XGatorHead 8904

Mrs. Gator & I got married on the campus of Miami University, which is where we met. Since we got married on the weekend that her family typically has their family reunion, a lot of her family that came to town from Michigan & Pennsylvania used the day after the wedding to visit KI and use both days as their unofficial reunion. 17 years later, they still talk about how much fun they had that weekend.

I'm on pins and needles (and chainsaws & meathooks) waiting to find out where Mama, Sam & the boys' new home will be!

17 years too late...

Wow... after 10 years working that gate and many more going through it as a guest, that's going to take some getting used to! Great looking shirts! Mrs. Gator & GatorGirl will be jealous.

When you see the forecast for next Thursday and think, "It's going to be a great day for Banshee!" and then are disheartened when you realize that Media Day is yet another week beyond that. It's happened to me several times over the past two days, you'd think I'd learn by now...

When you stay up until 3:20 a.m. on a Saturday night playing Thrillville Off the Rails on the Wii with your 9 year old daughter.

Haunted Hill.......I think. Is that related to Boo Hill?

Thanks for posting that jandyb79! Great pictures that I had not seen before. I was lucky enough to get one ride on The Bat when I was a kid. Even in the center of the train, that was one wild ride unlike any other. At the time, it was quite an experience to have nothing underneath you and to swing out that much. It's definitely one I will always remember! And I'm pretty sure I spy a familiar face in one of those pictures...

I always find it ironic when people say they're losing weight for Disney, because Disney is the most large-person-friendly park there is! I've been fortunate enough to have 5 trips to WDW in the past 8 years, and I have never had an issue with any ride there, unlike most other parks I go to. I have a friend who lost weight years ago for his first Disney trip, and we like to laugh about that. When he first told me about it, I said what I did above about it being large person friendly. He responded "Yeah, I found that out when I got there!" Here is a great resource on WDW rides and attractions for people of the larger persuasion: http://allears.net/tp/ridsiz.htm Links on the left side of the page will take you to the sections on each park. I did not know that. Well that makes me feel better, but I would still like to lose the weight. I fit at KI (as of last season) but things are starting to get tight. So if Disney is my excuse to get back to my "fighting weight" then Ill do it But thanks for the link! And go for it, I hope you drop 10 pounds to be lighter than the GK weight! Better for you to do it now when it's just a little to lose rather than the amount I'd like to ultimately take off. Good luck, and thanks for the encouragement!

The Beast's brake run is as long as it is because the ride was built to run four trains. I don't know if it ever opened with four trains, but at very least I believe that it ran with four at some point while it was testing. While The Beast lacks an MCBR, it has its second lift which can be used to serve the same purpose. The Beast's brake run is as long as it is because of the original skid brakes, which required a longer section of track to bring the trains to a complete stop than the magnetic brakes that are on the ride today. That's also the reason the brake shed before the second tunnel is as long as it is. As far as your reason, that could possibly be true as well, I don't know. The way this is worded seems to imply that you think all large people who are forced to take a Walk of Shame on The Beast know that they won't fit. This is hardly the case. There is no test seat for The Beast, so there's no way for many larger people to know until they try in the actual train. On behalf of large people everywhere, let me apologize for ruining optimum ride capacity. Based on your history of previous posts, I believe that this was not your intention, but was just improperly worded. -Gator, who is a "large person" but has never had a Walk of Shame on The Beast

Anyway... I always find it ironic when people say they're losing weight for Disney, because Disney is the most large-person-friendly park there is! I've been fortunate enough to have 5 trips to WDW in the past 8 years, and I have never had an issue with any ride there, unlike most other parks I go to. I have a friend who lost weight years ago for his first Disney trip, and we like to laugh about that. When he first told me about it, I said what I did above about it being large person friendly. He responded "Yeah, I found that out when I got there!" Here is a great resource on WDW rides and attractions for people of the larger persuasion: http://allears.net/tp/ridsiz.htm Links on the left side of the page will take you to the sections on each park. Even that may be a negative for me. In order to ride DB, I have to be stapled, and I know just by the feel of the restraint on my legs whether it's sufficient or not. I can usually get it down enough on my own. If it's not good enough, I'll say my seat number, such as 8-3, before the driver has a chance to say it over the loudspeaker to alert the ride ops in the station to push down for me. I've only been wrong once. I have faith in DB's restraints. But I do remember the thought crossing my mind during DB's first year "What would I do if the restraint failed." My solution: wrap my arms around that black bar next to the seat and hold on tight. Even with seatbelts that don't cross the body, I and many others have had problems with those that connect the restraint to the seat. Examples being: Drop Tower is impossible for me, Flight of Fear is iffy (it depends on the seat), Gatekeeper is very questionable, Vortex is fine. Don't let anyone tell you that all seatbelts are the same length on all seats: they're not. I've lost 12 lbs since December in my attempt to slim down for Banshee. Unfortunately, I'm still 7 lbs over where I was for GK's Media Day last year. With Banshee's restraints being the same as GK's, it's questionable whether I'll be able to ride on April 17th. I still have 15 days to go, so I'll do what I can in that time. If I do get the dubious distinction of being Banshee's first Walk of Shame, which believe I was for GK (after I had already ridden it once), then I will just enjoy the experience of being in the park after 6 long months and enjoy spending time with family & friends in between their Banshee rides.

Not bad... I was only a week off. They probably skipped episodes: Rotation? What's that mean? MeTV plays the episodes in order, for the most part. They show four episodes each Sunday from 12pm-2pm. Last weekend, they aired Season 3 Episodes 18, 19, 20 & 21. The Cincinnati Kids is Season 5 Episode 11. I projected out and it looks like "The Cincinnati Kids" should air on April 13th as long as they don't skip episodes, which occasionally they do. GatorGirl watches The Brady Brunch (as MeTV calls that two hour block of time on Sundays) every week, even though we have every season on DVD.

Thank u butt i dont no y u think id b good at naming hur. Id name hur Mama butt i dont no if Mama wood lyk that er not. How bout Sheela it kynda gos with Banshee. Banshee/Sheela. Git it? -Sam

I completed a survey from Universal a few months ago that asked a bunch of questions about that too. Probably the same one you took.

A conversation I just had two minutes ago with a couple of co-workers, about our supervisors who are away at a confernce in Orlando today through Friday: Co-worker 1: "I wonder if {Supervisor #1} and {Supervisor #2} were able to go to Disney World today." Co-worker 2: "They weren't going to Disney today." Me: "Yeah, they were going to Universal." Co-worker 1: "That's not part of Disney?" Co-worker 2 laughs Me: "No, they're different parks, owned by two separate companies." Co-worker 1: "Shows what I know..."

"Have you seen this Smurf?" (Oops... that was a T-1000). T-800: "I'll be back." Admissions associate: "Make sure to get your hand stamped on your way out!"

I'm very sad to read this. That trolly ride was a great attraction. When I watched Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as a kid, I thought it would have been so cool to ride that little trolly into the Neighborhood of Make Believe. Granted, it wasn't my favorite show, but I still liked it. When I finally had a child, I was glad to see that Mr. Rogers was still being shown, although not as frequently as it had been years before. GatorGirl liked the show. It wasn't her favorite, but she still liked it. It wasn't until I was a full grown man of 38 years that I finally got to ride that trolley from my childhood. It was nice to see King Friday, Queen Sara, Prince Tuesday, Lady Elaine, X the Owl, Henrietta *****cat, Daniel Striped Tiger & the rest with our daughter by our side. I am so glad now that I took video of that ride. Too bad that people weren't aware that it would be their last time riding it. I hate it when parks do that, announcing that a ride is going to be replaced during the off-season. Show some respect to your paying customers and let them get those last rides in. By the time Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood debuted in 2012, GatorGirl had already outgrown that show, which is aimed at younger children. Its main characters are the children of the original characters in the Neighborhood of Make Believe, and still has those characters on as the parents. So in a way, they are living on. But part of me says that this makes about as much sense as if they had replaced the historic Story Book Forest.

^I'm afraid to click on the link. I need to get some work done at work today! EDIT: I couldn't resist... I clicked. I've seen one of these already from a friend who posted the one for Frozen on Facebook. I didn't realize there were others... Now resisiting the urge to get sucked in some more!

Thanks for posting that link Thrill_Biscuit. I've never seen that series of videos & I've just spent the last 45 minutes watching different ones. I need to stop before I get hooked in to another!

Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom! (Ghostwood Estate at Kennywood takes 2nd place)

So I'm a weirdo for having my cartilage pierced? Um... yeah... THAT'S the reason you're a weirdo... we'll go with that! In my usual day-to-day activities, I normally wouldn't associate with people with piercings anywhere besides their ears, or with gauges in their ears. But having worked Haunt, I've gotten to know quite a few and become friends with some, and they are some very fine people indeed! Never judge a book by its cover, it's what's on the inside that counts, and any other folksy saying you can think of that can apply to this conversation.

That's why I always bring a good sized Ziploc bag with me everytime I go to the park.

I liked the waterpark, I didn't say anything about who go into it Just as I'm sure there were people who enjoyed the magic, but not the dancers. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive, just as they aren't for you with Boomerang Bay.

^Oh, the irony. You disliked Ed Alonzo's show because of the provocative dressing, yet you're a Boomerang Bay fan, in which much more skin was/is on display.

NO WAY!!! I'm so excited for this, they're awesome! I wonder where they'll be in the park. I'm definitely checking them out when I go up there. So thankful Halloweekends starts a week before Haunt! Hopefully I don't have rehearsal on Friday like I did last year (or Saturday for that matter) so I can go two nights like I normally do.