*** THE BEBES *** Rainbow Magicland ITALY TR

[HPCrazy]

Can't wait to see more of your T/R's! You're doing a fantastic job so far. I'll definitely be following this thread all the way!

 

My thoughts exactly. You're captions are fantasticly fun. I love seeing great trip reports of parks I'll be visiting later in the season. Thank you!

 

I agree with what you said! I've been following various Cedar Point and Kings Island TR's and PTR's from this season to give me some ideas on my upcoming trip this August.

 

And to "The Bebes", can't wait to see those Dorney pics coming up! I was last there in 2006 and I thought Talon was one of the best B&M inverts I've ever ridden. This even surpassed Great Bear and Montu, which are my other favorite B&M inverts, and I'm anxious to compare all of those to Cedar Point's Raptor when I finally add that one to my list of credits coming up in August. Enough about that, again, I'm looking forward to the Dorney pics!

[tanthonyam]

It's nice you can actually see out of the Kissing tower windows and take pics. The one at Knott's was terrible! Dirty windows and photos were impossible.

[The Bebes]

The windows of the kissing tower were really clean and clear. The ride was lame (except for the kissing)/ Our main reason for riding was to get a picture of the REAL Hershey smokestacks.

 

We've never went on the tower at Knotts (after dozens of trips)!

Hershey Stacks

[coaster_dad]

Whack-a-Mole! LOL!

 

Thanks for your very entertaining report!

[HPCrazy]

The windows of the kissing tower were really clean and clear. The ride was lame (except for the kissing)/ Our main reason for riding was to get a picture of the REAL Hershey smokestacks.

 

We've never went on the tower at Knotts (after dozens of trips)!

 

I know Hershey takes pretty good care of their rides. I've taken lots of pictures from their tower (including this year if you see my PTR) and yeah, it's easy to get some great shots from up there. Does anyone have some good pics from the one at Knotts? I knew they had one.

[Big Mike]

Heck, I would never leave the kissing tower if I had someone like Mrs. Bebe

 

 

 

Peace, Big Mike

[The Bebes]

Day 5: Dorney Park

 

Friday May 29, 2009

 

Thursday night at the Quality Inn Allentown was the first night that we had internet, so we weren’t sure if anyone had tried to contact us. Friday was scheduled to be Music In The Park at Dorney, so we were expecting some big lines throughout most of the day. We decided to get there early and get as much done before it got too crowded. We sent Big Mike a PM and headed off to Dorney park, arriving around 9:30am.

 

We got a primo parking spot and it seemed they were already letting people through the main gate, so we proceeded forward with our KBF season passes. BZZZZZ! They didn’t scan.

 

Bus loads of kids were already starting to filter in as we were re-directed to the Guest Relations window to get a sister-park ticket (I thought this was fixed at all Cedar Fair parks). We had to wait behind four or five bus drivers that were checking in at the Guest Relations window as more busses unloaded kids. Mr. Bebe’s blood began to boil.

 

We finally got our tickets and entered the park, just as Big Mike called. He said he’d arrive around 1pm and we chose to meet up by Talon at 1pm. We stood at the roped-off path that leads toward Possessed, Steel Force, & Thunderhawk until 10am when they let us loose!

Stuffed beyond reason, we headed for the Quality Inn Gloucester, NJ (our Philly area hotel). It was a nice enough hotel just outside of Camden, NJ across the river from Philly.

Fealing a bit under the weather, Lady Bebe fell fast asleep. Hopefully it’s just a case of Post-Dining Car Syndrome and Lady Bebe will feel better tomorrow for a day full of sightseeing in Philadelphia!!!!

Lady Bebe ordered the croquets & the French Onion soup. Mr. Bebe ordered a Crab lovers platter (Crab stuffed mushroom caps, crab imperial, and deviled crab).

Forgot to snap a picture when it all looked pretty, but here’s the aftermath!

The French Onion soup was indeed the Best, out performing Lady Bebe’s long time favorite at the Bellagio Café in Las Vegas. The croquets were just OK. And the crab dish that was served in the tin boat was awesome (don’t know if this was the deviled crab or the crab imperial). The other was like a crab croquet and it was OK.

Toward the end of the meal Lady Bebe started feeling extremely worn down and had a headache.

First we were served some bread. Not your normal table bread, though. It was Cinnamon Bread! Yummy!!!

We arrived in Philly just before sunset and went to The Dining Car and Market, a local eatery that we saw on Diners, Drive-in & Dives. They are supposed to have a good French Onion soup and famous Chicken Croquets.

With the rain coming down, all our credits accounted for, and a drive to Philly ahead of us, we parted ways with Big Mike and left the crowded park.

Goodbye Big Mike! Thanks for coming out and spending the day with us! We had a blast!

 

You can see that there aren’t very many cars, but a ton of buses. There’s our primo parking spot!!!

 

Shortly after we left, Big Mike sent us a text that he forgot to have us check Pennsylvania of his shirt. DRAT!!! Maybe we’ll meet up again this year and we can still check it off.

NO.

Big Mike, on hands and knees, pleads to guest relations to allow him a ride on the Contest Coaster. Seeing Big Mikes puppy dog eyes and his desperate determination to add to his stellar coaster count, park management’s only response could be…….

Another day of rain at another park. At least we got all of our credits already. Except for that one……

But first, a quick spin on the Octopus. It started raining pretty good while we were on the ride, & the pods didn’t spin much. Lame octopus ride and we were getting wet!

Mr. Bebe exclaims, "Credit Whore!!!!"

 

The only other credit at Dorney that Big Mike is missing is the Contest Coaster kiddie coaster. He approaches the ride op (the same who shot The Bebes down earlier) to inquire. Big Mike is shot down as well. Perhaps if he uses his Big Mike Charm he can sweet talk park management into a ride…. We head toward the front of the park.

While Big Mike "snapped photos" of Woodstock Express, the Bebes played around in this waterfall.

Big Mike stepped away to get a photo of the Woodstock Express sign. Is that Big Mike sneaking in a ride on Woodstock??!! Or is that ACTUALLY ANOTHER park patron with a yellow shirt??!!

This plaque marked the site of the Flying Dutchman roller coaster, a credit the Bebes will never have.

And now, for the stupid people of Dorney Park Award:

 

This cubby was at the entrance to Steel Force. It READS: “Personal Item Storage SAMPLE”. Apparently, many people thought it was just a small cubby for EVERYONE to put their personals into before entering the ride line, hoping it would still be there when they got off the ride in an hour. Stupid People.

 

Anyway, we got our backseat ride on Steel Force with Big Mike. It was sprinkling during the ride and Lady Bebe got beaned in the eyeball. OUCH! But the back seat was great fun on Steel Force!!!

Big Mike defied her by standing precisely where she said not to, while pretending to videotape some kids playing basketball. She was NOT amused. But The Bebes WERE!

This lady was trying to keep people from converging at the recently closed line for ThunderhawK. She was quite vocal and loud about it. She was yelling at a group of kids that they couldn’t stand at the ride entrance and to “Go find another ride”.

Lady Bebe enjoys going to the bathroom. Hmmmmm. More on that later.

Big Mike enjoys a Root Beer float. Mmmmm!

Mr. Bebe enjoys an ice cream cone. Mmmmm!

Mr. Bebe took some flat ride photos of his own too! Dominator.

While Big Mike took photos of flat rides, Mr. Bebe took photos of Big Mike taking photos of flat rides.

Big Mike had an ulterior motive for visiting Dorney. He was taking pictures of ALL the rides (not just coasters) for the TPR Index. Oh Big Mike… Always out to help others! Big Mike also hid a Mikestery Treasure Hunt card (it was great fun helping out on the placement of the card) and Big Mike brought his little Zebra Duck friend with him too!

The only other B&M Floorless that the Bebes have ridden is Scream at SFMM & Dominator at Geauga Lake.

Lady Bebe calls scream a “sleepy” ride, because it is so smooth and glides along so peacefully that it puts her to sleep. So we were expecting a similar ride. NOPE. Hydra was fairly rough throughout in both front and back seat positions. The layout was relatively standard except for that WEIRD beginning.

Hydra is a B&M Floorless coaster with one of the oddest beginnings. Right out of the gate you slowly creep through a tight little corkscrew. WEIRD. Really Weird.

The only other roller coaster that we hadn’t gotten on before meeting up with Big Mike was Hydra, Dorney’s newest coaster.

Talon was a good invert, with the front seat being a much better ride. Mr. Bebe loves B&M inverts and usually prefers the back, but this one was an exception.

After taking several photos together, The TPR Trio heads for Talon, Dorney’s world-class B&M invert. The line was about 30min, but chatting with Big Mike made it fly by. We rode twice: once in the back & once in the front.

The Bebes and Big Mike at Dorney!!!!

Mr. Bebe spots Big Mike over Lady Bebe’s shoulder!!!

1PM was approaching and we thought we’d grab a bite to eat and head toward Talon. Every eatery seemed to have a line of at least 30 minutes, so we grabbed a bag of $4 Peanut M&M’s and headed toward Talon.

Woodstock Express had no line, so both Bebes put on their best whore face and grabbed CREDIT #120!!! I feel dirty.

These spectators are about to experience an “unacceptable amount of wetness” from the viewing bridge.

Dorney’s 80ft tall White Water Landing, where a large 20 passenger boat plunges down, creating a large wave that can best be viewed from the bridge that crosses it.

On to the Wild Mouse.

The line was pretty long and Lady Bebe declared that she is NOT a whore. She WILL ride a lame kiddie coaster for a credit, but won’t wait 45min for a LAME RIDE just to get a credit.

Mr. Bebe, however, is a total whore!

Lady Bebe was forced to wait in this 45minute line to ride a really horrible wild mouse that she didn’t care to ride in the first place. And it WAS horrible. Credit # 119!!!

It was on to ThunderhawK, Dorney’s old wooden coaster. It’s really in need of a paint job and I noticed a lot of patchwork wood throughout the track. We waited about 20 minutes to get on. The ride was relatively fine, but not too memorable. We chose not to wait again.

Got a ride in the front seat of Steel Force and it was fun. It had a nice mid-course helix and several air-time popping bunny hills to finish up the ride. Not as good as PR at Kennwood, but a good hypercoaster. The queue line was starting to fill up quite quickly, so we decided to move on and come back later for a spin in the back seat.

Here’s the sign for Morgan’s 2001 entry Phantom’s Revenge.

 

OOOPS! That’s not a Phantom (i guess)! It’s Morgan’s 1997 entry Steel Force!!!

Morgan MFG is sooo creative!

Speaking of Cedar Fair, here is the obligatory “count the Cedar Fair trash cans” photo.

Here’s a shot of Possessed climbing it’s front spiral spike from the area of Revolution, a Chance-Morgan spinning pendulum ride. Knotts Berry Farm has the same ride in thier Mexican Village section called La Revolucion, Spanish for The Revolution.

Cedar Fair is so creative!!!

Now, time to whore it up on Dragon Coaster! Lady Bebe stands next to the Dragon’s STICK (teehee) and once again, she towers over it. BUT That’s a GOOD thing on the dragon coaster! You must be taller than the 40-inch DRAGON’S STICK (say it fast, teehee). We’re on for four crazy kiddie coaster laps. We’re whores.

However, the ride op says “No”. 54” is the height of the robot’s stick, not the line under the word 54” on the safety sign. We’re dumb Bebes.

Now, time to whore it up on Contest Coaster! Lady Bebe stands next to the safety guide, which states that you must be under 54” to ride. And the line is just above her head. YES!!!

The Bebes are at Dorney Park! This is the first park where we were able to use our existing passes, and it’s all free admission from here (SF, CF & Busch)!

Possessed screams through the station. I always liked this ride when it was Superman:UE and it’s still fun., though a bit rougher running than when it played at SFO/SFWoA/Geauga Lake. We rode the front and back seat, with Lady Bebe preferring the taller spiraling effect of the front seat and Mr. Bebe preferring the higher straight back spike in the back seat.

We met Timothy (aka TPR member Dannerman) at the queue for Possessed. He was really cool and we talked for quite a while. He doesn’t post much on the web-site but he has gone on some TPR trips and said he’s going on the informal China trip. The Bebes are jealous.

Despite having ridden this numerous times in the past, Mr. Bebe was still frightened by the pre-ride show.

Our first ride of the day was Superman:Ultimate Escape, errr…. Steel Venom, errr….. Voodoo, errr…. Possessed.

Mr. Bebe has ridden this exact ride under three of those names at two different parks that went through four different park names. Shheesh!

We unveiled our Theme Park Tour: Part Deux T-shirts.

The front reads: 2 Bebes, 8+ Theme Parks, 50+ Roller coasters.

The shirts turned out to be great conversation starters and sparked interest from park-goers all day!

The front entrance from our primo parking spot.

[HPCrazy]

As always, good T/R! Too bad it rained again. When would be the first park you would attend that the sun would be out?

 

Talon ws indeed my favorite B&M invert I've ever been on. Completely intense throughout. I'm excited to compare Raptor with it when I'm out at Cedar Point this August.

 

Can't wait for the next part of this whole trip! Perhaps you should make a website about it or something. I enjoy reading every ounce of your reports!

[coreysjunk]

I never really found Raptor to be that spectacular. Fact is, though I love B&M Inverts, they are all pretty similar. They all give you a great smooth ride full of inversions and good forces. It's those tiny moments that you don't notice until you've ridden a coaster 10+ times that make it fun.

 

I thought Silver Bullet at Knotts was pretty weak, but there's a few really great elements in all that weakness that aren't on other inverts, like the zero-G fake-out!

 

Talon has a great little POP of airtime as you re-enter the station (best felt in the front).

 

Alpengeist has great G's and great scenery.

 

Great Bear has a few areas that really SWOOP.

 

It's been a few years, but the memorable part of Raptor is it's helix.

 

And I still love the OG. Batman at SFMM is so compact that it moves from one element to another without pause. Lovely.

 

-Mr. Bebe

[coreysjunk]

As for the rain.... Stay tuned to find out which (if any) parks we visited were rain-free!

[CHILLERLC1]

Welcome to Jersey.

[YoshiFan]

I don't know why they are so strict about Little Laser, it never has a line so it's not like adults riding will make kids have to wait longer plus I know at a coaster event a while ago they did let adults ride so it's not like they can say it's dangerous to let adults ride.

 

At least they got rid of the maximum height for Woodstock's Express. When it first opened in 2000, that and all the other rides in Camp Snoopy were if you were over 54", you had to ride with someone under 54"

 

It also looks like it was very crowded for Dorney if Thunderhawk was 20 minutes and Talon was 30 minutes. It's very rare to see Talon with a 10 minute line let alone 30 minutes.

[lil jimmy norton]

$4, stop that noise. Very nice photos, I love the captions.

[tanthonyam]

Come on now, do you really need to ride Little Laser? What Guest Relations must have thought of that!

[moinab]

I love Big Mike's act of defiance!

 

Yet another great report! I know how much time it takes, putting trip reports together, so I truly appreciate the effort! Thank you!

[Sue]

Great TR from Dorney! We live just across the street from the Quality Inn so you were right in our neighborhood. Wish we had known so we could meet up with you at Dorney. In fact, I think we were there later that same night. If you ever come back, let us know!

[Pirouettes907]

I had to laugh at that picture of the sample locker space and your caption for it. I very firmly believe this world would be a far better place if people would just read signs. Just think of how many problems would be solved!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed Dorney. That was my home park growing up (I lived near Philly) and it's always nice to read positive reviews for some of my favorites like Steel Force. I do agree with you about the Wild Mouse, though--terrible, terrible, terrible!

 

I love following along with your reports; you two have a great storytelling style for them and I'm looking forward to more.

 

~Megan

 

(Oh for pete's sake, I used that L-word. haha)

[the ghost]

great TR, but what is fluffy fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo. I am very confused.

[traincrossin]

The admins got sick of people complaining about the l o c k e r policy at Six Flags so anytime people type l o c k e r it comes out locker.

 

I'm lovin your reports! You guys can really tell a story with your pictures. It looks like all of the parks you've visited so far are great. Isn't it fun hanging out with Big Mike?

[moinab]

^Thanks for explaining. I've been trying to figure out what the offending word is!

[the ghost]

So you cant say locker? Lol, that is amazing. I have been confused by so many people. Yay, now my post will say the word. Thanks trainscrossin, that helps a lot.

[HPCrazy]

The admins got sick of people complaining about the l o c k e r policy at Six Flags so anytime people type l o c k e r it comes out fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo.

 

Now I know why that when I put "l o c k e r" in my Hersheypark 6/7/09 PTR why it said that instead. I originally thought some people were just messing with me at first.

[The Bebes]

Too Funny! I was also confused by the fluffy fluffy bunny. I thought that maybe someone was replying to the wrong post.

 

P.S. - stay tuned for our wonderful SFGAdv TR where there will be a our very own experience with the Six Flags locker policy. LOL!

 

But today, here comes our Philly TR!

[The Bebes]

Sue,

Big Mike mentioned that you might be coming to Dorney later in the evening, but The Bebes were so burned out from a week of theme parks and tons of driving that we just needed to get to Philly and rest a bit. Sorry we missed you!

 

Traincrossin,

Hanging with Big Mike was tons of fun! We're looking forward to meeting and partying with TPR on Termination Day on June 28!

 

Also, we had a spontaneous trip to SFMM yesterday and will have a spontaneous trip report about it here after TPT:P2 reports are done.

 

-The Bebes

[The Bebes]

DAY 6: Philadelphia, PA

 

Saturday May 30, 2009

 

We woke up on Day 6 for our Philly Sightseeing Day. We were slow to get up and get ready and Lady Bebe still wasn’t feeling the greatest. Never-the-less, we headed out to Philly with the plan of taking a hop-on-hop off trolley tour.

So it was back across the Ben Franklin Bridge, where it’s absolutely FREE to cross back to New Jersey, and back to our hotel. We would watch some TV, surf some internet, and eventually eat that Cheesesteak (Lady Bebe had a bite).

Tomorrow is our FREE day, but we have planned a lot of POSSIBILITIES (Sesame Place, Wild Safari, SFGAdv, Atlantic City, and numerous boardwalks along the Jersey Coast).

Will Lady Bebe be too sick to go?

Will she stay in bed and rest?

Will she Block the Box???

STAY TUNED……

The employees were happy and fun, busting out Cheesesteak after Cheesesteak. And like usual, Mr. Bebe failed to get the money shot. No photo of a Jim's Cheesesteak.

The line was long. The smell was great! And Lady Bebe endured it all because she loves her Bebe!

After our tour, we had planned on going out for authentic Philly Cheesesteaks. Since Lady Bebe was feeling ill, we decided to just grab a cheeseteak at Jim’s and bring it back to the hotel for later. Lady Bebe’s dairy problem prevents her from eating beef as well, so this was another treat for Mr. Bebe.

Lady Bebe held up pretty well for most of the day, but around 5pm she totally hit the skids and felt like crap. She had started coughing and was definitely coming down with something.

That’s the Perp! On the left. He actually stopped and slurred at Mr. Bebe for a cigarette. It took him four attempts of asking before we could understand the words coming from his mouth. Uh, no. We don’t smoke.

There was a bum who pushed the other bum to the ground, while another bum continued to play his guitar. Wow!

Whatever you need, these spoons will serve the purpose.

Mr. Bebe got this big chocolaty waffle cone with nuts. Yummy! Unfortunately, some dairy items disagree with Lady Bebe and she couldn’t chance unproven ice cream.

Then a stop at Bassett’s Ice Cream, the first U.S. ice cream shop.

We went to Tootsie’s salad express. It had three food bars. One with salad fixings, one with cold foods, and one with hot foods. Mostly soul food. It was good and we didn’t get a picture.

Unfortunately, there were no unattended children. I was ready to bid on one so we could get on those darn kiddie coasters that require adults to be accompanied by children.

This was the former Reading Railroad Train Terminal, now a sort of indoor farmer’s market. And we went!

Again, just to reiterate, DON’T BLOCK THE BOX.

Apparently, Nicholas Cage ran through this cemetery in National Treasure. So this one is for you Nick Cage fans.

The first Hospital in the U.S.

The Ho Garden. Where pimps can grow their own.

This establishment is called Dirty Frank’s. A one time place of illegal gambling and alcohol consumption. The walls are now adorned with famous “Franks”. How many can you name?

This giant clothespin is called: “Two people hugging and kissing”. Awww.

Now: Who sees two people kissing & Who just sees a giant clothespin?

Another George Washington Statue.

The famous steps that Rock Balboa climbed in the original Rocky.

This building now houses the “PLEASE TOUCH” museum. Sounds fun, but the admission price was rather steep. We didn't go.

Townhouses lining this street.

Several times during our trip we had to duck from unruly tree branches. Here was one of the offenders.

Statue of Abe Lincoln.

Weird statue art at a museum.

This golden statue of Joan of Arc is one of four in the world. We also have pics of the one in New Orleans.

Eastern State Penitentiary. You can tour it now! But we didn't.

This street was lined with flags from all around the world. Mr. Bebe’s favorite was Estonia (not pictured).

Shakespearian public art.

William Penn atop a towering building.

More Public Art. Philly has more public art than any other U.S. city due to some ordinance that requires developers to provide 1% of their land for public art (or something like that).

City Hall.

Freestyle Music Café Philly.

Chinatown gateway.

This sign is the BEST EVAR! Don’t Block the Box!!! Ladies OBEY.

An aerial view shows that this police building resembles a cup of coffee and two doughnuts. SERIOUSLY!

Interesting street art.

This is where Ben Franklin’s grave is. In honor of his motto: “a penny saved is a penny earned”, patrons toss pennies on his grave. The cemetery gathers $Thousands a year from it.

The streets of Philadelphia are full of historic old buildings, like this Starbucks circa 2001.

Elfreth’s Alley: The oldest continually inhabited street in the U.S.

This colonial dude on a horse may drive you into the Delaware too!!!

Apparently, this car will drive you all over Philly AND then right into the Delaware River!

THIS is our first president.

The Bebes love old architecture, so here's some old Philadelphia architecture.

Mr. Bebe thinks The Liberty Bell ROCKS!

Street performers such as this sewing maid were all around Liberty Square.

Congress Shall Make No Law that prohibits children from sleeping on historic landmarks.

Philly Skyline.

The Ben Franklin Bridge, where it cost $4 to travel across the Delaware from NJ to Philly.