The Official TPR "East Coast/Behemoth Trip" Update

[ginzo]

Just have the doc prescribe you some Xanax to take when you're on the plane. You'll be fine.

 

I tried Xanax last time I flew, and it definitely DID NOT WORK. And it was only an hour and a half flight! I think you underestimate my world-class ability to freak the heck out.

 

No, I definitely need something to knock me on my @ss.

 

What was the dose? A really high amount, like 5 mg, would probably do the trick. You're going to have a harder time getting someone to give you the big guns, like Thorazine or barbiturates.

 

You can always test out whatever they give you ahead of time to see if it knocks you out. The really strong stuff will give you a wicked headache when you wake up and leave you feeling dopey, possibly for days afterward.

[Carnage]

Horse tranquilizers?

[natatomic]

^^I don't think the dose was that high, so that could explain it. But anyway, I don't have to worry about it for awhile, so I'll just cross that bridge when I get there.

[cfc]

Just repeat this soothing mantra on the your flight to Scandinavia:

 

Ooooom . . .

 

Balder . . .

 

Ooooom . . .

 

Balder . . .

[televisedconfession]

^^Meh, most chances, your plane will crash and you'll burn and die. That's why you should do the WEST COAST trip with me!!! I've been contemplating road tripping it out there with Jake via car anyway.. or maybe train. You should come with us... then there's no flying involved. And we could leisurely see the country, and get out there with interesting stops along the way!

 

Something to Think About Natalie!

[KerryB]

^I'll act as a referee for KerryB and say she is awesome, and you'd have a lot of fun with her.

 

Damn I'd love to do Halloween at some American theme parks.

 

Thank you! I appreciate the positive review!! It's just a short trip for you, hop on over and we'll hit some parks!!

 

Natalie, I'll pm you...probably tomorrow as I'm about to crash! But I live in Winston-Salem...so we are a pretty good distance from each other! I have often thought of moving to Wilmington though, which I believe is closer to your part of the map. I can also understand saving for Scandi. I think I'm going to start substitute teaching on my off days to save for next year and future TPR trips!

 

KerryB

[natatomic]

^^Meh, most chances, your plane will crash and you'll burn and die.

 

Thanks, Neil. Thanks. I'll never fly again.

(Come on, now. You know how I am about jinxing things!)

 

That's why you should do the WEST COAST trip with me!!! I've been contemplating road tripping it out there with Jake via car anyway.. or maybe train.

 

I thought about about traveling by car or train for the West Coast trip, but people kept laughing at me when I mentioned it to them! But YES, I'd definitely be up for it if I do the WC.

[televisedconfession]

[quote name="televisedconfession"Thanks' date=' Neil. Thanks. I'll never fly again.

(Come on, now. You know how I am about jinxing things!)[/quote]

 

It's all love Natalie. All love.

[robbalvey]

Day 5, Part 2 - Lakemont Park

 

Lots of photos by Robb, Dan, Hanno, Natalie, Ben, and tons of people who I thank very much for contributing pics!

And the best part about Lakemont? The FREE FROSTY! Yum! Josh is still hoping to get his!

 

Thanks again to Lakemont for a great day!

Could this be the worst photo of Jahan ever taken?

Today everyone in the group were honorary Californians! But seriously a *HUGE* thank you to Lakemont for setting aside an hour for us in their busy day which allowed everyone to get a ride on Leap the Dips.

Just in case you forgot the name of the coaster you were on...

There's a good and classic Monster here too.

Lakemont had a great selection of old skool flats that you don't see as often...like the Twister.

Seriously...the Skydiver is an evil, evil, EVIL ride! But it is *AWESOME* and you need to be with someone who can work the machine! There are very few of these left in the world so be sure to get a ride on this.

Now if you want to talk about Evil rides, let's talk Skydiner here for a moment...

LOL! It put Dan into the fetal position!

There it is in all it's beauty!

"Hey, I'm a cop. I can handle anything!"

The last thing you may ever see.

Guys, be prepared to have your childhood stolen from you!

Let's focus our attention on another evil ride...the Toboggan! Look at it...it's just so cute like you want to reach out and pet it!

NERD SHOT!!!

But as you can see, some of us *LOVE* the punishment!

Yes, it's true...the ride will turn your body into a blubbering pile of jelly!

I'll be honest, Skyliner is an *aggressive* ride! In the front seat you can get a good ride with lots of air, but OMG ride the back seat if you DARE!

Lakemony supports the minor league every time the coaster goes around the track. (And yes, that is Erik in the front hanging on for dear life!)

...and to the right...freaking awesome looking baseball field! (I hope no one hits a home run while we're on the lift!)

From the lifthill if you look left you see more Skyliner...

Next up was Skyliner...a woodie with one of the BEST views ever!

"Leap the what??? Dude, I'm here for the candy!!!"

"I can ride Leap the Dips again, right?"

Especially since the park fed us well! (The chicken here kicks ass!)

This dude is going to get a little extra workout today!

"Are those things really smacking the car in the butt???"

And yes, some awesome Leap the Dips POV will be coming your way to a TPR DVD soon!

NERD SHOT!!!

This is where all the other Leap The Dips cars to go sleep.

...and even a baby can ride it! (Yes, this was KidTums' first woodie!)

Guys! Don't look so worried...it's a lot of fun....

Everyone hang on!!!

And yeah, you can see this *IS* the ultimate in old school! No upstop wheels, all side friction...all awesome!

I don't think I've seen riders without smiles plastered on their faces.

Here you can see some actual Leaping and Dipping!

Don't let the age or the size of it fool you...Leap the Dips is AWESOME!

...but the anti-roll backs are doin' it old skool!

For you lift hill geeks, not only will you love it's double chain method...

And as the sign suggests, yup, it's the oldest coaster in the world!

...and when you're talking about classic stuff it doesn't get any more classic than Leap the Dips.

Next park of our trip was Lakemont in Altoona, PA. Another park in our small park tour, but it had a LOT of charm. It's a place where you can go, hang out, have a family picnic and ride some cool and classic stuff...

[Ryancrash]

I love Leap The Dips! And Skyliner. And Toboggan and Skydiver both bring back childhood memories of carnivals.

 

My best friend is originally from Altoona, PA - when he was a teenager, he lost his virginity in the Lakemont Park parking lot! Years later, we took his little boy (who was three years old at the time) on Leap The Dips for his very first coaster ride (he loved it).

 

Lakemont Park is just awesome...

[Vffreak07]

Nice pics! Skydivers are awesome in my opinion. I love em! They are kinda scary though because of their age.

[robbalvey]

Robb, I am amazed that you are in China and still had time to update everyone with Behemoth trip photos.

I actually got 3 days worth of photos processed while on the plane! (Thanks to having a power outlet for the laptop)

 

I will keep them going as much as I can, no matter where I am in the world!

 

--Robb

[arrowfanman]

That's a bad photo, but I have the capability of taking far worse!

 

 

 

Great update! I really liked Leap the Dips! It was 200 for me!

 

-Jahan

[dandaman]

Could this be the beginnings of Jahan's personal "Picture A Day" video?

[Schwarzkopf]

Lmao what am I DOING with my hand. Limp wrist much?

 

It was pretty rough though, so i'm forgiven yeah?

 

 

I loved this day! The parks were rubbish on paper but turned out to be amazing fun. I miss the lack of sleep and the obscene amount of coastering! .

[subguy90]

And im still waiting for my frosty. The wendys in philly wouldn't accept it.

[Speeddeamon128]

Great update Skydiver made me almost crap my pants

[BudtheWeiser]

Skydiver is an awesome ride only ever seen one at a travelling fair over here about 15 years ago and never seen another since its good to know they are still around.

[okinawaboy11]

I did ERT on Skyliner with ACE when the Minor League playoffs were at that stadium. The owner wanted the coaster running the entire game to give that "America's past time feel" to the game. I found the airtime in the last seat down the first hill to be almost uncomfortable with those buzz bars. My thighs were hitting them every ride, we were ejected out of our seats every time. It's a good, classic coaster. I loved it.

[hipbrianhop]

What an odd park, it's like you wnet back to 30 years ago.

I love the construction of Lead the Dips, but i don't no if I will ever be riding this with my long body

These guys should recieve a Medal of Honor for holding hands up! I hope no hands were chopped of by the construction, but a Purple Hart is nice to..

[milst1]

Awesome update! Thanks for featuring the gem that is Leap the Dips. I remember that, back in the 1990's, it was not operating and a lot of ACE and other people worked very hard to get it restored and going again, and they obviously did an awesome job.

 

It's funny, my wife and I did a much-overscheduled day this summer that started with Idlewild, then Lakemont, then Del Grosso's, then Waldameer: Four parks and five hours of driving. It was "get the credit, move on" all day. If I had seen that sign at Lakemont, I would have cried, at least until I found out it was TPR!

 

Next park trip: TPR Korea and Japan!

[rollin_n_coastin]

Fantastic updates so far!

 

Makes me look forward to next year...already

[robbalvey]

Day 5, Part 3 - Del Grosso's Amusement Park!

Thanks again to everyone who joined us for the Behemoth/Ravine Flyer leg of this trip! It was an AWESOME...AWESOME time with everyone!!!

 

Next up! TPR's East Coast Trip!

And Winnie the Crap's evil mutated twin!

It was quite the awesome bus ride back filled with stories about the trip, sing-a-longs, and even a puppet show with "Winnie the Crap."

It was time to wave "bu-bye" to Del Grosso's and head back to Philly where we would say goodbye to some friends and hello to others!

"Yes you may Dan...yes...you may...although I will warn you...you may get wet!"

"Can I apply for this position?"

"Little Toot" is what happens a few hours after eating... THE SAUCE!

Bethany...was it good for you too?

LIGHT SHOW ORGASM!!!! OH YES!!!! OH MY!!!!

The room gets darker...the sound pulsates...the cars are rotating and bouncing up and down...and up and down...and then, just when you think you can't take anymore....

First the ride starts out with "Light Show Foreplay..."

It's an indoor Catapillar with one of the most awesome light packages ever!

Behind this door was one of the most awesome rides of the entire trip!

"Girls of TPR!"

Spinning Mouse Credit! (Elissa looks happy, yes, but deep down she's hating this moment!)

Ok, KidTums...where are we off to next?

For you Round Up fanatics, this was the third one we saw today!

NOTED!

Stuff like the Sea Dragon...

The park is very nice and reminds me of an old school "picnic grove." Lots of trees and shade with old school flat rides...

Across the street from the park...there it is! Where all the magic happens! It's the SAUCE FACTORY!!!

You can find some very tastey treats here including potato salad and other goodies!

Living proof that not only are we dirty, dirty whores...we are also all addicted to crack!

Jahan contemplates... "You know I *could* be a whore... if I wasn't always on my period... if I wasn't afraid of penguins... could get Tatsu to dispatch at least every 4 minutes... if I didn't still have glass shards in my ass... could eat peanut butter... didn't drive the Fit...ahh, hell, it's hopeless...I'll never be a whore...maybe I'll just join that anti-mayo group and find some friends there...no wait...that would be even MORE loserish...ok, so at least I'll take solace in knowing that while I'll never be a whore, I'm not a stupid and pathetic as those people who are deathly afraid of vegetable oil and egg yolks. Yes, I do feel better about myself now... oh, what's that? I have to put my lapbar down? Oh, sorry...

"Yes it's true! I am a dirty, dirty whore!"

Dude...it's the WACKY WORM!!! Not Millennium Force!

Yes, it's true...we are all dirty, dirty whores!

The rides section on on side and rides on the other...since no one wants to see half naked TPR members frolicking in the water, we didn't want to scare the poor unsuspecting souls in the waterpark so we stuck to the rides.

Ok, ok...we know the sauce is important...but let's go check out the park!

We being the fatties that we are, took complete advantage of being at the park on Spaghetti Wednesday!

During the summer Del Grosso's offers "Spaghetti Wednesday" and each week features a different special!

"The pizza is fantastic!"

The sauce is KidTums approved!

"It's all about the SAUCE!!!"

The group got a really nice introduction and some background about the park and the factory...the takeaway from that introduction was...

When we got to the park we marked our territory like wolves.

Brief history lesson about Del Grosso's....it's a theme park owned by an Italian food company! So there are rides...and LOTS of food!!!

[Erik Johnson]

This trip certainly was the most fun I had all year. I can't wait to do another one next year.

[Mike Austin]

For a park that was all about food, I wouldn't have liked any of it. (Well, not unless they served the pasta plain- and not that I liked any of the food on the trip anyway )

 

It looks like the Add-On was a lot of fun, despite most of the parks looking pretty mediocre (that's why you go around with a massive group of mainly hilarious people ).

I'm just gutted that I couldn't go. 9Apart from most other people, who were probably pleased I didn't go ).