Gary's 2010 Adventures - EAST COAST BASH! Page 12!!!!

[bgwfreak777]

Thomas Town does look slightly bigger than the SFOG version, which is good for the kiddies I guess.

 

r.i.p. Two Face.

 

Did you happen to spot the Ultra Twister track?

 

Edit: I also don't recall ever seeing a 7-Eleven in a strip mall like that. Well, maybe it's because it didn't have the logo on the building. Dude! You guys are gonna go back in time!!! (random movie quote)

[carolinacaniac]

^^^Rob: The only 7-Eleven I have ever seen in the State of North Carolina is in Nags Head on the Outer Banks. Otherwise I have to wait until I get another state. The reason I love Slurpees so much is that we had a family friend who took us swimming every so ofton, and afterwards, we always stopped for slurpees. The other reason is because while there are places that sell frozen beverages like Slurpees, they quality is kind of meh much of the time. Sheetz around here in Greenville is very hit or miss if their machines are ever working. 7-Eleven never fails me though!

 

^bgwfreak: I noticed that the first time I ever stopped at that 7-Eleven. It seems like it is trying to be up-scale, and yet not. And I think this Thomas Town will be a bit larger. I didn't happen to see Ultra Twsister, but I wasn't really looking for it.

 

Now it is time to get caught up with my visit to Kings Dominion.

 

As everyone knows, there is one main draw to Kings Dominion in the coaster community, and that is Intimidator 305. Now, when I first saw the layout and POV, I wasn't quite as hyped on it as I thought I would be. Then as it got closer to opening, I started to think it could be fun. I saw the coverage from TPR and started to think that this was going to be an awesome ride. Well, after the first couple of rides, I felt a little let down. I think the main issue for me was that I experienced some cases of the restraints chopping me in the neck, since I didn't really anticipate the quick turns, and that was a bit disappointing. What was kind of funny thought was that even thought I wasn't as excited about it the first couple of times, I kept finding myself getting back in line. Once I got a few more rides in, I realized it's awesomeness! I love the first drop, and the two airtime hills, and the overall speed of the ride. It was also pretty sweet during my visit because they had the single rider line with waits around 5-10 minutes each time I went except once which took 25 minutes because they put the second train on (Yeah, they started one train, which was lame, but they made up for it later).

 

While some who may have done both may disagree with me, I personally like Carowinds Intimidator better, but I believe it is because of the airtime throughout the ride. But I-305 is still a sweet ride!

 

I did not take as many pictures at KD as other parks since I have done more in-depth pictures of the place before, but I did get some great pictures from on-board Americana, which was not in KD the last time I made it up there.

 

I hope you all enjoy this update!

Nothing better to greet you in the morning at Kings Dominion than Dominator!

A few rides that would not be available for my visit, but I have done them before and I am sure I will be back to do them again!

This is a pretty awesome replica!

Snoopy is ready to Party!

No fountains!?!?!?!? Luckily, they were turned on later in the day, but still kind of lame that they park opened up with them off.

Dominator is a pretty sweet ride!

Time to show it some love!

Ghoster Coaster.....

....the most intense wooden coaster at the front of Kings Dominion!

This seems kind of familiar

As does this, but with one or two minor details......

Luckily, as the day went on, they got this bad boy on the tracks too.

One of the best parts of Intimidator 305!

This one is too!

Intimidator 305 also allows you to see a side of Anaconda that normally was not seen by the public

In a bigger male anatomy contest.....I think Intimidator wins.......just ever so slightly

Since this has been added, I would bet that you can get some good new veiws of the park's other rides.....let's find out!

Still an awesome ride!

I approve of the new views that can be seen from Americana!

Diggin' the new decal on the front of Rebel Yell

As much as I would like to believe this is just because it is early in the season and it has not yet grown in......

...this tells me otherwise

Grizzly has a new sign!

The flying eagles are kind of naked right now

I had only been through here once, and don't really remember it that well, so I am not sure if it has really been changed inside, maybe someone can let me know.....

....if this was here before?

He looks like he has been here a while

What about lazy bones?

And this update comes to an end with the new Boo Blasters sign. Hope you all enjoyed this update, and I look forward to sharing more of my adventures with you all soon!

[Kingsislandfreak]

Hope you had a good time I am going again tommorow yay for Season Passes and btw nice TR

[KingB24]

Not totally sure if you know about the vegetation tunnel by Grizzly (forgot the official name), but just in case, it was destroyed in the off-season by all the snow. They're rebuilding it, or at least, that's what Pagel said.

[bgwfreak777]

I love the new Rebel Yell logo! Sweet!

 

Maybe they'll get around to doing one for Thunder Road. The 35th birthday of TR is next year.

[pkdcoaster]

Yea the snow did a number on the Nick/Snoopy stadium too. It has no roof but I assume it will have a roof by the time the show opens though.

 

KD seems to be having trouble with the anti rollbacks engaging on the trains and that is usually why they take them off. On opening day they added the 2nd train back on 15 mins. AFTER the park had closed. so they do make every effort to have them both running.

 

Nice pics

 

JEFF

[chef kitchen]

Why did they kill the ivy!? It looks so boring without ivy! Makes no sense to me.

[bgwfreak777]

Well Thunder Road lost its tunnel. I don't know what Cedar Fair has against tunnels.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I love the new Rebel Yell logo! Sweet!

 

Maybe they'll get around to doing one for Thunder Road. The 35th birthday of TR is next year.

 

That's the same logo they had last year....the new one is even worse,just look at grizzly's orange train & you'll see what I mean.

[pkdcoaster]

Well Thunder Road lost its tunnel. I don't know what Cedar Fair has against tunnels.

 

Actually I noticed that Carolina cyclone lost theirs too.

I believe it has to do with fire codes actually. Back in 1998 we had a backstage tour of the construction of Roar at SFA and the reason they did not enclose the shed/tunnel is because with it being enclosed they would have to install sprinklers.

 

Maybe the fire marshal said that they either had to install sprinklers or take the walls out.

 

JEFF

[snowboard83]

Why did they kill the ivy!? It looks so boring without ivy! Makes no sense to me.

 

 

I've heard it wasn't them killing the ivy, but the collapsing of the ivy under the tons of snow Virginia had this past winter.

[Guy T. Koepp]

Dude! Banzi Burger rocks! You need to sex it up a bit by adding sauteed mushrooms, bacon and jalepenos. Then you need to cover it with a bit of my special manasian sauce! Oh! and adding another patty with jalapeno jack cheese would just about make it perfect!

 

Guy "Awesome TR! Looks like you had a blast!" Koepp

[carolinacaniac]

I was just happy to have it with just Pineapple, Chedder Cheese and Teryaki sauce.....bacon would have probably made it godly!

 

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

 

-Gary T.

[redfoot12]

Gary's just made me realize that I've been taking Slurpees for granted.

[haiderodes]

Its kinda funny. I was also at SFA on Sunday 4/4 AND KD on Monday 4/5. Small world it is.

[carolinacaniac]

^It really is, but that is half of what helps make life interesting sometimes!

 

Rob - Yes! You have been taking them for granted if you do not worship them like me!

 

It's been a while since I had added anything here, but last Sunday, I decided to make a short visit to Raleigh, which is about an hour and 15 minutes from here in Greenville here in North Carolina, and took my camera along for the adventure. Now this update may be a little different, as it will kind of be a bit of a tour/history lesson/shameless endorsement for a great resturant.

 

Also, just a bit of an update on my plans. Since I have gotten my Beginning Teacher paperwork done, I should have some time freed up, so I am going to try and nail down more plans. Once I have done so, I will let everyone know! I am going to head to Busch Gardens Williamsburg again today for the afternoon and evening, so if you happen to go and see a guy in green shorts and a blue "Greenville Rec and Parks Staff" t-shirt, feel free to say hey!

 

Hope you all enjoy the update!

 

-Gary T.

On the way in the city of Wilson, I saw this sign that would make me giggle if the name 'Wayne' was not there.

So here we are in Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. This was the first city in the US that was designed and created specifically to be a capital city. Every other capital just eventually became one.

This map, as well as others like it around the city, can help you find your way!

Off of Fayetteville Street, you can see the State Capital Building, which is where the governor's office is

Fayetteville Street is what essentially became the 'Main Street' of Raleigh, which is on the south side of the capital building.

This is the front of the capital building, which faces New Bern Ave to the East, which was intended to become the main street. So NC's capital building is one of a few, if not the only one, that does not face its main street. They wanted it to face the direction of the City of New Bern, as it had been the previous capital of North Carolina

As you can see, New Bern Ave does not make a very good main street

Here we have Governor Zebulon Vance, elected right around the begining of the Civil War, he was the first to give the Confederacy the big 'F YOU!!!!' as he refused to continue to support them since they were not giving support to North Carolina when it came under control of the Union

In front of the capital is a statue of the three presidents born in NC: James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Andrew Jackson on the horse. The reason he sits above the others is because his birthplace (somewhere around Charlotte) has been in debate between North and South Carolina as to who can claim him......so this is NC's 'F YOU!!!!' to South Carolina

Here are the two tallest buildings in North Carolina.......Wachovia Building to the right, and RBC Centura Tower to the left, which is slightly taller because of the spire on top.

Just across the street to the north of the capital building is a popular area where you can find two free state museums and the state legislature building

Here is the NC History Museum, why don't we take a look inside?

"For his providing a tour of our fine city to the people of Theme Park Review, I give this key to the city to Mr. Gary Taylor!"

As many people are aware, the Wright Brothers flew their glider in Kitty Hawk, NC. Here is a model of their glider

This tells you about the exhibits that you can find in the NC History Museum

A temporary special exhibit, displaying pictures from the Great Depression era around North Carolina

They have a couple little halls that have pictures on the wall like this

They also have a display of items that were common at the time

A permanent exhibit that has military weapons of different eras, such as......

.....the French-Indian War.....

.......The American Revolution......

.....The Civil War.....

....more Civil War.....

....World War I.....

......World War II......Wait a minute. You see what I saw?

It turns out that one soldier found a roll of Nazi armband material that had not yet been cut for the bands, So he brought it home, and his wife had a pair of swim trunks out of them.

Continuing our wartime weapons......the Korean War....

....the Persian Gulf War.....

....and the current occupation of Iraq

they also have some other random items such as these outfits from the Middle East

and some Nazi weapons

The next exhibit, the NC Sports Hall of Fame

A bit of an overview of the exhibit

Little did I know that Arnold Palmer went to Wake Forest University

A display that features images from the old Durham Bulls stadium (as seen in the movie 'Bull Durham'). I believe the old stadium is still standing

Items related to NC baseball players

Of course you can't talk about sports in NC without mentioning NASCAR. Here are some of the biggest names, all associated with North Carolina.

Some may believe that if God were to drive a stockcar, he would probably wear the firesuit to the left.

Richard Petty's car

You also can't mention NC sports without basketball (The past two years, two schools, two national titles, both in North Carolina!)

I have been seeing these a lot lately, can't imagine why!

And you can end your NC History Museum visit with a stop to the gift shop!

On the other side of the walkway is the NC Science Museum

It has a large focus on wildlife, but they have had special exhibits that included space exploring equipment, and the Dead Sea Scrolls

More sea critters

and weapons of mass defecation

They also have the bones of this whale! IT IS HUGE!!!

If sea creatures arn't you thing, you can go upstairs and see land critters instead

There is something kind of funny about saying 'Stuffed Beaver!' If you agree, post on this thread about it!!

A picture of the state I call home!

And the last main draw to the plaza, the state legislative building

Now that we have done that, time for some shameless endorsing of a great resturant......Tir na Nog Irish Pub!

Robb and Elissa, If you guys are looking for a place to stop on the way from the Charlotte area to heading towards Richmond on the IntimiTour, I strongly suggest this place! I believe it to be on par to the resturant we had our last meal at in Austin on TPR Texas, and it is very far off of Interstate 85, which goes just north of Raleigh.

A look at the bar

You can get the same sticker for your car

They play host to a lot of live entertainment

A list of events and entertainment comming to Tir na Nog

If I remember correctly, that room is where private parties can be held at. The atmosphere is pretty cool here!

Somebody REALLY wants a Bloody Mary

Yes, that you are reading that correctly, that is Beer Cheese soup.....soup with Beer......and cheese.....and it is AMAZING!!!!

If you ever get to Tir na Nog, you must try it! When in the area, I sometimes come just for the soup.

Every so ofton, you can come in and find these guys having a Celtic jam session.

I officially endorse Tir na Nog!!! Wait, what is that?

Some sort of a mini-street sweeper.....never seen one before.

And I will wrap-up this update they same way the City of Raleigh ends every year.....with the acorn that is dropped for New Year's much like the ball in NYC. Thanks for checking it out! Hope you all enjoyed it!

[bgwfreak777]

 

Great pic, I had no idea Jackson was supposed to be from Union County.

 

Union is the county just east of Charlotte (Mecklenburg County).

 

Funny they argue over Jackson, because NC/SC argues over Polk too. Polk's supposed boyhood property is just about 7 miles from Carowinds. I've been a Charlottean all my life, and only visited it like 10 years ago.

 

http://www.nchistoricsites.org/polk/POLK.HTM

 

I really liked Raleigh's downtown being without traffic, and just a nice pedestrian street for the most part.

 

 

Are they saying that's the tallest in NC? FAIL. It's the Bank of America Corp. Center in Charlotte. Which I've eaten lunch on the 58th level of twice. Go me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_by_U.S._state

 

It's the sweeper bot from Wall-E! It IS the end of the world!

 

 

Great pics by the way, yet again.

[redfoot12]

In honor of this latest photo update I'll buy two Slurpees. One for me and one I'll pour out in Gary's memory.

[carolinacaniac]

^Nice! I appreciate the tribute Rob!

 

^^And BGWFreak, I was told that the RBC and Wachovia towers were the two tallest when I went on a Segway Tour of Raleigh a couple years ago, so I suppose he was incorrect., or perhaps I may have heard incorretly. Either way, no biggie.

 

Day at Busch Gardens

 

So yesterday I took a day to do some riding at Busch Gardens, and I decided that since the lines were a bit longer, I would do the first ever "Gary's One-Hour Challenge"

 

The way that it worked was that as soon as I entered the line for a coaster, I set the alarm on my phone for one hour later, and would ride the coaster repeatedly until the hour was up. If I am on the coaster, and it is running as the alarm goes off, then it counts. If I am inline, or on the train but it has not yet moved, then it is however many rides were completed before. The results of the first challenge were as follows:

 

-Tied in last place, Apollo's Chariot with 2, due to a consistent 20-30 minute line. They did have the single rider path open as you come into the station building, but I had never seen it used before, so the first go-round, I thought I would wait and ask if they were actually using it, so I did the second time around, but it did not take off enough time to try and get a third ride

 

-Also tied in last, Alpengeist with 2. Alpengeist's line was moving fairly well, in the 15-20 minute range, but after exiting the second ride, while there was about 15 minutes left before time was up, they stopped the train ahead on the lift because someone had a camera out. So a thrid ride in the hour would have been difficult.

 

-Tied in second place, Loch Ness Monster with 3. Nessie's line got shorter with every ride, the first came with a full queue, the second was about halfway through the "equipment area" of Loch Ness' queue, and the last came to start about halfway through the queue building that you wait in before going into the station.

 

-Tied in second as well, Griffon with 3. Griffon started out quick with two rides in 15 minutes thanks to a nearly empty single-riders line, but after the second time, it got to it's normal length, and then the fourth ride I took was about three minutes too late for being counted in the challenge

 

-The winner, Grover's Alpine Express with 7. Surprisingly, even with all of the kids and larger crowds, Grover would only be about a two-three train wait throughout the hour, the 7th just barely made it before time expired.

 

So as of now, Grover holds the record of "Gary's One-Hour Challenge" at 7!

 

Plans Update

 

A few updates to some of my plans

 

-the day trip to Six Flags America with a few friends of mine are currently on hold, as my friend Brad is busy on that day, so I am not sure when we are going to reschedule

 

-I have decided that since I joined many of you in becoming a member of Club TPR, it would be fun to check out some enthusiast events! The two that I am looking into right now are Coaster Celebration at Six Flags Great Adventure, and Coaster Stock at Carowinds. The visit to Great Adventure would include a side visit to a nearby park, or possibly a New Jersey credit run.

 

Some of the plans for my June trip to Seattle are starting to fall into place, and my travels up north will start to come together once I get a hold of some friends that I am visiting in Michigan.

 

Now I leave you with a look at the results of my drive up to Busch Gardens on the front of my car, which I can really only call "Bugicide".

The drive up to Busch Gardens is mainly country roads, so there are plenty of bugs to get

I didn't even notice it until this morning!

The front licence plate holder was brutal for some of these bugs!

[carolinacaniac]

Hey everyone,

 

I have finally gotten a chance to make some set plans for my trip to the Pacific Northwest!! I know there are some members on here that live in the area, and would love to meet-up with anyone who would like to. If anyone has an interest in meeting-up, just let me know either on this thread or my a PM! This trip will include some visits to a familiar park, many new parks, and the feeding into my love of SLURPEES!!!! These are the days in which plans have been made, anything else as of now is open.

 

- June 15th: Arrive in Seattle, time with the family

- June 16th: Nothing Yet Planned

- June 17th: Pick-up the rental car and drive to Spokane

- June 18th: Silverwood, Riverfront Park, and back to Seattle Area

- June 19th: Daytrip to Playland (First International Park and Credits!!!!)

- June 20th: Quick Visit to Remlinger Farms and then to drop off the rental car

- June 21st: Nothing Yet Planned

- June 22nd: Mariners Game vs. the Chicago Cubs at Safeco Field

- June 23rd: Enchanted Forest and Oaks Amusement Park

- June 24th: Wild Waves Theme Park

- June 25th: Nothing Yet Planned

- June 26th: Nothing Yet Planned

- June 27th: Nothing Yet Planned

- June 28th: Back to North Carolina

 

I am really looking forward to going back to my old homeland in the Pacific Northwest, and to the updates that will come with this trip! Thank you all for checking out my 2010 Adventures so far, it has been great so far!

 

-Gary T.

[cal1br3tto]

Do you have the Rainbow Chaser credit? If you don't, it looks like it's only $2, and I had no problem getting it last year.

[carolinacaniac]

^I have actually, I got the credit back in 2007, and the I made a stop at Fun Forest last year the visit the place one last time before it shut down. I may actually add it to the itinerary to see what state the place is in when I am in the area. Not quite sure yet.

[carolinacaniac]

Hey everyone,

 

Tonight and tomorrow, I am chaperoning a Science Olympiad team to the state competition in Raleigh, so I thought that since I am already part way there, I may just continue on to Charlotte for another day at Carowinds. Just wanted to let anyone who may be in the Charlotte area with plans to go to Carowinds on sunday know that I am going to spend a day at the park, so if there is anyone who would like to meet-up and hang out, feel free to drop me a line here or in a PM. Looking forward to it!

 

-Gary T.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Come by Nighthawk and see my maniac self.

[carolinacaniac]

Hey everyone,

 

I didn't take the camera in with me to Carowinds yesterday, as I was really going just to do some riding, but it was a great day with little to no waiting for anything! While I was at the park, I went for a spin on each of the coasters, and when I saw that there was hardly anyone for Afterburn, I decided to do another "One-Hour Challenge", which resulted in 15 rides in an hour. I decided to continue one for a personal streak on consecutive rides on one coaster, which was previously Griffon last year at 20....Afterburn now holds the record at 24. The other note of significance is that this was non-stop (no leaving the station to get back in line). It was a blast! I also got another 13 laps on Intimidator, and also met a couple of other TPR members:

 

-Saw Andrew (Pufferfish) a couple times throughout the day at Intimidator, and had a chat with him while he worked the entrance. Glad to chat with you again Andrew!

 

-Met Colin (nc_coasterlover) and Steve (Skycoastin Steve) for the first time while they worked at Nighthawk. One thing that is for sure is that for a problematic ride, they know who to help keep the crew loose, so I wish you guys well this season, also enjoyed the chat!

 

-Ran into Sean (Dark Stitch) for the first time since my visit to Carowinds in 2007 when he worked Top Gun, and took a lap on Intimidator in the front with him. Enjoyed the ride!

 

 

I did take some pictures from the time while on N.C. State University's campus for the Science Olympiad state competition that prompted the visit to Carowinds yesterday. When I have a chance, I will add them to my set of adventures here! I should have some more updates to my schedule here before too long, as I may be scraping my visit to SFGAdv and Dorney for now, since it is around the time our school gives End-of-Grade tests, and getting subs for that time is nearly impossible from what I have been told, so it will have to wait another day for now.

 

Thank you again to all who have checked out my thread so far. It has been a blast thus far, and there is much more to come!

 

-Gary T.