cfc Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 BGT's Howl-o-Scream 2011 was more enjoyable that Halloween Horror Night at Universal, and that's saying a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 This Trip Report was UNEXPECTED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueerRudie Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Wow, Chad. I'd almost think you had a thing for Montu based upon those dirty dirty pictures... Â And yet, only ONE Anton shot (Granted, it's a keeper!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Thanks for the kind replies guys! Oh and I want to thank you guys again for helping me build the courage to do the houses during HOS. Once I got over my initial freak out, I was having a blast (until that one vamp snuck between Shawn & I and scared the crap out of me in the vampire casino house ). Hope we can all do it again next year! I'm going to Busch Gardens tomorrow and will tell the roos you say "hello".  Like SuperShawn said it was a great time! Just think that Vampire scaring you two was....wait for it.... UNEXPECTED! Oh. and You Suck! (for going to BG without us!)  I reeeeeeeeeeeeally wish I could have been there that weekend. Maybe next year if there is an event. I miss you guys and can't wait until our playdate at WCB (even though Joe might not be there, he'll be there in spirit).  Too bad you couldn't come out and play, but we will see you soon enough!  BGT's Howl-o-Scream 2011 was more enjoyable that Halloween Horror Night at Universal, and that's saying a lot.  I didn't even attend HHN and I agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 After flying back from Orlando, the following weekend I headed out for the last day of Texas State Fair. I met up with my sister and hopped on the DART in Plano that took us straight to Fair Park. While I won't put you to sleep with much commentary here, I will say the following: Â 1. It doesn't look like a fair at all, it looks more like a permanent attraction. 2. Many unique rides not commonly found in the U.S. 3. Fair Park has tons of Art Deco, so if you are into that sort of thing, you will LOVE this place! 4. A new permanent 500 foot observation tower is coming next year. 5. In the summer of 2013 they plan to open a Summer Midway 6. Two Part Report. Â 'Our State Fair is a grand State Fair' You can tell you are at a fair when you have both a 'farm in a truck' and butterfly's in the same building. A permanent year round Aquarium is also on property. to enter during the fair. I also noted they are hosting a special "Sleeping with the Fishes' event. Arrive by 7pm, leave by 10am My what a big wheel you have So walking past the wheel we come across one part of the midway, so, we will start off with one of many himalaya style rides. And we take a turn and look down the gamesway And move our way over to this awesome thing. You don't see this everywhere! "I hope I don't lose my lunch" "We hope you don't either!" Now here is something that you dark ride enthusiasts will enjoy, and something you can't ride just any old time. And yes, it's permanent. Spooky two story Bill Tracy special! Winning! Om nom nom onom. This is where the "it doesn't look like a fair" comes into play. The food vendors aren't in trailers rather in separate uniform looking booths throughout the park. They even have advertising on the bottom of the Sky Ride. Creative use points. 'The eyes of Texas are upon you' #musthaveintexasorelse I know what you are thinking. B.S. But it was true, they really were 6. And no, I refused to try one. So out on another midway we show you some Art Deco buildings. The buildings on either side showcase their "Auto Show" A.K.A. car lot brought to the fair. Nothing new or earth shattering inside there. Except for this 9/11 tribute vehicle which was all airbrushed. Hmmm, wonder what's in here... More food! Deep fried biscuits and gravy. Yummmy (Ick) Deep fried Beer. Yummy.(Ick) So this building was donated by some rich people and is now a museum with an auditorium that people can rent out. And yet another building where you can get your culture on. I love the ceiling. They had some awesome murals that depicted what life was like back in the day "Come and Take It" Hey, wait justa....WTF is that over to the left?!?! They certainly do things different in Texas, that's for damn sure. Oh lord, another suggestive mural. Yay for Sandy Lake!!! Â That's it for Part I, Part II coming up shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Part Dos So how about some rides. I'll start here. Ride tickets are .50 each. This required 12 tickets. And it really wasn't all that bad. Next up is this crazy thing. I ate too much fried beer! So yeah, never seen one of these before Can't have a fair these days without a flyer! Nerd Shot! And another Himalaya! I'm taking a picture of you taking a picture Best.Ride.Theme.Evar. I mean, I almost missed the giant Coke can in the middle! Time to get Zillerated! These ops didn't mind running multiple cars on track at a time. And another Himalaya style machine, but pay close attention The cars point the other way on this one! Still counts! Another permanent attraction (I think) Champion Stud. Typical Cheesy Fair Haunted House. Found and Noted this on the back side of the wheel. Finally we grab a rare and unique Arrow Flume credit. Nerd Shot. Off we go into the land of Willy Nelson! Creepy forest! NOTED! Me no dumdum, you dumdum Into the creepy forest tunnel Yikes! And up the lift for the big splash. And down the hatch! This is the shortest Arrow Flume I've been on. The creepy theme was awesome. Â So that's it, just a drop in the bucket of what all is at the fair. Open three full weeks in October, you should get down there, but beware, no POP ride option so it can get costly! Â Hope you liked, and if you did, post a comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Season Finale Tomorrow Night! Join me as I visit Silver Dollar City's Old Time Christmas and help Wildfire to reach 1 million rides in a season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printersdevil78 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Very cool! Just moments ago, I didn't know deep-fried biscuits and gravy existed. Now, I'm willing to give up several appendages to try it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chroniq Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 That's one impressive fair. With so many permanent installations, how long are the attractions open each year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Very cool! Just moments ago, I didn't know deep-fried biscuits and gravy existed. Now, I'm willing to give up several appendages to try it! Â Unfortunatley no one was ordering it at the time so I couldn't tell exactly what it looked like. For instanace, on a stick, or a biscuit with gravy in the middle of it, dipped in batter and fried. Â Does anyone else have any idea? I suppose I could google it...but that would be too easy. Â That's one impressive fair. With so many permanent installations, how long are the attractions open each year? Â The permanent installations are only open 3 weeks per year and are owned independantly from my understanding. In 2013 they will have a summer fair with the log flume, sky ride, and ferris wheel open along with a few other rides and attractions such as the 500 foot observation tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAL Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 So that's where that giant wheel lives! I remember seeing it incessantly in commercials (Discover Card?) this spring. I'd thought it could be at SFOT, but didn't care enough to hunt it out once I discovered my error. Â Looking forward to Wildfire. Thanks for the reports - keep 'em coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 (edited) Well the season has come to an end and I would first like to personally thank everyone who has followed along as I traveled to 87 different parks this year including the awesome North East Tour this summer. It really was a great year for me personally and while it is doubtful I will hit 87 parks in 2012, I will embark on several exciting adventures both in travel and in my personal life. So with that, here we go! Â I made the short drive to Branson to visit a park that has some of the best food in the industry, Silver Dollar City. Featuring over 3 million lights and receiving multiple awards for their Christmas shows, this is one park worthy of a visit during an Old Time Christmas. Wildfire was only 24,000 riders away from hitting a record high of one million (Achieved this past weekend!) and I am happy to say I played a small part in reaching that with around 20 rides. Â The food was amazing, people are friendly, and the park is everything you expect and more from the Herschend Family. Â Hope you enjoy, and if you do, post a comment. If enough comments are posted(what's enough you ask, well, more than 1, lol), I might just have a special 12+ park report I will post as a huge thank you! I want my past to include some awesome bread with cinnamon! Might as well start off with some good food. Turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, and all the sides are in this tasty restaurant. $15 will get you enough to last a week! But bypassing the food for now, I have a date with a certain B&M ride, but first, lets take a look at the flume in hibernation. Personally, I'd like to see them leave the leaves in, flood the channel, and sail the logs. But something tells me maintenance would not enjoy that idea. Last year I must have gotten a few bad rides on Wildfire, this year, it was running incredibly well, almost to the point I want to add it to my top 10. Back row has nice pops of air while the front yields some nice forces. After an hour of what was essentially ERT on Wildfire, I headed to another crowd pleaser, Powder Keg. For those that live under a rock, S&S came in and revamped and old ride, added some new track, and oh yeah, air power launch system. O.M.G. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh See ya later Keg, you are truly an awesome ride. Noted. Funding must be running low for signs... TPR & Higher Learning.... DO NOT MIX! Swing batter batter batter Bin Laden puppet They also sell pottery. Not exactly sure what this is supposed to be, but it has something sprouting out. Chroniq likes turtles. So that's where I left it. How to cook green eggs and ham. So back off in their newest area we set out on our maiden voyage That takes us over to the wave swinger That drops us off here. OMG, so effing good. Time for desert!! If you know what it is, comment! What better way to work off some of that food than another ride on Wildfire I'm single, I can warm hands, I might not even charge. But now it's getting dark and those 3 million Christmas lights are coming on! whoooooosh Every building is covered in lights, and every square inch. You could decorate gifts and stuff in here, I know this because the sign said so. They also have multiple shops to buy Christmas stuff For some reason these ornaments reminded me of Wild Bill But time for a little break for more food! Om nom nom nom nom Then more desert Let's mosey down this trail and see where it takes us. From the Giant Swing, you could see lights forever, it was actually quite pretty. This would be the best picture that shows what you can see from the air. So that's where the trail led me to, well, ok, if I must. Nothing like 41 degree rides at night. The line for the train was easily 1 hour+, so this time, I skipped it. But if you have never done the train at Xmas, you should wait, it's worth it. And finally tonight I take a walk through Grandpa's Mansion, kinda hidden at the front of the park, but worth the find. so, in we go and find this strange thing, still not sure what it is. Umm. Creepy. Grandpa was hanging out. Umm. Creepy. The last room was all caddy wampus and was really cool. I lost my balance a few times, glad no one saw me fall. And that's it. I had a wonderful time as per usual at Silver Dollar City. If you live close, it's worth a visit before the end of the season! Thanks SDC! Â And once again, thanks to everyone for reading. Post comments if you want to see a special Encore of 12+ parks from the summer! Â New season starts in February! Edited December 22, 2011 by chadster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Silver Dollar City is definitely high on my bucket list. The food looks incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aimster Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Silver Dollar City looks like a really nice park. One of these days I need to get my butt over there for a visit. Oh and the food looks awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbear30 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 YUM! Cinnamon bread! I love that stuff at Dollywood....but I wonder why yours has icing on it? The one at DW doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Dollywood and Silver Dollar City are my two favorite parks that I've never been to. I love how they look so much. Â I wish more parks would call up B&M to build more Sitting coasters. I really want to ride a looping B&M with those open trains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printersdevil78 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 ^^That's not icing; Chad just got a little too excited about his cinnamon bread.... Â Awesome stuff! I vote for the 12+ park bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 Glad you guys enjoyed the visit! Â YUM! Cinnamon bread! I love that stuff at Dollywood....but I wonder why yours has icing on it? The one at DW doesn't. Â The icing just bumps it up a whole nother level. I suppose it's their twist on it. Â ^^That's not icing; Chad just got a little too excited about his cinnamon bread.... Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Silver Dollar City looks beautiful during Christmas. You've piqued my curiousity about the train ride. I'm guessing there's some sort of Christmas skit involving the outlaws who work there during the regular season. (BGW just plays Christmas carols and puts up some lighted trees for their train ride, which is a bit disappointing.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 ^ Yup! The train is advertised as a 'sing a long' and is actually quite fun. The narrator will sing and try to get the passengers involved. Along the way the train slows and grandpa reads to everyone about the birth of Christ which takes place on the outskirts if you will. After the reading the train steams along and takes you through the park to see a good portion of the three million Christmas lights. It takes a good bit of time (around 20-25 minutes) so the lines can get long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Edge of Beast- Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Wow, thanks for the trip report Chad! The park looks unbelievable with all of those lights on. I actually went to see the lights a few years ago and I was in absolute awe to see that many lights on a building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted December 25, 2011 Author Share Posted December 25, 2011 Ok, well it looks like you guys have earned the opportunity to see a little thing I call the Jersey Shore Whore coming up the first week of 2012. Merry Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 ^Yay! Happy Festivus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 As a special thank you to everyone who read and supported this thread over 2011, I bring you this special multi-part trip report of the Jersey Shore. Until February, Enjoy! Â Ok, so here is the deal-e-o. I will send to someone, gratis, an envelope of crap. How do you get that envelope of crap? Simple. At the end of this three part bonus report tell me how many times I was stalked. All persons with the correct answer will have their name entered into a drawing for the crap. It can't get any easier! Ready? Yes? OK! Â Â Back in July, I think....I arrived a few days ahead of the North East Tour to the safety and comfort of Newark, NJ. Stumbling through an Airport littered with construction and signs to misguide you, I arrived to the overpriced car rental counter where with 2 people ahead of me took no less than 30 minutes to sign the paperwork. Once in the garage a friendly person took us to an 'upgrade' only to stick his hand out wanting a tip. Um yeah, sorry man, I just paid $70 a day for freaking sardine can, I am not going to tip you. Â Wanting to get the hell outta there as fast as I could I wasted no time connecting Marcia (Yes, I named my GPS, get over it) and programming in the nearest safe house. Not 100% confident in this being a safe house. First credit of the 3.5 day coasterthon! Looks innocent enough. Oh yes, just the way I like my kiddie coasters, nice and smooth. Just enough speed to give you a rush without pushing you over the edge. Bahhh! STALKER! What else is here...meh. oooooo, I like Himalaya's. Too bad these suck. Well, I guess this is all that's left worth riding. With the exception of my shadow, no one else was on the ride as the park looked like a ghost town. Â Leaving the park it was time to bend over, drop trou, and grab the ankles as the turnpike was ready to take me on a fantastic voyage to SFGAdv. Â With the help of excellent directions from Marcia, confusing signs, and a wreck that was so far off the side of the road you could barely see it but still backed up traffic for an hour, I finally arrived at SFGAdv with 1:10 left in the operating day. As per usual King was down, so El Toro, Green Lantern, and Superman it was! Â After an exhausting day it was time for a stop at Walmart, Wendy's, a drive thru Princeton, and a night at the Hilton in Princeton. See, when I roll, I roll in style. Night night! After a few hours of sleep it was time to head out. Looks like CoastinKatie was being transported too. Worst park and most expensive credit ever! Seriously, this park blows. Park operations just sucked. It took 15 minutes to load onto this, and while it was ok, I've had better. So after a hellish entry process and an unimpressive first impression of the park, the idea was to get the credit and get gone. Hell Cat would turn out to be Hell. I think the lift was smoothest part. The rest felt like you were being dropped straight down to hell. Even these kids were like WTF?!?! It wouldn't be a Chadster trip report without....NERD SHOT! Their drop tower was a trailer model and was...OK. But easily the best part of the park, and that's not saying much, is the water park. Â Clementon seemed to have staff that didn't care, rides that appeared to be neglected, and clientele that is somewhat suspect at best. The one ride I was looking forward to, their log flume, was closed. Doubt I will return to ride it tho. Â Anyway, finished with park 3, on to park 4. Ahoy mate! come get some of me pirate booty. Â He had me at booty. Nice booty I think she's been ridden hard and put away wet. Bahhh! My STALKER is back! From booty to swingers, this park has it all. Of course if you like to bounce up and down, you can do that too. Sexy. Their Double Shot means you shoot out twice, it doesn't mean you shoot out and down. Since it was dead the choice of seats was given, naturally I chose the seat with a view. And this would be the view. Time for a stroll down to the next park of the day. I think I need a shower already. ONDERLAND! Look, they have swingers down here too! DO NOT WANT TO FEEL LIKE CAGED BIRD I have no shame. See, no shame. The thing went slow enough that you could get a nice overview of the Pier. Mr. Coaster over there was closed. VERY disappointed. But, this kiddie makes up for it.... But one thing I learned early on, these Piers are expensive! Bahhh! Stalker! Meh, it's just hard to find one that will give it to me fast and slow both forwards and backwards. I sure hope those days aren't gone. I think you could ride stuff in the building for like $1 each which included the carousel. NO! Don't take the Ring! Sadly this would be the last time the ring would be seen as moments later it was gone. Poor ring. For some reason my stalker insisted on following me here and wanted to do so in a hurried fashion. Not sure why. Credit! Bahhh! Stalker! Rated 'E' for 'Everyone' Time to kick this place to the curb and.... ...hop on over... ...to park #7, Steel Pier! Very ghetto, but in a good way. This would be a very quick visit. The Crazy Mouse, yeah, it was loco. Bahhh! Stalker! Maybe if I don't look my stalker won't see me. Â Anyway, quick stop, checked into what was supposed to be a nice hotel only to find out they were oversold and shipped us into their older hotel which was, ghetto, and required a chair to be placed in front of the door at night for safety. Not wanting to stay their, it was off to park #8 If you guessed Morey's Piers was next, well, you win something, maybe a dirty sock. Anyway, this thing road like an old woman, rough, unpolished, and not very pleasant. It was the only credit I was missing at Morey's. Thankfully they have other awesome rides like Ghostship to enjoy. Of course this visit also allows me to compare the new train to the old one on the NorEaster. And yes, it's MUCH better. But it was getting late, and when it get's late, I like to do 'IT' So, we did IT slow Then we did IT fast Then we sat and spun on IT After we did IT several times, I was exhausted and ready for bed in the hotel that required armed security. And this ends Days 1 & 2 of 4 of the Shore Whore! Â God willing, we will wake up in the morning safe and secure and be able to continue on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Whew, survived the overnight ghetto hotel and was up and at it early to travel to more parks! First on the list today was Fun TOwn! Another well placed shot tower that allowed you to reload and shoot again! I thought my throat was going to turn inside out, this thing was on kill! Yuuuuuup! Oooooooo, this looks promising! Oh. More birds in cages. Sadly, height requirement would not let me ride. But this was actually fun moving side to side and spinning with variable speed. A Sponge Bob dark ride that looks.... ...fully licensed! Now it was on to Casino Pier which was park number...um.....WTH I don't know what number it was. Anyway if you do, post a comment and let me know for a bonus entry for the drawing. I suppose by now I have ridden one too many kiddies. Coasters that is. Is it a bird, is it a plane? NO! It's Mighty Mouse! Ahhhhh, how cute! Over to the left you will see a guy playing in what he thought was a jungle gym. Sadly for us, he was working on a MCBR which meant the ride was down. Now, over to the right is where we would head next. Woooosh! Easily one of the better dark rides on the shore. Sorry, I have a headache. Â After picking up three or four credits at Casino Pier it was off to find the car, which had a piece of litter on it from the local police department. Apparently I didn't know how to properly operate the parking meter and they thought I needed a lesson in how to add money to the meter. But, instead of adding money to the meter I was asked to add $40 to the county's general fund. New park, new coaster. First one to name the park gets a bonus entry! "Boo!" Weeeee. Ok, enough of this. Moving on to... This lovely park and yet another cookie cutter coaster! But Jenkinson's has something special On of the most bad ass powered coasters I've ever been on This thing was on kill to the point I actually wanted to ride it again! But no time for that, it was off to a creepy walk thru attraction up the boardwalk and then on to yet another park! Looking back, I did a hell of a lot of driving on Day 3. More pirates booty! At least I could assist putting out a fire. Wheel of fortune. Licensed from Disney. Look, its a fast food mascot! A midway of happiness that only opens after like 5pm. Oh baby! "I like it with two tails in the rear" See ya fantasy island...now where to... Oh yeah, last park of the night! I will say this was a creepy ghetto park. What park is it? Well name it and you get a bonus entry. The ops were all in plain clothes so you didn't know who worked there and who didn't which actually added to the experience. Should I take it in the front or... in the rear? Bahhh! Stalker is taking it in the rear! So as we coast off into the night time we end day 3. Overall this creepy park was not all that bad, it had character and personality, something that most of your chain parks don't have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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