Mikey's MINI Travels

[TheSchwitek]

As most of us do, I travel A LOT of miles riding roller coasters and seeing the world. So, last October (2010) I decided to invest in my dream car, which also happens to get awesome gas mileage for all of my travels. My MINI Cooper now accompanies me to the majority of the theme parks and other tourist destinations along the way. Because of this, I thought it would be kind of unique to document some of my trips by getting a signature MINI shot of my car parked in front of these cool places.

 

In addition to the car shots, I will include some of the parks I make it to during the 2011 season. I hope some of you will enjoy the ride!

 

PS: I have some picture uploading to catch up on, but as the year progresses, there will be MINI more photos to come.

So here it is, fresh off the car lot. My 2007 MINI Cooper.

And here's a quick look inside at the seats that my butt will be spending hundreds of close hours with in the near future.

A little yellow trim to match the outside, and a giant speedometer to make sure I don't get any tickets.

I decided to add some black stripes and checkered mirrors to spice it up even more. Now its time to hit the road.

November 2010. First stop: Sam's Fun City. This was the closest coaster credit I needed to my current residence in Birmingham, AL.

Greetings from Florida! Why am I here? For IAAPA and much more!

So since I had never been to Key West, I decided to drive all of the way to the bottom of the state.

I even found the house from The Real World Key West! (Yes, I actually watched that season; don't judge).

I also found a giant dolphin in the Keys.

And an awesome looking Mammal Park, Slash, Zoo, Slash, Aquarium, Slash, Cool looking sign.

And I couldn't pass an opportunity to see this giant roadside fish.

On my way back North, I had to make a quick stop at the SWAP Shop, (Uncle Bernie's Theme Park), to get a credit I missed last time.

Then I continued credit whoring at King Richard's Theme Park in Naples, FL.

And more whoring at Kidstar Park near Punta Gorda.

Next Stop, Busch Gardens Tampa. I had to take a look at the new Cheetah being built.

And get some awesome rides on some awesome coasters like Montu.

Adventure Island wasn't open this time, but I got a picture anyways.

Lowry Park Zoo. BT Dub, I also love zoos; and this zoo had a coaster, and it was right next to Busch Gardens.

Celebration Station in Clearwater also had a tiny little coaster I had to talk my way into riding.

And guess what else was in Clearwater. The very first Hooters!! After eating here I determined that old Hooters taste pretty much the same as new ones.

Edited January 24, 2013 by TheSchwitek

[Skycoastin Steve]

Dude, the Mini is AWESOME!

[paiging_jen]

First of all...badass car, it totally fits you! Second of all, next time you are in Florida you should tell me. Third of all...

 

 

Awesome! I loved that season.

[cprocks22]

I highly approve of this trip report. As a fellow MINI driver, very nice! I was never the biggest fan of that yellow (I liked the older, brighter one more but hey) but the black bonnet stripes look fantastic as well as the mirrors! Funnily enough, my 2002 MINI just hit 100,000 miles tonight , when I bought it 3 years ago it had 70,000. Happy Motoring!

[BeemerBoy]

The mirrors are a bit much for my taste, but I'm really digging this report!

[CoasterKidKyle]

Really loving the MINI, great idea for documenting your travels!

[TheSchwitek]

VOLUME 2:

 

Thanks for the comments! And, Jen, I will be sure to let you know next time I am in Florida. (It will be for IAAPA during the week of the 14th in November 2011). Now on to some more pictures. I will continue with my 2 week trip to Florida, in November of 2010.

On my way to Orlando, I stopped by Dinosaur World to check out what Kings Island's new attraction would look like. (And maybe even what Cedar Point and Dorney Park's new attractions would look like HAHA).

That night, after checking in at IAAPA, I stopped by Fun Spot on I-Drive.

The next day I made a return visit to Old Town.

Right next door, I decided to visit Fun Spot USA.

While I was here, I decided to get my 3rd ride on the 300 foot Skycoaster (Still the tallest in the world). And by the way, the new LED lighting on this thing is AMAZING at night.

I spent the next couple days at Universal Studios checking out Harry Potter World, and some pretty unique behind the scenes tours with IAAPA. I also saw the new Harry Potter movie opening night at midnight, in City Walk.

The next day I spent at Wet N Wild and Aquatica. We walked to Aquatica from the hotel, so no picture. Aquatica aesthetically, is better, but Wet N Wild's slide package wins out.

After going to all 4 Disney Parks (where I took Disney busses, so no pictures there either) I only had one more Orlando coaster to ride. I found it at Birthday World.

After all of these adventures, there was only one coaster in the whole state of Florida I hadn't ridden, so of course I had to go there. This is Adventure Landing in Jacksonville, FL. Thanks to a Power Trip, some Legos, and a Cheetah; I'll be back again this year.

[Skycoastin Steve]

After going to all 4 Disney Parks (where I took Disney busses, so no pictures there either) I only had one more Orlando coaster to ride. I found it at Birthday World.

 

Did you do some begging? I thought you had to be under 12 years old to ride that one.

[TheSchwitek]

Steve-

 

Funny story there. I told the lady at the desk I was visiting all the parks in the area since I was there for IAAPA, and she immediately went and got her boss. When her boss came out and I gave her my business card, she immediately began discussing how she wanted to sell some of the rides she had there. She asked if I would be interested in buying them for the kiddie area at my park, and I immediately showed some interest. I took a lot of pictures of all the tiny rides in the building, and since there was no one else in the place at the time, I asked to ride the tiny coaster, and she was all about it. I left with pricing information and details about every ride in the place. Apparently, she had two of many of the rides, (the others were in storage) because she originally had planned to open two locations but never did.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Very interesting! I need a business card and a theme park to run so I can whore the kiddie credits.

[TheSchwitek]

^ Just make up a theme park, and print a few business cards LOL. Thomson always liked "Christopher's Island."

[Skycoastin Steve]

^

 

Classic.

[TheSchwitek]

Volume 3:

 

Over Christmas vacation in 2010, I decided to make the trek up North to some indoor parks and also spend some time traveling to a few states I had never been to. The following will document a few places where I was brave enough to get out of the car in the cold and snap a quick photo.

The first day of this wintery trip was spent visiting a few small FEC's. This was Safari Land near Chicago. I also visited Enchanted Castle, and Go Bananas this same evening.

The next day was spent in Wisconsin Dells. I visited Kalahari, Knuckleheads, and a couple of other cool indoor attractions. The above shows pretty much what all of the parking lots looked like.

I also spent a day in the twin cites, where I visited Mall of America. I decided to drive by and see what Valleyfair looked like in the winter since I was already right next door.

I was pretty far North and I had never been to North Dakota, so I figured I'd see what the great city of Fargo had to offer. Not to mention, I was a big fan of the movie.

I turned South from there, and drove through a blizzard in South Dakota (also a new state). I ended up spending the night in Omaha, Nebraska that night where I had one of the greatest hotdogs of my life (weird, I know).

On my way back South I found another winterized park near Kansas City. Worlds of Fun holds a lot of good memories with me, and the operator of Prowler in 2009 holds the cake. "The big black cat is about to attack...chomp, chomp, RAAAAWR."

If it wasn't such a dreary day, this picture of Mamba would have been my favorite.

"Hello Mamba, you look so much like your sisters in this picture." After this, I drove to Zonker's in Kansas, to get a second chance on a kiddie coaster that was closed during my last visit.

And I ended this long trek with another new whorish credit at Miner Mike's Adventure Town, in Osage Beach, Missouri. This was my last new coaster of 2010, and I ended at a lovely 575. Getting to 600 in 2011, and the MINI will be right along side!

[ParkTrips]

As a petrol head, this thread is cool. Not a fan of the colors but Mini's are really cool little cars. The kiddie coaster story is one of the best examples of credit whoring I have ever read.

[Skycoastin Steve]

Worlds of Fun holds a lot of good memories with me, and the operator of Prowler in 2009 holds the cake. "The big black cat is about to attack...chomp, chomp, RAAAAWR."

 

 

Do you still have the video of that kid? I could have stayed there the entire day listening to that.

 

"How was your ride???"

 

*crickets*

 

"WEAK!!!!!!!"

 

[TheSchwitek]

HA! I totally forgot about the "Weak" part!! I know I have it on video somewhere, I'll just have to look around for it. Also, when I was there last weekend, there was a female operator that was giving a similar spiel. It was funny as well. Overall, the operators were all good last week. And when I rode Timber Wolf, I was pleasantly surprised by misters that were installed all over the ride. Ok, they were not misters, they were more like hoses that sprayed in your face around every turn, and you end up soaking wet at the end. I don't think I have laughed that hard on a coaster in years. It actually made for a very memorable experience. (It was 104 degrees with a heat index of 112, in Kansas City last weekend).

[robbalvey]

There is something very Pixar Cars about this update. The fact that other than the Wet N Wild picture, there are no humans in any of the pictures at all. I'm actually picturing your car on the coasters because in my screwed up mind, in the world of Pixar Cars, would the ride the coaster tracks on their own, or would the cars ride in coaster trains?

 

I don't know. It's also late and I've been converting photos for the last 2 hours so I'm probably a little loopy and high on Coke Zero.

[Joe Cool]

Awesome idea, keep it up!!!

[99er]

^ Just make up a theme park, and print a few business cards LOL. Thomson always liked "Christopher's Island."

I forgot about Christopher's Island. Such a nice little amusement park with plenty of charm.

[TheSchwitek]

Volume 4:

 

What better way to start the 2011 season than with media day for Dare Devil Dive at Six Flags Over Georgia. Since I do work at a park myself, I only get one day off a week to travel elsewhere. The following will document some of the places I made it to during these one day adventures.

Check out that "princess parking" for Dare Devil Dive Media Day!

Hey look, its Six Flags Over Georgia. My new "home" Six Flags park.

All that twisty-ness behind the MINI belongs to Goliath.

Could I have some Goliath with a side of Scorcher please?

The next trip was to Dollywood to check out the huge new construction area for the 2012 coaster. Forgot to grab a car picture, but decided to head over the mountains and explore the rest of the day. Its a car in two states at once! My dad always used to say "Half in, half out" and honk the horn. These days, I would reply "That's what she said."

Let's see if the ole car can do some rock climbing.

Sir Gooney's! I ended this night with some Mini Golf, a Mini coaster, and a long drive home, in a Mini.

Look, its Lake Winnie and a Mini!

Another trip to North Carolina took me to a nice little place called Santa's Land.

And coaster #577, Rudicoaster! I actually really enjoyed this little place.

Check it out, its Ghost Town in the Sky! Too bad its closed down, so just passing by this time. That park is seriously way the "beep" up there. Pictures do not do it justice.

Oh Carowinds, you are still a fun place to visit. I needed my 2011 Platinum pass, so this was the closest place to go!

And here's the star attraction, Intimidator! Still one of my favorite B & M's. After another long trip home, it was time to rest for some even longer MINI trips in the weeks to come.

[cal1br3tto]

Your car looks right at home in all the photos; great idea! Was the Sir Gooney's credit hard to get?

 

I'm actually picturing your car on the coasters because in my screwed up mind, in the world of Pixar Cars, would the ride the coaster tracks on their own, or would the cars ride in coaster trains?

I don't know, but I've enjoyed imagining the possibilities!

[TheSchwitek]

^

The Sir Gooney's credit is extremely hard to get. I have been to the place probably 7 times (As it is on my way to many parks to the Northeast of me), and have only seen it running once. I would recommend going on a weekend, and calling in advance. I normally just stop and play some ghetto miniature golf, and stretch my legs.

 

robbalvey wrote:

I'm actually picturing your car on the coasters because in my screwed up mind, in the world of Pixar Cars, would the ride the coaster tracks on their own, or would the cars ride in coaster trains?

 

^

I would like to believe the cars would ride on the actual tracks. They may need some additional upgrades/harnesses to ride the flyers and inverts however.

[TheSchwitek]

Well, summer has been flying by, and its almost time for the end of a lot of park's daily operations. Here's a quick look at a few more of the places I visited during this busy summer.

Here we see the Indianapolis Zoo. Home to a family coaster called Kombo (#578 for me) and another location where you can actually race cheetahs. Overall, a very nice zoo.

Right down the street was a little FEC called That Fun Place. It was full of arcade games, food, and kiddie rides.

That Fun Place's star attraction was the Sea Serpent. (#579) We were the first riders of the day, and they did't do any testing at all. The manager walked out, flipped a breaker box, and we were off.

Ohhh, its Kings Island! I came to ride Windseeker, and it was actually pretty fun. (Nothing amazing of course, but a good addition) And I still love the Beast, but only because of the memories of how great it was in the early 90's.

Ok, so I know a lot of people don't like Skyline Chili, but I absolutely love it, and stop here every time I'm in the Cincinnati area. Not so great an hour later, but still worth it.

I just had to take the opportunity to get a picture in front of a Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom sign that was still up. I used to drive here every season to get my season pass since it was alway cheaper here.

It's systematic. It's hydromatic. Why it's Greezed Lightnin/Viper/Tidal Wave. I really hope this park opens back up someday soon.

That giant cock has a hat on! Just another lovely roadside attraction near the Alabama/Tennessee border.

And at the same exit you can find...drumroll please...Big Jim's Boobie Bungalow!! This place has great dinner specials.

My best friend got married in St. Louis a few weeks ago, so I just had to stop by my old home park. Sky Screamer was decent, and the rest of my favorites still make this one of my favorite Six Flags parks. Not to mention it was home to my first 3 roller coasters! #1 - Acme Gravity Powered Roller Ride, #2 - River King Mine Train, and #3 Screamin' Eagle.

On the way home from Missouri, we stopped by Worlds of Fun to ride some favorites, then it was off to a tiny park in Joplin, MO. Route 66 Carousel Park gave me #580, Tiger Terror. It was a no go on the smaller kiddie coaster; maybe next time. Oh well, back to work to save money for a 10 day trip in August.

[TheSchwitek]

The Brookhaven Exchange Club!!

 

Well this week I decided to switch things up and do an actual trip report. I decided to travel to Brookhaven, Mississippi to visit a very small park that is only open one week each year. It is home to a small coaster called the All American Roller Coaster, and also has a few other extremely old, and even homemade rides and attractions that you won't find anywhere else. Yes HOMEMADE. I introduced myself to the guy in charge and was immediately given a tour of the park, as well as all of the history of how the place started. Everyone I met at this park was extremely nice and had been working this "fair" every year since they were young. Basically, the whole thing started nearly 60 years ago, and has been a town tradition ever since. I had a great evening, met some great people, ate some great food, and got a new coaster credit. Not to mention, I felt like I went back in time about 30-40 years (which was awesome). On to the photos:

Here it is! The Exchange Club Park! I got here early, so I went and got a tattoo while I waited for the park to open at 6pm.

This is the entrance sign. They've been goin since 1947.

Here are the ticket booths at the front gate. Every ride is one ticket, and every ticket is one dollar. Now that's a bargain!

They also had a kids play area that was free of charge.

Here are the men's and women's restrooms.

The Exchange Station Express takes guests around the perimeter of the park.

Here is the classic train engine.

Did I mention there was free parking? Just watch out for that train!

Here is part of the games section. Everyone of these games were handmade and offered prizes like stickers, pencils, and sticky hands. The owner told me that they used to build all the games out of cardboard boxes and set them up down this walkway. (Not kidding at all)

Here's a familiar game, only the different sections appeared to be colored with crayons shortly before I arrived.

Here is the Long-Range Basketball game. And yes, it is suppose to be crooked so the balls roll down to the right.

Now onto the rides. Here you see a homemade airplane ride powered by a lawn mower engine.

Here is the queue area for the Ferris Wheel.

And here is the Ferris Wheel. The operator accedently released the break when he was in front of the cars and knocked himself on the ground about 5 minutes after this picture. Fortunately, the old man was ok, and hopped right up.

Oh, and there was a kiddie ferris wheel as well!

Yet another homemade ride. I'm not 100% sure if these are boats or cars.

I know what this is! The Tilt O Whirl!

And this homemade contraption featured parts of all of the members' personal swing sets, and another lawnmower engine. This had a line almost the whole night. (100% serious)

This ride was repainted for the 2011 season.

This Carousel used to have all hand carved horses, however, they were replaced by plastic ones as time went by. The original horses were sold for thousands of dollars and allowed the park to purchase a few new attractions.

Speaking of new attractions, the Scrambler is New in 2011!

And now for the park's biggest homemade ride; The Swings!

This aint your everyday Waveswinger. Parents were even allowed to set up their lawn chair right in front of the ride (inside the fence) and high five their kids as they flew by.

Yup, the seats were just a piece of splintered wood. Put these on Windseeker, and that, my friends, would be a thrill ride.

And now for the park's star attraction, The All American Roller Coaster.

Check out that train.

It's kind of a mix between Millennium Flyers and PTC trains. Should I sit on the outside or the inside? This is gonna be just as hard as Skyrush!

Hope you have lotion and tissues handy.

I see you airtime hills.

They went 10 times without stopping. (That's what she said)

Now its my turn. I get sloppy seconds. BTW, that's a pretty sweet t-shirt.

POV shot. Similar to the money shot, but not quite.

Coaster credit 581 gets two big thumbs up. Speaking of "two big thumbs up" - that is also what she said. Sorry, it just comes out; that's what...I'm done - th...

New for 2012?

In all seriousness, I had a great time at this historic little park. If you're ever in Brookhaven, Mississippi during the first week of August I suggest you Check It Out!

[Skycoastin Steve]

This trip report and that park are completely and utterly full of win.