USRoadTripper

Wanting to get in one more day at a park before the end of the season, I decided to head down to SFoG for a few last rides on Goliath> Joe ever so lovingly escorted me to the park, and of course, we had a blast. The park wasn't terribly crowded, with nothing having more than a 15 minute wait. After riding Goliath, we bumped into fellow TPR member Coasterdad and his son, who was dressed like Mr. Six, so we had a nice time wandering around the park with them for a while too. I will let the pictures tell the story from here... Where are we? I have no idea! If you know where we are, e-mail Dan! Thanks for reading! After a while, we got bored again, and headed off to Walmart, where I found some very Julie friendly food. The dining room was cool though, with school desks for tables, and a TV perpetually playing ESPN. The food was only so so, with the burger being the same size as a McDonald's burger, and the fries were really chopped up and greasy :-/ So after leaving the park, we stopped for dinner at Varsity, a restaurant that came highly recommended by many friends, as well as the Food Network. Thus concludes our lovely haunted Hanson car ride! Darn Six Flags budget cuts don't allow for air, it seems. Continued exquisite Halloween theming... Over here too... Uh oh...having some difficulty over here... While we were in the area, we decided to take a ride on the "haunted" Hanson cars. Everything looks cute from here... And it wasn't just me! Obviously we picked the only balloon with a bladder control problem! I got peed on during the Up Up and Away ride!! Oh yeah...Joe looks *really* exited to be riding the carousel, huh? It only took 10 minutes to load it, so I can't understand why. Busted! The not-so-amused ride op quickly confiscated the broom! During our ride on the train, Joe found a broom, and promptly proceeded to wreak a little bit of havoc. "Longest...cycle...ever..." Joe: "Hey Coasterdad! Always nice to meet fellow TPR members!" Coasterdad: "Shouldn't you be filing papers?" STOP THE PRESSES! The Signature Goliath shot has changed! The sign no longer blends in with the ride! "Baby Alvey" Because humans are allowed today! Next, we hit up Monster Plantation. Why is Joe so excited?... The day started with two rides on Great American Scream Machine, which still holds the spot as my favorite woodie!

Can we get a photo TR of that? -Julie

I see what you are saying. The only difference I see though, is that a band can still choose to move on under the same name and not lose their identity/sucess even after the death of a band member (AC/DC for example). I can see that working for a band that loses a guitar player or drummer, but not really for a band that loses it's lead singer. Nirvana just wouldn't have been Nirvana without Kurt Cobain. Alice in Chains wouldn't have been the same without Lane Staley. And the Grateful Dead did pretty well until Jerry Garcia died, and now they're just kinda floundering (actually, are they even still together?). I don't really consider it the same thing either...so maybe the point of this thread is more to figure out which bands we hate to see not performing together anymore. -Julie

Phantom's Revenge! It's a reprofiled Arrow...I assumed it was gonna suck, but holy cow was I ever wrong! It was a freaking fantastic coaster and completely came out of nowhere and landed in my top 10. -Julie

Stone Temple Pilots, definitely. I really loved basically everything they put out, and found them to be genuinely talented, where lots of other alternative bands just faked it. I also found Soundgarden and Alice in Chains to be unfortunate break ups (though Alice in Chains was also due to a death). -Julie

Fat Bastard, duh! "I got a turtle head pokin' out!" -Julie

Any Bonnie Rait song. Whoever told that woman she could sing was a liar. I'd rather hear nails on a chalk board for a thousand years. -Julie

Thinking back, I had a better season than I thought I did! Current coaster count: 221 # of new coasters ridden for me: 58 # of new for 2006 coasters ridden: 4 Park visits: 22 (including one this weekend) Different parks visited: 18 New to me parks: 10 Park visited the most: SFMM, SFoG, Disneyland and Beech Bend all tie at 2 visits each Wood coaster ridden the most: Kentucky Rumbler Steel coaster ridden the most: Expedition Everest I guess...didn't keep track Stand-out memorable experiences: The TPR weekend in March was really awesome! I really enjoyed going to the Kentucky Rumbler media day, meeting Don and Monica at Holiday World and getting to hang with Mr. Quad-boob himself at SFoG. Spain was a fantastic trip all around, including the three theme park which were all beyond fantastic. And getting to meet Mike, Jahan, Guy and Alana at SFMM was really a blast too! Luckily my season isn't over yet, since I have one more trip to SFoG planned, as well as a week in Orlando. Won't be getting any new credits though (unless a gift from God brings me my SFoG Deja Vu credit!) Next year should be packed with coasters as well, since I have a trip across PA planned, as well as another trip back to SoCal, and at least one trip to Orlando. -Julie

*sniff* I miss PortAventura more and more with each TR Why must it be halfway across the world?? I spotted that "don't take your shirt off" sign too and thought it was hilarious! Thanks for taking the time to post! -Julie

Mine's sent. It was much easier to rank them this year, since I split them into 7 categories (outstanding, great, good, ok, not so great, bad and horrible). No agonizing over wether I liked Blue Streak at Cedar Point more than Cannonball at Lake Winnie, etc. Robb and Elissa...how many coasters do you guys have to delete out of the poll as ones you haven't ridden? I can't imagine that it's very many! -Julie

Intamin: Millenium Force (most overrated coaster ever!) B&M: Iron Wolf GCI: Gwazi -Julie

I am definitely in the "Love It!" column! I loved the little wonton thingies they used to have, so I do miss those, but everything else makes up for it! I don't even eat the beef, pork or sausage, and still have to practically be rolled out of there any time I eat there! I did notice that the service was lacking quite a bit when we were all there in March, and from what I hear, the same seemed to have happened this time too. I've only ever gotten exceptional service there when I was in a smaller group, so it does make me wonder why larger groups don't get the same level of service. Good service or bad, I'll still happily stuff myself there -Julie

I went to the taping of the Price is Right 30th anniversary show in 2001. As crazy and dorky as it sounds, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done! I grew up watching that show my entire life, and to actually be there in the audience, praying that I was gonna be called on down was truly something I'll remember forever!! Anyone who gets a chance should definitely go see a taping of this show! And am I the only one of the opinion that they should just cancel The Price is Right after Bob Barker's retirement? No one could ever replace him as host of that show, and I don't think anyone should even try. -Julie

Last year, I worked an overnight shift on the day that the time changed. So I didn't get an extra hour of sleep...I had an extra hour of work! This year, it was an extra hour of doing nothing before work. -Julie

My least favorite isn't a ride. It's the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I've seen it twice, and both times, I wanted to bash my head on the nearest hard object and pound the very life out of me just so I wouldn't have to sit through one more excrutiating second of that wretched show. It is the longest, most boring, most unimpressive show that I have ever had the misfortune of living through twice. A very distant second would be Journey into *your* Imagination, the second Imagination incarnation. It was a really pathetic attempt at entertainment. But nowhere near as pathetic as Indy!! -Julie

Wonderful trip report! This was such a fun read! -Julie

Wonderful trip report! This was such a fun read! -Julie

Isn't that the point of cremation? hahaha -Julie

www.snopes.com/food/warnings/vegemite.asp -Julie

I agree also that Animal Kingdom sorely lacks in the food area. If I really have to eat there, there is a good chicken parmesan sandwich at Pizzafari, and a salad with chicken at Tusker House, but that's it! AK could seriously use another three or four big fast food places, as well as a couple of more full service restaurants. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that is still underwhelmed with Animal Kingdom. The first time I went (within a month of it's opening in '98 ) I HATED the park! Now, I don't hate it, but it's still definitely my least favorite of the Disney parks I've visited. Can't wait for the next installment Jahan! I love how your TRs tell the story of what you did during the day, not just picture, caption, picture, caption. -Julie

This is going to be the most well documented pregnancy ever Really, congrats you guys, this is awesome news! Good timing too, since Elissa will be ready for coastering again just shorty after the beginning of next season! -Julie

I want to update my answer! I still think that Adventure Express has a lame ending, but I wanna add in Ninja at SFMM too, since it has the same "lift hill then coast for 5 feet to the station" ending. And my favorite ending is now Rampage at Alabama Adventures! The brake run is pretty far from the station, then you hit this little downhill curve, where you pick up some decent speed, then hit more brakes on the downhill portion of the track. Nice. -Julie

Dude...Dhingy Disaster would be an awesome name for a ride like that! -Julie

It is a shame...nay, a tragedy...that I am not able to participate in what appears to be an insanely, well, insane TPR Florida meet The next time someone's food comes served with a pickle...*sniff* think of me. -Julie

So serious that you didn't read the part where I said it was to give parents alternatives to fries and soda with kids meals? It has nothing to do with adult meals. -Julie