His name, is Clyde

Not to be out-done by the Bicentennial Giant Chair a few miles away in Gardner.... Winchendon, Massachusetts is home to Clyde, the Toy Town Horse.
Don't ask me, I don't get it either.

🎠

Built in 1912, moved and rebuilt in 1962, and once again rebuilt in 1988 (this, current horse) 🎠

Its based off the Converse Toy Company '#12 rocking horse' but built 4 times larger 🎠

the plaque at the base of the horse. 🎠

Uh... the 12 foot horse... that weighs 3,000 pounds. 🎠
Clyde

Yup... Once again... 🎠
Here it is, here I am.

Oh, Massachusetts?

Uh.... The Bicentennial Giant Chair?

Because who wouldn't wanna see the Bicentennial Giant Chair?

So... Here's the chair...
It's 20 feet, 7 inches tall. annddd... it weighs 3,000 pounds.

...Because Gardner, Mass is the self-proclaimed
"Chair City of the World"

Yup... there it is, there I am...

Oh, Massachusetts
(and if you loved this... you'll love the next random update! 🎠)

That time I went to the Zoo but the bears were missing....

So with a few hours in Massachusetts not dedicated to roller coasters, I had this plan to visit the Stone Zoo just a mile from where I grew up. All I really wanted to do was see the Bears.

So after flying into Boston from Orlando and taking the subway to Oak Grove my Mom picked me up and off to the Zoo we went! She had been telling me how all summer they hadn't had any real rain and stuff.... As soon as we got to the Stone Zoo... it started to pour. (Remind me again how it hadn't rained all year?) Well.. since we were already here... We ventured in, all I wanted to do was see the bears quickly anyways, and the bear viewing area is under a cover.. So yeah... uh... 

the Stone Zoo.. and stuff.

 And extremely wet and semi-deserted Stone Zoo

 I quickly made my way down the path to the Bears...

Where they were nowhere to be found. We hung around for 5 or 6 minutes waiting to see if they'd come back out now that the rain had stopped but, nothing. I made a quick lap around most of the rest of the Zoo before checking back at the bears (and my Mom, who was staying dry at the Bear enclosure)

 Surprisingly, an animal that tends to be a no-show when I'm here.. was very visible today, the Coyote.

 The Gila Monster staying near its heat lamp

(and warm rock)

 The Caribbean Flamingo didn't see to care about the rain

 Oh man!!

There were *two* Rock Hyrax in the Windows to the Wild exhibit being adorable.

 Aww, and a Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo

(Although slightly less cute than the one I saw with a teddy bear in ABQ!)

 Now replacing the Duck Pond

(sadly, but still.. yay?)

 I was pretty conflicted with this.. While I do enjoy me some Sandhill Crane... At the loss of the duck pond is hard to handle.

(can't they just... coexist?)

 The American Alligator is also new here, I think.

(it kinda amused me seeing two animals at the zoo back home that I have in my backyard at home)

 Mmmhm, Mr. Reindeer bringing the.. uh.. Rein.

 Clearly, from a Jeepers....

I wonder if they came from the one that was in Methuen

 Uh... also, this Hippo... thing... is pretty horrifying.

 Hmm.. and at some point they've replaced their kiddie train with a newer Zamp Rio Grande Train

 Oh, and some flowers.

:'(

Before leaving to get some super yummy Thai food (and get my glasses fixed) we checked on the bears for a fourth time... and still nothing. I was absolutely devastated.

BOOOOO :(

Fun with Flickr - 2014 in a photo or 50

Well, I was lazy and skipped doing one of these last year...

(2012 can be seen here)

Yeah..... So... Uh...Year end review via my Project365 on Flickr?

Looking back at some of the 360 photos I'd taken of myself over the past year and doing a "what I did this year" blog post.. Wooo... so here we go..

My year started off much like it ended, at Fun Spot!

(the 6 fingers are for my 6th year doing Project365)

Mr. Brian came down to visit! We were as thrilled as Cassy Jr.

I went on my first ever cruise, on Royal Caribbean's 

MS Freedom of the Seas!

And along the way I got to visit....

 Labadee, Haiti

Where I went zip-lining, mountain coaster-ing, swimming, and uh... enjoyed myself?

Falmouth, Jamaica

(But took a van to Ocho Rios)

Where Deka and I climbed Dunn's River Falls (amazing!)

And also visited Green Grotto Caves

George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Where I got to hold a little turtle!!

Cobá, Mexico!

(technically the port was Cozumel but we took a ferry to mainland Mexico)

Where we climbed to the top of the Ixmoja Pyramid

(one of the coolest things I've ever done!)

Fair season came across Central Florida... 

and many trips were made.

Comet II made its Florida debut at the 2014 Florida State Fair!

TOPSPIN made its return to the Osceola County Fair!

And it was ridden a bunch :D

MOONRAKER showed up at the Florida Strawberry Festival!!!

(it had shown up last year for the first time in years.... but due to technical reasons never operated)

I was super excited to ride it as the last time I had ridden one was in Sweden in 2006

And rounding out the season was the 2014 Central Florida Fair (Orlando's Fair)

Where I went on my second ever Helicopter ride.

Oh hey, and I had a birthday at some point and I welcomed the triumph return of the FLICKRCAKE!

Polynesian removed its famous waterfall

I didn't really care... but I took a photo with it.

SeaWorld parks celebrated their 50th season... I went to SeaWorld Orlando a whole bunch.

I RODE THE DUCK THEMED BOAT DOWNTOWN!

"ride the boats at Lake Eola" was something listed on a '100 things to do in Orlando before you die' list... 

And well, it had to be done.

I also visited the awesomeness that is Dinosaur World, for the first time

Annddd SunRail opened to the public! <3

A last minute trip to South Carolina happened.... And I got to ride this super fun looping StarFlyer!

SMAC was born!!!

<3 <3 <3

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train opened!

(and I got to ride it during Cast Previews)

((and it also caught on fire later in the year))

Yatpay and Suz came to visit.... 

And I made Yatpay go to the Magic Kingdom!

I visited my family back home in Massachusetts

Obliviously I went up to Canobie!!

And Six Flags New England as well, to ride Sky Screamer....

The tallest swing tower in the world at 409 feet.

And that was just the lead-up to one of the most amazing trips I've ever taken.

Where I went to Reykjavik, Iceland.... 

and it was absolutely incredible.

and from there I continued on to England...

And visited Alton Towers, one of the greatest parks in

the world.

Where I got to ride The Smiler, the most inverting coaster in the world with 14 inversion!

Ugh, and I mistakenly revisited Thorpe Park.

They had added 3 coasters since my last visit...

but its still just.. awful.

Thankfully the next stop on my trip would make up for it...

Visiting Denmark was amazing and going to Bakken, the worlds oldest amusement park was great

(and uh, I rode Rutschebanen a few times!)

I also got to go to Tivoli Gardens, a pretty much 'life goal' for me... It was almost surreal

And I found The Little Mermaid while strolling alllll across Copenhagen!

and because... why go 1 place when you can go 10?

My next stop took me to Washington DC!

Where I rented a car and drove down to 

Busch Gardens Williamsburg 

and got around to riding Verbolten

But more importantly.... going to Kings Dominion and riding

Intimidator 305!

<3

As well as taking some time to enjoy one of my favorite cities, Washington DC itself.

(where I was photobombed by a duck!)

((quack quack... quack!))

 And just a few weeks later....

 

I was on vacation, again, at Six Flags New England... again!

This time to say farewell to Riverside Cyclone

(and I'm already planing my trip up for Wicked Cyclone!!)

 Roar-O-Saurus opened at Storyland

(and of course I had to ride it)

The first woodie to open in New Hampshire since 1936

((annddd its dino themed!!))

Oh man, a bear!!!

I had the chance to go to Clark's for the first time in 7 years! 

It was amazing :3

And on my way back to the airport, I made a stop in Vermont to ride the Timer Ripper Mountain Coaster at Okemo.

(and pick up an extra county-credit)

Went to the Paramore / Fall Out Boy concert!

First time seeing Paramore

(although I had heard them live before)

and first time seeing Fall Out since 09 :D

Disney built us a new cast bridge to get to work.

woo?

Old Town closed down its entire amusement park area and Windstorm was removed

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts opened with Diagon Alley at  Universal Studios.

I didn't really care... but I was given a free ticket 

(so I got my +1)

Oh man, but way more excitingly... I got to meet, pet, and feed a Sloth!!!!

Oh hey.. and the Monorail is still a thing in my life

and full of downtime, like in this photo.

FALCON'S FURY finally opened.

After months of delay.... but sadly its almost lackluster.

I mean... its fun... but.. eh?

I celebrated my fifth anniversary living in Orlando

(Bonus duck photo!)

I carved 2 pumpkins for Halloween

(first time in a couple of years)

Air Raid suddenly showed up at Fun Spot

(it had already been at the State Fair.. but now its down the street from my house!)

DusaRob came to visit for the first time in 5 years... 

And much like last time

We went to a hockey game. Tampa vs Buffalo.

Festival Bay, uh... Artegon was reborn... and they have giant stuffed animal cars you can ride around!

I had to ride the HIPPO, my first time <3

The long awaited The Orlando Eye got built! Well, mostly... Its just 1.5 years behind....

But.. uh.. soon? maybe??

And... well, I'll just wrap things up with a photo of me at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
(uh, Merry Christmas?)

Woo. 

Uh, and ...so for a recap.....

I visited Haiti (new), Jamaica (new), Cayman Islands (new), Mexico (new), Iceland (new), England, Denmark (new)... and the US states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont, and also Washington DC!

Got 4 new airport codes as well... Uh, 24 new for me coasters (3 new for 2014's), a handful of new counties and uh... yeah... I did a whole lot of other.. stuff!

And a I type this out.. I'm already getting things together for my first adventure of 2015, less than a week away now! :D