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I saw several zonkeys at Grant's Farm when I was about 7 years old, and I still remember it! I have a picture I took of the zonkey, but I would have to borrow a scanner to show it here.

It's supposed to rain on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which I'm hoping will make crowds smaller without closing rides.

Hey cool, you're from Carbondale! I go to my family reunion in Carbondale every year, because most of my relatives live there. I would have lived there if my parents hadn't decided to unsuccessfully try to become musicians in Nashville. My mom went to SIU, too.

I went up to Mt. Vernon, IL for mother's day to see my grandma. This is their way of scaring off all of the tourists. We stopped by the Rend Lake Art Gallery for a while on Saturday. Kiss me, I'm metal! I'm surprised there is any fudge left! Vandalism at its best . Hey, look what was right down the street from the hotel, the best surprise of the trip! Evil carnie demons ! The Zipper was the only ride I went on, but it was a great one. The evil carnie demon wouldn't let me on as a single rider, so he crammed me in with two other people I didn't know :? . We stopped by Jade Garden on Sunday for some great Oriental buffet-eating. I am the buffet monster :fangs: Buddha spends too much time eating here.

My cat is asleep on my desktop, but I would have to re-charge my camera batteries to get a picture.

Who all saw the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition with the roller coaster room? It looked like a pretty cool room. The wall had a giant mural of an onride photo of a Vekoma Boomerang, and the front car of a boomerang train was sitting in front of it. The roller coaster car had a logo that said "Extreme Twister." I haven't ever heard of a ride with that name. Is it just made up?

My sister surprised me with an ACE mebership for Christmas. I had heard about it before, but I had never really thought about joining. The Dollywood event next week will be my first one, so I'm not sure what to expect :? . I'm in it for the discounts, mostly.

My count is only 26 (excluding 1st Gen. Free falls, Test Track, and carnival "coasters" like the Fireball). My list so far: Opryland:Little Rock-N-Roller Coaster SFKK: Road Runner Express, Roller Skater, Twisted Twins (Stella), Chang Disney World: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain (not sure which side) Cedar Point: Raptor, Disaster Transport, Wildcat, Iron Dragon, Gemini (Red), Magnum XL 200, Corkscrew, Wicked Twister, Millennium Force, Blue Streak SFOG: GASM, Mindbender, Batman The Ride, Georgia Scorcher, Georgia Cyclone, Ninja, Dahlonega Mine Train, Superman - Ultimate Flight This summer I am going to Dollywood, PKI, and then SFOG again. By the end of summer my count could get up to 41.

Do I just e-mail him and give him my mailing adress? How do you pay for the replacement card?

If you lose your ACE card, can you go to the Dollywood event in 2 weeks without it? If you don't have your card can you change your pre-registration info to say you are going as a non-member?

How is the Disc-O? I thought it looked like a kiddie ride. It's kinda weird looking. What else is new @ Dollywood? I'm going there for the ACE Spring Conference.

After Going to SFOG, 1st Gen Intamin Feefall rides are my favorite! I love the freefall sensation. My head felt like it was pounding the whole time, and it definately had the most intense drop of any ride I have ever been on. I still have yet to go on a tower freefall ride, but hopefully I will get to very soon Steep log flumes and water slides are second best. The rock-o-plane is my favorite carnival ride.

Superman Ultimate Flight @ SFOG was definately a great ride for me to end on. Next up, Thunderhead and Tennessee Tornado!

Sorry for giving such a long post. I had just woken up at around noon when I wrote that, and I was still really tired (not feeling like re-reading it to break it up into paragraphs when I realized it was so long ). I have never been able to re-ride more than two coasters in any park. At Cedar Point, I rode more coasters in one day than at any other park, and it was only 10 (with no re-rides). I got in 9 at SFOG, which is pretty good for me. I guess the real reason for all of the long lines were the school groups. When I got to the park, I saw abot 30 school and charter buses.

B&M flyer restraints are incredibly comfortable. The rubber padded vest allows for a great deal of movability and comfort, while still making me feel secure. The worst are Vekoma OTSR's on Ninja @ SFOG. They need to learn from B&M and make OTSR's that actually extend up above your neck, so that headbanging won't turn into neckbanging. I like any type of restraint in which I feel comfortable holding my hands up without my head being thrown against the restraint. Loopers with lapbars, such as Mindbender, are the best!

Yesterday, I was waiting in line for Superman Ultimate Flight @ SFOG, and I got right up to the station when somebody got stuck in the restraint. The ride op announced that they weren't sure how long it would take to get the ride back up and running, so my friend got out a deck of cards, and we sat down on the steps to play a game of war. Our game didn't last very long, because the ride opened back up about five minutes later. People around us were watching our card game and laughing @ us, but it was fun.

Yesterday morning, April 23, I went to my school at 4:30 in the morning for my fist trip to SFOG. We arrived at the park just after it opened. I was in a small group of people, and our plan was to ride every (good) roller coaster at the park. The forecast showed rain and wind, but it was wrong. We had a great, but slightly cool, day at the park. At first I could not decide what to go on first. I wondered if I could catch a ride on Deja Vu, so that was where I headed first. I saw a line of people at the queue, and a train was being pulled backwards up the lift! I jumped right in line, excited about the fact that I might actually get to ride it. The train got up to the second lift and stopped about half way up. I noticed nobody was on the ride. Then the train was pulled slowly back down to the bottom of the lift, and it just stayed there. The ride was closed for the rest of the day, so my friends and I headed over to GASM. The line was surprisngly short, so I hopped in line and took a back seat ride. It had great airtime over every hill, and I thought it was really cool how the train was pulled up to the second hill for another big drop. After that, I looked at the line for Superman Ultimate Flight. The sign in front of the ride showed a wait of 2 1/2 hours, and I was not willing to wait that long. I headed back to the front of the park to Gotham City, where I met up with about 10 people from my school. We all decided to ride Mindbender next, so we got in the "20 minute" line. We soon realized that the wait would be more like and hour and a half, the longest wait of the day. The ride was only running one train, and the other train was sitting on the ground under the first drop. When we finally got to the station, most of the people in the group were hungry. A few people actually got out of line after waiting an hour, just to get some food! I took a seat near the middle of the train. The loops had some really great, intense g's. I could not even keep my hands up. The "third loop" didn't seem to me like it should be considered a real inversion, but it did have a cool headchopper about halfway down that really made me duck. Everyone but me and one other person went to get some food. We waited for about half an hour to get on Batman the Ride, getting a great view of Mindbender from the queue. I didn't really like the sewer/junkyard theme. The tunnels were pretty cool, but random piles of junk were used as cheap scenery. The station was very ominous, with its huge Batman logo up on the wall. The vertical loops, which seem to make you hang forward in your seat, were the best parts of the ride. The tight helix near the end pulled some really intense g's. The headbanging was a little bit extreme, too. The ride was not my favorite B&M, but it definately had some great moments. I had a headache after getting off, so I decided to go on a relaxing ride, the Deer Park Plunge. I expected a short, one drop ride, but it actually had a few hidden turns and a smaller drop. The ride seemed really old, and it thought it was really ghetto how that the boat just bounced off the sides of the trough around the turns. The drop got me a little wet, and my onride photo was really crazy-looking. I looked like I had a really fake smile. Since we were already wet, we decided to go over to Splashwater Falls. The ride op was looking at all of the riders like they were crazy, because it was a really cold day to be going on water rides. I was hesitant about getting so wet, because I was already starting to dry off from the last ride. Of course, the ride broke down right when we got in line. We decided it wasn't really worth the wait to get so drenched on a cold day, so we tried to find the Dahlonega Mine Train. We saw the ride, but we didn't find the entrance. Since we took a wrong turn and ended up back at the front of the park, we decided to take a ride on the Georgia Scorcher. The girl in front of me was crying and begging her mom not to make her ride it, and she screamed throughout the whole ride, even up the lift. The Scorcher was really fun and smooth. It was better than Chang, and it didn't make my feet hurt nearly as much. I was going to take a second ride, but when I heard the girly scream "Mommy I want to go again!!!!!!" I just decided to let my ears have a break from her and ride the Cyclone. I could tell it was going to be rough, because of the look of the trains. Orange reastraints usually mean a rough ride, so I sat up at the front of the Cyclone. The ride op gave her repetetive "Welcome to the Gee-oh-gee-a Psych-alone" speech so many times in the short short wait that I almost had it memorized. I loved the ride's steep, curved drops. Unfortunatley, I missed seeing my onride photo, because I stopped at the exit to take a picture. After that ride, we went to try to find the Dahlonega Mine Train again. We passed by the kiddy coaster, deciding that it was not worth even a 5 minute wait, and we followed the path next to long the mine train to find the entrance. We sat in the very back, not expecting much out of the ride. It was very unique and different compared to any other ride I've ever been on. The ride was almost like a little kiddy coaster with random bursts of speed and great backseat airtime on the final underground drop. I was getting really thirsty, so I stopped by a small cocession stand to get a 3:00 soda, ouch, that was expensive! We decided to go on Freefall. It was my first time riding a 1st generation freefall, so I didn't know what to expect. The only other vertical drop ride I had ridden before that was Wicked Twister, which didn't really feel like falling to me, so I thought this ride would be about the same. It was really weird how the cars just backed up in a line, each one waiting for their turn to go up to the top. Every time we moved back, I thought, "okay, this is it. I'm going up this time", but then I would hear a car behind me being pulled up. After about 4 or 5 times, I finally felt my car click onto the lift. It zoomed right up to the top, providing a great view. I was moved slowly forward, and suddenly, I was dropped down the seemingly-endless drop. My head was pounding, and it felt more like 2 negative g's than a freefall. Once it was over, I had decided that that was definately the greatest and most intense drop of the day. I didn't know whether or not to count it on my coaster count, since many people don't consider it to be a real coaster. We went back toward the back of the park to go to the two coasters we had still not ridden: Ninja and SUF. I was really scared to go on Ninja, since I had heard so many horror stories about it. I wanted to see for myself what had apparently made this great-looking ride into a Vekoma Smashterpiece. I really liked the location of te ride over the lake and the cool oriental music played in the station. As I was going up the lift hill, I prepared for the worst. I pushed my head back hard against the headrest so I wouldn't be headbanged to death. The ride had some really great headchoppers, and it really didn't turn out to be as bad as I expected. It was actually a pretty cool ride. I wanted to save the best for last, which was SUF, my very first flyer. I had 2 1/2 more hours left in the park, and the sign said there was a 2 hour wait, so I thought I would barely have enough time to ride it before leaving. The line moved really quickly, and I was actually up at the station within an hour. I was nervous about going on the ride, since I had heard that the pretzel loop would be really intense. I thought that the pullout at the bottom right before the onride photo camera would provide some really uncomfortable negative g's, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I ecxpected. When I was near the top of the steps, the ride broke down. The ride op made an announcement that the ride would be closed temporarily and they didn't know when it would open back up. We thought we would end up not having enough time to ride it, but we were determined to get just one ride on it before the end of the day. I pulled out a deck of cards, and we played a quick game on the steps up to the staion. In about five minutes, I heard the ride op say the ride was back open. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I think that a person had gotten stuck in the restraints. I finally got on the ride, and it was definaltely the best ride in the park. My first thought was, "what's with the rubber OTSR's?" I thought that "flying" would be an uncomfortable position, but it actually ended up being much more comfortable than I had expeced. The downward-facing drop was not very intense, but it was really cool to go down head-first. The bottom of the pretzel loop was the best part of the ride. After getting off, I was done riding all of the coasters on my checklist, and I had about an hour and a half to shop and eat. I was about to go on Monster Plantation, but would much rather get something to eat than go on a boat ride full of animatronics. We went to the Panda Express for some really good, but expensive, Chinese food. I went around to the various gift shops, wanting to buy a SUF shirt, but I couldn't find one that looked good. I ended up with a SUF postcard as my only souvenir, but I got several pictures. Going back to the bus, I got the see the whole park lit up. Mindbender's track was really cool with lights going all the way along the track. We left the park at around 9:00 p.m., and I didn't get home until aroung 2:00. It was a very fun, but exhausting trip. This trip has brought my coaster count up to 26. My count is still really small . Here are some pics I took:

Unfortunately, the people I will be hanging out with that day are EXTREMELy picky about what rides they go on. One of them will not ride anything if it isn't the greatest, tallest, or fastest in the park, and the other one is terrified of roller coasters. I want to experience every ride for my self, good or bad, so I will just have to ignore my friends' opinions. Since it will be a Saturday, and just a few weeks after opening, I know that the lines will be much longer. Hopefully, the light rain will ward off the crouds without closing the rides. I don't know how to go about carrying around all my stuff: camera, glasses case, wallet, and phone. I think I will wear cargo pants, but will my digital camera and phone survive some of the rougher rides?

I'm from Middle TN (the closest good park to me is Kentucky Kingdom, 3 hours away issed: issed: issed: ), so it will be about a 4 hour drive for me. I will be leaving @ 5:00 in the morning to get there when it opens, and I'll get home around midnight! I've never been on a drop ride, so I'm not sure if I want to start with Acrophobia. But, when I go to PKI, I can't wait to ride Drop Zone 8) . I've heard lots of great things about Monster Mansion, but what's so great about it? Isn't it just a family dark ride?

I will be going with a school group to SFOG this Saturday. The forecast shows rain, so I'm hoping the lines will be short! It will be my first trip there, so I want to ride every ride (that is if Deja Vu will be open). I will be going back in August, too. Which rides will be worth waiting in long lines for, and is Acrophobia really as terrifying (and painful) as everyone says it is?

This may just be a glitch in Nolimits, but I think it is like this: The axle has pieces that stick up right above each wheel. The axle can pivot, and it has shock absorbers attatched to it. On some sharply banked turns, the part that sticks up from the axle has to go through that hole. Here is an example from Nolimits.

I am very observant, and I love to watch huge machines. I chose roller coasters as my favorite type of machine, because you just can't get the same type of thrill anywhere else. Some of my best memories have come from riding roller coasters. Roller coasters are also a great way to meet new people. I have had some pretty interesting conversations with complete strangers while riding coasters. Also, every time I wear my "Millennium Force" shirt, at least a dozen people will start conversations about amusement parks, or they will at least comment on the shirt.

I think I remember hearing that terminal velocity is around 120 mph, so costers can only get faster if they are launched. The initial idea for stratosphere stated that it would reach 120 mph, even though it would be 300 ft. taller than TTD. You would no longer be accelerating and losing your stomach at that speed, so all you would feel at that point would be the wind resistance.

For some reason, when I was at Cedar Point, lots of people were carrying their purses, cameras, etc. onto Magnum XL 200, but the rules were much more strict for every other ride. I think Disney will allow you to carry practically anything onto their rides, at least it was that way when I was there. I was sitting in the back row of Space Mountain, and the lady in front of my was holding a big backpack in her lap.

My sister lost her ACE membership card, so can she get a new card or use another form of identification? She doesn't want to have to pay $30 more to go to the Dollywood event by going as a guest.