XGatorHead 8904

Sam was wondering who it was that high fived him on Saturday. Mystery solved!

If the traffic lights are just right, 7 minutes. But usually it's 10 minutes.

Why yes I did! That would definitely qualify for this topic! For those of you that weren't around here in 2008 for that experience: http://www.KICentral...08/#entry261306 On a side note, we were at Coney this past Sunday and Mrs. Gator said "Ooo, I'd like to do the paddle boats!" I just gave her a look and said, "You remember what happened last time we got on one of those!?!? I'm never doing those again!"

Last year I had prepared GatorGirl for months for one of my favorite rides at Universal, Jaws. She was a little nervous about it, but I told her to remember that it was all fake. I always do research ahead of time to see if any rides are scheduled to be down for maintenance. Disney's information is very easy to find online regarding this, but I couldn't find anything for Universal. As GatorGirl was playing in the Curious George play area, I pulled out the map and looked at the description for Jaws, which said that it would be closed for maintenance for two days: that day and the next (it had been open the day before, which we had spent at Magic Kingdom). If I had known ahead of time that it was scheduled to be closed, I would have switched our Universal and Magic Kingdom days. I was disappointed, but figured we would get it next time, whenever that might be. A few months later, they made the announcement that it was closing permanently. So I'll never get to experience one of my favorite rides with my daughter. Boo Universal!

Wrong. Mysteria also has girls in spandex.

I miss a lot of the ones that have already been mentioned, but I'm lucky enough to know most of them in real life and keep in touch in person and through Facebook. There was one that was on here when I first joined that I enjoyed his posts and wish he would return, and that's WooferBearATL. The family and I are going to his and violakat's wedding this Sunday.

I really can't believe they replaced The Cemetery with CornStalkers. I've never been much of a fan of the Cemetery, even though I thought it had good potential. However, it has always been hard for me to take CornStalkers seriously. It's just a ridiculous concept in my opinion. They pretty much expanded the concept of Cemetary to encompass all of International Street as a scare zone. I've always liked the living statues. If you ever get the chance to visit Cedar Point for Halloweekends, CornStalkers there is a must do. Very well executed, and more confined feeling than KI's due to the fact that their's is located in the trough of Thunder Canyon. Sam doesn't break character, or at least he doesn't anymore. But he will still say hello. Oh... and yeah, size 12.

That guy in the hallway would be "Steve". He's a poster on here, so I'm sure he appreciates the recognition. Sorry to hear that you were disappointed. Hopefully you'll have a better experience next time. This past weekend, I got to thinking how it's a little sad that not everyone gets to meet Sam. You see, Sam lurks in his hiding spot, awaiting the perfect victim. So there are some people who go by, oblivious to the fact that Sam is watching them. You never know when Sam may appear; sometimes he gets the front of the group, sometimes the middle and sometimes the end. There's no set "perfect victim" either. It may be a group of teenage girls, it may be a middle aged couple, it will almost always be the group of pre-teen boys who think they're tough by trying to scare/mock the other scareactors in the room, or it may be a group of football player types (Sam was particularly proud of one scare this past weekend; there was a group of football player types, with the biggest guy leading the group. Sam popped out, and the lead guy jumped straight up in the air. Sam proudly exclaimed to the guy's friends "Look at that! I made the big boy jump!", which got the guy's friends laughing hard.) Sam has a good eye for the perfect victim. It's all intangible qualities, mainly based on the people's body language & facial expressions. Sam can be summoned, however. Sam is in the If Sam's not already out and you would like to meet him, all you have to do is call his name while in that room. Just make sure that you're loud enough for him to hear you, as it can be a little noisy at times. Sam is in there most of the night, he only takes about 5-10 minutes worth of breaks total each night. Sam likes meating new friends! Heart, meet dagger. Wow... You gave Slaughter House the 2nd lowest rating out of all of them. I respect your opinion though. Constructive criticism is always helpful in making improvements.

The one good thing about GatorGirl having a peanut allergy... ALL REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS ARE MINE!!! (well, I do have to share them and all other nut candy with Mrs. Gator, but still...) My least favorites have always been lollipops and Jolly Ranchers. Those were always the last things left in my bag as a kid, and those are the things I won't sneak from GatorGirl's bag now. Anything else that she has more than two of is fair game to me though!

Good luck! Beware of giant doggies with sharp teeth, demented clowns, wax figures that may not actually be wax, psychotic cowboys and pirates, and especially cannibalistic butchers!

Sam wanted me to tell you it was good to see you too. Sam saw a lot of people he knows that night.

Time to let Sam out to play!!!!

Not so long ago Montgomery Inn was served at the park at Columbia Palace, aka Wings Diner (the restaurant that is now Rivertown Junction). It wasn't a table service restaurant, you went to the counter and ordered, but it did serve Montgomery Inn ribs, chicken, saratoga chips, etc.

Top haunts at CP this year: Eerie Estate, Cut Throat Cove, Cornstalkers & CarnEvil. Blood on the Bayou was not as good this year, and we didn't wait in line for Eternity Infirmary based on our opinions of it last year. We did go through everything else though. Eden Musee was fairly good, a lot of "statue scares" as you could predict. There was one set piece where Mrs. Gator thought the man was real so she waved her hand in front of his face, but it was actually the girl that was real and got her good. In several haunts, and Eden Musee was a major culprit, there were too many people shaking noisemakers in your face. Sure, this can get you once or twice, but over and over again gets old. PhantomTheater, there were a couple of times I thought someone might have been you, and the one I thought most likely was towards the end. It's so hard to tell with those masks / makeup. We came through shortly after 8:00 on Saturday. I love the giant snake head, that really got the girl in front of us!

They leave it there, as it's part of the set. In Eerie Estate, you walk through different rooms of the house: parlor, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, poker room, music room, closet, etc. There is a Screamster (CP's name for their scareacters) sitting at the table, interacting with the people who walk through. The guy the first several years had a platter of fingers and offered us finger food. I didn't get to hear what the woman in that room this year said, because I was distracted by another feature of that room.

When I first saw this I immediately thought of CP's Boeckling Banquet, which they have been offering for several years now. For $74.95, you get your choice of crab legs, filet mignon, lobster tail & petite filet mignon, or seafood alfredo. http://www.cedarpoin...o/halloweekends In CP's Eerie Estate, one of the rooms is a dining room set, which is where I assume they hold their dinner. There's really no other place in that haunt that would be more suitable. I wonder if there will be a similar set/room in Madame Fatale's? Someone will have to post about that after it opens on Friday to let us all know.

We were listening to an old AT40 countdown a few months ago on one of our roadtrips, and I had the hardest time convincing GatorGirl that the guy talking was the voice of Shaggy. She still doesn't believe me, even with Mrs. Gator backing me up.

^Robin, the Boy Wonder? So many choices. I loved all the old HB characters, even the lesser known (by today's standards) that used to walk around the park: Hong Kong Phooey, Quickdraw McGraw, Captain Caveman (one of my favorite costumes), Jabberjaw (another great costume, used to love seeing people being "eaten" by him), Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Scooby Dum... Then the more well known ones: Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble (were Pebbles & Bam Bam there too? I seem to think they were but don't quite remember), Yogi, Boo Boo & Cindy, George Jetson & Astro... But I have to ultimately go with Scooby Doo!

Here's the link: http://www.wdtn.com/...at-kings-island

I would vote, but I might be a little biased. Aw, what the heck... I'll vote anyway!

^That's what strollers and wagons were invented for!

Yes, Cut Throat Cove is good. Also, don't miss Eerie Estate and CornStalkers. Blood on the Bayou is decent. Of course, this is all based on last year. I'm going there this weekend, so I'll have updated opinions after then!

No and yes. No in the sense that the first year of Slaughter House, 2009, there was no Mama. But yes, the same person has been Mama since 2010. I agree, she is a great addition to the cast and really helped the story of Slaughter House come together. Everything just seemed to gel in the house when she came on board. I can't wait until next week for our family reunion!

^ I believe he means the part that was outside the building, with the scareacters in the old queue section of Action Theater, before that whole area was rerouted with the addition of WindSeeker.

Thanks! No, I'm making my way up there this October though; I'm incredibly excited! What is Happy Jack's? Happy Jack's Toy Factory was a great haunt up there, one of their best. It was housed in the Disaster Transport building, and unfortunately they decided not to relocate it this year when they tore down that building.