XGatorHead 8904

I will refrain from voting in this one since the last time I was at Great America in Gurnee IL, it was still MARRIOTT'S Great America! -Gator, showing his age...

What? Wally Gator has a parc in France? Who wants to go with me? Rotag, are you in? (For those of you who may be completely lost as to who Wally Gator is, see the picture in my profile... I've also been known to use Wally as my avatar from time to time. For now I'll keep the the WTRA gator as my avatar, but Wally will be making a reappearance soon!)

Please, please, please... somebody tell me that I'm not the only one who had to google what "phiten" is. And just a month or two ago you all had me looking up what pogs were... At 37 I don't feel old, but all you kids are developing a knack for making me feel that way!

I got to ride on the train for Gary's 3,000th quite by accident last night. I was at the park for some much needed coaster therapy. I was finishing my drink in front of DB and saw pkiboy waving me over. He asked if I wanted to join them... I thought it was just for a few rides, I didn't know it was a special occasion. I was on vacation last week and am still catching up on KIC and I hadn't read this topic yet, but I quickly learned that it was Gary's 3,000th. I was in the 7th row next to CoastersRZ. I had seen Gary before but never really met him until last night. He's very nice, and I congratulate him on his achievement!

Thanks, Terpy! I was in the process of trying to fix the link when you posted!

EDIT: Link I originally posted doesn't work, use Terpy's below...

That's what I'm hoping for too. Mrs. Gator and I had a great time going through Happy Jack's Toy Factory at CP last year. I especially liked the end, but I have a sick sense of humor like that!

I just got my email from Dollywood announcing this. Here's a link to the Park's video: http://www.dollywood.com/land/Barnstormer/default.html

^Wait, you aren't both already? I can't wait for Haunt, but like others have said, too bad it means the end is near. I wonder where I'll be lurking this year?

My favorites in order: 1. Tasmanian Typhoon 2. Snowy River Rampage (a very close 2nd place) 3. Awesome Aussie Twister 4. Sydney Sidewinder 5. Bondi Pipeline 6. Down Under Thunder I haven't done Coolangatta Racer yet. We took GatorGirl on SRR for her first time ever a few weeks ago. She loved it! We got off and she asked us when we could ride it again. I said "Whenever you want," and she said "How about now?" So we got right back in line!

Yeah, but going ragdoll on DB hurts!

The more I kept reading the article, the more uneasy I got... From the Fair board strikes deal for Kentucky Kingdom property - Business First of Louisville article: That statement just SCREAMS Freestyle Music Park to me. From the same article: Yikes! Like I've said before, I'll believe it when I see it. There's just so much that has to happen in order for this to go through...

I love The Cliff. It's fast & steep and just looks intimidating. So intimidating that Mrs. Gator won't get on it. I'm not quite sure I like the new paint job on it this year though... Aztec Adventure, Twilight Zoom and Hidden Rapids are my next favorites. -Gator, eagerly awaiting my first visit to Schlitterbahn this Wednesday... Master Blaster and Dragon's Revenge, here we come!!!

Then later in the same post: So which is it, mediocre or good? I say you can't have an informed opinion until you've actually experienced it. As for my vote, I voted Millie, but Magnum is a close second.

Finally, someone who agrees with me! I was beginning to think it was just me... Like I said in a post above, I'll give the salt ones a try, but I can't do that until at least August 5th. I'll be otherwise occupied until then, sliding on down to Schlitterbahn and making my way like a Bullet to a certain Boardwalk in Texas.

I went on the first Halloweekends Saturday last year, and the crowd was very good... a lot better than I expected it to be. Maverick was a 1 hour wait in the middle of the day (that was my longest wait for anything that day), the longest we had to wait for a haunt was 45 minutes for Happy Jack's Toy Factory. The weather was perfect... sunny and 70's during the day, then we changed into jeans and sweatshirts as the temps dropped when it got dark... so the weather wasn't keeping people away. I'm planning on going the first Halloweekends again this year. Hopefully I'll get to go on Saturday 9/18 since it's open longer than on Sunday, it depends on what my Haunt rehearsal schedule is like. I love the fact that their event starts a week before ours, that way I get a chance to go! If my experience last year is any indication, I suggest if you need to go to CP on a Saturday during Halloweekends, go the first weekend. It's just like I tell people asking about KI's Haunt... the earlier in the season you go, the better!

Kinzel? Are you listening??? Just to be clear, Mr. Speigel is not the one that said the above quote about the future being in family entertainment. That was said by Ed Hart if you read the complete story. Your editing made that unclear. I'll believe it when I see it. -Gator, not a fan of that park in Louisville (but who was ready to give it a second chance this year)...

Post 12 and post 21 in this topic both noted that the Euro Bobbles are gone. Here's an update. On Thursday when I was at the park, there was a bobcat sitting there and the area appeared to be dug up. On my next visit on Saturday, there were blue poles around the area. They were not flagpoles, but were obviously support poles of some kind. Speculation amongst the group was that these were for a new attraction for next year. I visited the park again yesterday, and was shocked to see the Euro bobbles are back! The blue poles that we had seen the day before were support poles, they're supporting the new yellow canopy that has been placed over the pool area.

We saw that story on the news too. Mrs. Gator's comments were "Well, Diamondback is so smooth it would be good for an 88 year old," and "Awww, I want to ride with her!" May we all be so lucky to keep ridin' on at her age and beyond!

I posted this on Facebook last night, so if you've already seen it there, I apologize. And since we don't have an "Associates Say the Darndest Things" topic... Last night I was at the back bar at Outer Hank's enjoying a frosty beverage, and I heard the associate there telling guests that the park was either going to tear down SoB or sell it, they just haven't decided which they were going to do yet. Also, he said that when they built it, they didn't build it all at the same time so the wood didn't weather the right way so the ride split apart. I made sure to stop by Guest Relations to tell them about this guy, and they were very appreciative of that! There's already enough rumors about that ride that we don't need park associates spreading any more... Then again, maybe there is a grain of truth to what he said. KI's website says on the main page that they now accept Paypal. So maybe they are going to sell SoB... on Ebay!

Bump! OK, so yesterday I gave these pretzels another chance. I got one at 5:45, it was the first thing I did when I got to the park. Once again, I was severely disappointed in the quality. It was nice and soft, but there was a strange taste to it, almost chemical. I got the cinnamon sugar one. I'm definitely done trying those. After re-reading this topic and seeing BoddaH's post that the salt ones are the best, I'll give them one more chance and order that kind. It's a rare thing when I'll give something 4 chances... I've also not been known to have an aversion to cinnamon and sugar before!

Terpy and others say that 5-1 has the least amount of head banging. Others claim 7-1 has the least amount of head banging. I've ridden both to compare, and they are both equally good in my opinion. I'll ride Vortex anywhere that has the shortest line, but if all the lines are pretty equal, I'll take 5-1 or 7-1.

^See my post above, the park's website says tickets are available at the Admissions windows at the front gate. EDIT: Edited my post so as not to cause any further confusion since the original post has now been fixed. Thanks, Ryan!

Count me in! I was just thinking about this the other day, how I hadn't been able to do the Train Tour yet. Thank you KI and KIC! One question though, where do we get the tickets? Is it any ticket window at the front gate or what? EDIT: I answered my own question. I looked up the train tour on the park's website, and it says tickets:

Ah yes, the good old days. When I first started at KI in '89, I wore a long sleeved white shirt and black pants (yes, pants... shorts were not given out for Bakery). Then the next two years I worked in Rivertown and wore blue shorts and the infamous red & white checked shirts, which we called Bob Evans tablecloth shirts. (But the girls sure did look good in those short little red & white checkered dresses! ) That's when I first earned the nickname Big Boy, because back then I wore my hair longer than I do now, and with the humidity I always got a big wave in my hair. Combine the wavy hair and the red & white checked shirt, perfect the pose, and voila, Big Boy! Then in '92, I was 19 and old enough to pour beer, so it was on to Oktoberfest Gardens and the leiderhosen! And that's the reason I work Haunt... for fun. I have a full time job, but come Sept/Oct, it's a great time scaring the **** out of people!