ThrillRide! Special Features

My favorite "rider" shot of that day. See? Look at all the fun they are having. It's fun!

The whole Boardwalk area's major aesthetic upgrade is a vast improvement, especially without the hulking presence of Perilous Plunge. I wish we'd been able to stay and see it at night, when it really sparkles. But it's so bright and colorful during the day, and even Boomerang looks appetizing.

After the Boardwalk hoopla was over, we moved on to Timber Mountain. And while we waited for that part of the festivities to begin, this rather limber cowgirl was wheeled by as she performed some Cirque du Soleil Moon Frye-style pole acrobatics. It was mighty impressive, the way she moved. Be sure to check out the "Boom Town" show next time you visit, if you like this sort of entertainment (I sure do).

I managed to find a perfectly terrible place from which to photograph the proceedings, but here's Raffi K. again, doing his part.

A bunch of people spoke, including John Wayne's son, Ethan, and the import of his appearance will become clear shortly.

So then it was announced that the ride wasn't quite ready to open and the crowd dispersed. (We were hearing stories all morning about how hard the crews were working, had been working, for days and weeks and months, to get this thing ready.)

With time to kill, we did some recording, and here's a shot taken by our new pal Michael Balzer. From left to right: our excellent bud Stefan Lawrence (who designed the fantastic Season Pass tee-shirts; Brent and I are wearing one), me, Doug and Brent. And as Stefan pointed out, that is one damn fine shot of all of us. Well done, and thanks again, Mike!

Then we checked out the Timber Mountain historical exhibit they'd set up in the Wilderness Dance Hall.