Erik Johnson

Do you mean the "Super" Express passes?...Or the standard Express passes? I hate the Universal Express pass machines, we always have a hard time getting them to scan our annual passes. Whatever is planned, is what we will do. Oh will there be any theme park visits that weekend as well?

After thinking about the situation, SharkTums is probably correct with the ride-ops playing a little joke. Come to think of it, one of the guys in the ride-operations booth was doing a Stevie Wonder impersonation while operating the ride. The ride-ops seemed to be have a really good time on both The Hulk and The Dragons that day. Yeah, I would think Universal would have to consult B&M before changing the Hulk's speed. I'm sure its in the contract for the coaster. Dragons Ice, which was our first coaster of the day, really gave me "butterfly stomach" on our first ride. So maybe I was just more sensitive to the coasters that day. Yes...there have been times I came close to blacking out (I see white!) on the Hulk during its cobra roll. Not one this trip though.

As soon as you guys pick a date let me know. Leanne and I will be joining the TPR group this year (unless you dont want us to go.... )

I recently broke out my Sega Dreamcast the other day and decided to play a little of the Mario Go-Cart rip-off Walt Disney World game. What made this game a little more unique was that each of the race tacks were themed from many of the E-Ticket rides from all four lands of Orlando's Walt Disney World. It features such tracks as Rock N Roller Coaster, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain (though its more like the Disneyland one rather than WDW's) Pirates of the Carribean...and so on. And yes for Sharktums the main characters of the game are Chip N Dale. I still can't figure out where the music from the Dinosaur track comes from since I have yet to hear it on the ride. Everything else I recognize (Except RnR Coaster which has a generic rock theme due to licensing isuues.)

The welcome center basically was an early version of one of those Disney stores you may have at one of your local malls. You could also set all your reservations for the hotels while you were there as well. Someone did mention the internet may be the reason why they are closing it, that is probably true. But they did have cool "Macy's window style" (think Magic Kingdom Emporium) displays of different scenes of your favorite Disney movies/tv shows in the front windows...and yes they did have a Rescue Rangers display as well at one time.

Actually thie summer had pretty decent crowds at IOA...esp on the weekends. We rode the Hulk after the big rain (at Mythos during the rain). I think a big part of the lack of crowds yesterday was that many of the central florida school age kids started school today. Busch Gardens seemed to be quite crowded this summer as well, but I understand yesterday's crowds were also lighter than previously (again due to school starting today).

The Incredible Hulk (IOA)....As always, a great coaster. More Incredible Hulk goodness. The crazy Zero-G lose all your items launch of The Incredible Hulk

8-7-05....Islands of Adventure. Yes we ate at Mythos.

I just heard from a friend that lives down in Ocala, Florida that the old Official Walt Disney World welcome center is closing next week. Anyone got an official word on this yet? If you never heard of the official (since there are many unofficial ones) Disney welcome center, it is a place where you could buy tickets and get all kinds of WDW information an hour north of the actual parks. It is located right by the third Ocala Florida exit right off I-75 and SR200.

Sounds like something right out of Urusei Yatsura...but I really don't know. Someone mentioned Holes..is that worth seeing?

Yeah...its not a game for everyone.... Erik "who still gets made fun of for playing Animal Crossing" Johnson

We spent a half day at IOA today. On our first ride on The Hulk (around 6:00) we got into line for the front seat (about a 8-10 min wait). We both noticed that they only had two trains running at this time. They usually always have three going at the same time, but due to the lack of crowds, they must have been running only two. Anyways, after we sat down and got restrained on the coaster, one of the ride ops bent down and told my wife a secret. She had to promise not to tell anyone until the end of the ride. We then were dispatched and we had a really good run on the coaster. It just seemed slightly more intense than normal and we flew through the last brake trim before the last inversion. I turned to Leanne and told her that I thought we just ridden the best ride we ever had on the Hulk (mind you we probably have ridden this coaster around 50+ times). Then I asked her what was the secret the ride op told her. She mentioned that they slightly tweaked the ride to make it a little faster. When we came into the station I asked the ride operator how much faster the ride was on the trip we had taken. He said that the Hulk's speed is usually inbetween 65-67 mph, but for our car we were closer to 70-71 mph. I am not sure if this was a come-on...but it did seem to be faster than normal. We ended up riding the Hulk 4 more times and none of them were equal to the first ride we took for the day. Can people really notice a difference of 3-4 mph? I would not think so, but it was cool anyways. (Hulk now tied Sheikra for being the fastest coaster in Florida).

Cool pictures....thanks for spending the time posting them.

Yeah weeds can be the pits. It took a few hours to find em all and pluck em. (As well as going to the Gameboy island). I ran into one of the critters who said it had been 19 months since I talked to him....oops. Too bad the version of Punch Out! is the 2nd edition....No Mike Tyson..heh.

Yep...I think they added the single rider line just a week or two ago....Didnt you read my Photo TR last week Sharktums? Anyways you have some really nice pictures here...I am glad you had a really nice time at BGT, sorry we were not able to make it.

Well, compared to the wooden coasters The Hurler (Carowinds), Cyclone (SFOG), and GASM (SFOG). The Gwazi feels like a steel coaster. I guess I am one in the minority who has fun on the Gwazi, I don't think its too rough...especially when compared to the other wooden coasters we rode last week. Montu is also my favorite coaster in Florida, I think the second half is great as well (the hidden elements is a nifty idea). Though Top Gun at Carowinds does have the better batwing. Thanks for the cool Photo TR...even though some of the comments borders on blasphemy (jk!) . Oh yeah, we also liked the Cheetah Chase....the first half was much more intense than expected...I really thought we were going to fall off the track...heh.

Great Photo TR!! Thanks for spending time posting wonderful pictures of a park I have never been to.

Yeah the Nintendo DS version is going to be good. The only thing that will be missing (though they are adding a bunch of new stuff), is going to be the NES games. I do have the complete Halloween series on my top floor, as well as the complete blue series on the first floor (with my NES games and trophies). Again if anyone would like the trade items..let me know.

Its a good start to I'm sure will be a great Photo: TR. Can't wait to see the rest of it.

No reason to send in any more..The Cracken is going to win LMAO.

I broke out my Animal Crossing, after about a year of not playing, for the Gamecube...ack sooo many weeds. I was wondering if anyone else ever plays (or played) this game. If so would anyone be interested in trading items?

Actually Rock n Roller Coaster is a great starting inversion coaster. While it is fast the inversions are very quick and smooth. I highly recommend that you sit in either the first or second cars (you actually can choose where you sit, just ask one of the ride operators). The back cars are more intense (in the inversions) than the front ones. Also the actual coaster section of the ride is less than 90 seconds. One question: Is it the speed or the inversions that are making you nervous?

Since The Great Gasp is closing in another week I decided to post two more pictures I took of this great ride. Underneath The Great Gasp Another photo of The Great Gasp.

Buchholz High School, Gainesville Florida, 1991. Go Bobcats! We were state football champs that year.

While I never seen a fortune cookie while I was living in Taiwan or during my travels to China and Hong Kong (Did you ever see one Robb?), I always look foward to seeing what kind of fortune I would receive after stuffing myself full of Chinese food. Share your most recent fortune you received right here. My most recent fortune is a strange one: "When you are squeezed, what comes out is what is inside." Ok, I hope nobody tries to find this out with me this upcoming week...Ewwwww!