The P.A.O. Tour

Coaster Chick · The P.A.O. Tour

As I found myself with a week off work and nowhere to go, a trip to the USA was suggested. So along with Mark ‘Coaster Police’ Blundell and Harvey ‘Wild Thing’ Lemon we flew to Seattle on Friday evening. On Saturday we visited 3 parks in the Tacoma/Seattle area and an added bonus was the glorious weather.

Wild Waves was our first stop – a small park set in woodland overlooking an impressive water park. Unfortunately the entrance fee covered both parks so it was a bit pricey for those only going to the theme park. Nothing particularly remarkable about the 4 coasters, one of which was an S&S Power woodie, which looked quite impressive but lacked airtime and oomph.

We then visited Remlinger Farm, which had one kiddie coaster but was a very welcoming and nicely presented park based in a real farm, all decked out already for Halloween.

Then we went into the centre of Seattle for 2 coasters at Fun Forest. Here we met up with our ‘American friends’, Pete and Lisa, who gave us a short impromptu guide to the local sights of the city. As the sun went down over the Space Needle, inevitably we ended up in a couple of bars.

Coaster Chick

After an early ‘Nev style’ start of 06.30 we set off to Oregon for the day. First stop was Enchanted Forest in Salem, with 2 very unusual coasters. The Ice Mountain Bobsleds was a cross between Avalanche and a bobsleigh with enclosed trains made up of toboggan cars. The verdict from us all was ‘different’. The other coaster was a hybrid of a water flume and a steel coaster which was interesting but nothing to write home about (so why am I?). The park was definitely orientated to little kiddies with all the fairytale attractions rather than big kids like us.

Then it was a visit to Oaks Park and the weather certainly did us proud. A very small park with a family steel coaster and a Pinfari/ZL42 – all I can say is ‘ouch’. Definitely a park only to be visited by serious ‘tickboxers’.

It was nice to see some Oregon countryside though before heading back to Tacoma and the bar – where a few beers were forced down, where were you Ryan?

Rough Rider

Coaster Chick

On Monday we went to Puyallup Fair (or Washington State Fair) for the day. We expected four coasters here but there were eight. However we were denied two of them and one was closed for maintenance (rather strange as the fair is only open for 3 weeks in a year). The fair was excellent with a lot of extra funfair rides, some of which were quite unusual. Of the four static coasters, the woodie was the best by far. For a coaster built in 1935 it was very good with lots of airtime, especially in the back. They are currently in the middle of a five year programme of replacing a lot of the wooden structure.

During the day we watched a couple of shows, one of which is called ‘Mutton Bustin’ which consists of children under the age of six, weighing no more than 60lbs riding sheep, rodeo style. The aim was to stay on for more than 6 seconds, which was rarely achieved. The compère informed us the children are doing this of their own free will, but can a child of three really make a decision about riding rodeo style on a sheep at this age?????? PS It was funny to watch though.

After this we left for the airport (via an Outback) for our overnight flight to Orlando.

Coaster Chick

The overnight flight was not very comfortable but we got to Florida early in the morning – not quite expecting the extreme heat and humidity. Had a bad start to the day as we encountered problems with getting the correct car, the ‘tom-tom’ charging cable almost blowing up and Busch Gardens having some significant rides closed for the day including Kumba and Gwazi, so we abandoned going there and headed for Clearwater. Here we rode the Miner Mike, which turned out to be Harvey’s 600th coaster.

We then headed for Old Town, Kissimmee which had changed significantly from our last visit during ‘Florida Fun Fest’ in 2006 with lots of new fairground attractions. We rode the Wacky Worm there which has replaced the Dragon Wagon.

Not the best day for coaster riding but we plan to make up for it tomorrow as we plan to do a 4 park Disney Dash!

Coaster_Police

Contrary to Heather's posting. The overnight flight was very comfortable [for me]. But before I could take advantage of this comfortable seat, I had to evict a person from it. She would not move at first, but shake her head from side to side and say "Change, Change, Change". After a few words, she HAD to move from the seat. We took off in a north western direction and did a 180 degrees U turn and flew over Seattle, getting an excellent view of the city and the Space Needle which Heather missed as she was snoring. So how come she did not have a comfortable flight?????????

Having abandoned paper maps and relying on Sat Nav, it's not good to discover your Tom Tom lead overheating and not charging. With minimum power left we arrived at Busch Gardens. As I had to buy a replacement lead for the rest of the holiday, Harvey and Heather went off to Busch Gardens only to discover some of the big coasters closed. It was then agreed to abandon Busch and carry on with two other small parks on our list of coasters to do after finding a replacement lead.

Thanks for your posting Ryan, we are keeping our end up here and drinking a beer or two.

P.S. We have just discovered Primevil Whirl is closed for refurbishment. Harvey and Heather are not impressed, so are now having another drink to make up for the disappointment.

Coaster Chick

Just back from 12 hours at Disney. Park busy but not heaving and once again VERY hot! I was a Disney World virgin but loved it all. Our intrepid tour leader, Mark organised an itinerary based on the individual park opening times and his significant previous experience. Apart from the Primeval closure all coasters were working and we had ridden them all and some several times by 15.30.

We started with Animal Kingdom and Expedition Everest which I loved and had great theming. Then we moved to MGM and rode the Rock 'n' Roller. After that we rode the 4 coasters in Magic Kingdom. We then treated ourselves to Mickey Mouse ice creams, but in the heat they got very messy very quickly!

We rode a lot of non-coaster rides as well, the highlights were Mission: Space, Tower of Terror and Test-Track. New for 2008 was the Monsters Inc show which was very funny and Mark had a small role in this!!!

Queues were all small so we used the fast pass for extra rides. We finished the day with the Magic Kingdom and Epcot firework displays.

Thank you Mark for organising it so well, just a pity you couldn't use your influence to get Primeval working but never mind, it gives me an excuse to come back!!!

We will sleep well tonight!

frosty

Great reports and a great week coastering. As Ryan says we wish we had been over there with you guys.

I'm so looking forward to the clubs US/Canada 2009 trip - 2 weeks of excellence. See you there Heather!

Rough Rider

Great trip reports guys Laughing

I am feeling really jealous this end Wink

But saying that I am having a few beers this end and keeping the British flag flying Laughing

What you should be doing is catching an internal flight down to Texas and give the "RATTLER" a good riding Laughing

or even catch a plane to Muskegan (Michigan) for a few cheap Bud's Laughing

Ask Harv,.......he will explain guys.
Ryan....(One of the Muskegan 4) Laughing

Coaster Chick

Good to hear from you Ryan and Frosty.

Today has been a day for a long drive, which has meant I could catch up with writing my postcards!!!! We have travelled up north to the Panhandle, via a couple of small parks on route. At Birthday World we rode a brand new Miner Mike, which was still in pristine condition. They were expecting us so gave us a very warm welcome. The second park had several alligators outside which we decided not to feed in case I fell in.

In Panama City we endeavoured to ride a Dragon Wagon but the maximum height was 60” which was OK for me but unfortunately the rubber tyres on the track would not grip so it could not go round. Better luck next time!

Coaster_Police

Long drive today as Heather has said, but the time went really quickly with Heather quoting random nonsense. Laughing

If anybody out there are coaster counters and want to do Birthday World in Altamonte Springs, get in touch in advance as adults are not allowed in to the building without a child or ride the coaster. By pre-arranging your visit, they will let you in after signing a waiver form. The best times to visit are at 10am when they open and late at night when they close. No visit will be allowed during the busy part of the day.

After being denied the Dragon Wagon at Cobra Adventure Park due to weather preventing the coaster gripping the track, we all went off to a Red Lobster which Heather has been looking forward to all week. I'm sure you have heard of the film 'When Harry Met Sally' and the scene in the restaurant, well today we had 'When Heather met Red Lobster' As soon as she tasted the Coconut Shrimp bites she was away!!!!!!!!! Laughing

frosty

Coaster Chick

Today we had our first wet weather and we thought rain would stop play all day. After driving 132 miles to Gulf Shores in Alabama to ride a CCI woodie called Canonball Run, we thought we would be calling time on this ride as the heavens opened before us. But 3 hours 30 minutes later (after killing time in a pizza parlour and a shopping mall) we finally had a few rides on it. The verdict was that it was a small out and back woodie but as we were the first to ride it for the day we did not get the opportunity to see it warmed up and achieve its’ full potential. Overall a good coaster for it’s size – back was the best for the riding experience but probably still too smooth for Rough Rider (even if it is a CCI!!).

We then went to Pensacola and rode the Miner Mike before embarking on the 330 mile drive to Gainsville. We passed the time by sharing wild stories of our younger days before hitting the bar for our last evening. Crying or Very sad

Rough Rider

USfriends

During the day we watched a couple of shows, one of which is called ‘Mutton Bustin’

Hey Ryan, I'm wondering if this could be the national pastime of Wales?

Rough Rider

Coaster Chick

It’s our last day and we went to Cypress Gardens. We rode the Triple Hurricane, Swamp Thing and Galaxy Spin. But the main reason for going was the Starliner, relocated from Panama City last year. It is a fast out and back woodie with some excellent pops of airtime although we were very surprised that there were a couple of rough spots on the downhills. The park was quiet and it made for a nice finish to the tour.

Now at the airport waiting to fly home. All in all we had a good trip, rode many coasters, some of which were unusual or difficult to achieve and had some fun along the way. So this is us signing off and goodbye.

Mark, Heather and Harvey