Coaster Palooza

I know the following photos don't have coasters in them, but be patient. It was a long weekend from Thursday through Sunday. The following photos were from the Sharks' play-off game on Thursday night. Unfortunately they are down 2 games to 1 against the Flames as I type this. Sharks ended up winning 2-0. Now they are down 2-1 because they lost last night... (( Up 2-0 now with less than 5 minutes to go... Hey, it's Sharkie. I haven't seen him in this area for a long time. That changed within 5 minutes though... Yep, it must be 0-0... 0-0 face off for period 2... then they had them ride the tricycles back to the other end. Still trying to gain some traction... They are doing push-ups here. First intermission. No score. I love it when they bring fans on the ice to try to run. Opening face-off... Jim's son JJ has the other seat. This was probably the loudest game I have ever been to. That's my other friend Jim. These are his seats. We're getting comfortable in our seats. Through the Sharks mouth. Now, let's play hockey!!! Coming out of the locker rooms. Almost all the way down... The give-away was white pom-poms. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it looked great there. They lower the Shark head and have the Sharks come through it. The place was rockin'. Here is the view looking back down. Man that's a lot of people and a sea of teal! Up the escalator... I like it that they scan your ticket so it stays in tact instead of tearing it. Pretty good crowd going into the tank. This is my friend Hopper. Best bartender in town. You should always know a good bartender. They have police on horses outside the Shark tank. I hope we're not expecting any trouble.

^&^^I don't know. You might want to contact the park. I know that last year SFGAdv allowed all season passes to their season pass holder events. If someone finds out, can they please post?

Here is the link http://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/events/CoastersAfterDark.aspx I hope Tony Hawk is running during this time. I know they're trying to get it ready for Memorial Day Weekend!

I need that one!!! It's a great report Scott. I wish you didn't have to suffer through the illness in Florida.

^You just made me laugh so hard! The master of self-promotion.

Dude, you look so sick in that picture with Shannon at Star Flyer. Did you overcome the strep throat enough to enjoy the time down there?

^Yep, the train ride was closed while we were there. I am attaching a couple more videos. TARNATION!!!.mpg Just goofing off. Dollywood Cars.mpg Driving the Cars at Dollywood.

Coaster Palooza likes how Big Mike's Roadshow is moving along. Coaster Palooza, and the misses, missed out on Kingda Ka and El Toro. They weren't built when we were there a few years ago. We wish we could have been there. It looked like a lot of fun.

^^^Glad you're back from Florida! I hope you both had a great time. I don't know what it was about Thunderhead, but it just didn't do it for us. We liked the ride, but we couldn't figure out what was so great about it though. We rode in the front and back. We have ridden many good woodies - in no particular order: Hades, Rumbler, Voyage, Raven, Legend, Boulder Dash, Phoenix @ Knoebel's, Cornball Express, Avalanche, and others that slip my mind. We haven't ridden El Toro or Balder. I believe that those 2 will be really great. I wish we would have had the same rides that other people had. In a similar way, we actually like Shivering Timbers and the Beast, even though a lot of people poo-poo the rides. BTW - Even Gyendolynne and I know the words to the Monster Plantation song after making the video.... ^^The Tennessee Tornado was surprisingly smooth to us. We weren't expecting it. Big Mike, Rich, Scott, and Shannon all told us it would be smooth though. Thanks for that! I think it is the main reason why Gyendolynne rode it.

^Kevin, my friend was trying to sell his tickets on-line, but there aren't any takers. I guess there aren't a lot of Calgary fans out here. I am going to the game on Thursday with him. He still has 2 tickets for sale to the game. He wants to sell them.

I know it's been a long time since I posted in here. It isn't so much the beer in the picture, but the place. Maybe I'll have the time to post in here again soon. Hard Rock Cafe, Gatlinburg!

The finishing touches on the Trip Report. Where will we go next? First class upgrade for the flight home. At least this time I was able to keep my seat. Until next time... Gyendolynne had a shrimp salad. Applebee's for dinner. Does the steak look like Italy? Maybe if I flip it on the other side? I rode the Tornado one more time, but I had the credit from the day before. There was no wait for the ride. Final credit before the rains came. WOW! That's a big nest. If you like bald eagles, this is the section for you. There is a big area at Dollywood to help these endangered birds. They had a place where you could by carriages and carriage parts. Gyendolynne must have the camera at this point. More history of the area. More cool gems and stuff coming up. TARNATION! He's "picking" my nose! They make some great food at Dollywood. Yes, I got the next photo on my list...CHECK. The controls did nothing. This ride looks better than what it is. This girl got in trouble because she tried to cut in front of me to ride the flyers. I am just kidding. Weeeeee I chose the zebra. See any similarities? Gyendolynne chose the cat. Next stop is the Carousel. I knew Rich had to have ridden this when Big Mike and him were her earlier, right? I'm on the ride, in the front row. It took a little elbowing of some kids, but I'm in the front! We did get all the credits at Dollywood.

I am continuing with Day 1 at Dollywood and the beginning of Day 2. No one has ever taken this photo before. I will finish up day 2 soon. I will upload the video when I get a chance. We decided to ride the cars first today. Those photos were brought to you by.... Gyendolynne got a hold of the camera again. Had to finish up some smashed pennies. Day 2 started with our tram ride in. I can't believe how sleepy I look in this photo. Maybe it's because I usually wear sunglasses. You'll find out soon enough why I am not wearing sunglasses today. Just in case you lose them, hopefully someone will find them. This is in the elevator at the hotel. It sure was a neat one. The patrons really get into the music. We made it to Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg. Hi Gyendolynne! We rode these the next day.

I decided to take the following from the beginning of our Spring Fling TR: Dollywood is a great park. My wife really liked it and we look forward to going back there soon. I’m sorry to say that I am with Rich about Thunderhead. It is a good ride, but it just didn’t do it for us. We rode in the front and in the back. We haven’t been on El Toro yet, but we have ridden a lot of good woodies. This just didn’t beat them out. It is one of the smoothest wood coasters we have been on though. We also have the same opinion on Mystery Mine. It is neat, but the ride beat us up a little bit. I went on it about 3 times because I wanted to see everything, but it wasn’t comfortable at all. There are so many great areas in the park. If you go, take your time, or go twice like we did! Here's the backside. Dolly's home is replicated here... Weeeee..... Gyendolynne wanted to take some photos of their flowers and other things. Awww.... We had our concerns about the rain, but after yesterday I think we're all rained out. Until tomorrow!!! Yeah, funny... First attempt at photoshop. I know Gyendolynne is smaller than I am. I will include the other two pics after this one. Back for some more ERT on Thunderhead. We figured, why not. We're here. Beware of the Bear!!! Great theming at the Timber Tower. Do we have ERT here too? Yes we do! Alright, you're next. Look at the big rock! You can pan for gems here. Here I am saying my neck will never feel the same. He was awake and being a real jabber-jaw when we went by this time. The only reason I went on it three times was to try to see everything. I'm in the back row for my third ride on Mystery Mine. You can probably see my bald head. If you want to "light up," there are designated places througout the park. We're so happy about this rule. Yep, here is the station. Didn't I say everything had ERT this weekend for us? We heard this ride might be smoother than it looks. Next on our list. There are some neat shops here at Dollywood too. Plus the fact that it was pretty cold outside. I was wearing long pants! We're not too much into the water rides, so we just took some photos. Now for the new part of Dollywood. Gyendolynne asked, "how did you like your second ride?" I said, "about the same as the first, but I was ready for the beating on this one." I'm actually on this train. I liked coming back inside after this. This was a pretty neat part of the ride. Theming... The ride ops had time to take our picture too. Yes we do! Look at the station. It is an ERT weekend, first SFOG and now Dollywood. I guess they knew Coaster Palooza was showing up. Wow do we get ERT on Mystery Mine too? The vulture was sleeping as we went by. We're here to ride you. Dollywood always has good entertainment throughout the park. Sorry about the blurry picture. This is our shot of Thunderhead though. Did you think I would miss the smashed penny machine outside of Thunderhead? I don't know what to say about Thunderhead. It is smooth, it has airtime, but it isn't the best wood coaster in our opinion. We did ride in the front and the back, since we had ERT... The fly by. I do like this part. We'll get to you in a minute. Wow! Do we have ERT on Thunderhead too? We're here! This sign made us even happier. Heading to Thunderhead. We were so excited. Who doesn't take this photo? There weren't any smashed penny machines at SFOG. I was glad to get my quota at Dollywood. Day 1 at Dollywood! Processing the season pass. Yes, it was busy today...

^Mark, maybe we'll see you sometime soon. We're trying to figure out a way to get to Cedar Point this year. Here are a few Dollywood On-Ride photos. Hopefully I will get the rest of the photos up tonight or tomorrow. Thanks! Neither one of us get what the big deal is about Thunderhead. It is a great ride, but we didn't think it's the best woodie out there. Tennessee Tornado turned out to be surprisingly smooth. Myster Mine! There is no mystery to how painful this ride is though.

I like how you always talk about yourself in the third person Big Mike! This update was awesome by the way. I need to finish my Dollywood update today or tomorrow.

The pics are looking good Big Mike! I like the captions too.

Sorry about the video problems. I don't know too much about uploading the video. I zipped videos one time and they weren't able to be viewed unless you downloaded them. I uploaded the videos this way this time so you could view them without downloading. Maybe someone can explain to me how to upload a zip file and still be able to watch the video without downloading.

I'm adding a couple of short video clips. The first one is Big Mike getting stapled into the mine ride and the second one is Shannon singing the Monster Plantation song. Enjoy! Monster Plantation.mpg Shannon sings the Monster Plantation song. Beemer Boy claims he doesn't know the words! Big Mike Rides.mpg Big Mike Rides!!!

^Thanks for tweaking the lizard photo. I think we might have seen you at SFDK. I hope you enjoy the TRs. It is going to be a long year!

Continuing Spring Fling at SFOG... Big Mike is actually really shy. Dollywood will be posted soon! That is all from this installment. Mike did get interviewed by this guy at the end. We really had to "encourage" Mike to do this interview. and here's the star of our show, Bugs Bunny, no, Daffy Duck, no Big Mike is the star! Uh-oh, what's this? Is Rich getting sweet on Big Mike? Watch out Larry! Just the ladies, see, I told we took a number of combinations. In case you didn't know, Mike is the ladies' man! The TPR bunch. Georgia's check Time for the checking off of Big Mike's shirt and other photos of the group. We took so many pictures of different combinations. and a cup of ice-cream for himself. Scott got Shannon a cone... Rich found his way back to us after getting a soggy ice-cream in a neat roller coaster holder. We actually took cover inside the restaurant because of the lightning. It is pouring pretty bad. Big Mike! The girls figured the best way to stay dry would be to eat some tacos, nachos, and burritos. Another behind the scenes look at the Roadshow. Hi Gyendolynne! Everyone else enjoyed the carousel. Maybe he isn't smiling. Just before I snapped this, he actually had his eyes shut. I think he is bored out of his mind. Even Rich is smiling...underneath. The group is so happy to get this credit! It really started to rain bad, so we knew we had to ride something under a cover. How about a relocated, one of the oldest carousels?

Coaster Palooza continued with a quick trip to the South. We headed to SFOG for Spring Fling and then went to Dollywood. We met up with a few TPRs at Spring Fling and had a real blast. Big Mike was there along with his “partner” for the weekend, Rich (sfne2005, or Hot Fuzz). We also met Beemer Boy (Scott) and his wife Shannon. Everyone posted some trip reports and the links to them are below. I would like to say that Spring Fling was a blast, even though it did rain. I am glad we stuck with Rich’s agenda. Seriously Rich, thanks for having us stick with it. I have no patience for waiting, but without your help I don’t think we would have ridden the Georgia Cyclone. Weren’t we supposed to head over to the yellow coaster at that point? It was also great to have Scott and Shannon show us around their home park. When you have “locals” with you, it makes the park that much easier to navigate. The pictures should take care of the rest of the story. Beemer Boy’s Link http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42755 Rich (Hot Fuzz, aka sfne2005) Link http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42754 Big Mike, the master of self promotion Link http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=41995&start=70 Coming back in and we were too! After a quick ride on the swings, Rich waited in line to ride Mind Bender. He was so happy... I just don't know sometimes. I will let Shannon sing this song in a video later. Hopefully I can get it posted soon. Then we got smart and moved into the station where Rich almost got into a major discussion over bouncing basketballs and how annoying that can be. Oh yeah, the power went out at one point also. We are waiting out the rain in the bathroom area by Georgia Cyclone. Rapid falls, I guess. With all the rain that fell later on, I think this could have gotten filled up. You're happy now. We had to wait in the brake run for a little bit though! Thanks for having us stick it out here Rich. Your agenda worked out, until you and Big Mike broke the ride and Shannon didn't get to ride it. So Rich, how tall is the tower? Scott and Shannon rode it too. Who is that waiting for the front row? It's Big Mike! I have a video of Mike getting stapled into his seat. I will post later. Yeah, that's the name Next up on the list, the mine train. Gyendolynne with Marvin Just in case you forgot what WE look like. Back to the station, and how was your ride? I think Rich is getting more enjoyment from the ride OP instead of the ride itself. Hey guys, enjoy your ride. Great theming in this area. With the park being open, we needed to get the kiddie coaster out of the way. As you can see, Rich is modelling the newest form of 6-flags bag policy wear. If you can get this vest, you too can be as cool as Rich. I took a couple of photos of the the sexy new style of vest wear this year. We rode Batman to get this one checked off of Rich's agenda. Behind the scenes with the Big Mike Roadshow. What? it isn't running! Rich's agenda is being foiled. We went to Gotham instead so we could ride MindBender and Batman. Rich's agenda is coming around! I know it is hard to see, but these kids are running for Goliath. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Just in case 3 times wasn't enough, we rode it for a fourth time in the front row. It is a great ride. Sorry ya'all had to wait for us. Here's our third ride Yep, that's Rich and I riding for our second time. Our next ERT session It's a nice layout, but I don't know about this one either. We held on a little bit. Gyendolynne has some comments about this too that she shared with Shannon, but that's another story. Next up, some more ERT! The happy bunch saying, "we will never ride that thing again!" Ninja was a one time ride. The TPR folks at Spring Fling. Beemer Boy (Scott) and his wife Shannon joined up with us. No concussions for us and we can still walk upright. We're coming back from our headbanging experience. Gyendolynne got bored with us riding Scorcher and thought it would be better to take a photo of the good coaster. Rich and I decided to ride the Scorcher twice! Why, I don't know. Gyendolynne took this picture with Rich just to make sure he knows he is loved too. All the ladies love Big Mike. My wife is no different. Sorry Larry The first train coming back. They ran a two train operation for ERT. This is what an empty station looks like. Goliath ERT We have an agenda though. We're heading to Goliath while following Rich, who has never been to the park before. Here he is ladies and gentlemen, the master of self-promotion, BIG MIKE!!! Who's this? I can't wait any longer... Goliath is getting all warmed up for us. We made it to Spring Fling! You can throw your peanut shells on the floor. We didn't do anything the first day except eat dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. Nothing like a first class upgrade, unless you get booted from your seat 10 minutes after you take this photo! Time for the red-eye to Atlanta

We rode in the front row and the last row. Our opinion of Thunderhead is the same as both of you. It just didn't do it for us. Great TR by the way!

This is great Rich. I am so happy we stuck with YOUR agenda! The Godzilla pic and reference are killing me. By the way, I think the boat was sinking on both sides. Our (Rich and myself) sank and splash right away, but the rest of the ride was on Big Mike's side.

Hey Scott, That was truly an awesome TR and captured every great moment. We're back in Atlanta after Dollywood. Gyendolynne says, "Maybe I've had too much to drink, but that was a hilarious TR." We had a lot of fun with all of you too! Hope to see you soon. We will update Coaster Palooza 2008 when we get back later this week.