After last summer's complete and utter failure of traveling to Europe, I have been given another chance, partially due to said failure.
Every year or so, the folks who produce our survey software hold a conference of their users to meet and hear about what changes are coming down the pike and for their users to give them feedback on what they like, what they don't like, and what they would love to see in the software. One such request has been the ability to record interviews for quality control and to measure question response. A few have come up with some home-grown solutions including my BGA, but it can be complicated to create and code. In response to this, the latest version of the survey software now includes this functionality. Myself and one of my co-workers have been testing this feature for the last few months and given lots of valuable feedback to the folks across the pond on how it can be improved. In response they have come up and fixed many of the bugs we have found and implemented improvements we have suggested, so it has been a good experience so far. It has been so good that the BGA is dropping the home-grown solution and moving to use the latest version of the software.
So one of the topics that will be discussed at this conference is this recording functionality. Since I did do some of the research (and due to the above failure) I was selected to attend the conference and give a short presentation on how the recording is going to work for us. Along with that, I will be taking a wish list of things we would like to see because the company is starting to do a major overhaul of the software and create their "Next Gen" version.
Next month I get to travel to the Netherlands to attend this conference for a few days, and of course I am starting to make plans to take a mini-vacation while I am there. The planned destination is Paris. What I am trying to decide now is when to leave for Paris. I get out on Friday afternoon, do I go straight to Paris, or stay in Amsterdam that evening, and then head out the next morning to Paris? I did pre-book a hostel, but that could be altered if I have to.
I know one thing I want to do for sure, and that is go to the Louvre, and it looks like I can do it for a great price as well. I recently got AAA, and the Gray Line company (the one that operate the open top double decker buses you see in major cities for the tourists) has a deal for members on a 3 hour tour of the Louvre. I am thinking of doing that, along with a ticket to ride their buses and boats to get all over the city and hit the popular destinations. The Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame are also on my list. Of course, pictures will be taken.
I can't wait, I think it is going to be so much fun, though I am now crossing my fingers that nothing goes wrong before then, if it does, expect to see me lose my mind.
Showing posts with label Trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trip. Show all posts
March 23, 2010
December 27, 2009
Visiting Six Flags and Sea World
One advantage of being down in San Antonio is that because it doesn't snow and stays fairly decent weather-wise, amusement parks stay open way longer than they do on the east coast. With that opportunity available, I took advantage of my visit to see my parents by going to both Sea World and Six Flags in San Antonio.
On Monday morning I drove to Sea World and the parking lot was pretty empty, probably because it's the week before Christmas and people are leaving for vacation or whatnot. I got inside, got a map of showtimes, and first it was off to ride Shamu Express before heading to one of the theaters to watch the Polar Express in 4D. Basicallly they take and cut the original movie down to an 18 minute interactive movie. It was cute and all, the kids would like it, there certainly were a lot of them there. I timed it to be able to walk right over to the sea lion stadium and watch the sea lion show. It featured one of the stars, Clyde, trying to get into the Christmas spirit. There's various stuff that happens throughout, including leaps out of the water by the sea lions, and an otter running around. I enjoyed seeing their re-creation of The Night Before Christmas.
After the sea lion show, I had about 40 minutes to kill before the Shamu show, so I walked over to the Great White roller coaster and got in a few rides on that one. It's a B and M coaster that's similar to Afterburn at Carowinds so there's lots of turns and loops. Since there was basically no one in line, they said you could stay on it if no one was waiting in your row. I got to ride in the front and the back before it was time for me to head over to Shamu stadium.
The Shamu show was good to watch and I got awesome pictures. I purposely sat up high so I could get good pictures and not risk getting soaked. The one thing that blew my mind with that show was watching the trainers basically be able to stand on the noses of the whales and be pushed across the pool or even have them stand as the whales put them in the air. It was a blast to watch and I got awesome pictures of it.
After the show I walked across the park and got in a few rides on the Steel Eel. This coaster is like Steel Force at Dorney Park in that it doesn't have any loops or other elements, it's your basic out and back coaster, but it goes across the park, so it is a good long ride. Don't bother with riding in the front, the back is a much better ride. You get some sick airtime as you go up and down the hills.
From there I wandered the park and hit all the various exhibits that were open. I saw the penguin house, then went over to the sharks and coral reef aquarium. After getting out of those it was feeding time for the dolphins so I bought a tray and got to feed dolphins as well. With that tray came a coupon for buy one get one free for feeding the sea lions, so I went over and fed the sea lions as well. One of them was very vocal about getting fish from you, another one tried to be cute by slapping the water with his fin to get your attention.
Before leaving the park, I hit Journey to Atlantis, got wet on that one since it's the giant raft down the slide. Luckily it was a sunny day at the park.
Tuesday morning I was going to take my brother to Six Flags, then I found out they don't open that park until 4 PM, whereas Sea World had opened at 10. So we got to wait until the late afternoon. I would also find out that they do things a bit different there, as some parts of the park were closed. Only 5 of the 8 coasters were open and that didn't include their biggest one, Superman (jerks!). However, we did make a good evening of it. Our first ride was on boomerang, because since it is the same as the Carolina Cobra at Carowinds, it means there is only one car, so it's best to ride it soon after the park opens, before the line gets long, especially when everyone else is going to Goliath. We worked our way back to Tony Hawk's big spin, which my bro absolutely loved. Next I went on the Romp Stomp a Bomp (don't judge me, I wanted the credit :-P) before we went over to Goliath. Goliath is a lot like Talon at Dorney Park, and the line for any row but the front was short, so we managed to get on very quickly.
Our last new coaster to ride was the Road Runner Express. It is the first time I have seen a steel coaster disguised to look more like a wooden one. I think we had the most fun on that coaster. One thing that we had seen that was put in for the holidays was a sledding hill for folks to ride down. My bro and I each took turns riding and got a picture of the other going down the hill. Since I couldn't go sledding after the big storm in DC, might as well do some sort of sledding here, right?
From there we repeated some of our rides, doing Tony Hawk, Goliath, and the Roadrunner again. I did try going through some of the shops to find some fun souvenir of Six Flags, but there were no good magnets, or even good Wile E. Coyote items. I thnk it's because it's late in the season.
It's too bad that the other coasters were closed, so I gues I will just have to try and get back to San Antonio next summer to ride those missing coasters in my list. Both parks were fun, especially when I haven't been to a place like Sea World for a few years.
On Monday morning I drove to Sea World and the parking lot was pretty empty, probably because it's the week before Christmas and people are leaving for vacation or whatnot. I got inside, got a map of showtimes, and first it was off to ride Shamu Express before heading to one of the theaters to watch the Polar Express in 4D. Basicallly they take and cut the original movie down to an 18 minute interactive movie. It was cute and all, the kids would like it, there certainly were a lot of them there. I timed it to be able to walk right over to the sea lion stadium and watch the sea lion show. It featured one of the stars, Clyde, trying to get into the Christmas spirit. There's various stuff that happens throughout, including leaps out of the water by the sea lions, and an otter running around. I enjoyed seeing their re-creation of The Night Before Christmas.
After the sea lion show, I had about 40 minutes to kill before the Shamu show, so I walked over to the Great White roller coaster and got in a few rides on that one. It's a B and M coaster that's similar to Afterburn at Carowinds so there's lots of turns and loops. Since there was basically no one in line, they said you could stay on it if no one was waiting in your row. I got to ride in the front and the back before it was time for me to head over to Shamu stadium.
The Shamu show was good to watch and I got awesome pictures. I purposely sat up high so I could get good pictures and not risk getting soaked. The one thing that blew my mind with that show was watching the trainers basically be able to stand on the noses of the whales and be pushed across the pool or even have them stand as the whales put them in the air. It was a blast to watch and I got awesome pictures of it.
After the show I walked across the park and got in a few rides on the Steel Eel. This coaster is like Steel Force at Dorney Park in that it doesn't have any loops or other elements, it's your basic out and back coaster, but it goes across the park, so it is a good long ride. Don't bother with riding in the front, the back is a much better ride. You get some sick airtime as you go up and down the hills.
From there I wandered the park and hit all the various exhibits that were open. I saw the penguin house, then went over to the sharks and coral reef aquarium. After getting out of those it was feeding time for the dolphins so I bought a tray and got to feed dolphins as well. With that tray came a coupon for buy one get one free for feeding the sea lions, so I went over and fed the sea lions as well. One of them was very vocal about getting fish from you, another one tried to be cute by slapping the water with his fin to get your attention.
Before leaving the park, I hit Journey to Atlantis, got wet on that one since it's the giant raft down the slide. Luckily it was a sunny day at the park.
Tuesday morning I was going to take my brother to Six Flags, then I found out they don't open that park until 4 PM, whereas Sea World had opened at 10. So we got to wait until the late afternoon. I would also find out that they do things a bit different there, as some parts of the park were closed. Only 5 of the 8 coasters were open and that didn't include their biggest one, Superman (jerks!). However, we did make a good evening of it. Our first ride was on boomerang, because since it is the same as the Carolina Cobra at Carowinds, it means there is only one car, so it's best to ride it soon after the park opens, before the line gets long, especially when everyone else is going to Goliath. We worked our way back to Tony Hawk's big spin, which my bro absolutely loved. Next I went on the Romp Stomp a Bomp (don't judge me, I wanted the credit :-P) before we went over to Goliath. Goliath is a lot like Talon at Dorney Park, and the line for any row but the front was short, so we managed to get on very quickly.
Our last new coaster to ride was the Road Runner Express. It is the first time I have seen a steel coaster disguised to look more like a wooden one. I think we had the most fun on that coaster. One thing that we had seen that was put in for the holidays was a sledding hill for folks to ride down. My bro and I each took turns riding and got a picture of the other going down the hill. Since I couldn't go sledding after the big storm in DC, might as well do some sort of sledding here, right?
From there we repeated some of our rides, doing Tony Hawk, Goliath, and the Roadrunner again. I did try going through some of the shops to find some fun souvenir of Six Flags, but there were no good magnets, or even good Wile E. Coyote items. I thnk it's because it's late in the season.
It's too bad that the other coasters were closed, so I gues I will just have to try and get back to San Antonio next summer to ride those missing coasters in my list. Both parks were fun, especially when I haven't been to a place like Sea World for a few years.
August 03, 2009
Final Visit?
Back in April, Southwest Airlines ran one of their usual screaming deals on airfare, in this case, the ability to fly from Baltimore to Phoenix for only $99 each way. So I made plans to fly to Phoenix in August to visit the parents and friends out there because I figured I could use a vacation by then. Besides that, I also used the sale to make a stopover in Las Cruces, NM, since I have not been there since leaving to move to DC just over four years ago. I was due to make a visit.
How was I to know quite a few circumstances would change between now and then?
As I sit here at the household it is myself, my dad, and two dogs in a house that looks much more bare than I have seen it in years past. So just what the hell has happened, and why is it that it could be my final visit?
In the middle of June, my mom flew to San Antonio for an interview with a hospital because she was ready to move on. The first hospital screwed up royally with her interview, but then while she was there, another hospital called and asked for an interview and she went in, interviewed, they liked her, so they offered her the job she wanted, and at the price she wanted as well.
So this last week, her and my dad drove out to San Antonio with some of her things and got her moved into an apartment. He has come back to Phoenix in order to sell this house before moving on to San Antonio as well. I hope and pray that he is able to sell the house fast because it just plain blows to have to sit around and wait for someone to buy your house before you can join your wife where she is at.
Anyway, so for me, this is likely my last visit to Phoenix for a while because when both of my parents are gone, there isn't a huge incentive for me to come over here. This area was my stomping grounds for maybe two years, and even then, it was only when I went home to visit my parents from college. If anything, I'm more likely to go to Las Cruces and Silver City simply because I have friends there. I'll miss this area, but at the same time, life goes on, and at least it can be a central location for me to stop at before heading somewhere like the Grand Canyon.
The flight to Phoenix was uneventful, a non-stop from Baltimore. The unfortunate thing was that I checked in late enough I ended up toward the back of the plane in a window seat. Most people would cheer at getting a window seat, but for me it meant less room to be able to stretch out my legs and less chance to get up and move around. On the other hand, I did get through three episodes of The Wire, and I should be able to finish a few more this week.
Most of my time so far has been spent relaxing, and running a few errands as well, but they have been more of the fun errands. I got to try some awesome Dim Sum yesterday at a local restaurant, as well as pick up authentic Italian deli meats from down the road. I've also gotten up and started running again, though I had to pick up a knee brace because one of them is bothering me badly enough it's forcing me to slow to a walk. I'm going to test it out tomorrow and see if it helps me out. I must also look up knee exercises and stretches.
Beyond that, I'm just going along with whatever comes my way. I've connected with a friend here and we'll probably be doing lunch sometime this week. Maybe I'll make some new friends as well, and perhaps that would give me more incentive to come back to Phoenix sooner rather than later.
July 07, 2009
Carowinds Day 2, and Heading Home
For my second day at Carowinds I got to the park a few minutes early before they opened, in time to witness the ceremony they were doing to honor the men and women of our armed forces. The park opened and the first ride I went for was the Carolina Cobra, which is new to the park this year, but actually is a roller coaster that is used in several parks.
The thing about Carolina Cobra is that if the line gets long, it will take a long time to get to ride, and that is simply because of the design of the ride. Only one car can be on the track at a time, period. After the train is loaded, it is pulled up the slope on one side before being released. After going through a cobra roll and loop it reaches the other slope, where it is pulled up a bit, before being released and sent backwards through the loop and cobra roll to the station. There's no way more than one car can be put on the track, so it does take a while to get there. I've ridden one like it before at Six Flags America as "Two-Face: The Flip Side" so I'm familiar with the design. However, if I want the coaster credit, I have to ride it as the Carolina Cobra at Carowinds or else that's just plain cheating.
I then hit Vortex, which is a standing coaster. Normally I love standing coasters, but I also forget that at times the restraints can play hell with your junk. Think about it like if you were coming over a rail fence except when you straddle it, your feet just barely stand flat on the ground, so move a centimeter downward and you're gonna hurt a bit. Perhaps there was a reason I didn't ride it again ;-) With that however, it did complete all of the coasters that I could ride at Carowinds, and now I am at 108 different coasters.
From here I started hitting some other coasters for repeat rides, such as Carolina Cyclone and Afterburn. I also went and hit the drop tower ride. It's a ride that pulls you up to the top of the tower and then drops you straight down to the near bottom. To be perfectly frank, if you want to hear me scream like a bitch, put me on that ride. It definitely taps a bit of my fear of free falling from a high place, and it's why you will probably never see me skydive, unless I'm trying to give myself a heart attack.
After about 3 hours at the park, it was starting to get hot, and I had been dealing with a headache since I woke up, so I decided to head back to the hotel and wait for it to cool off outside before going back to the park. I napped while watching Deadliest Catch since there was a marathon that weekend. Was I the only one that noticed they used a Blue Crab for the promos for the marathon? It's kind of funny they did, considering that there are no Blue Crab in the Bering Sea, it's too cold them for them.
Around 7:30 I went back to Carowinds and the first thing I ended up doing was hitting up one of their shops for more Nickelodeon merchandise, namely because the items that were 50% off yesterday, were now 75% off. Parents were definitely all over that stuff because it meant getting lots of Dora the Explorer and Spongebob Squarepants stuff for really cheap. I have taken care of some gifts for birthdays and Christmas now. I talked to the girl at the register while she was scanning my stuff, and she partially confirmed my hypothesis on why the Nick stuff was out the door. Cedar Fair wants the stuff gone because they're going to bring in their own stuff. So folks, if you're really desperate to see the kiddie area of Carowinds as the Nickelodeon version, this is your last season. I'm expecting next year it will all be Peanuts themed.
Anyway, so I got that done and then hit a few more coasters and the drop tower again before heading to the front gate for the fireworks show at 10 PM. The fireworks were great, and I saw some unique ones I have not seen in other shows, so it was definitely worth catching for me. In all the show probably lasted close to 20 minutes. I took video with my digital camera of the fireworks, which I hope to have up on YouTube in the next day or two.
Trying to get out of Carowinds was a completely different story. There is only one "official" road that can be used by the public to get out, and I knew it was going to be bottlenecked, so I basically sat in the car, rolled down the windows, put the seat back, and chilled out for about 1.5 hours before making any attempt to get out. By this time there was a second route out of the parking lot, which was to follow a back road around the park to the employee entrance, and use that to get onto Carowinds Blvd. Once I did that, it was a matter of a simple U-turn to get to my hotel.
After waking up Sunday morning, I got all packed up and checked out of the hotel before going over to Shoneys for breakfast. Their breakfast buffet was good, and the server was extremely helpful, to the point she actually packed me an extra drink for the road without me asking her, which was well above and beyond any normal service. Her tip certainly reflected the extra service she gave and she deserved every penny. So if you happen to go to the Shoneys right off of Carowinds Blvd and your server is Wendy, you will be well taken care of.
The drive home was not too bad, though I did hit traffic a few times. For whatever reason, VZ Navigator put me on 95 after a while. From what I heard later, 66 had some major issues going on, so that's what I got stuck with. Either way I did get home, though a bit later than I wanted. Got my laundry done and then was able to chill out before bed.
Ultimately the trip to Carowinds was worth it. I got to experience a number of new coasters, a great experience at the park, and got to see completely new places in the country as well. It was a win-win situation all around. Plus with the visits to Carowinds, I have basically paid for my season pass now. I will likely go back again next summer, and hopefully with a few people in tow.
The thing about Carolina Cobra is that if the line gets long, it will take a long time to get to ride, and that is simply because of the design of the ride. Only one car can be on the track at a time, period. After the train is loaded, it is pulled up the slope on one side before being released. After going through a cobra roll and loop it reaches the other slope, where it is pulled up a bit, before being released and sent backwards through the loop and cobra roll to the station. There's no way more than one car can be put on the track, so it does take a while to get there. I've ridden one like it before at Six Flags America as "Two-Face: The Flip Side" so I'm familiar with the design. However, if I want the coaster credit, I have to ride it as the Carolina Cobra at Carowinds or else that's just plain cheating.
I then hit Vortex, which is a standing coaster. Normally I love standing coasters, but I also forget that at times the restraints can play hell with your junk. Think about it like if you were coming over a rail fence except when you straddle it, your feet just barely stand flat on the ground, so move a centimeter downward and you're gonna hurt a bit. Perhaps there was a reason I didn't ride it again ;-) With that however, it did complete all of the coasters that I could ride at Carowinds, and now I am at 108 different coasters.
From here I started hitting some other coasters for repeat rides, such as Carolina Cyclone and Afterburn. I also went and hit the drop tower ride. It's a ride that pulls you up to the top of the tower and then drops you straight down to the near bottom. To be perfectly frank, if you want to hear me scream like a bitch, put me on that ride. It definitely taps a bit of my fear of free falling from a high place, and it's why you will probably never see me skydive, unless I'm trying to give myself a heart attack.
After about 3 hours at the park, it was starting to get hot, and I had been dealing with a headache since I woke up, so I decided to head back to the hotel and wait for it to cool off outside before going back to the park. I napped while watching Deadliest Catch since there was a marathon that weekend. Was I the only one that noticed they used a Blue Crab for the promos for the marathon? It's kind of funny they did, considering that there are no Blue Crab in the Bering Sea, it's too cold them for them.
Around 7:30 I went back to Carowinds and the first thing I ended up doing was hitting up one of their shops for more Nickelodeon merchandise, namely because the items that were 50% off yesterday, were now 75% off. Parents were definitely all over that stuff because it meant getting lots of Dora the Explorer and Spongebob Squarepants stuff for really cheap. I have taken care of some gifts for birthdays and Christmas now. I talked to the girl at the register while she was scanning my stuff, and she partially confirmed my hypothesis on why the Nick stuff was out the door. Cedar Fair wants the stuff gone because they're going to bring in their own stuff. So folks, if you're really desperate to see the kiddie area of Carowinds as the Nickelodeon version, this is your last season. I'm expecting next year it will all be Peanuts themed.
Anyway, so I got that done and then hit a few more coasters and the drop tower again before heading to the front gate for the fireworks show at 10 PM. The fireworks were great, and I saw some unique ones I have not seen in other shows, so it was definitely worth catching for me. In all the show probably lasted close to 20 minutes. I took video with my digital camera of the fireworks, which I hope to have up on YouTube in the next day or two.
Trying to get out of Carowinds was a completely different story. There is only one "official" road that can be used by the public to get out, and I knew it was going to be bottlenecked, so I basically sat in the car, rolled down the windows, put the seat back, and chilled out for about 1.5 hours before making any attempt to get out. By this time there was a second route out of the parking lot, which was to follow a back road around the park to the employee entrance, and use that to get onto Carowinds Blvd. Once I did that, it was a matter of a simple U-turn to get to my hotel.
After waking up Sunday morning, I got all packed up and checked out of the hotel before going over to Shoneys for breakfast. Their breakfast buffet was good, and the server was extremely helpful, to the point she actually packed me an extra drink for the road without me asking her, which was well above and beyond any normal service. Her tip certainly reflected the extra service she gave and she deserved every penny. So if you happen to go to the Shoneys right off of Carowinds Blvd and your server is Wendy, you will be well taken care of.
The drive home was not too bad, though I did hit traffic a few times. For whatever reason, VZ Navigator put me on 95 after a while. From what I heard later, 66 had some major issues going on, so that's what I got stuck with. Either way I did get home, though a bit later than I wanted. Got my laundry done and then was able to chill out before bed.
Ultimately the trip to Carowinds was worth it. I got to experience a number of new coasters, a great experience at the park, and got to see completely new places in the country as well. It was a win-win situation all around. Plus with the visits to Carowinds, I have basically paid for my season pass now. I will likely go back again next summer, and hopefully with a few people in tow.
July 03, 2009
Carowinds, Day 1
Once again I am off and traveling, this time I will add two states, one theme park, and up to twelve roller coasters to new experiences. I decided a few weeks ago to check out Carowinds theme park, which sits right on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina next to the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Much like Kings Dominion, it was owned by Paramount before Cedar Fair bought it in 2006.
I'm happy to report that so far it has been a high-quality visit, much like my other visits to Cedar Fair parks. The longest I waited for a ride was about 40 minutes, and that is because it is very popular. Even with being able to run 48 people through at a time (2 cars x 24 per car) there's still a lot of people who want to ride.
The other thing is that with this trip, I would finally cross the 100 coasters mark. I have now ridden over 100 different roller coaster rides in the world. The honor goes to the Thunder Road coaster, on the North Carolina side. Thunder Road is unique in that it is a racing coaster that sits over two states. One side is on North Carolina, and the other side is on South Carolina. I happened to ride the South Carolina side first, and then rode North Carolina. Now there are some who would argue that it should not have counted for two different rides because the tracks are a mirror image of one another, but I see it as different because you're going in different directions.
Anyway, so after the 7 1/2 hour drive to Charlotte (Thank you Vz Navigator for helping me to avoid traffic) I got to Carowinds, parked in the season parking pass area, and got into the park. After picking up a map and finding my way around, I got to Afterburn first, which had virtually no line, then Ricochet (wild mouse type of coaster), then Thunder Road. Next I would hit up Carolina Goldrusher, Carolina Cyclone, and the Hurler. Here's a fun fact about the Hurler. It was originally named after the movie Wayne's World when Carowinds was a Paramount park, and the speakers at the wait station would play clips from the movie. King's Dominion has the Hurler as well, and according to the RCDB, those are the only two parks that have it.
Anyway, I then hit up the Rugrats Runaway Reptar and Fairly Odd Coaster. These are both small coasters designed for the kiddies, but big enough to allow the kid at heart to ride as well. It was also the first time I witnessed a hanging coaster for kids because most of them are the standard sit-down cars.
By this time I had been at the park for about 4 hours, and it was close to 7 PM, so I decided to head to my hotel. I scored an awesome deal on a Motel 6 about a mile from the park, $55. I was expecting it to be way more because of the holiday. It was also what gave me some incentive to head this way for the weekend.
I went back to Carowinds at about 8:30 to get in line at Nighthawk because they would close the queue at 9, and I figured I'd get a ride in since it is normally so busy. I snapped an awesome picture on my phone of Carolina Cyclone as a silhouette in the sunset. Wish I had my camera, but oh well.
After that ride, it was time to look for dinner, and that's where I had a bit of a scare with my car. I had tried driving to one place, but they closed at 10, and it was 9:52, so I wasn't going to be a dick and make them have to work again when the place was empty. As I'm driving back, I suddenly have white smoke coming out from under the hood and my temperature gauge has shot straight into the red. I feared that I had a hose bust in there so I pulled into a nearby parking lot and opened the hood. It turned out that somehow my radiator cap had come loose, so it started shooting coolant from that part of the car, and coolant hitting the hot engine was what produced the smoke. So I carefully got the loosened cap back into place, but then I had to deal with trying to get the engine to cool back down again because it was still spiking a bit as I would drive. I'm going to re-check it in the morning and see if I need to add even more coolant than what I already did. I think the cap came loose because I didn't tighten it up quite enough when I checked out the car this morning. It's a good thing it didn't happen while I was driving towards Charlotte. I came to the hotel and ordered pizza delivery instead.
So for tomorrow the plan is to go to Carowinds when the park opens, and hit Carolina Cobra and Vortex since I have not ridden either one yet. Then I'll hit a few favorites from today, mostly steel so I can avoid being shaken to death. Wood coasters have their own charm and I like them for the most part, but I have to be careful of how often I ride them because the shaking will give me a bad headache. I'll probably leave during the hottest part of the day to chill at the hotel and rest up before heading back in. They're having a fireworks show tomorrow night for the 4th, and I can't wait to see that either. Sunday will depend on how I feel, I do have a long trip ahead, and I was thinking of heading back around noon, but maybe I'll go earlier.
One other thing I noticed is Carowinds is working to get rid of their Nickelodeon merchandise in the stores. I'm not surprised, I bet the contract to use Nickelodeon characters in their kiddie area is expiring after this season, and they'll probably bring themselves to be in line with other Cedar Fair parks. That means next year we'll see a Peanuts themed kiddie area unless for some reason they decide to take out a new license agreement to use Nickelodeon characters. I doubt it.
July 01, 2009
Vegas
After my plans to go to Latvia and Italy were canceled due to illness, I received an opportunity to travel to Las Vegas. Friends of mine, CL and GR were going out that way for CL's grandmother's 90th birthday and they made the offer to join them if I wanted to split a hotel room with them. I have never been to Las Vegas so I decided to jump at the chance to be able to finally see just what everyone is talking about. Besides that, it meant a flight on Southwest, and this trip plus a future trip will earn a free roundtrip, so it's a win-win situation all around.
The flight to Vegas went fine as usual, except for the stupidity that is Kansas City International Airport. To explain, KCI has a really screwy layout compared to most airports. Instead of passing through a central security area and walking to your gates, imagine the width of a building, then divide it in half, on one side is the outside area where you first walk in, on the other side is the gates. Now subdivide those gate areas into 5 gates each, and they each have their own security screening area. The gate areas are not connected to one another on the inside, you have to go outside and back through security if your gate changes and it's not in range of the five gates around you. Now I had taken an empty bottle of water with me and filled it at the drinking fountain in Baltimore before boarding the plane. When I got to KCI I had to leave the area where I deplaned and walk to another cluster of gates to board, which meant going through security again. I put my bag through security, and guess what, bag check. I had completely forgotten about the bottle of water I had filled up in Baltimore. So, I had to leave security, dump it out, and then go through security again. It was when I got through and was waiting at my gate that I realized that all the drinking fountains in the airport are on the outside of the gate. So I could not fill my water bottle at KCI, but I was certainly welcome to pay $3.00 for a bottle of water at the Wolfgang Puck kiosk that was conveniently located in each cluster. How about no, so in my mind KCI sucks and they're not getting a dime from me.
Flew to Vegas, and it turned out I got there ahead of CL and GR because their flight had been delayed in Atlanta. I waited at the airport for a few minutes before they arrived and got their things. CL's sister and her husband were also on the flight and they had rented a car, so we packed our things in there and made our way to the hotel. Traffic on the Vegas strip sucks during the afternoon and early evening BTW, whether you're in a car or on a bus. The problem is many of the roads have construction going on because Vegas is playing catch-up with their infrastructure due to the massive amount of people that have moved there in the last few years. The other big project is they've been taking down all the power line and burying them underground, so of course that means tearing up the roads and putting them back together. There would be many a time this weekend that it took a while to get up and down the strip, simply because of the traffic issues.
We were staying at Treasure Island, and we had some very nice rooms there. If you can score a deal on staying there like we did, I'd suggest you stay there. You're nearly in the middle of the strip, and there's a nearby bus stop on each side. If you know you're going to be traveling up and down the strip often, and especially if you want to go down to Fremont Street, where some of the old casinos still stand, take the Deuce bus, which is exclusively for the strip and downtown. It runs 24/7 and is $3 each ride, $7 for a 24 hr pass, or $15 for a 3 day pass. You'll probably use the 3 day pass if you're going out multiple times.
Anyway, so after getting settled we did go down to Fremont street for a late buffet dinner and a bit of gaming of course. To get it out of the way, I basically stuck to slot machines only, and primarily the penny machines. It's what I'm used to playing from being at the Indian casinos in Arizona. Did I win this weekend? Not really, I probably lost $100 overall, so I have no major complaints there. I did also learn quite a bit about many of the different machines there so I know which ones will drain your money fast, and which ones you can play for about an hour on $5. I definitely had fun with them though, a favorite machine being the gold fish machine since I tended to hit the bonuses pretty often. Also, I got one of the best deals on a beer while down at Fremont street. 44 oz of beer, served inside a football shaped glass. Football and beer, two things that most men love put together...there's a third thing that would make it absolutely perfect, but it can't be mentioned here ;-)
The other thing about this weekend is that Vegas can do a number on your schedules. I have probably lost weight because of how many meals that were missed from being out and about, and my sleeping schedule is definitely off. Hell, despite traveling all day on Thursday, I was up for about 22 hours. We'll see how quickly I get back on schedule.
Friday was primarily spent wandering around the various casinos in the area and doing a bit of shopping as well at the tackiest souvenir shops. Passing by Madame Tussauds, they had out the wax figure of Michael Jackson for people to pose with for pictures and leave cards and such. Harrah's offered a free picture with a showgirl so we got that done, and then she tried to steer us towards trying to get signed up to hear a timeshare pitch to get a gift of some tickets, however, the guy blew us off because they want single folks to be over 40 and he was turned off when he found out CL and GR were the ones together (same-sex couple). Later that afternoon it was just myself and another friend of CL and GR, MV. Her and I got along pretty well considering this weekend was really the first weekend we got to really meet. I got plenty of pictures of Vegas all weekend long as well. Towards the evening hours, CL and GR went to see CL's grandmother before coming back to pick us up to take us over to Arizona Charlies casino, which is off the strip, but grandma goes there to play bingo, plus it has various tables with low limits until late at night. It was a pretty good casino overall, definitely had the classic casino look about it.
Saturday we all wandered to a few places, including taking a ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I got some great pictures of the Vegas landscape, including the surrounding mountains. Later we came back to nap for a bit. I crashed the hardest with a 2 hour nap, then we went over to Fashion Square mall for some gelato. CL happened to drop by the half-price tickets place to see what they offered and found out there were tickets to Bette Midler at 7:30 available for $65. I thought about it, and then decided to go for it, though I was on my own for seeing the show. The twist was that the woman at the desk told me I had to be over at the box office at Caesars Palace by 6:30 to get my ticket, and no they will not refund my money if I don't make it. It was 6:10 so it was a matter of could I haul balls down to Caesars in time? Yes I can because quite frankly, I am either insane, a masochist, or both. The reason being that I was running down the strip in 100 degree weather to try and go nearly 1 mile within 20 minutes on a Saturday night when the sidewalks were crowded. I made it with 6 minutes to spare :-D The bonus was the guy at the box office upgraded me from nosebleed seats to rear orchestra seats, score!
Before the show started, the couple next to me asked where I had gotten my shirt (I am currently away from my desk) but since it was a gift from my parents, I have no clue at this point. It turned out they had seen me in the casino and thought it was clever, and it just happened I got a seat next to them. They were from Chicago and had brought their daughter and some of her friends to celebrate her 21st birthday. Nice people.
Bette's show was amazing of course. I had a great view of the stage and she basically was doing her acts of singing, dancing, and comedy, all while backed up by a live band, her trio of assisted dancers, and a chorus line of showgirls. You of course got to hear her perform "The Rose," "From A Distance," "Wind Beneath My Wings" "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," and a few others. She did jokes about getting old, along with her mermaid act, and even did a burlesque act as Soph. I enjoyed every minute of her show. If you get to Vegas and she is performing, go, seriously, you will not regret it, especially if you score cheap tickets.
After the show I went back to the hotel and then MV and I took a cab over to Arizona Charlies again. The other folks wanted to go back there because they had done well playing craps the night before and wanted to try their luck again. I think everyone did well overall that evening. I probably lost $50, damn slots.
Sunday started out with breakfast, and then a bit of a long afternoon. We did agree to sit through a presentation of another timeshare place to score tickets to Jubilee. After the spiel was all said and done and they had us tour a property, now it came time to tell them No, repeatedly. It killed me that they tried to get all of us to fill out a credit application before we even saw the property or got prices to know if any of us could afford something like that. Quite frankly, I give the salesman credit for even trying, he went as far as to say that maybe we could all buy in together to be able to afford it. Here's the deal, even if they really did give me everything they claimed they would and didn't try to screw me on the fine print (fat chance) I think that paying my hospital bills are way more important right now than buying time at vacation properties :-) Eventually we did get our tickets.
Went back to Fremont street to do some last-minute shopping before heading to the hotel to change and head to watch Jubilee. Jubilee is basically your standard showgirls type of show, which there aren't many of anymore (Does Cirque de Soleil really need 5 different shows in Vegas...really?!). It was enjoyable, lots of singing, dancing, and some awesome sets. If you're in Vegas and want to see something classic, go see Jubilee, and there are coupons everywhere for it as well. If we had not done the free tickets, we would have done the half-price coupon I found in one of the guidebooks. Just don't bother with the Saturday show, since it's more "family-friendly" and not the true authentic Vegas style show ;-)
Hit the Victorian Room at Bill's Saloon and Casino for a very late dinner (midnight) and that is about where things went to hell for a bit. They were busy and we had to wait for 20 mins for a table, which wasn't so bad, but then the service wasn't as great. It was clear that the waitress was not happy about something, and it showed in her attitude, big time, we all noticed that. However, the icing on the cake came when our food finally arrived. After setting the tray on the rack and putting down two of the plates, the rack became unbalanced, and down went mine and GR's orders onto the floor.
*headdesk*
By this point, I'm exhausted, and starving, it had been about 12 hours since my last meal. I believe my words to the table were "This is one of those moments where I need to either laugh, or lose my mind." I chose the former, though more in a "go to a happy place" kind of way. Eventually new food arrived and we were able to eat with the rest of the group. Then for me, I had to basically walk away from the group and go back to the hotel because as it was, I was looking at 4 hours of sleep before going to the airport. Got back to the hotel, packed my stuff up, and went to bed.
The flights back to Vegas were fine, though as usual I banked way too much time to get through check-in and security. The reason was that I was advised that you had better take the 2 hours at Vegas because most folks flying are tourists, and it's pretty well known that tourists and families tend to take a while. I got in line to check-in for my flight at 7:30, got through checking in, then went through security, and it was 7:52. 22 minutes to get through the lines, so now I had just under 2 hours to kill. Lesson learned, I might be able to get away with 90 minutes before my flight on a weekday at LAS.
Overall, my trip was a blast, and there is talk of making this a yearly thing. Since Vegas changes often enough, and there is still plenty for us to see, I could definitely swing something like that. Did I mention I also loved being back in the dry desert air? Seriously, it's hot, but it's dry, so you may sweat, but you don't end up with your clothes completely stuck to you, simply because your sweat evaporates too fast. The catch though is you have to be especially vigilant about your water intake because you will dry out fast.
Soon I will have pictures uploaded for your enjoyment, mostly of the outside sights of Vegas.
The flight to Vegas went fine as usual, except for the stupidity that is Kansas City International Airport. To explain, KCI has a really screwy layout compared to most airports. Instead of passing through a central security area and walking to your gates, imagine the width of a building, then divide it in half, on one side is the outside area where you first walk in, on the other side is the gates. Now subdivide those gate areas into 5 gates each, and they each have their own security screening area. The gate areas are not connected to one another on the inside, you have to go outside and back through security if your gate changes and it's not in range of the five gates around you. Now I had taken an empty bottle of water with me and filled it at the drinking fountain in Baltimore before boarding the plane. When I got to KCI I had to leave the area where I deplaned and walk to another cluster of gates to board, which meant going through security again. I put my bag through security, and guess what, bag check. I had completely forgotten about the bottle of water I had filled up in Baltimore. So, I had to leave security, dump it out, and then go through security again. It was when I got through and was waiting at my gate that I realized that all the drinking fountains in the airport are on the outside of the gate. So I could not fill my water bottle at KCI, but I was certainly welcome to pay $3.00 for a bottle of water at the Wolfgang Puck kiosk that was conveniently located in each cluster. How about no, so in my mind KCI sucks and they're not getting a dime from me.
Flew to Vegas, and it turned out I got there ahead of CL and GR because their flight had been delayed in Atlanta. I waited at the airport for a few minutes before they arrived and got their things. CL's sister and her husband were also on the flight and they had rented a car, so we packed our things in there and made our way to the hotel. Traffic on the Vegas strip sucks during the afternoon and early evening BTW, whether you're in a car or on a bus. The problem is many of the roads have construction going on because Vegas is playing catch-up with their infrastructure due to the massive amount of people that have moved there in the last few years. The other big project is they've been taking down all the power line and burying them underground, so of course that means tearing up the roads and putting them back together. There would be many a time this weekend that it took a while to get up and down the strip, simply because of the traffic issues.
We were staying at Treasure Island, and we had some very nice rooms there. If you can score a deal on staying there like we did, I'd suggest you stay there. You're nearly in the middle of the strip, and there's a nearby bus stop on each side. If you know you're going to be traveling up and down the strip often, and especially if you want to go down to Fremont Street, where some of the old casinos still stand, take the Deuce bus, which is exclusively for the strip and downtown. It runs 24/7 and is $3 each ride, $7 for a 24 hr pass, or $15 for a 3 day pass. You'll probably use the 3 day pass if you're going out multiple times.
Anyway, so after getting settled we did go down to Fremont street for a late buffet dinner and a bit of gaming of course. To get it out of the way, I basically stuck to slot machines only, and primarily the penny machines. It's what I'm used to playing from being at the Indian casinos in Arizona. Did I win this weekend? Not really, I probably lost $100 overall, so I have no major complaints there. I did also learn quite a bit about many of the different machines there so I know which ones will drain your money fast, and which ones you can play for about an hour on $5. I definitely had fun with them though, a favorite machine being the gold fish machine since I tended to hit the bonuses pretty often. Also, I got one of the best deals on a beer while down at Fremont street. 44 oz of beer, served inside a football shaped glass. Football and beer, two things that most men love put together...there's a third thing that would make it absolutely perfect, but it can't be mentioned here ;-)
The other thing about this weekend is that Vegas can do a number on your schedules. I have probably lost weight because of how many meals that were missed from being out and about, and my sleeping schedule is definitely off. Hell, despite traveling all day on Thursday, I was up for about 22 hours. We'll see how quickly I get back on schedule.
Friday was primarily spent wandering around the various casinos in the area and doing a bit of shopping as well at the tackiest souvenir shops. Passing by Madame Tussauds, they had out the wax figure of Michael Jackson for people to pose with for pictures and leave cards and such. Harrah's offered a free picture with a showgirl so we got that done, and then she tried to steer us towards trying to get signed up to hear a timeshare pitch to get a gift of some tickets, however, the guy blew us off because they want single folks to be over 40 and he was turned off when he found out CL and GR were the ones together (same-sex couple). Later that afternoon it was just myself and another friend of CL and GR, MV. Her and I got along pretty well considering this weekend was really the first weekend we got to really meet. I got plenty of pictures of Vegas all weekend long as well. Towards the evening hours, CL and GR went to see CL's grandmother before coming back to pick us up to take us over to Arizona Charlies casino, which is off the strip, but grandma goes there to play bingo, plus it has various tables with low limits until late at night. It was a pretty good casino overall, definitely had the classic casino look about it.
Saturday we all wandered to a few places, including taking a ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I got some great pictures of the Vegas landscape, including the surrounding mountains. Later we came back to nap for a bit. I crashed the hardest with a 2 hour nap, then we went over to Fashion Square mall for some gelato. CL happened to drop by the half-price tickets place to see what they offered and found out there were tickets to Bette Midler at 7:30 available for $65. I thought about it, and then decided to go for it, though I was on my own for seeing the show. The twist was that the woman at the desk told me I had to be over at the box office at Caesars Palace by 6:30 to get my ticket, and no they will not refund my money if I don't make it. It was 6:10 so it was a matter of could I haul balls down to Caesars in time? Yes I can because quite frankly, I am either insane, a masochist, or both. The reason being that I was running down the strip in 100 degree weather to try and go nearly 1 mile within 20 minutes on a Saturday night when the sidewalks were crowded. I made it with 6 minutes to spare :-D The bonus was the guy at the box office upgraded me from nosebleed seats to rear orchestra seats, score!
Before the show started, the couple next to me asked where I had gotten my shirt (I am currently away from my desk) but since it was a gift from my parents, I have no clue at this point. It turned out they had seen me in the casino and thought it was clever, and it just happened I got a seat next to them. They were from Chicago and had brought their daughter and some of her friends to celebrate her 21st birthday. Nice people.
Bette's show was amazing of course. I had a great view of the stage and she basically was doing her acts of singing, dancing, and comedy, all while backed up by a live band, her trio of assisted dancers, and a chorus line of showgirls. You of course got to hear her perform "The Rose," "From A Distance," "Wind Beneath My Wings" "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," and a few others. She did jokes about getting old, along with her mermaid act, and even did a burlesque act as Soph. I enjoyed every minute of her show. If you get to Vegas and she is performing, go, seriously, you will not regret it, especially if you score cheap tickets.
After the show I went back to the hotel and then MV and I took a cab over to Arizona Charlies again. The other folks wanted to go back there because they had done well playing craps the night before and wanted to try their luck again. I think everyone did well overall that evening. I probably lost $50, damn slots.
Sunday started out with breakfast, and then a bit of a long afternoon. We did agree to sit through a presentation of another timeshare place to score tickets to Jubilee. After the spiel was all said and done and they had us tour a property, now it came time to tell them No, repeatedly. It killed me that they tried to get all of us to fill out a credit application before we even saw the property or got prices to know if any of us could afford something like that. Quite frankly, I give the salesman credit for even trying, he went as far as to say that maybe we could all buy in together to be able to afford it. Here's the deal, even if they really did give me everything they claimed they would and didn't try to screw me on the fine print (fat chance) I think that paying my hospital bills are way more important right now than buying time at vacation properties :-) Eventually we did get our tickets.
Went back to Fremont street to do some last-minute shopping before heading to the hotel to change and head to watch Jubilee. Jubilee is basically your standard showgirls type of show, which there aren't many of anymore (Does Cirque de Soleil really need 5 different shows in Vegas...really?!). It was enjoyable, lots of singing, dancing, and some awesome sets. If you're in Vegas and want to see something classic, go see Jubilee, and there are coupons everywhere for it as well. If we had not done the free tickets, we would have done the half-price coupon I found in one of the guidebooks. Just don't bother with the Saturday show, since it's more "family-friendly" and not the true authentic Vegas style show ;-)
Hit the Victorian Room at Bill's Saloon and Casino for a very late dinner (midnight) and that is about where things went to hell for a bit. They were busy and we had to wait for 20 mins for a table, which wasn't so bad, but then the service wasn't as great. It was clear that the waitress was not happy about something, and it showed in her attitude, big time, we all noticed that. However, the icing on the cake came when our food finally arrived. After setting the tray on the rack and putting down two of the plates, the rack became unbalanced, and down went mine and GR's orders onto the floor.
*headdesk*
By this point, I'm exhausted, and starving, it had been about 12 hours since my last meal. I believe my words to the table were "This is one of those moments where I need to either laugh, or lose my mind." I chose the former, though more in a "go to a happy place" kind of way. Eventually new food arrived and we were able to eat with the rest of the group. Then for me, I had to basically walk away from the group and go back to the hotel because as it was, I was looking at 4 hours of sleep before going to the airport. Got back to the hotel, packed my stuff up, and went to bed.
The flights back to Vegas were fine, though as usual I banked way too much time to get through check-in and security. The reason was that I was advised that you had better take the 2 hours at Vegas because most folks flying are tourists, and it's pretty well known that tourists and families tend to take a while. I got in line to check-in for my flight at 7:30, got through checking in, then went through security, and it was 7:52. 22 minutes to get through the lines, so now I had just under 2 hours to kill. Lesson learned, I might be able to get away with 90 minutes before my flight on a weekday at LAS.
Overall, my trip was a blast, and there is talk of making this a yearly thing. Since Vegas changes often enough, and there is still plenty for us to see, I could definitely swing something like that. Did I mention I also loved being back in the dry desert air? Seriously, it's hot, but it's dry, so you may sweat, but you don't end up with your clothes completely stuck to you, simply because your sweat evaporates too fast. The catch though is you have to be especially vigilant about your water intake because you will dry out fast.
Soon I will have pictures uploaded for your enjoyment, mostly of the outside sights of Vegas.
October 26, 2008
Woods Pictures
Pictures from my trip to The Woods are up on Flickr. You can click through to see all of the fall colors and the area. The one thing you will notice is that there are no shots of people, besides myself. Since this is a private campground, the few shots I do have with other people in them are not posted as I do not have their permission to have their faces shown. Click the trees to see just what I got to see.
September 22, 2008
Cedar Point Trip Pictures
The pictures are up on Flickr from my trip to Cedar Point and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.
September 02, 2008
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
After a few hours of being at Cedar Point last Tuesday, JH and I were basically done with the park, and so we decided at a spur of the moment to head back to Cleveland and visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
When you pull up to the building, it looks kind of small from the outside, but there is a lot more in there than meets the eye. Perhaps it helps that part of the museum is actually underground. After paying admission we went downstairs to explore the exhibits. There was an exhibit on music and baseball, including songs that players have used as walk-up songs, a brief history of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and pictures and 45's of songs that were recorded about baseball. Moving in further were various exhibits of those who have been inducted into the hall of fame, including costumes, instruments, props, awards, LP's, and 45's of those who were inducted. Depending on where you were, they had some different ways of organizing them. Some of the earliest stuff was by decades or genres, other times it had more to do with the city that a lot of the groups were coming from at the time. No matter what, there was always something you could find worth looking at, whether it was drum sets from The Who to one of Tina Turner's dresses.
As you move up the floors you get into other exhibits as well, the only exception is the 3rd floor, which is the cafeteria, and the 5th floor, which is a Sirius (XM) Satellite Radio studio. There was an exhibit on Pink Floyd's "The Wall" as well, which finally helped make sense of some of the history behind the video.
In one of the multimedia rooms there was a video of clips from the induction ceremonies over the years, including musicians razzing one another and bits of acceptance speeches. At the theater behind it, you can see an hour long movie which showcases everyone who has been inducted into the hall of fame. There were many names I recognized, and a number I did not.
After viewing all of that, we got some pictures before heading over to Steak and Shake for dinner. I have never been to one, and it really wasn't a bad place to go. It's the only place I've seen where they will make a milkshake with two different flavors side by side vertically. I went with chocolate and orange cream, a great combination. I had the spaghetti with chili, which was good, but way too much for me, there was no way I could finish it.
So that concludes my adventures in Ohio. Cedar Point? worth it, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Worth it if you're already in the area. Browns Stadium? Boooooooooo.
When you pull up to the building, it looks kind of small from the outside, but there is a lot more in there than meets the eye. Perhaps it helps that part of the museum is actually underground. After paying admission we went downstairs to explore the exhibits. There was an exhibit on music and baseball, including songs that players have used as walk-up songs, a brief history of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and pictures and 45's of songs that were recorded about baseball. Moving in further were various exhibits of those who have been inducted into the hall of fame, including costumes, instruments, props, awards, LP's, and 45's of those who were inducted. Depending on where you were, they had some different ways of organizing them. Some of the earliest stuff was by decades or genres, other times it had more to do with the city that a lot of the groups were coming from at the time. No matter what, there was always something you could find worth looking at, whether it was drum sets from The Who to one of Tina Turner's dresses.
As you move up the floors you get into other exhibits as well, the only exception is the 3rd floor, which is the cafeteria, and the 5th floor, which is a Sirius (XM) Satellite Radio studio. There was an exhibit on Pink Floyd's "The Wall" as well, which finally helped make sense of some of the history behind the video.
In one of the multimedia rooms there was a video of clips from the induction ceremonies over the years, including musicians razzing one another and bits of acceptance speeches. At the theater behind it, you can see an hour long movie which showcases everyone who has been inducted into the hall of fame. There were many names I recognized, and a number I did not.
After viewing all of that, we got some pictures before heading over to Steak and Shake for dinner. I have never been to one, and it really wasn't a bad place to go. It's the only place I've seen where they will make a milkshake with two different flavors side by side vertically. I went with chocolate and orange cream, a great combination. I had the spaghetti with chili, which was good, but way too much for me, there was no way I could finish it.
So that concludes my adventures in Ohio. Cedar Point? worth it, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Worth it if you're already in the area. Browns Stadium? Boooooooooo.
August 30, 2008
Cedar Point
As a sort of reward for completing the show, I took off with JH to Cedar Point this past weekend. We flew into Cleveland, rented a car, and drove up to Sandusky, where JH would show me the outside of Cedar Point since the park was already closed by then.
To put a lot of how I would be feeling on the first day of being at the park into perspective, let's keep in mind that I was still as sick as a dog from the vocal strain, chest congestion, and nasal drip. However, I had also vowed that unless I needed to be in the hospital, I was not backing out of my trip. What I did get to deal with on some rides was that the G-forces put pressure on my chest, which already can be bothersome for me (little to no "padding" around the lungs) and it just felt worse since my lungs were irritated.
My first ride was on the Wicked Twister, which is very similar to Voodoo in Dorney Park. It's a big U-shaped track and you go back and forth between the two ends three times. That one is always fun. Next we went onto Millenium Force, which is one of my top rollercoasters to ride now. It goes fast and has plenty of turns, but it's not overdone with the thrill elements. Definitely ride it while at Cedar Point.
Next was the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. It was a good ride, we just got to deal with the woman who was apparently afraid of coasters, so she whined through the whole ride about how she was scared and that she was going to kill so and so for suggesting the ride. After we got off, I had to cough up some lung butter and spit, and she started claiming to her group that I was puking. If I was puking, my head would have been over that garbage can longer than 5 seconds lady.
We moved on to Maverick, which had the longest of the lines we would deal with, at 1.5 hours. The ride was worth it though as not only did you get lifted up the lift hill pretty fast to start the ride, but in the middle of it you hit a magnetic launcher that got you going fast again. As we pulled up to the station, the cars stopped. Apparently one of the cars ahead in the station had stopped at the bottom of the lift hill and wouldn't go up so we were waiting outside. I didn't mind because for whatever reason I just wanted to be in the sun and warm. I was also tired as well, which was strange because I had slept for a good 8 hours the night before.
After that JH's companion TX was going to arrive at the park. By this point I had been feeling like I had been walking for miles and miles and my feet were ready to quit. So I sat down at the bleachers over near the Top Thrill Dragster and actually napped for a few minutes while JH went to get TX. I felt better after that.
We hit Raptor, Gemini, Magnum XL-200, Blue Streak, Iron Dragon, Mantis, and Corkscrew before calling it a day. One could tell I had plenty of sun that day as my cheeks were red.
The next day it was just JH and I at the park. Originally in the morning we were going to get up at 8:30 and go. I get a text from him in the morning (he was in another hotel room) and he pushes it back to 9:30. At 10 AM I'm calling him up and he is just waking up. Needless to say I snapped at him becuase I don't like being told to wait until a certain time by someone else, have it pushed back, and then they fail to be ready at the appointed time that they set. We got to the park and we rode Disaster Transport, Wildcat, and Mean Streak before finally saying we had enough. Mean Streak was the worst one for me to ride because that one will shake the hell out of you. Don't ride it unless you like trying to put your internal organs back in place.
So now I can say I finally visited the famous Cedar Point and rode most of their rollercoasters. The next time I go back I still have to ride Top Thrill Dragster (among a few others) but I wasn't too mad to have missed that one because I already conqured it's big brother, Kingda Ka ;-)
BTW, I am now up to 95 coasters.
To put a lot of how I would be feeling on the first day of being at the park into perspective, let's keep in mind that I was still as sick as a dog from the vocal strain, chest congestion, and nasal drip. However, I had also vowed that unless I needed to be in the hospital, I was not backing out of my trip. What I did get to deal with on some rides was that the G-forces put pressure on my chest, which already can be bothersome for me (little to no "padding" around the lungs) and it just felt worse since my lungs were irritated.
My first ride was on the Wicked Twister, which is very similar to Voodoo in Dorney Park. It's a big U-shaped track and you go back and forth between the two ends three times. That one is always fun. Next we went onto Millenium Force, which is one of my top rollercoasters to ride now. It goes fast and has plenty of turns, but it's not overdone with the thrill elements. Definitely ride it while at Cedar Point.
Next was the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. It was a good ride, we just got to deal with the woman who was apparently afraid of coasters, so she whined through the whole ride about how she was scared and that she was going to kill so and so for suggesting the ride. After we got off, I had to cough up some lung butter and spit, and she started claiming to her group that I was puking. If I was puking, my head would have been over that garbage can longer than 5 seconds lady.
We moved on to Maverick, which had the longest of the lines we would deal with, at 1.5 hours. The ride was worth it though as not only did you get lifted up the lift hill pretty fast to start the ride, but in the middle of it you hit a magnetic launcher that got you going fast again. As we pulled up to the station, the cars stopped. Apparently one of the cars ahead in the station had stopped at the bottom of the lift hill and wouldn't go up so we were waiting outside. I didn't mind because for whatever reason I just wanted to be in the sun and warm. I was also tired as well, which was strange because I had slept for a good 8 hours the night before.
After that JH's companion TX was going to arrive at the park. By this point I had been feeling like I had been walking for miles and miles and my feet were ready to quit. So I sat down at the bleachers over near the Top Thrill Dragster and actually napped for a few minutes while JH went to get TX. I felt better after that.
We hit Raptor, Gemini, Magnum XL-200, Blue Streak, Iron Dragon, Mantis, and Corkscrew before calling it a day. One could tell I had plenty of sun that day as my cheeks were red.
The next day it was just JH and I at the park. Originally in the morning we were going to get up at 8:30 and go. I get a text from him in the morning (he was in another hotel room) and he pushes it back to 9:30. At 10 AM I'm calling him up and he is just waking up. Needless to say I snapped at him becuase I don't like being told to wait until a certain time by someone else, have it pushed back, and then they fail to be ready at the appointed time that they set. We got to the park and we rode Disaster Transport, Wildcat, and Mean Streak before finally saying we had enough. Mean Streak was the worst one for me to ride because that one will shake the hell out of you. Don't ride it unless you like trying to put your internal organs back in place.
So now I can say I finally visited the famous Cedar Point and rode most of their rollercoasters. The next time I go back I still have to ride Top Thrill Dragster (among a few others) but I wasn't too mad to have missed that one because I already conqured it's big brother, Kingda Ka ;-)
BTW, I am now up to 95 coasters.
July 31, 2008
Spank the Yanks
Sunday JH and I traveled to Harrisburg and stayed overnight, so it would save us some time for our trip this past Monday.
We met up with his friend DP and first went to Dorney Park. I picked up my 81st coaster credit by riding Voodoo since it was running this time. It was a fun ride and since the lines were so short, we ended up riding it 3 times. If you can, go for the front.
We rode Laser, Thunderhawk, Hydra, and Talon as well, had some lunch, and then it was off to NYC to Yankee Stadium.
We got to NYC, found parking, and I got in touch with my friend KS, who would be joining us to watch the O's play against the Yankees. While she was on her way, we wandered around the outside of the stadium in our Orioles shirts. Earlier in the week JH had suggested we not wear our shirts, but then he talked with folks and heard that unless we got obnoxious, the fans wouldn't mess with us.
We grabbed dinner at a local restaurant, the food was meh, the service sucked, but whatever, it wasn't the reason why we were in NYC.
We went back to the stadium and got in, where we had to show security our cell phones for some reason. Does anyone have any clue why they would check our cell phones? Still, I couldn't believe we were actually at Yankee Stadium before it vanishes. It was showing its age, but it was still exciting to be there. We also had good seats to watch the game. I couldn't believe what they wanted for a beer there, 8.50 for a can of beer. We didn't buy any while there, we stuck with Coke instead.
So the game would go extremely well for the O's that night, they spanked the Yanks 13-4. It was an exciting game to watch and for the most part the fans left us alone. There was the moron who gave us a thumbs down to our shirts, but that douchebag wasn't even wearing any Yankees gear. One guy did joke that I wasn't going to see George Sherrill (I was wearing his shirt) play that night, and I told him "I'm not complaining." because if Sherrill comes in to pitch, it means that the O's are leading by 3 runs or less.
After the game was over, there were the folks who kept bleating out "Well we have 27 championships!" I think it must be something you have to yell on command in order to be a Yankee's fan.
It was then time for the long drive home to Harrisburg to drop off DP, and then further to Baltimore. We didn't get back until 4:30 in the morning, and thankfully I had slept on and off in the car.
The trip, totally worth it. I'm glad we got to see the stadium before they turn it into a parking garage next year. Now there's plans to hit Shea Stadium before that vanishes as well.
We met up with his friend DP and first went to Dorney Park. I picked up my 81st coaster credit by riding Voodoo since it was running this time. It was a fun ride and since the lines were so short, we ended up riding it 3 times. If you can, go for the front.
We rode Laser, Thunderhawk, Hydra, and Talon as well, had some lunch, and then it was off to NYC to Yankee Stadium.
We got to NYC, found parking, and I got in touch with my friend KS, who would be joining us to watch the O's play against the Yankees. While she was on her way, we wandered around the outside of the stadium in our Orioles shirts. Earlier in the week JH had suggested we not wear our shirts, but then he talked with folks and heard that unless we got obnoxious, the fans wouldn't mess with us.
We grabbed dinner at a local restaurant, the food was meh, the service sucked, but whatever, it wasn't the reason why we were in NYC.
We went back to the stadium and got in, where we had to show security our cell phones for some reason. Does anyone have any clue why they would check our cell phones? Still, I couldn't believe we were actually at Yankee Stadium before it vanishes. It was showing its age, but it was still exciting to be there. We also had good seats to watch the game. I couldn't believe what they wanted for a beer there, 8.50 for a can of beer. We didn't buy any while there, we stuck with Coke instead.
So the game would go extremely well for the O's that night, they spanked the Yanks 13-4. It was an exciting game to watch and for the most part the fans left us alone. There was the moron who gave us a thumbs down to our shirts, but that douchebag wasn't even wearing any Yankees gear. One guy did joke that I wasn't going to see George Sherrill (I was wearing his shirt) play that night, and I told him "I'm not complaining." because if Sherrill comes in to pitch, it means that the O's are leading by 3 runs or less.
After the game was over, there were the folks who kept bleating out "Well we have 27 championships!" I think it must be something you have to yell on command in order to be a Yankee's fan.
It was then time for the long drive home to Harrisburg to drop off DP, and then further to Baltimore. We didn't get back until 4:30 in the morning, and thankfully I had slept on and off in the car.
The trip, totally worth it. I'm glad we got to see the stadium before they turn it into a parking garage next year. Now there's plans to hit Shea Stadium before that vanishes as well.
June 30, 2008
Hershey Park
Originally JH and I had planned to go to Kings Dominion for our Monday off, but on a whim changed our plans and went up to Hershey Park instead.
It turned out to be a gorgeous day at the park, especially since there were moments where it was overcast, so it stayed cool, though it did become a disadvantage at one point.
We started off by riding Great Bear, which is one of my top rides for the day. We moved onward to Storm Runner, which was designed by the same folks who designed Kingda Ka, and it uses a similar launch system and cars. If Kingda Ka is anything like what I experienced today with Storm Runner, I'm in trouble next week at Great Adventure. The shoulder restraints sat up too high for me so I ended up banging them into the restraints, and it made me sore.
It was starting to get warm by the time we finished those two rides, so it was over to the Roller Soaker, which as it's name implies is a coaster where you will get wet. JH and I don't know if people are just inexperienced or the park is trying to save on energy costs, but their way of loading and unloading cars was very inefficient today. Imagine three cars being loaded up, then sent to the bottom of the first hill, where each one goes one at a time, and the next one doesn't go until the first one finishes...and each ride is about 1.5-2mins long. During that time the next batch of cars have been loaded, and they're waiting for the first batch to finish before they get sent to the bottom of the hill. JH said that they didn't used to do it this way, they pretty much kept the cars continuously moving as much as possible. Who knows...
After that it was a trip to the Wildcat, which was a fun wooden coaster. A ride on their Wild Mouse ride was in order before heading to the Lightning Racer, which had to be one of my favorite coasters. It's a dueling coaster, so two cars are loaded and sent out at the same time to race one another. We ended up losing when we rode Thunder, but won when we rode Lightning. It's hard to say which side I like better, Thunder has a thrilling first drop, but on Lightning you get much more air time in your seat. I guess it will depend on what kind of mood I'm in ;-)
After those rides we were going past Fahrenheit (their newest coaster) and it had been closed earlier, but the repair folks were out working on it, so JH and I stopped to watch. We couldn't have timed it better because they were finishing up their work (fixing one of the tires that moves the coaster along after the brakes are applied at the end) and after an initial test, they moved their ladder out of the way, and brought a third car onto the track. We were immediately nearby the entrance, and about 20 mins later when they cycled through the cars, they reopened Fahrenheit, so we were able to get a very front seat rather quickly :-D The ride itself was fun, though JH hated the completely vertical first hill that we had to climb.
We hit Sidewinder, which is yet another boomerang style coaster of the same design as Two-Face in Six Flags America and Flashback in Six Flags New England, but this one uses standard sit down cars rather than inverted cars. I needed the credit for my coaster count profile, so I rode it yet again.
Next was Trailblazer, which to me is the type of coaster you bring your younger kids on to introduce them to a rollercoaster. We were thinking about hitting Comet and calling it a day, but then we saw that the Sooper Dooper Looper was finally opened up (it was closed earlier in the day) so we hopped on that once since there wasn't much of a line.
Overall it was a great day at Hershey Park, and since we now possess 2-day tickets, at some point JH and I will have to make another trip up there :-D
It turned out to be a gorgeous day at the park, especially since there were moments where it was overcast, so it stayed cool, though it did become a disadvantage at one point.
We started off by riding Great Bear, which is one of my top rides for the day. We moved onward to Storm Runner, which was designed by the same folks who designed Kingda Ka, and it uses a similar launch system and cars. If Kingda Ka is anything like what I experienced today with Storm Runner, I'm in trouble next week at Great Adventure. The shoulder restraints sat up too high for me so I ended up banging them into the restraints, and it made me sore.
It was starting to get warm by the time we finished those two rides, so it was over to the Roller Soaker, which as it's name implies is a coaster where you will get wet. JH and I don't know if people are just inexperienced or the park is trying to save on energy costs, but their way of loading and unloading cars was very inefficient today. Imagine three cars being loaded up, then sent to the bottom of the first hill, where each one goes one at a time, and the next one doesn't go until the first one finishes...and each ride is about 1.5-2mins long. During that time the next batch of cars have been loaded, and they're waiting for the first batch to finish before they get sent to the bottom of the hill. JH said that they didn't used to do it this way, they pretty much kept the cars continuously moving as much as possible. Who knows...
After that it was a trip to the Wildcat, which was a fun wooden coaster. A ride on their Wild Mouse ride was in order before heading to the Lightning Racer, which had to be one of my favorite coasters. It's a dueling coaster, so two cars are loaded and sent out at the same time to race one another. We ended up losing when we rode Thunder, but won when we rode Lightning. It's hard to say which side I like better, Thunder has a thrilling first drop, but on Lightning you get much more air time in your seat. I guess it will depend on what kind of mood I'm in ;-)
After those rides we were going past Fahrenheit (their newest coaster) and it had been closed earlier, but the repair folks were out working on it, so JH and I stopped to watch. We couldn't have timed it better because they were finishing up their work (fixing one of the tires that moves the coaster along after the brakes are applied at the end) and after an initial test, they moved their ladder out of the way, and brought a third car onto the track. We were immediately nearby the entrance, and about 20 mins later when they cycled through the cars, they reopened Fahrenheit, so we were able to get a very front seat rather quickly :-D The ride itself was fun, though JH hated the completely vertical first hill that we had to climb.
We hit Sidewinder, which is yet another boomerang style coaster of the same design as Two-Face in Six Flags America and Flashback in Six Flags New England, but this one uses standard sit down cars rather than inverted cars. I needed the credit for my coaster count profile, so I rode it yet again.
Next was Trailblazer, which to me is the type of coaster you bring your younger kids on to introduce them to a rollercoaster. We were thinking about hitting Comet and calling it a day, but then we saw that the Sooper Dooper Looper was finally opened up (it was closed earlier in the day) so we hopped on that once since there wasn't much of a line.
Overall it was a great day at Hershey Park, and since we now possess 2-day tickets, at some point JH and I will have to make another trip up there :-D
May 08, 2008
New England
Continuing my series of trips to various amusement parks to hit roller coasters, JH and I went to Six Flags New England. We flew into Hartford via Southwest, which worked out well for a short flight. It's great for once to not have to take a plane flight alone :-)
We got into Hartford, and then got our rental car, we decided to spring for the GPS since we were both in very unfamiliar territory, and the previously printed Google maps were just not making sense at the moment. JH and I were pleasantly surprised at how close Six Flags was from the airport; about 10 miles via a back road.
We got to the park and the first thing we did was go over a purchase a Flash Pass. The Flash Pass is an item you can buy so that you're not standing around waiting in line. You set the pass for a ride, and it provides a reservation time. When it's your time, you go to the Flash Pass line, and they let you in. The limitation is that you can only do this for one ride at a time. If you get the basic Flash Pass, you'll have a reservation time that is far enough ahead of time as if you were waiting in line. If you spend the extra cash and get the Gold Flash Pass, your reservation waiting time is much much shorter. Neither of us had used the new Flash Pass system, but we decided to spring for a gold one. The biggest reason for that was because for Superman: Ride of Steel, the trip reports from other visitors had been that they were only running one train at a time. Considering it's one of the most popular coasters, why put ourselves through waiting for 2-3 hours?
I have got to say that overall by the end of the day, the Gold Flash Pass was worth every penny because it meant we were able to ride every single rollercoaster at least once on Saturday. As soon as we would get into the waiting station to get on the ride, JH would reserve the next ride, and the wait time would be approximately 10 minutes away, so by the time we finished our current coaster ride and walked to the one we had reserved, it was already our reservation time. Also, if certain rides happen to be delayed or closed that day, you'll know on the screen. If you had a reservation and they have temporarily closed the ride, it will push your time back until the ride opens up again.
Getting back to the park, once again we managed to show up on a weekend where there was a cheerleading competition! Third park, third competition; WTF is up with that? Next year I'm checking the calendar of a park before we a trip to it during the spring. So we got to deal with cheerleaders running all over the place, there was no stage mom drama to report this time around. However, there was that moment where some of the more naive girls rode on the raging rapids ride, and they had not even performed yet, so they were freaking out about getting wet and of course they got wet. Girls, this is why you don't listen to your little brother when he tells you that you won't get wet. Littler brothers like to mess with you, haven't you figured that out yet?
So the first ride was on Superman: Ride of Steel. This coaster has been voted as the number 1 coaster in the world so we went into it expecting great things. The ride elements were good and the coaster was fast, but it didn't give the airtime that I was expecting. It wasn't until we rode in the very front later that weekend that the ride got good, so my recommendation is to wait for the very front of the coaster.
Next ride was on the Mind Eraser, which is the same layout as the Mind Eraser at Six Flags America. It was a pretty standard hanging ride, nothing too wild to report there. At first I didn't recognize it because this one still has its original color scheme of teal and red, whereas the one at America has orange and yellow.
Moving onward to Batman: The Ride, this one is different in that it is a floorless coaster rather than an inverted coaster. I have to admit it can be hard to keep all of these coasters straight when they use the same name. Thank god when I was setting up my credits list, I could locate pictures of coasters to figure out if I ever rode them. The ride was better than other Batman coasters in that it didn't feel like I was gypped on the length of the ride.
Thunderbolt is a wooden coaster that's based on a design from the 1939 World's Fair, it has the feel of the Cyclone at Coney Island, but in this case, I didn't end up breaking my ass while riding! Flashback was the next ride, and this one I like because you basically are pulled back up the hill, you fly back down, go through a cobra roll and loop, come up the other hill where you stop...and then go back through the loop and the cobra roll backwards! This was my second time riding one as I did take one ride on Two-Face at SFA last year before it was basically broken for the rest of the summer.
Pandemonium introduces a newer concept to roller coasters that I would like to see on a bigger scale and in a closer park. Not only are you going up and down hills and around bends on the track, the car is able to spin freely as you're doing so. It makes for a fun experience as you basically change positions. We rode that one three or four times that weekend and no two rides were exactly the same. That one would be a good one to take kids on since it's not too scary for them.
After that it was over to Houdini's House. How this ride works is that while you're strapped down to these benches, you feel like you're being raised up while the room is spinning around. JH explained to me that they pull you back and forth at only a 15 degree angle, but because you're surrounded by what is essentially a spinning cylinder, it disorients you and makes you think you're being raised up much more. Next was Tomahawk, which is what is known as a frisbee ride. This one spins while swinging back and forth. I must be gaining a tolerance for these kinds of rides because I didn't feel sick like I used to in the past.
We moved on to ride Cyclone, which was this big wooden coaster in the park. That one was a blast, especially because of the amazing amount of airtime we got on while riding. After the ride, they closed the ride for a few minutes so they could load a second car onto the track. Neither one of us had ever witnessed this being done, so we stood at the exit ramp and watched. Basically they unlock a section of the track, slide it over in front of the garage, roll the new train onto the track, then slide the track back into place. Once it's secured, the car then rolls to the first lift hill and goes through the coaster. It was pretty neat to watch.
After a few more rides, we decided to head out of the park and go to our hotel. This hotel was pretty nice and comfortable. We headed out to dinner at an Italian place that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of. We watched some TV and then crashed.
The next morning we tried to figure out what we wanted to do, we could go to the park, but I was more in the mood to go exploring the area and see what we could find. We figured we'd head north on the highway towards Vermont and would see where that would take us. Our Sunday drive took us up to Vermont, over to New Hampshire, and then back down to Springfield. It was a good way to see the sights, and hey, it meant more states that we got to visit! We did go back to the park, and since there was no competition going on and it was cloudy, there was very little crowding, so we were able to get some rides in without a problem. As the day came to an end, we returned to Hartford to fly back to Baltimore.
The trip was a great one, I would do it again in a heartbeat...or at least when another $49 fare from Southwest comes along :-)
May 07, 2008
New Jersey and New York
Friday while I was in Atlanta, JH texted me about going over to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey since I had never been there before. An opportunity to travel to a new place, you bet I was going! It doesn't hurt being a season pass holder either.
Saturday Morning we drove up to New Jersey and got there soon after the park opened. We started out by riding Blackbeard's Treasure Train because I need the coaster credits, and JH wanted to start with smaller rollercoasters just to make sure the g-forces weren't going to bother his nose. It's a nice coaster for the kids and their parents.
Next was Skull Mountain, which was alright, especially for an inside coaster. We moved onward to Nitro, which I ended up enjoying the ride. Afterwards was Batman The Ride, which is a clone of the Batman The Ride at Magic Mountain. I last rode that one eight years ago, and it was just like I remembered it, which is that the ride is too freaking short. You get into some good turns and thrills and then bang! It's over.
Onward to Medusa, which freaking rocked, we would ride the coaster once more over the weekend. I love it when the coasters go fast and space their elements so that you're not being thrown all over the place. Definitely one of the best steel coasters I have ever been on.
We got over to El Toro, which was finally when we hit the point where lines took a while. I had gotten used to waiting 10-15 mins at the most to get on, but in this case it would take almost 2 hours. Did I mention that there was a cheerleading competition at the park, so it was basically overrun with the kids and their stage parents? At one point they tried to bring on a second train to handle the crowd, but it was taken off, so I think it had flunked a safety check. Yeah, I got bitchy about that, which was over the line for me, oh well.
Afterwards we tried to get food, and that was another line from hell thanks to the larger than normal crowds for the weekend and lack of staff. I should have just jumped to another restaurant, but I was foolish enough not to; lesson learned for next time.
By the time lunch was over, it was actually late in the afternoon, so we headed over to our hotel to rest for a while. JH got in touch with some family in the area, and we visited them for dinner. I like his cousin, she's raunchy, and can dish it out as well as take it, much like JH.
JH at one point made a spontaneous suggestion to go up to Coney Island to ride the Cyclone since I had never been there. I got in touch with a friend of mine in the area, KS. The story about KS and I is that she saw that I belonged to a fan group for Sirius Radio on MySpace, and we had gone to college in the same area (She went to NMSU in Las Cruces, I went to WNMU in Silver City) so we started E-mailing back and forth and cultivated a friendship. She happened to move to NYC from LA for her career so it was just perfect timing that we could finally meet. JH and I drove into the city and met near Times Square before walking over to a local cafe for brunch. It went well, we had fun, and as JH joked, he now has a lesbian friend!
After brunch JH and I headed towards Coney Island, and the Google Maps directions did not make sense, but we were able to find an alternate route that got us over to where we needed to be. After parking it was off to hit Coney Island and the Cyclone.
At the Cyclone, I ended up in the back car, which was fine. JH warned me the ride was going to be rough, but what happened next was unexpected. While the seats were padded, there was a weak spot in my seat that I paid the price for. There was a bar below the padding, and after we went over the hill and I came up and back down into the seat (a lap bar can only hold you so well) my tailbone smacked right into the bar. I ended up doing that again on the next hill, so I spent the rest of the ride scooting as far forward as possible so I wouldn't land on it again. I basically broke my ass on that ride. When we pulled into the station, they offered to let us go again for a discount price, there was no way in hell I was doing it right then. Hell, I'm still not completely healed from it, but that could be because I aggravated it the next weekend at SFNE. The next time I ever ride that, I'm not sitting in the very back car.
JH and I got chili cheese dogs at Nathan's because then we could say we had them at the original place. Afterwards it was time to head out of the city and head back to SFGA for another go-round of the rollercoasters.
The first coaster we hit was The Great American Scream Machine (AKA Greta), which for being an older steel coaster, was still fun to ride, especially because it had one of my favorite elements from Viper at Magic Mountain, which was a butterfly turn. As I would recently learn, Viper is actually the sister coaster of Greta, which explained why the ride reminded me so much of being on Viper. Next was Superman: Ultimate Flight, which was one of the best flying coasters I have been on to date. I liked it better because instead of laying flat on your back, you were laying as if you were flying like Superman.
Next was Kingda Ka, which is billed as the world's tallest and fastest coaster. Unfortunately I would not get to ride it because right as we were 2 people away from riding, it broke down. Normally I can deal with things breaking down, but the workers there hit on a pet peeve of mine so I basically ended up bailing after 20 mins of waiting. Despite what JH may have said, he was ready to bail as well. Here's the thing, stuff breaks down, it happens, whatever, but if I see two ride operators and two maintenance workers standing at the control booth and it looks like they're just screwing around rather than doing their jobs (they looked like they were laughing and joking around) then I'm just going to get really pissed off.
We bailed and headed over to El Toro, which had a quicker wait. I have to say that riding in the front was so much better than riding in the back, definitely go for the front if you can. It has to be the best wooden roller coaster I have ridden at this point.
We rode Medusa again and then headed towards Greta because I wanted another ride. Along the way JH and I saw a Porky Pig character, and JH said "MMMMMMM! Bacon!" to which the person inside the costume proceeded to give us the middle finger. We laughed at it, though JH wanted to report him for unprofessionalism later. I gotta admit that sometimes you do forget where you are and will throw up the middle finger without thinking about it when you should really put it away. At my old job in college, I was in a training with all of my co-workers and bosses, and one of my co-workers said something mildly insulting to me, and I gave him the finger, which basically shocked everyone in the room. I basically did it without thinking about it, my bad.
So we rode Greta again, along with Nitro, Batman, and Skull Mountain before we did some shopping and drove allllllll the way back to Maryland. That was a great trip, and there should be a few more.
Once again, if you managed to make it this far, click the picture at the top to see the pictures from the trip.
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