next bus to EPCOT. Spaceship Earth was my first stop once again, before I walked over to Ellen's Energy Adventure, just in time for the next showing. This is another fun attraction, but I wonder how much longer it's going to last as is, while Bill Nye the Science guy slowly passes from the American Consciousness. Mexico was once again my next stop, as I came just in time for my reserved table at the San Angel Inn. That place was just a heavenly experience all around, from the complimentary Chips and Salsa, to the tasty Plato Mexicano that I had for my Entree, the San Angel Inn was the perfect capper for this day. And you can't beat the atmosphere there. Once my belly was full and my tip was left, I went right on El Rio Del Tiempo again, before heading out, grabbing an Ice cream bar from a vendor, and catching my ride back to the resort for the evening. Wednesday: This is where I decided to stay far ahead of the crowds. I woke up at 6:00 AM, showered, got an early breakfast, and took the bus to Disney MGM Studios, where I arrived one hour before they opened. All I had to do was stand right at the gate and await the opening, as I chatted with a few other early birds. When the opening finally did come along, I got right up in front of the rope just inside, as cast members assembled to take us to certain rides. I was originally going to head right for the Rock n Roller Coaster, but that was having a delayed opening, so I instead became one of the first people to ride the Tower of Terror instead. After having a wild ride on that attraction, I went right to the coaster, and got a fastpass for it. Star Tours and Muppetvision 3-D were two more stops I made, before I finally headed back to the Rock n Roller coaster and utilized my Fastpass, once again getting in very quickly. I was just a tad nervous about this one, since I had never been on a launched coaster before, but after that ride set off, I was hooked. Rock n Roller coaster was awesome! virtually no headbanging for me, and the Aerosmith soundtrack was a real plus. I bought an on-ride photo, which should show up here soon if my scanner cooperates. After the ride, and some more shopping, along with a stop at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular just for kicks, it was time to claim my lunch reservation at the Sci-Fi dine in. I got a nice filling meal there, and took home a souvineer cup with one of those glowing ice cubes you can switch on and off. I then took the bus back to the resort for some of the afternoon, before I took another bus back to the Magic Kingdom, where I rode Pirates of The Carribean, and Big Thunder Mountain. I was going to ride Splash Mountain, but it was closed down for some reason. After grabbing a Turkey Leg and A sprite for a quick meal, I headed over to Liberty Square, and caught a showing of The Hall of presidents, before finally heading out and catching a bus to a resort that was closer to Downtown Disney, which I then caught the bus for afterward. I then headed right for Disneyquest, where I spent most of my time playing and replaying all those great retro arcade machines, before heading out and going to the AMC Theater once again. I had to leave Fantastic 4 a bit early last time so I could get to EPCOT in time for my dinner reservations, so I decided to watch the whole thing this time, with a big bag of popcorn. After that I went back to the resort, got a few snacks, and turned in. Thursday: This was an exciting day. After another quick breakfast, I got on a bus for EPCOT, and once again showed up an hour early, where I waited at the front gate, chatting with a nice young couple from Utica. Then the park finally opened, and I immediately went with a cast member to Test Track, which I had never ridden before. I was once again one of the first to ride it, and I thought it was definitely worth arriving early for. Just great. I then looked over at Mission: SPACE. I wasn't too sure about riding this one, after all the stories I heard, but once I made my approach, that same nice young couple from Utica showed up, and I felt that was a good omen, so I went inside. Still early in the morning, there was no wait whatsoever for SPACE, as I prepared for my trip to Mars. I was given the assignment of Commander, for those who want to know. And when I was inside the capsule, the computer said the commander's pulse rate was a little high, while the guy at headquarters reassured me. I don't know if it's supposed to say that on every ride, but I thought it was pretty cool. The ride itself was incredible! In the end, I was glad I convinced myself to go on it, not feeling even the slightest bit queasy as I got off. I know in the past, I've had my misgivings about EPCOT adding more thrill-oriented attractions, but after riding Test Track and Mission SPACE, I can now see how Disney is trying to keep this park fresh and exciting for new generations of visitors, and I can certainly appreciate that, which is why, despite all the changes, EPCOT is still my favorite Disney park. Anyway, I bypassed Soarin since the line had grown too long, and visited the Living Seas next, where I decided to witness Crush's Turtle Talk, which is quite an amazing innovation to say the least. Seeing Crush actually interact with all those children is an experience that I bet none of those kids will soon forget. I know I won't forget it. After observing some more of The Living Seas, I headed right to World Showcase, and claimed my reservation for Lunch at the Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada. The food was exquisite, and the service was even better. My belly full once more, I headed out to leave EPCOT for the last time. It would be the last park I'd visit, since I decided I wanted to see some more of Downtown Disney. That place had really pulled me in. I arrived by bus once again, and walked around all the shops and stores, before going to AMC one more time and seeing Batman Begins. I then went over to the Wolfgang Puck Cafe for my reserved table, and had a tasty and memorable last dinner. I decided against visiting any other parks from here on, since I needed to get ready to leave, make arrangements with the Airline Limousine back home, and talk to my parents, and the parks were all so far away from my Resort anyway, and I could not trust the buses. It had taken almost an hour for the bus to come and get me from EPCOT earlier. You may also notice no mention of the Animal Kingdom. Well, I just wasn't interested in visiting, and with the crowds the way they were at the other parks, I didn't want to take a chance anyway. But that was fine by me. I had seen most of what I wanted to by now anyway. Friday: Fairly straightforward, had breakfast, checked out, checked my luggage and got my boarding pass at a special area to save time at the Airport, and left WDW. This time, my flights back home, which stopped in Cincinati before finally going to Syracuse, went off without a hitch, and I got at home right at the time I expected. So that was my trip to WDW. Overall, it was a good experience, with just a few minor quibbles that I'll live with. I'll definitely consider visiting again if I have the time or the money. But I think I'll make the following changes. 1. Visit during the winter or early spring. 2. Book a resort that's closer to the parks, even if it does cost a bit more. .

Well, I'm supposed to leave for WDW on monday morning (forgive my lack of updating the signature countdown), and this has been a bit disconcerting. But my agent says she's gonna call me if this is going to affect my leaving then or not. I'll be departing from Syracuse, and stopping in Atlanta on the way down. She hasn't called me yet, so it looks like I'll be good to go on monday for now.

What new stuff?...all I've heard about is some new waterslide thing. Big deal. Still doesn't make up for no new coasters in years.

If I were you I wouldn't even waste my time with SFDL. It was a decent place back when SF first took over, but now it's a dump. I don't know why SF would buy this place if they're not going to add any new coasters to it at all. This place is the neglected child of all the SF Parks, Bar none.

Oh really? Thanks for the info then. I'll just make plans to leave earlier for the parks.

Well, a couple of days ago, all the stuff I need for my Disneyworld trip on July 11-15 arrived at AAA. My agent, the same one who saved me $400 on this trip, was there to present it all to me. I got the boarding pass for my flights, luggage tags, the luggage stickers for the new magical express service they have, along with a AAA voucher for the resort (All Star Music in my case), among other things. All I have to do now is figure out how much money to take with me (I'm looking into traveler's checks), make a list of what to pack, then arrange some kind of transportation from Ithaca to the airport in Syracuse I'll be leaving from. I'm not too sure if my Dad can do it yet, because I'll have to leave very early in the morning. I'm really exicted about this. Part of me can't even believe I'm actually going on this solo trip.

Being a guy who's read up on Orpyland's Chaos coaster (there used to be a website about it that isn't around anymore.) I've always wanted to see more pics of the coaster that apparently inspired it, Revolution. The other pics are nice too. Good stuff.

I don't like those flat rides that swing you upside down and leave you stuck up there. One of those freaked me out so badly when I was younger.

I haven't been on this ride yet. I don't know if it'll be open when I'm down there in July. If it's not, I'll live with it. Part of me still misses Horizons anyway, just like Elissa. This is a terrible, terrible thing to happen in a place like WDW. Whenever I hear about these things, children dying while having a good time there, it breaks my heart. Same thing happened with Body Wars a number of years back.

Wow, that place looks impressive. Probably expensive too, which is probably why it closed.

This thing really is coming along nicely. It's been taking Disney some time to plan and build this ride, but it just might be worth the wait. It looks like WDW is finally getting a modern ride that looks as cool as Journey looks at Tokyo DL.

I was way behind on these things, so I spent the bulk of yesterday downloading ALL the videos in this contest and watching them. Out of all of them, the Sea World Australia video is the one that interested me the most, and it's mainly because of that Bermuda Triangle Alien Encounter ride. To me, a ride like that would do very well inside of a Disney Park. Great effects, interesting premise, and lots of water being splashed on you as a way to beat the heat.

You know, of all the coasters out there to enclose, why a bobsled coaster? It may have already existed as avalanche run, but they could have easily just torn it down and built DT from scratch. Bobsleds are a weak link in the coaster world anyway.

Oh, ok. I didn't read that post closely enough.

Hey, quit going after coasterking for what he said. He never said he hates gays, just what some of them may do in public, just like he'd probably have a problem with straight couples doing the same thing in a public place, like I would. Not wanting to see a gay couple having public displays of affection does NOT, I repeat, does NOT automatically make that person a homophobe, or anti-gay, or an oppressive fundamentalist type, or what have you.

Please don't twist what I'm saying. I have a problem with ANY couple having public displays in places like WDW. I see a guy and girl getting all affectionate in any public place and I get uncomfortable with it, because that is not the place for that sort of thing. That's what I meant.

Well, I'm 5'7, and weigh around 220 lbs. I used to weigh about 245 before I started going to the gym two years ago. I lose weight very slowly, and I work in an overly tempting enviornment, a grocery store, which is not good, especially since I tend to snack a lot when I'm stressed out, which is quite often. If I could just tame the snacking, I could probably lose more weight then. But despite that, I've yet to have any problems getting on coasters. There was a slightly larger guy next to me on Apollo's Charriot last year who was forced to get off, but they let me stay on.

I wonder how much money they gave Paul Ruben to gush over this coaster? Doug "Or maybe the Veklona beat his brain to mush too" Booth