USRoadTripper

I too am pretty surprised that KK or TTD didn't make it into the top 10, considering some of the ones that did. I ranked TTD as co-#1 with S:RoS SFNE and S:UF SFoG. But then there's no accounting for taste...some that I ranked pretty high fell pretty low in the rankings, while some I didn't care for ranked high! -Julie

--Your 2005 year in review: Best season I have had thus far! Almost doubled my coaster count, and went to many amazing new parks and old favorites. --Your first coaster of the year: Thuderhead at Dollywood --Your last coaster of the year: Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa --Best new steel to me: Top Thrill Dragster --Best new wood to me: American Eagle --Best new flat ride to me: Had to think long and hard about this one, and I don't think I had one that stuck out as better than the rest. I love tall, slow rides, so maybe a ferris wheel somewhere? --Best new water ride to me: I didn't ride any new water rides this year! haha --Best new dark ride/walk through to me: Ugh, scraping the bottom of the barrell, I'll say Garfields Nightmare at Kennywood (I can only think of a handful of new dark rides and they all sucked except that one) --Best new water park attraction to me: I don't like or patronize water parks. --Best new park to me: Cedar Point! --Best park "moment" of the year: Hitting the brake run on Top Thrill Dragster, and Kevin and I both screaming our lungs out because we'd loved it so much. --Best overall park "trip" of the year: My RADP WDW trip in December --Worst new attraction (any kind) to me of the year: Noah's Ark at Kennywood (HATED IT!!!) --Best event at a park: Beech Bend Kentucky Rumbler press confrence --Best non-event day at a park: July 10th at Cedar Point - rode almost everything, everything was new to me, everything was fantastic and I did it all with one of my best friends --Best non-park related moment of the year: 1) Meeting my friend John when, as a stranger, he came to check into my hotel 2) BodyQuest (AKA The Poop Exhibit) at Adventure Science Center with Kevin 3) Getting a hug from Fletcher Hodges! Woohoo! --Favorite TPR post/thread of the year: Gosh...gotta vote for "Where in the World are Robb and Elissa?" --Best Amusement related news of the year: Voyage, Kentucky Rumbler and Goliath SFoG all opening next year! --Worst Amusement related news of the year: Still no new theme park in Nashville!!! --Ride that I had to rethink my opinion of in 2005: Racer at PKI! It was so much better this year than I remembered it being in 2003! --Hopes for 2006: I won't hope it to be as good as this year because I think I would be disappointed! But I really hope that I am able to meet a lot of the friends I have made through TPR at various events near me (HW, BB) and on the west coast. Thanks for helping make this year a fabulous one!!! -Julie

Ok, I will be the first to admit how ultra sad and pathetic I am...I've been at work all night, and I kept finding myself checking back in on that site to see what part of Disney World it was showing! Unfortunately, I think I will be keeping up with it way more than any rational human being should. Just one question though...I assume it is all done where "today" is actually yesterday's footage? It shows the video like it's live, but the trip report is already written, so I assume it is all one day behind. I can't imagine what kind of cost a website of that kind would incur...not to mention his quest to have the biggest Disney collection, at over 25,000 items!!! Too expensive for my taste. Well, excuse me, but he's in the Magic Kingdom right now, so I have to go back to watching it hehehe -Julie

Sloppy copy editing...gotta love it EDIT: OMG I just realized that it was called "Greased Lightning" through the whole article instead of "Greezed Lightnin'" which was it's proper name. Wow...and people wonder why I am ashamed to have a journalism degree!!! Sickening. -Julie

Thing about the 1 gig card is that I had been using it with no problem since Christmas. I'd never had to format any of my other ones before using them. At least I didn't have anything too too important on that card since I hadn't had it very long. But now it won't format in either of my cameras or in the SD drive on my printer. Any ideas??? And as for the Mr. Big bars...they are so fantastic!!! First off, they are 9 inches long (go figure that I'd like the 9 inch long candy bar hehe) They are like a sugar wafer cookie with cream, covered in caramel, sprinkled with nuts and covered in crispy rice chocolate. I've had some specialty ones with peanut butter and stuff in them, but nothing beats the originals! Good thing I have a supplier in Canada! hehe They are around $3 of you buy them at Epcot! -Julie

So here is my sob story regarding this package. I got home, found it in my mailbox, and immediately started documenting my opening of the package. Well, I was all done and turned my camera off. Then I decided to take one more picture, and when I turned it back on, it said my brand new 1 gig card needed to be formatted!!! I tried to get around it but couldn't! (And even now it won't format...so I have no clue what to do to it!) So I lost all my beautiful pics of me opening the package! So in an attempt to recreate a bit of a TR, I decided to do an "Opening of the Kinder Surprise TR" And here are all three toys one again. Thanks so much for the great package Bill! Rest assured that one is being formulated for you right now! The third toy ended up being a pink plane, with tons of little stickers. And woah, I have totally impressed myself with this photo! This thing is only about 2 inches wide! It looks huge! After taking forever to assemble this "most difficult to assemble Kinder toy ever" it came out looking like a plane with a little blue pilot. WTF? I got an "internet surprise' in this one??? Ahh...this is what a Kinder egg should look like. White chocolate on the inside, milk chocolate on the outside. But don't worry, I didn't let it's perfect shape curb my desire to eat it! Oohh...he's some kinda cool little guy with a gun, and a backpack and a face shield...or something... And here I go, dumping the first toy out of it's egg... Aww the first one was broken into tiny pieces. Wait, what am I saying...it's chocolate, it tastes good in whatever shape you find it! Alright, time to start rippin' into some Kinder eggs! Not being one for delayed gratification, I prompty opened the toffee and got "le craque" on "pour le Mack." He also sent me a Mold-a-rama of the Mann's Chinese Theater! The first addition to my collection in 10 years! It is the one having the great moment with Mr. Lincoln in the upper right. Here's what was inside my package! A Mackintosh's toffee and...OMG KINDER SURPRISE EGGS!!!!! *happy dance* Before opening, I did a measurement, and decided that it was too small to contain a Mr. Big bar (just as well, as I still have about 30 of them from Kevin!) This is what basically exploded out of my package when I opened it! Luckily I was able to contain it to my dining table, but I'm sure my cats will still be pooping sparkly bits for a week.

30 on ACT Didn't have to take SAT -Julie

I would love to get one snow like this a year...you get nice pictures, you get to throw snowballs, kids get out of school, then it gets warm again and you don't have to deal with icy streets. -Julie

Is it just me, or do Snoopy and Toto look like they are burning up as they reenter the atmosphere??? And that Shah painting...he's not throwing them, he's paddling them! The one kid is walking away holding his butt and crying, while the genie guy is swinging a paddle at the kid in his hand. Crazy! The more I see of this park, it totally looks like a place where I would have a blast! -Julie

Seems like the last three paragraphs of your letter are unneccesary. You had a bad expeience and feel that they need to know about it. With as many letters as they get, I am sure that they don't care that you got a new high score on the ride, or that the Grinch insulted you. Had I been the guest services person reading your letter, I would have stopped after the first four paragraphs. Also, threatening to tear up your AP does nothing, as ultimately you didn't do it, so you just told them "But hey, I'm coming back to give you more of my money anyway!" Seems like the last three paragraphs should be eliminated to make your complaint more concise and likely to be dealt with. -Julie

Then my work here is done. -Julie

Great TR Teddy!! You look like a blast to hang out with! Don't hesitate to post another TR when you get the chance! -Julie

I'm scared. But in a good way -Julie

Some people really use their imaginations when counting coaster credits. I was just wondering of anyone counts the Sun Wheel as a credit, since it is a "Coaster Wheel"? And if you keep track of which gondolas you've ridden in, would you count it as up to 16 credits?! hahaha Anyone have any other examples of stuff people have used to pad their coaster counts? I counted first gen drop rides for a while until I decided that if I didn't count them anymore, I wouldn't have to ride them! hehe -Julie

The last one is definitely the best one Welcome to TPR! -Julie (BaldFanatic)

Nice TR...you have some great pics! They need captions though, for anyone who hasn't been to the parks, they can know what they are looking at. Otherwise, very cool! Makes me want to go to Cypess Gardens hehe -Julie

Why why why do people ask for socks and underwear for Christmas??? And why do other people buy it for them??? I've never understood that! We have finally convinced my family to stop giving my dad socks and underwear as gifts when he asks for them. Seems like my uncle is just as bad in that all he ever gets for Christmas is pants! My grandma gives us each $100 to spend on ourselves, then she will wrap up what we buy and we unwrap it on Christmas Eve. And you can rest assured that every year he will get about $90 worth of pants, and maybe a t-shirt, maybe a belt, maybe a tie. Everyone makes fun of him every year, yet every year, all his gifts are pants! This year, he opened one box and pulled out a t-shirt and goes "Ha! Fooled ya! It's a t-shirt! No pants!" then he looked under some more tissue paper in the same box and goes "Oops, I didn't see those pajama pants." As a result, I will never buy pants with Grandma's Christmas money! hahaha -Julie

Hmm, it rained here in Nashville too. Strange that so many places saw rainy Christmases this year! -Julie

Exactly Shari. I know a lady who is always complaining that she can't find enough clothes in extra-small! If only I had that problem! -Julie

^ Not being in retail anymore! What words does your phone number spell? -Julie

Great pics! Looks like a lot of fun except for the cold! -Julie

I hate coffee worse than I hate beer, and man, I hate beer. But at least I can physically swallow beer...no so with coffee! -Julie

Ugh...$45 on coffee for my uncle and cousin for Christmas! Wish Christmas was tomorrow, as it is royally stinking up my apartment! -Julie (hates coffee)

First coaster was Thunderhead on May 26th Last coaster was Montu on December 7th Coaster highlight was definitely Top Thrill Dragster! I was absolutely terrified while in line and on the launch, but once it took off, it was nothing less than spectacular! It was my first and only thus far Intamin rocket, and it's perched right up there at #1! I'd say my entire two days at Cedar Point was the highlight of the season. Man I had a *fantastic* coastering season this year, and I only hope that next year proves to be just as good or better! -Julie

Dave, it's like you've gone into the future and taken pictures of the home I will own ten years from now! Except less beer, more cider. Cool pics! -Julie