Waterfalls, Coasters, and Bears.... OHHH MY?

South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska? Where the Hell am I?! Oh, and lets not forget flooded towns and closed highways.... So where to begin? The day started with what may just be the highlight of my trip... Sioux Falls/Falls Park. I was thinking I'd only need maybe 30 minutes or so here but I ended up staying almost 2 hours... Then I was off to the Great Plains Zoo. After that I grossly overestimated how long it'd take to get to Omaha and ended up doing everything I planned on doing Friday today... So we'll see what happens Friday now. Oh, and all that flooding on the Missouri River? yeah, good times... and thank god for a GPS! 
So lets get things started here....

 Falls Park!

 OH, REALLY?

Amazing... And while not the biggest or best waterfall out there, they were still quite impressive and uh, pretty? I don't know.. I enjoyed it.

Hey look, falling water.

I'm not sure what the deal is with these guys... But I'm sure Yatpay will appreciate the photo...

Moving on with the day.... Great Plains Zoo, at only like $8 a person.... I'd go back.. Oh hey, and they have bears!... and Cheetah, Wolf, Tiger, Bongo...

Great Plains Zoo :D

SOUTH DAKOTA DUCK!!!

Cheetah Hunt?

Moo, Moo, Moo!

OMFG! RED PANDA! Anndddi it's being amazingly adorable! I wish somewhere near Orlando would get them! (ORLANDO, IE: NOT Miami!)

Giraffeosaurus-Rex's

<rant>So the Zoo has this.."train" thing.... Having not seen what it really was, I bought a ticket thinking it'd be along the lines of a Chance C.P. Huntington.... You know, like what the Omaha Zoo has... Well, this is what I got.....

BOOT-LEG! (But I guess it really is my fault for not looking into it first, ha)</rant>

Umm, yeah.... Moving on.

While Rhinoceros arnt really my thing, I gotta admit that the babby one was freaking adorable!

Annddd Sleepy Kitty says its time to drive to Nebraska. :O

But wait... How could I forget....

 Happy Bear swim time! (Stupid sun glare!)

ok, nowww it's time to drive to Nebraska........

Yup

....wouldn't be an update without a photo of me driving....

Random Moment time...So I'm in the Midwest and all over the news is the massive flooding out here along the Missouri River (and others) but I had no idea it would effect me, while aware of it.. I was unaware I'd end up in the middle of it. And while I didn't get many photos (I was kinda driving a car you know... here's a few photos of what I saw...

And to top it off... this happened....

The entire highway becomes blocked off... I ended up having to use country back roads and backtracking a bit to get myself to Omaha.. and all I gotta say is thank god for my GPS and current maps! (Thanks mom!)

But woo, I made it! My 34th state? (+DC)

Well, having made it here hours and hours before I ever intended... I got myself started on what was to be my Friday 'To-Do list", now giving me an 'extra day' to play around with...hmm

Woo, Skateland Playdaze. (Cha-Ching?)

CAR WARS! GET IT! ITS LIKE A PLAY ON STAR WARS...HOW CLEAVER!

Miner Mike, I feel so dirty...and its powered.

But hey, it gave 3 laps forward and then 3 laps backwards...Moving on...

Well, Skateland was supposed to be Friday's thing... But I got into NE so early I was like "might as well".. Well I knew Skateland wouldn't take anytime.. and it was still only 3pm when I left..In the "might as well" spirit... I headed over to Fun Plex, Nebraska's only "park" (well... more of an over-sized FEC/FFC) and completed all of my would-be Friday tasks.. So yeah... here we go.

Fun Plex, how thrilling.

Home to the Big Ohhhh! The states only real coaster, and likely the only coaster with four H's in a row in its name....(a quick trip to RCDB confirms this)

It's very exciting... Well, no, not really.. But the locals seem to eat it up.

 And you know, its a fun ride for what it is. (took 3 laps)

And in other park news... I also rode the Tilt-A-Whirl, Ferris Wheel, <3 Rock-O-Plane <3 (although not as good as Arnold's) and thhiiissss

Holy crap, a working Chance Chaos! Somehow I've managed to track one down the last 3 years of my travels (this, Valleyfair's, and Adventuredome's!)

Oh, and they have this incredibly small water park that I didn't go into, as well.. I could have.. but I needed to find a hotel.. Speaking of which... Here it is, in all its BALLIN'-ness.

Element by Westin, one of only nine (the first was in Massachusetts!)

Right in the middle of Omaha's 'Midtown Crossing' area. How hipster of me.

 Its like stepping into a model show-room at IKEA, only its a real hotel room. Pretty sweet and I got it more than half price! :D So yeah, South Dakota...Iowa...Nebraska... SLEEP! We'll see what Friday brings.

Yup, I've arrived.

Well, kinda.

So the day started the way most of my ways end.... At IHOP with the mono-peeps but instead of just going home and passing out... its off to the airport to another airport and to a third one just barely...and a few hundred miles of driving and a few new states too! Oh hey, and an amusement park. Who knew?

mmm, pancakes

lol, on time......

Random waterpark somewhere near Chicago...?

yay! I'm just gonna skip the ranting and bitching and skip to this...

Welcome to IOWA! I pretty much stepped off the plane, into my rental and drove some 200 miles...

yup, lots and lots of driving.. but it'll be worth it.. I hope. 

(Arnold's Park is a park I've wanted to hit for a while and has a lot of history and is loaded with classic rides.... ) But first.. SIDE-TRACKED!

Hippo Approved

(if I ever get sick of Orlando...... )

Ok, back to Arnold's

That took too long! 

Luckily the park makes up for the fact its in the middle of NOWHERE, and while I get that Iowa itself isnt exactly tourist central, Arnold's is still forever away from anything else...

But its got a Roll-O-Plane, that tilts :D

And more to my liking...

 A Rock-O-Plane! And it let single riders on... Unlike.......

the parks Chance Wheel... DENIED! :(

moving on....

The park is home to a pretty easy mirror maze and this odd Tilt-House built about the station of....

 The Legend, the main reason I came all the way out here.

And while the ride was absolute-crap in the back row... In the front it was quite enjoyable and re-rideable with some damn good air on the last hill!

In the shadow of the Legend is the parks kiddie coaster, no adults, I didn't even ask...

 Oh man!

 They also have a small, but fun flume. I had no idea this was even in the park. I guess with the Roll-o,Rock-o,Spider, and Legend... I kinda overlooked it until I showed up at the park. oops.

With lack-of-sleep catching up to me and the fact I still had another 100 mile drive (and another state to get to).. I made my last lap around the park and headed out onto one of the several boat docks to get a few last photos (and to put my foot into Lake Okoboji. you know, for the credit)

A not so sketchy dock on Lake Okoboji, with its FREEZING cold water... Oh hey, and Arnold's Park.

Yeah, its time to leave now.......

So I headed back out on the road again in no-mans land Iowa driving towards Sioux Falls, South Dakota rocking the TRON:legacy  OST as the fields roll past dotted with wind-turbines and a light rain in the area thinking to myself... This is just what I needed.. To get away.

I don't know how to explain it I guess, but in that moment it was lovely.

Annddd this big-ass-rest stop thing that marks your arrival to South Dakota... Yup, I've arrived. 

In my travels I knew I'd end up here someday.. But I'm not sure why.. or when.. but if I could find excitement in such lovely places as West Virginia and Delaware, I believe South Dakota has a fighting chance..

Microtel, Hippo Approves just to get some sleep.. yeah, sleep, ZzZzz

VIP Party Crashers... Oh hey, and I rode Cheetah Hunt too.

So yeah, Cheetah Hunt media day... and stuff... Yeah...

First we had to get out 'Cheetah Hunt' wristbands, there let the staff know we were allowed into the ride/animal area. Didn't have one of these, didn't get past the fence....

 I wonder if they're gonna sell these now...

Look at me, look at me! Yeah.....

Bahaha, the first photo I happened to get of the coaster running... Had ROBB ALVEY on it. I guess he gets to complain about it before I can. :(

Yup, there he is...

During the media shoot the coaster only one train was running, although later in the night for the VIP party they ran three.

Uh,. sexy Intamin train with big-ass-camera mount...and big-ass-OTSRs

So here comes the part where there was massive downtime and lots of ACE'ers bitching and crying about not getting their ride... ZzZzz.. I enjoyed the time and looked at all the Cheetahs :D

Big pretty kitty's? I wish we could have had some EPT with them... But no petting was allowed.

Aww....

So yeah... Then we left the area and rode other things in the park. Who knew Montu and Phoenix were still here? From the bitching of the roller-losers you would have thought Cheetah Hunt was the ONLY thing the park had.... Anyways, rant over...I'll skip right back to the Hunt.

After flashing our stylish wristbands again... And walking past the public begging to get in... And being told off by guests who didn't think we were 'VIP', we had time to watch the 3o'clock parade. 

And there it goes....

So after a whole bunch of snacking on candy and hanging around watching Cheetahs being freaking-adorable for hours... Somehow we got some of these....

Yeah, Hi.

Wouldn't have been a coaster event without free food // a Buffet! But way to go Busch Gardens and make it ultra-classy

Eww, fruit.

Oh hey, yeah.. The Coasters open and it was ridden many times.

But back at the VIP party... They had many animals walking around to pet and touch and just get up close to without any cage,windows,screaming kids.....I had to make nice with the Rock Hyrax for a bit because it was so GD-Cute... But then the 6o'Clock parade happened.....

Apparently, I'm terrified of Flamingos.

Busch also had this kinda neat art group on hand... Splash! Animals. They'd kinda dance around and toss paint around and smudge it with their hands until it became a painting of a Cheetah.... or the promo-artwork for the ride itself. I wonder what they did with it all once they were done.. Cause they could have so given me one for free... you know, if they wanted... 

Yeah, pretty ballin' if I do say so myself... (I'll take the top half, thanks)

And now back to the coaster itself... Cheetah Hunt is pretty fantastic. Not a top 10 ride.. But its damn fun, amazingly smooth, has speed, turns, airtime, the roll... Just an all around good coaster and great addition to the amazing coaster line-up at Busch Gardens (well, not Gwazi... but that's a different rant all together) The canyon run is the highlight of the ride for me, although I wish the mid-course wasn't as hard (or on at all...). The only things I found myself not liking about the ride was the first launch being so short... You kinda lag in the banked turn and while that may be what they wanted the ride to do, it felt kinda awkward to me... And there's also this turn/dip at the very end of the ride that bugged me each lap.. But it may just be a tall person issue as Jeff didn't seem to have a problem with it.

Woo, the sun goes down... Almost time for night rides!

Ah, here we go.. Front row, in the dark, with lightning flashing all around... Amazing.

Such a perfect event... And to top it off, Jeff and I got the front row (second front row ride of the night) of the last train of the night....around 10.30pm. A good 4 hours after the park closed and Media Event ended. :D

And now I can say nah-nah-nahhh I rode it BEFORE YOU DID!!!! ALL OF YOU!.. Well, all of you but Robb Alvey.....

Yeaahhhh....

Oh hey! AND we got gift bags on the way out!

So yeah, big thanks to Busch Gardens Tampa for putting on an AMAZING event with great food, animals, rides on Cheetah Hunt, and everything else the park did all day long. Fantastic

OMFGBGT

Uh, went to Busch Gardens... Took Rob with me.
A fun day was had, Montu was running oddly good, but still trimmed. Kumba was running amazing and we rode three times... SheiKra became Rob's 100th coaster! (and I made him ride in the front row, on an edge seat) We both somehow got off Congo River Rapids dryer than when we got on (Fresh from Tidal Wave...) And I got my first ride on Gwazi Lion with the Flyers (Tiger was closed), it sucks, still. Extremely rough and from the back row you can see the trains jackhammer and shuffle. Oh, and I pet a Kangaroo while screaming YEAAAHHHHH at it again and again.

Yeah, stuff was done, and happened, and stuff.

Oh, and here's Rob's updated "with me" coaster list... yay!

30 Day Rollercoaster Challenge - Via Lamebook

So on the Facebooks there's this whole... '30 Day Rollercoaster Challenge' crap going down.. I'm far too lazy to do it over 30 days... And I lack an internet connection... So I'll just post it all at once.
I'm not really sure what the rules are.. Or if rides can repeat or not.. I mean... What if 'My Favorite Coaster' is also... the 'Best ride at night'... I don't know, maybe I'll turn it into the "45 Coaster Challenge over 30 Days all done in 1 day"... Or something.... Anyways... here we go!

day 01 - your favorite rollercoaster
Hmm, Boulderdash? Yes I think so. - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/1732127570/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZOEMtHwJg4

day 02 - your least favorite rollercoaster
Oh man, here comes a Two-Fer! FURIUS BACO! - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2275080736/ and SON OF BEAST! - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/3919508247/ Such an awful set of coasters...
Baco - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWAQYvQOIR4 / SoB - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GPmIW629e4

day 03 - a rollercoaster you could ride over and over again
Now see, here's one that could be Dash again... But I'll give this to El Toro - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/1759909229/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnE4PdvLG3Q

day 04 - a rollercoaster you have never been on but want to
Hmm, this could be a hard one.. I don't know. I guess I'll just say Steel Dragon 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIkUFb3KAI (Skip in 60 seconds)

day 05 - a rollercoaster that reminds you of someone
Uh.... I'll have to skip this one...

day 06 - a rollercoaster you have never been on but do not want to
lol. None really.. I guess I'd ride anything.. But for fun - Hemsby Fun Park's Caterpillar
http://rcdb.com/3622.htm?p=0 - THRILLING

day 07 - the first rollercoaster you ever went on
Not sure.. I've been going to parks and riding stuff as long as I can remember.. And even before that (like the BABBY photos of me places and crap...)

day 08 - a rollercoaster you know like the back of your hand
Again... Dash, Toro... And the yet to be mentioned Yankee Cannonball! So I'll give cannonball the nod. - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/3707120093/
My love, Yankee Cannonball - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ewum2kYen8

day 09 - a rollercoaster from your childhood
Hmm, Cannonball again? Or maybe I'll give Flyer Comet a shout out - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2212067324/
Old video of it :( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8dQ_6sE_GQ

day 10 - a rollercoaster best ridden at night
... Boulderdash...... (Stupid repeats in this list.. But DAMN Dash is a night ride)
As you can see in this video.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KIyxIWmXIs You cant really see ANYTHING! :D

day 11 - a rollercoaster from your favourite manufacturer
The Dragon itself - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2499197417/
Not only is it from B&M, my favorite manufacturer... But it's also one of my overall.. Favorite coasters!
Dammmnnnn - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJQQApZ8Dwo

day 12 - a rollercoaster from your least favourite manufacturer
Hmm, any coaster from them? Hmm... Super Flight?! - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2274287835/
So awful - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNydh3mZv68

day 13 - a rollercoaster that is a guilty pleasure
I'll have to give this one to Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain :D - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/1767911428/
So, so fun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbkEHceSZ8c

day 14 - a rollercoaster that no one would expect you to love
I tend to like odd/different rides.. So whenever I like a 'mainstream' coaster people think its odd :P
So I'll just say Renegade at Valleyfair, a ride I really, really liked last summer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8o7jgc-TrU

day 15 - your favourite rollercoaster not in your own country
Well, I already posted Dragon.. So I'll go with the ever amazing Nemesis! - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2338951703/
I was so happy this ride really was as good as I hoped. For over overhype didnt let me down! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFdy40KS95s

day 16 - a rollercoaster that you used to love but now hate
Aw, this makes me sad...I can think of a few.. But I'll go with Hersheypark's Wildcat - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/1732291792/
New trains.. made it worse, slower, laggy, boring! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ57MAHs_Es

day 17 - a rollercoaster you really miss
Again, a sad one.. Uh, Williams Grove Cyclone, one hell of a ride that will never run again. - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/1696283621/
And here's MY video.. that someone stole and put on their youtube page - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqMBkgdhZyc

day 18 - a rollercoaster that has made you sick
Never happened, ever.

day 19 - a rollercoaster that took you by surprise
Williams Grove Cyclone? Lost Coaster? both are repeats... Hmm, Kanonen? - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2575644909/
For such a small coaster.. Its pretty perfect. Launch, tophat, loop, some turns, zerogroll, helix.. All in a small package - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNoG_AHZxpQ (OH! and I got my first ROLLBACK on it!)

day 20 - a rollercoaster that makes you laugh
And again! Williams Grove Cyclone? Lost Coaster? But I'll give it to Dragon's Fury - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2267554558/
Such a fun ride. Best spinner ever - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_KuF9BW7Qo

day 21 - a rollercoaster you wish you had never been on
ha, BOSS. A ride I had wanted to ride from day one... got the chance and it sucked SOOO badly. :'( - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/1759909283/
Yeah, I could have done with NOT riding it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py1zfRGUE5Q

day 22 - a rollercoaster you had your best ORP on
I guess Hurler, I wish I had the photo scanned.. Good times were had. - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/3598350894/ (not the ORP)
Meh - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZ9iddapgk

day 23 - a rollercoaster that has dropped out of your top ten
The Comet - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/1720212755/ - And while I still have loads of love for the ride.. I've just found a few better :P
Not top 10, still top 15 ;) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S47Yb2vWyyE

day 24 - a rollercoaster you have been genuinely scared of
Hm.. not scared of.. But scared ON - (again with the repeat but DAMN) - Williams Grove Cyclone, just after the turn around.. also the fact the lapbars didn't really work. Or the seatbelts didnt stayed clipped... Or that the ride was falling apart, really... She'll be missed.

day 25 - the rollercoaster you think has the best merch/logo
Hmm, while I think the ride sucks.... Millennium Force has a pretty cool logo, theme song, taglag, and stuffs - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2603806615/
ZzZzz - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbXPhOFRxTc - For such a BIG ride, it just doesn't do anything interesting..

day 26 - your favourite kiddie coaster
Hmm, while not a 'kiddie' more of a family... Vapor Trail is pretty ballin' - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/3720799908/
Fun for what it was, and better than most coasters its size. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4UioZmoLaA

day 27 - a rollercoaster you would most liked to have designed
lol, uh... Any of them? If I could...? I don't know.

day 28 - the rollercoaster you next intend to ride
Uh, I don't know.. Anything in Central Florida? Manta maybe? - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/3609732750/
Havnet been on it in a while, so its time? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ReRRnaxIo (Skip in 2 mins)

day 29 - the last rollercoaster you went on
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the night Erik, Pacia, and I 'snuck' into EMH - http://www.flickr.com/photos/canobiefan/2452094569/
Weee - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAyxYz-OsmY

day 30 - your favorite rollercoaster at this time last year
Uh, it's still Boulderdash, still.

Well that took too long and now I'm sleepy and I love the use of British-English 'favourite' lolol,COLOUR.

Real Florida? Who knew....

Who knew that right behind the Magic Kingdom you could find this....

 Its kinda nice I guess, to see there are still large open spaces, lakes, swamps.... and not just theme parks.

In an odd way.. It kinda felt nice to just 'get away' from all the 192 and I-Drive crap.. yet I was right next to them both, it didn't feel it.

Its almost kinda sad that this is the real Florida and it seems like most people who visit here never even get to see it.

But I guess I'm not really one to talk.. As it took me almost a year of living here until I started to really explore the area outside of the amusement parks and tourist traps... Hell, I ended up finding this area by accident just on my way to work taking the back roads.

Ooh, I've wasted my life (And money)

So after playing around with google maps for a bit.. and RCDB at the same time.. I made a map to see where all I've been.... And now I'm kinda sad.

Just giving a little preview....

It's still a work in progress... But it gives a pretty good idea of how much of my life I've spent going to amusement parks... :( - I'm a loser, here's the map....

Oh, Larson.....

I'd like to thank you for making the car-crash of a ride, High Roller / Crazy Train. And I'd like to thank Wade Shows for still bringing their awful-themed Roller "Kick Flip" to the Central Florida Fair for at least the past two years.

I guess its... Skateboard themed

It's fun...and stuff.

I'm not sure why.. But both times I've seen this one... It's been missing its 5th car....

Yay!

So again, thank you Larson and Wade for making this the best birthday ever, I hope to ride your awful ride in the years to come. (I really do love this awful ride) The odd oval-shaped loop.. the fun flipping motion the entire ride makes.. as the train goes around the oval loop... And the terrible sounds it makes.. Oh, and I love how friendly this ride is for tall riders like myself, oh wait. But hey, its lapbar-only?