traincrossin Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 A couple weeks ago an invite was sent out to coaster enthusiasts to come out to Great America for a free Food Network dinner. Not much else was said, so it was a bit of a mystery going into it. For anyone who watches Food Network, they were filming "Dinner Impossible". The misson? Make dinner for 250 people before the bells rang in The Mission in the Southwest Territory. They started the day at 10am in the Pink Flamingo Cafe in Hurricane Harbor and then had to transport all of the food back to The Mission. Supposedly they made it with 31 seconds left. And who doesn't like free food? The theme was taking normal theme park food and putting a "twist" on it. Overall, it was awesome! This was the first time that I have gone to Coasters After dark and I wasn't expecting much, just some more time to spend in the park. The crowds and lines were pretty much the same as they were during the day even though only season passholders were allowed into CAD. They did have a couple major flats open as well like King Chaos, Revolution, and Giant Drop. Despite the lines, it was a lot of fun. Ride Totals Whizzer: 1 Batman: 1 V2: 1 Eagle blue side: 1 Train: 1 Viper: 1 Giant Drop: 1 Demon: 1 Buffet: 1 Pictures! No, V2 actually goes that fast! Ran over to Bull but they closed the line early, so I went on Giant Drop instead. Thanks for reading! V2 without the holding brake just isn't the same. Look, a seizure booth! I love this ride! Some Viper awesomeness! Eagle red side was only running 1 train. They were doing some work on the other train and did put it on later that night. The aftermath. I tried to convince people to ride the teacups after dinner, but no one was up for it. And now for some blurry night pics cause my camera sucks at night. They interviewed a couple people. Watch out for an August 26 air date! BUFFET!!! The bells that didn't actually go off at 7:00 like they should have I did go on Giant Drop for the first time that night. It was actually a lot of fun! Now we're in line, for food! Everyone congratulating each other. Enough talking about the food, i'm hungry! Robert talking to everyone about the challanges of the day. OMG OMG OMG Robert Irvine! Mr. Six even showed up for the fun. Anyone know the heimlich maneuver? Hi random camera guy! The camera crew I spy a camera! Also, notice the other centerpiece. They had to move all of the food from Hurricane Harbor to The Mission The centerpieces were pretty cool. This is a lapbar from Viper. Don't worry, they won't miss it. Time for free food! For some reason Bull was sedning out a bunch of empty trains throughout the night. I have no idea why. Yup, it's a lift hill. I've never seen the line go back to the tunnel before. Everyone is here for CAD I guess So close... Decided to give Demon a ridee today Seriously? Again? Theming! This line only took 30 minutes. Yay! Oh no, that can't be good Next up was Batman The holding brake is still not working Hot swing action I still don't know what to think about this. The park is clean, but the cleanest IN THE WORLD? Iron Wolf is pretty, pretty rough that is. I spy something yellow. B&M goodness. Also, notice how long Viper's line is. I like how this one turned out. So close to getting that signature shot... Yup, people are still checking out Eagle Look at that clearance The train was pulling into the station, so I hopped on. I wanted to go on Eagle, but they were inspecting it or something. I've never seen them do this before and they said that they do it more than once a day. Can anyone confirm that? That's all from Buccaneer Battle That's right, there are 3 Buccaneer battle signs! The haystack dryer is now only $3! (it was $5 earlier in the season) Tick tock tick tock... That bucket on the top drops water on unsuspecting victims. Now that's just stereotypical. Sorry, i've got crabs. The kraken lives on! Why does this sign remind me of Deja Vu? http://sfgamworld.com/gallery/v/SFGAm/DejaVu/DejaVu_2.jpg.html Even though not to many people were on the ride, all of the midway cannons were full. I love the ride op tower. Empty queue... for now (wait till it gets warmer) Right now people have to use Demon's l o c k e r s, but I wouldn't be surprised if BB got them next year. All of those cannons fire water and get you soaked. Each boat sits 8 people. Supposedly BB will have the highest capacity in the park. Some of the cool theming. Boats, water, pirates, fun! I forgot to take pictures of Buccaneer Battle last time, so I took a bunch for redemption They gave us these nifty neon wristbands. Where do we register again? Yup, we're here for free food! It wouldn't be a trip report without a picture of Columbia Carousel We're here! We got there around 4:00.
Jojo19799 Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I love the show Dinner Impossible, but I thought Robert Irvine wasn't going to be on it anymore due to some "lies" he created. Oh well, the more important thing is you had fun....and free food! How did you receive an invite anyway? Was this geared towards ACE members or the SF Funatics? I did sign up for the Funatics, but have yet to receive anything.
Mr. Starr Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 I love the show Dinner Impossible, but I thought Robert Irvine wasn't going to be on it anymore due to some "lies" he created. Oh well, the more important thing is you had fun....and free food! How did you receive an invite anyway? Was this geared towards ACE members or the SF Funatics? I did sign up for the Funatics, but have yet to receive anything. Posted from SFGAmworld.com www.sfgamworld.com/forum/food-network-event-t9970.html Also, Robert Irvine did "lie" on his resume and Michael Simon took over the show for a while, but I'm not sure how Irvine ended back on it.
Jojo19799 Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Well I guess I'll have to keep checking SFGAMworld for events like this. Still, it would have been nice to receive something via email or snail mail. Oh well. I'm glad that everyone who did go had a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing the show. BTW Thank you for the info Mr. Star
Mr. Starr Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Your welcome, and I also hope to see more events like this in the future!
traincrossin Posted June 15, 2009 Author Posted June 15, 2009 www.sfgamworld.com/forum/food-network-event-t9970.html[/url]Also, Robert Irvine did "lie" on his resume and Michael Simon took over the show for a while, but I'm not sure how Irvine ended back on it. What did he lie about? I found out about from that SFGAm World link that was posted, but also got an email from Funatics about it (not sure why you didn't get one). At the event I heard that ACE members got invites and there was a Facebook contest. So there were a lot of different ways that they got the word out.
monsterfan99 Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 ^ It was a lot of stuff dealing with when he tried to open up places in St. Petersburg, FL. He lied on his bio and got caught. He was fired, the show continued, and he was brought back in the last year. The order of invites to fill the place went ACE members, coaster enthusiast / facebook contest then season pass holders(I asked one of the PR people running it as I was curious too.) The event was great and my personal highlight was meeting Marc Summers. I grew up watching Double Dare then What Would You Do? He was as polite as an producer during a shoot could be and took pictures with anyone that asked.
YoshiFan Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 It's possible it was more than just season pass holders there. Great Adventure had Coasters After Dark on May 1 and this year and in 2008 they allowed schools that were there for physics day and music in the parks to stay in the park (the park was closed that day to the general public). Lines were still short but it was still fusturating to have multiple school groups there when they advertised it as season pass holders only.
mcjaco Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 I've never seen the line go back to the tunnel before. Everyone is here for CAD I guess Back in the day, those cement pads on the left were part of the queue, and were always full. Don't miss that. Well, except for the Demon music that used to play. Yes, ACE was invited to the event, and I overheard they're still barking about how GAm still owes them a Dive coaster. I hear there supposed to be another one of these events later in the year, so keep your eyes peeled. If anyone gets word of it, feel free to post it here too. We can probably get Robb to work some magic and get TPR an invite.
Jojo19799 Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 Yes, ACE was invited to the event, and I overheard they're still barking about how GAm still owes them a Dive coaster. My side hurts from laughing so much!! I can't imagine where you heard this.
mcjaco Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 ^ Let's just say it's an ongoing joke between me and someone at the park. And it was overheard, last year and this year, at both Media Days. Ridiculous!
Jojo19799 Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 ^For a second I thought you were referring to something that was said while we were waiting for RB. It's still funny though!
GriffyTiffy Posted June 16, 2009 Posted June 16, 2009 ^ I remember that! Those guys really scared me!
mcjaco Posted June 16, 2009 Posted June 16, 2009 ^ I should hope you remember them! They were talking to you!
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