mcjaco Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 The weekend prior to Thanksgiving, my buddy and his wife have a "pre-Thanksgiving" dinner with all of their friends. Kind of a cool people Thanksgiving, without the annoyance of our families. Mom, if you're reading this, I'm kidding. Naturally, I head over to the Mall of America to get my off season schwerve on, and hit up Camp Snoopy....or the Park at the Mall of American....or Nickolodeon Zone....or whatever the heck they feel like calling it this week. This year was no different, except I was on a mission to really just see what the heck they were up to with the new additions planned. So with my buddy and his four month old in tow, we headed over to see what was afoot. Or maybe we'd see some footers....or perhaps some dirt. Oh yes, it also marked the beginning of deer season in Wisconsin, which is always makes for a pleasant ride home, as you'll see later. Oh yes. Beer! With that, I consider this done. Hmmm, wonder why we're stopping here? Greatest place ever. Deer anyone? On the way home we stopped by to say hi to Paul's favorite spot in Tomah. Hi Paul! I end the night chilling with my god son. He's much cuter than I am. Candygram. Damn straight. For a mere $500, you too can have this. Your nerd membership card is also included. Must stop at the Lego store. Brandon illustrates his love for Boeing....or pahillic flying machines. Best name ever. Screaming Yellow Eagle. I think my dog could come up with something better. Let's hope the new additions are as good as Timberland Twister was. Please do not change the tree swing. It's still my favorite of themed chair swings. Yes. I am a drunk. More dirt. This dirt is however very sexy. Like me. Wow. How creative. Avatar. There's never been one of these before. The Mighty Axe. How mighty? Just Mighty. No more, no less. I'm not impressed with the style of the structures. I liked the old "woodsie" look better. Scooby looks kind of sad and pathetic right now. Back-hoe the Ride. Exclusive construction photo! Rock bottom plunge. Seriously, another flume???? I jest. I know it's not a flume. And baseball used to be played. Off to the Mall, where the skyline has changed a bit. Genetic engeneering is working to produce a 10,000 lb cow. Abra already found one. Wisconsin uses pictures on their maps to help lowly Illinoisians to find their ways.
Carnage Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 On the way home we stopped by to say hi to Paul's favorite spot in Tomah. Hi Paul! Haha, good ol Tomah. Did you buy a tire for old times sake?
SharkTums Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Wow, you did a TR and the weekend isn't even over yet!!! Anyways, I agree with you, it will be a bummer if they turn the whole Park at MoA into a giant neon green and orange nickelodeon mess. Don't get me wrong, I love Nick, but the colors leave a bit to be desired, especially when you already have such a nice woodsy theme. Also, I haven't been following this at all, but now that I know...Spongebob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge is pretty much the coolest name for a coaster EVER!!! I don't know why, but I love it!!!
jedimaster1227 Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Deer anyone? That is quite a scary sight... Anyways, great TR! Its interesting to see how torn up the park really has become since they started the Nick Universe work...
SharkTums Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 It's much scarier when you're driving at night, through a storm, and you keep seeing them run across the road!!! Wisconsin...if it weren't for the Dells it could be wiped off the map and not missed!
Vffreak07 Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Damn straight. I agree though with all of your views on MOA. Mighty Axe-Instead of flipping upside down like it used to, no you just lean to the side and flip upside down twice. Screaming Yellow Eagle-Lame Name-Good Airtime! I also agree on the whole Nick Universe thing. I really loved the old Camp Snoopy. The wilderness feel was amazing and like no other. I'll miss it forever, and for gods sake lets hope we don't have to battle 5 year olds to get a damn EF credit.
mcjaco Posted November 19, 2007 Author Posted November 19, 2007 It's much scarier when you're driving at night, through a storm, and you keep seeing them run across the road!!! Wisconsin...if it weren't for the Dells it could be wiped off the map and not missed! This year was not even close to as bad as years past. Last year they were stacked six and seven high. Gross.
IwantRevenge Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 out of curiosity how can you get exclusive dirt shots when your indoors
TheRapidsNerd Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Candy gram Great shark pic and great quote! Definately gave me a laugh. Great TR! Always amazed at how much in inside that place. Awesome!
bobafett Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Cool Report! Your god son is cute! Rock Bottom is one of my favorite SpongeBob episodes. That deer looked as though it was saying" GET ME OUTTA HERE!"
CoasterWarriors Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Nice trip report of the MOA park! Leave it to that... it appear they change the title of the park many time in short period of time. Let hope it turn around but doesn't overdo it. Just looking at the dead deer is quite disturbing. I love seeing them alive as well other animals too and seeing them at their final destination as being cooked up with some flavors on my plates. What happen from the time they being killed to the time they are on my plates...I don't wanna know.
Meteornotes Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Wisconsin...if it weren't for the Dells it could be wiped off the map and not missed! These are some of the wisest words ever posted here. Great PTR, but I have to say I am very disappointed that we only got to see the sign for the Mars Cheese Castle. Please tell me we'll be getting a detailed PTR of the interior of this amazing place some day soon... dt
Moose Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 That park looks like it is crying. Seriously, they have already ruined the feel. Hopefully it will get put back together, but i fear it'll be a case of Humpty Dumpty. How exactly is an undersea plunge going to fit in thematically with all the woods stuff. You missed a phot of my favorite lego model at the store... the racist globe. If I ever post my MN trip report, it will be in there
mcjaco Posted November 19, 2007 Author Posted November 19, 2007 Great Photo TR, but I have to say I am very disappointed that we only got to see the sign for the Mars Cheese Castle. Please tell me we'll be getting a detailed Photo TR of the interior of this amazing place some day soon... dt Alas, Dave. I did not. We had been on the road for about seven hours at that point, and I wanted to get to Woodman's for beer. Stupid hunters and driving do not mix.
Meteornotes Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 ^My soul weeps at this decision to forgo a visit to cheese nirvana... dt
Sticky Nicky Posted November 19, 2007 Posted November 19, 2007 Great Photos, it looked like you had a fun time. For all of you who want to know what it will look like in the spring, I will give you a description as if I was guiding you on a tour around the park by an employee. If you look towards the center of the park, you will soon see two 80-100 foot vertical towers. These will make up Avatar Airbender, a stock model Intamin Half-Pipe. Next two Avatar, you will see another tower, although this one is only 60 feet tall. That is Splat-O-Sphere, a all new drop ride that will let you free fall about 25 feet before magnetic brakes will bring you to a halt. While you are looking up at the tower, you may notice orange roller coaster track whizzing by. That is Orange Streak, formally known as Pepsi Ripsaw Roller Coaster. Now, lets look at Ghost Blasters, the only ride in the park without a Nick Theme to it. You are probably asking yourself, why would they not change the theme of this ride. My answer to you is that Danny Phantom is a ghost, yet they already have a Danny Phantom ride that was formally known as the Screaming Yellow Eagle. You can't have two Danny Phantom rides within 1,000 feet of each other. By know you are probably distracted by that new roller coaster next to GB. That is the Spongebob Squarepant's Rock Bottom Plunge, an all new Euro Fighter from Gerstlauer, who also created our popular Fairly Odd Coaster, our spinning coaster. This unique ride has a 97 degree drop, making it the steepest in the world along with a select few other coasters. No, Hershey Park's new coaster for 08 is not the only new coaster with a 97 degree drop in the US. Anyways, SSRBP has a vertical lift along with 3 inversions, including a cutback, last seen on Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens Europe, who love to change their name as much as us. Accross the way from SSRBP is some kiddie bumper cars. These are also new and are located underneath Orange Streak's loading platform. I hope you enjoyed this mini-tour of Nick Universe and we hope to see you at the park this summer.
mcjaco Posted November 20, 2007 Author Posted November 20, 2007 WIth that description, I hope hope you are a park employee.
Shockwave Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 Nice report Matt. I'm glad I got to see the park before the Nickelodeon invasion began, and I'm still really regetting not going on the Tampico Tumbler thing when I was there.
cfc Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 Losing the "summer camp" theme does rather suck--much like when Knott's lost a big chunk of its personality when the Roaring 20s gave way to that generic "boardwalk" stuff. But the Eurofighter is a good move, at least.
thefitness Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 Also, I haven't been following this at all, but now that I know...Spongebob Squarepants Rock Bottom Plunge is pretty much the coolest name for a coaster EVER!!! I don't know why, but I love it!!! Probably cause that episode is so kicka$$! It's such a perfect name for it! I'm hoping the cars will be bus themed, maybe even some GloveWorld theming
coaster05 Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 Let me see if I got this straight. They lost the Snoopy license in part because of their disagreement with CF. So they got the Nick license so they can make their park look like every Paramount park in the country whose license is now owned by Cedar Fair. I am SOOOOOO glad I got to go to this park when it was Camp Snoopy, because I have an feeling that the "new feel" to this park will make me weep inside.
cfc Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 ^Sounds to me as though the park will more closely resemble . . . a mall. And that is good cause for weeping.
mcjaco Posted November 20, 2007 Author Posted November 20, 2007 I was not pleased with what I was seeing. I thought the "Northwoods" feel of Camp Snoopy was the right fit for a park in Minnesota. I used to enjoy finding a bench within the center of the park and just hanging out, it almost felt like you were anywhere but a mall. This new mish mash of flourescent colors and strange themeing was making my stomach upset.
Sticky Nicky Posted November 20, 2007 Posted November 20, 2007 WIth that description, I hope hope you are a park employee. No, but I have been there many, many times and some of my relatives work there. Higher up than minimum-wage employee too.
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