Transcript
Speaker: Welcome back to thrills, chills and spills where we spill the tea on all things theme parks, special events and especially spooky season. This week, we're getting into a little bit of a Dollywood recap from the Buzzbars event this past weekend. We've also got a smidge of Six Flags over Georgia, a cruise and a special HHN game. I'm Joey.
Speaker: I'm Kelly. I'm Tyler. And I'm Rafa. and our spills as always to start. um I guess I'll go ahead and start because it's very on theme with the podcast. um ah So ah this past weekend, shout out to listener Javi. Hi, Javi. He had an extra ticket to a Florence and the Machine concert.
Speaker: And so we went to that and it was a good time. um Kelly would for sure have enjoyed the spooky vibes, especially at the beginning. There was a lot of fog. There were witchy outfits and she was very um like she was casting spells on the audience. Almost. It was entertaining. Um, that being said, this spill is that during the concert, we were sort of, you know how concerts have like that kind of runway catwalk thing that comes out the center. Usually we were basically perpendicular to that.
Speaker: So the main stage was like off to our left and we were having to look left for most of the concert. And in the middle of it, I look over to Javi. I'm like, I have to look away because my neck is getting so stiff from just looking one direction the whole time.
Speaker: Not getting old coming up again. he was like, you have to say that on the podcast because it's so on brand. ah So yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: It's just getting a stiff neck from a concert. You know, it's great. We might as well make this a permanent segment at this point. I know. It's just gonna be the getting old segment. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But it was a good time. It wasn't as crazy as like a Gaga concert would be, but um she sounded great. And ah there were some cool visuals during it, especially her fog. Her fog was fantastic.
Speaker: The whole runway was fogging pretty much the whole time, which was kind of hilarious. um So, yeah. Did it smell good? I don't know anything about Taylor, except for the one song with Taylor Swift that she's in.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. when i oh When I said something to Craig about it, he just messaged back the one song she has with Lady Gaga. I was like, of course. um I know like three of her songs and then I listened to, you know, it in advance. And unfortunately, even though we were actually pretty close, this was an arena tour. So they're smaller venues. um I did not smell the the fog smell. Just wasn't quite close enough.
Speaker: Yeah. She really had some crowd moments, though. It was interesting. She had like a little box that she set up against the barricade and she was like whipping her hair into the audience. And I was like, dang, you're trusting. like Nobody grab it. Especially nowadays with all this know happening at the concerts. Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker: Anyway, so Kelly, do you have one this week? um Also a continuation, i am not only a dance mom, i am the ultimate dance mom because i am everyone's dance mom, apparently. So I um am in charge of um helping people with quick changes. The other moms just like look at me, they give me a look and I'm like, I'm here. help um I do other girls makeup and other girls hair and I'm responsible for the group craft which I have done to myself because I started it the first competition now all the girls will like come up to me and ask me what I brought so I have created a problem with that.
Speaker: So like the first competitions, our studio color is like, um, like a teal blue and like black and white and gray. Um, but for awards, oftentimes, so like awards at a dance competition, all the dancers like go sit on the stage and then they're like called up for awards basically. And during awards, you can like, everyone wears like their studio, like warmup stuff, but they have like studio colors and you can like bring like pom-poms, signs, whatever, whatever.
Speaker: the dancers do. um So the first competition, i brought little blue bows with like rhinestones that they could um like blue and white rhinestones that they could decorate their own bows and wear them for awards. So they did that the first one. Then I was like, shoot, what am I going to the second time? Well, I got a ton of star-shaped blue glasses on Amazon and bought more gems so that they could all decorate blue glasses to wear for awards. I'm like, I am really running out of ideas. So for this one, and I'm going to do the same thing for next one because I'm not paying for anything else, but I got the giant pack of clear...
Speaker: like clear and white fanny packs or like belt bags with like the Chanel, like um letters and like patches that little kids have been like decorating their belt bags with and brought all of that. And it was a hit, but like I'm coming into competition with so much stuff. I look ridiculous. my gosh.
Speaker: But yes, we had a competition last this past weekend. We have one more to go and not this coming weekend, but the one after. And I'm sad that competition season is going to be over because I am in dance mom mode.
Speaker: Full dance mom. Clearly. the dance mom is budget. Apparently there's a budget. Yeah. And like every competition, i have these little snackle boxes. Have you ever seen those? They're basically like, they look like tackle boxes for fishing, but they're for snacks.
Speaker: They have like all the different compartments. ahhhuh I can see it. can picture I, she has two of them and I fill them for competitions of all kinds of,
Speaker: snacks and um all of the little girls fingers are in my box and eating snacks and this past competition i was just so exhausted by like the end of it that i was like sitting in a chair on the dressing room with a snackle box on my lap just eating all of their snacks and like you guys know me and how i am about germs i didn't even care how many fingers were in there i was like i'm eating these snacks Wow. i wore the dance mom out. Yeah, I was tired. yeah That's funny.
Speaker: But yeah, competition comes with like the whole, ah all of these things. Yeah, it's a wild, wild world out there, huh? It is. Sure is. Tyler, you have one?
Speaker: Yes, I wrote a poem I would like to share with you all if that's okay. This is like certified keith moment the music Keith moment. This is a poem about love. It's a poem about friendship.
Speaker: It's a poem about death. So if you like giving me some snaps at the end, that would be greatly appreciated. Okay.
Speaker: Rest easy, my dear, for you are no more. There will be no more fights within your cabin door. From low cost to low class, whatever they call you, you got me to Orlando with your wonderful flight crew.
Speaker: You were so cheap, I couldn't believe it. But so was I. You were the perfect teammate. With your fares so low and your body so yellow, you made me a happy fellow.
Speaker: Now fly high, spirit, up into the clouds. Say hi to Continental as you make your rounds. Now a word of advice, straight off the dome.
Speaker: Be careful, frontier. Your time may come. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. but Oh my God. You didn't wear your yellow today, Tyler. What the hell? Oh You wear yellow in solidarity.
Speaker: was like the second or third line. I realized what was happening. I was like, where are going with this? ah RIP to Spirit Airlines. My gosh.
Speaker: In all seriousness though, like Spirit gave me very few problems. It got me to Orlando so many times for cheap. so It will be missed. I feel bad for all the people that lost their jobs. That's what was going to say. I'm really sad about that. like That really sucks.
Speaker: It's been a big topic at work, as you can imagine, just because, you know, aviation industry people band together and we are, um you know, trying to support our spirit friends. um I know that Delta has put out a specific web website so that way people can apply to jobs there ah ah from us. And they've also extended some of the um cabin seat agreements and kinds of things. So that way any flight attendants or pilots that were displaced were able to find a way home without having to pay for tickets and stuff. So, um Yeah, but it's an unfortunate thing because, you know, although obviously their business model had some problems with profitability, um it feels like the U.S. airline industry has just been on a a trend of consolidation and, you know, less options. And that's just, you know, competitively not the greatest thing.
Speaker: um But obviously with gas prices, what they are right now, not to get overly political or whatever, but it it is, you know, a so ah challenging time for airlines. So we'll see if anything else happens. I know that, you know, JetBlue is not doing great either. um All of the the low cost carriers are having problems. So I worry about more of this happening. I don't know. But we don't want to lose those carriers. So we'll see. We'll see.
Speaker: Yeah, I much preferred Spirit to Frontier. is a big bummer. Yeah, yeah. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Speaker: Yeah. All right, well. Moving on to our thrills section. So over the past a weekend, that was a week ago now, we were at Dollywood for Running Dolly's Hills, which is a Buzzbars event centered around the Run Dollywood race, the inaugural year of that race.
Speaker: Um, many of the buzz bars members attending did participate in either the 5k, 10k or half marathon that were part of that event. Um, both on the Friday and the, or the Saturday and the Sunday of that weekend. Um, there were race events happening. Um, and then obviously we spent time in the park and there's lots of mountains coasters in the area. So all kinds of things were happening.
Speaker: um where What were the, I guess, the highlights? I know that um both Kelly and Tyler participated in the race aspects. I'd be curious to hear more about that. Like specifically of the race?
Speaker: Yeah. um i Especially considering it was their first one. Yeah, I so I've done a lot of races. i haven't done any races at a theme park yet. um I know like the natural comparison is to run Disney, which is like very well oiled machine with their race events. um This obviously was not on the same level as that, um but it seemed. and for their first year to be run pretty well. i think they said there were like 2,500 people in the half marathon. And I forget what they said about the, there was a little bit less than the other races, but they had an expo where you go to pack, pick up your packet, which like a lot of smaller races, you literally just like pick up your bib and that's it. But they did have like a small expo with like packet pickup, shirt pickup, ticket pickup. And then they had some vendors and that was pretty well.
Speaker: organized. I was surprised it was so small, but I guess it was proportionate to the size of the race. um So I would say like big pro was, it felt like it was well run for a first time race. They obviously have taken, you know, they've done their research. They probably have people advising them on what to do. There's probably a lot of runners involved in the planning of the race.
Speaker: They're like aid stations on the course were well equipped. Like I've run some races where you get to an aid station and there's like nothing. They're like working on filling the cups and like they had enough people at them for the most part that they were handing out water or Gatorade. They were doing a really good job yelling what they had. um They did a good job with putting some cool experiences in the park. So both the 10K and the half marathon ran through the park. both the Dollywood Park and the water park as well. But in Dollywood, you could for air the half marathon, come off course and ride Blazing Fury or Big Bear Mountain during the race. um I did not partake because I was afraid I would not get back up. But like other people did and said it was fun and cool. And they also had some photo opportunities and some bands playing in the park.
Speaker: That being said, that was really the only part of the course that had any type of distraction available. Like the rest of the course was through the parking lot and then on some like roads outside of the course. um It was a interestingly interesting shape of a course. Like a lot of races I've done half marathon distance are either like loops or out and back or point to point, like variations of that. And this was very much like a odd shaped all over the place course, which is kind of good from like the mental aspect of how far you're running. Cause there's like a lot of different things to look forward to in a lot of turns. um
Speaker: I would say, People may say it was a negative how how hilly the course was, but I mean, you're in the mountains literally. So you you have to expect elevation when you're signing up for this. It's not going to be Disney World flat, obviously. um That elevation for me, and I'm only going to speak for myself because I know people have different opinions. I think it was actually helpful because it gave periods of downhill as well. Tyler says no, he hated it. Yeah.
Speaker: I don't train that many hills. I also didn't train for this race at all. If you guys recall, I was injured and not really running. So I thought the hills were good because it kind of varied the course and the use of my muscles. Whereas like felt flat courses, it feels very monotonous and you're like stressing the same muscles the whole course. So I liked the the very variation in the elevation. But they were really mean. the finish was up a hill, like really up a hill for every race, even the kids race.
Speaker: It's like they could turn that around and finish the opposite direction. Like, i I don't really understand why they did that. That was mean. um So I would say that was kind of like the big con for probably a lot of people. And then just like the way that the course was set up didn't really allow for very much spectator support, except for like at the finish and start area, unless you were like lucky enough to be like, parking somewhere where people were running by, which is actually what happened to us when we went to cheer for the 10K. Or like there were some people on like the roads as they left the park when we were running on them, like a little bit. But I don't know, for that long of a race, it really helps to have crowd support. And I just think that the way that the course was set up didn't really allow for that. I don't really know like what other options there would have been though. Yeah.
Speaker: But I feel like as they continue to have more races, because they're already planning one for the fall, so it's even going to be more often than annual, they could make some course adjustments, and I hope that they consider that.
Speaker: Makes sense. So Tyler, any other thoughts besides the hills? I agree for the most part. um This was my first half marathon. It was the longest I've ever ran in my whole life, including training. So 1,300 feet of elevation gain was definitely...
Speaker: um a choice for that but the 5 30 a.m start I think was the worst because it was originally 6 30 and I don't know if they realized that that was too late and they weren't going to be able to get the park open in time or what but they moved it back to a 5 30 a.m start which meant our alarms went off at like 3 45 a.m and that is just oh gosh that is just hey I'm hot take I liked it ah I'm a morning person and a morning runner. And I feel like because we started so early, i was still riding off the carbs from the dinner the night before. Whereas like normally we start a few hours later, like that shit's gone.
Speaker: don't know. Something felt really good for me during this race and I was shocked about it. Because I i had no business running. like I really did no preparation whatsoever. i was in rehab with for the past seven weeks with two weeks of no running. And then you guys know like very limited gradual run walk Like I thought that I was going to be walking the majority of this race and i was slower than I normally am, but I ran a lot.
Speaker: I ran a lot and I felt really good doing it. So nice go me. go you And I beat everyone in buzz bars, except for Brent.
Speaker: Look at me go. Except for Brent. Except for Brent. And if I would have stayed with him, if I chose to start with him, I might've been able to stay with him and keep up, but I was kind of chilling.
Speaker: Yeah. For a little while. Well, anyways, I would have liked like an 8 a.m. a start. so But yeah, I think I was impressed overall logistically with what they were able to do for their first race.
Speaker: um Just a couple of things. The Porta Potty situation was not great. Yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, I don't know how you forgot about that. But was. This should have been my spill. This should have been my spill. Was there not enough? I was raging.
Speaker: It kind of seemed like there were enough. And where, so i didn't have to go. Kelly and Brent went and got into the back of the line, which I couldn't even see. And I was standing near the front waiting for them. Oh, that thing was the line was about a quarter mile long.
Speaker: Oh, so there weren't any- And they got hit. It was like steadily moving. It was moving at first and we got in it about a half hour before the start of the race. So I was panicking and I wanted to get to the race earlier, but nobody else thought that we needed to do that. But you know, what do I know? Just the person who's done these races a billion times.
Speaker: yeah The only other thing we didn't get to the bathroom, Brent went into the freaking woods and I didn't go at all. So I held it for two hours. Oh no. yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: ah But so what do they normally do? Or is there just that many porta potties that they can't? There were a lot of porta potties. There were just not enough porta potties for the amount of people that there were. And like it was getting so close to the start of the race. And Brett and I were like going back and forth. Like, what we do? What we do? And he's like, let's just wait it out. And then like with 10 minutes to go, everybody's getting in the corrals and we're like just not moving. And there's still probably like over 100 people in front of us. It was terrible. So he's like, I'm going in the woods. And I was like, okay, I guess like I can't. So guess I'll just get in law, get in the crowd. like found Tyler and gotten in the crowd. And I was fully panicking. Cause I have to go to the bathroom before I run a race. I was like, what am I going to do? Like, and then I'm asking Tyler, like, where do you think the porta potties are on the course? Like I'm trying to plan, like, when am I going to get to one?
Speaker: And it was fine. I held it. It was, it was fine. Yeah. Not ideal, though. That is a con. More porta potties.
Speaker: Better line management for the porta potties, I would say. seemed like it was moving okay at the front. I think a lot of people were probably cutting the line. Yeah. The only other thing, there was a part where we crossed, I think it's Veterans Highway, one of the busier roads kind of outside the park there. And the police had the intersection shut down. But I think they were trying to like get cars through.
Speaker: But those people must have been waiting for 20 minutes there until everybody passed. Because this was like two or three miles in, at least. And... The whole time I was running, I did not see that line move. And granted, it's like six, six o'clock on ah what a Sunday morning. So it wasn't a ton of traffic. But I feel like they just should have shut that road all the way down because I guarantee those people were pissed. wherever they were trying to go Especially that early in the course, because that early in the course, the people were still so packed together. Like it wasn't spread enough that you could like let intermittently let cars go through. Like it was a giant mob of people still like the beginning of a race is you know, like but easy ni giant mob, it's like, it's going to take 20 minutes before you get everybody past their least. So.
Speaker: Like we started back, Tyler and I started together and we started back like pretty far in the corral and the pace that we were like lined up to start at, we were running so much slower than even that just because the the path of the race was like too narrow for the amount of people. They should have probably done like with waves of starts, like a little bit of space between Because you're timed based off of your chip on your bib. So it doesn't matter if you start like five or 10 minutes after other people, like it was just all like, go. And then like, everyone was running on like half of a road. And it was just like, no it was making me feel anxious because I like felt like I was trying so hard to just keep my like footing around people. And that has happened in other races too. But that was hard to start that way.
Speaker: Well, they tried to do a couple waves, but I don't really know what happened. Like they sent the first wave, which I think was like the that blind group. I forget what their name is with the yellow one is with them.
Speaker: Yeah, Achilles. That's who they were. They were like the first wave and then they sent like the next wave. But then after that, they just kind of sent everybody and the waves thing stopped and that wasn't good.
Speaker: hmm. And then there was one part of the course that was very dark because it was still early and it could have used some sort of artificial lighting there, especially because you're running on you're running against traffic in the... It'd be the right lane of traffic, basically. Like, have it coned off, but there's still traffic coming in the other lanes. And that does not seem super safe for me, a especially in dark area, but...
Speaker: um Yeah, like Kelly said, overall for their first event, I was pretty impressed with how well everything went. And thanks to all the Buzzbars members that came out to support. couple people didn't run any race, but we're still there cheering everybody on.
Speaker: We appreciate that a lot. oh It was fun. yeah it seemed like it worked out. um It was definitely a little wet on Saturday, though.
Speaker: ah So I don't know how those people did. You guys were probably was it dry by the time you got out there? No, it was actually like misty ah like the whole time. Oh, on Sunday, you mean? Yeah, on Sunday. It was a little misty the first half, but I think it was almost just because it was like dark and foggy. like it was that kind of mist. It was humid, for sure. yeah oh yeah yeah yeah Was the Sunday one earlier for you guys?
Speaker: Yeah, the Sunday was 5.30. Saturday, 10K was at 8.30. saturday the five k was at six thirty six thirty and the ten k was at eight thirty Yeah.
Speaker: But the at least, I mean, the both of those were being run in like active rain at times. It was kind of. Yeah. yeah More so the 10K at the end and the kids race was completely in the rain. And Tyler and I also ran that. So.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. um It was, it was definitely a rainy Saturday. um It rained almost the entire day at the park. Yeah. So that was, that was interesting. um Not, not the best weather for it, but ah yeah.
Speaker: What else? Let's see. um We did go to a brewery on Friday called Iron Forge. I don't think there was anything really notable there. There was some decent food. um And it was good to see everybody. um We stayed in a nice big cabin. That was cool. We had hot tubs and entertainment center and all kinds of nonsense. The kitchen was hilarious because everything was doubled. Yeah. yeah And the kitchen table was like the longest table I've ever seen.
Speaker: that was crazy and didn't really use it what was crazy was the entry into this cabin so we got there um after um being at the park on friday like we went to get our packets early ah my family and tyler was with us too and then we went to the house like after check-in and we pulled up to the house and like 10 other buzz bars members are standing outside and i was like uh-oh because i like put the code in to get in like And everyone was standing outside, like looking at me when I got there. And I was like, what's going on? And the code that they gave us was a four digit code. And it didn't work on either the lockbox or like the code, like the key keypad code at the door. So i was like, what the heck? And these people have been the house is great, but the people it's like through a company, like there's like a third party involved in it. The communication had just been poor because I had previously asked about parking since we had excess cars. there was just like not communication happening. i would email, I would call, I would leave messages. It was, it was bad.
Speaker: So I'm like trying to get through to them about like, Hey, we can't get in the codes, not working. I called like three times. I started sending an email, Tom calls and they answer. I'm like, what the heck? So, but anyways, at the end of the day, it was supposed to be like a full 10 digit code, like a phone number. And they gave only four digits. So that was special. Yeah. Yeah. We tried everything we could think of. Like we were looking in the bushes for hidden keys.
Speaker: I'm on YouTube looking how the specific manufacturer works. Like it is amazing. You're like dialing the four numbers like multiple times. Exactly. Angela was like standing at the other master key lock and just like doing one that you like zero zero zero zero zero, zero, zero, one. Like, Oh gosh. I put them across the middle, but maybe they're are supposed to be across the top. And then she's like, actually, I figured out if you, and she's like really deep in it and it wasn't even any part of getting in the house. Wow.
Speaker: Oh, good times. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out Angela. had a fun AC issue, but that got resolved. So. ah Sort of Sort of. Yeah. um But yeah, so that was cool. um And then Saturday, obviously, we had some races to start. And then the park day that was quite wet.
Speaker: um And also quite busy. Actually, um Kelly and Tyler, you guys spent a part of Friday, and so did I, a little bit of time on Friday in the park, which was also very busy. Yeah. But honestly, thank God we did that because yeah yeah we rode anything. Right, right. For sure. i think Friday was actually busier than Saturday.
Speaker: It might have been. It it it felt pretty busy. yeah We were all hoping that Saturday would be like empty because of the rain, but it was not empty. Yeah, it was just rough. So many school groups were there. So many buses were there. We like rode the majority of things that we rode with my kids and probably the first two hours of being there on Friday. And after that, it just went downhill so fast. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. The, the lines were definitely pretty long. There was like sporadic down times and with the rain, um, on Saturday, i mean, what's it called?
Speaker: Fire chaser express was closed almost the whole day. um even whistle punk chaser was down cause I can't run in the rain. Um, dragon flyer was down because of the, the tires on the lift, um, for a lot of the day because of that. So, yeah,
Speaker: it It was an interesting day to try to navigate with the park, but it it was workable. We still had a good time. um The whole group did um or most of us got together for a Thunderhead group ride, which was fun. And we kind of took over the queue and got a good ride on that together.
Speaker: um i was with shout out to Milo. I was with Megan Milo most of the day and and picking him up and carrying him around. I was so sore the next day. um But my look, I know exactly. I was like, Meg, how do you do this? She's like, we just don't pick him up anymore. He's too big.
Speaker: I was like, fair, fair. have to do that with a child probably three times the weight. I know. Yeah, I don't know how you do that. It's horrible.
Speaker: He got to ride all four. Like we've, we made it happen. We were there the entire park day. I don't know how Milo did that. Cause he's three. um He made it through the entire park day. And by the end of it, he had ridden all four of the different roller coasters that he was able to ride for his height.
Speaker: um And most of them, he rode twice as well. Yeah. So, yeah, it was really cute to see him riding them for the first time. And um the first one he rode was Big Bear just because everything else was closed. So he really got a ah kick to kind of start the day. And we were hoping for something smaller. But yeah, that was it was it was a good time hanging out with him.
Speaker: general impressions of return visit. I'll go ahead and ask Braden's question. He said, um what are your opinions on chain rod? So the converted lightning rod, which now has a chain lift hill instead of a launch. and There were a lot of differing opinions coming out about that after this weekend.
Speaker: What do you think? I think it's fine yeah it's not even close to what it used to be, which seems to be the differing opinion of the group. A lot of people are like, oh, it didn't change at all. It's still just as good.
Speaker: I don't know. I don't see it. Yeah, I mean, either. I don't know that it's really all a function of the chain lift, though. I think it's also a function of the ride just getting old Yeah, for sure. I mean, part of it is like the aging track and stuff and the very evident transition into the the old topper track where you hit a pothole. Yeah. um yeah Some people said they didn't feel that, though. That like jarred to me to my bones. Like, I don't know how you could not feel that. Yeah. I mean, I think they're like understating, obviously, because you can feel it. I think it just didn't bother them, which that's fine. Yeah.
Speaker: whatever. it It definitely felt slower to me than i remember. And the gimmick of the launch, even though it really like, I don't know, like wasn't an amazing launch or anything, but it was just fun, like to be building that speed as you're going up the hill. And so I did feel that that was missing um and just like kind of lessens the experience.
Speaker: But it's also kind of a short ride. And like it was never like a top RMC for me to begin with. I didn't get to ride it back in like the 2016. Oh, my God, this is so amazing time period. So um for for me, it it it went down. I know there were a lot of people that kind of said it it basically stayed in the same place for them or like that it was amazing.
Speaker: I don't know that that might be a vocal minority. Yeah, I think that the most noticeable speed difference was on the quad down. Like, I just remember that being so much crazier feeling than it was. But yeah, I also was paying attention to my child who was riding it for the first time and not really the ride. So yeah, yeah. But and she's ridden three RMCs and it is her least favorite.
Speaker: but the other ones she's written are what Wildcats Revenge and what's the and Twisted Timbers okay yeah I mean she's right ah yeah it's where she's right so good for her ah ah okay what else happened let's see obviously I mean for me Thunderhead is still number one in the park I love Thunderhead and it was running amazing as it has been more recently it didn't used to but um yeah it was great love Thunderhead.
Speaker: I also love Big Bear Mountain. like it is so It's the perfect family coaster because it's like actually thrilling and it's so smooth as Vekoma is. It's just such a good ride for so many people. like They really killed it with that. and It goes on forever.
Speaker: Yeah, it's a long ride. Like, i you know, I'm thinking, oh, Milo's on this coaster behind me and we're going through and i'm like, man, this is like still going. And it was more forceful than I remember. Like some of the helices like actually have positives in it. And like there is some floater and stuff.
Speaker: um Milo's one comment about it at the end was like he felt like he was getting dumped out because it really does like tilt to the side pretty far. It's not like a full 90, but like it it does kind of tip you out a little bit of the train. And so that was funny that he specifically noticed that.
Speaker: um But yeah, I got a I've previously had ridden it towards the back. And this time I got a front row ride just happenstance managed to get grouped there. And it was really good in the front. was like, oh, dang, this is such a good ride. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, really loved it. My kids both loved it. That was their favorite. Both of them. That makes sense. Yeah. What are the things you didn't ride? Because I didn't ride Wild Eagle.
Speaker: didn't ride Mystery Mine. we did. And so did both of us. I you did.
Speaker: Somehow Ben rode that. Yeah. Yeah, that happened. He had no idea what was happening. We just stuck in between Tom and Tyler and i was like, oh, like good luck child. But honestly, he was perfectly fine. And then he was absolutely terrified to get on Fire Chaser Express.
Speaker: Yep. That's funny. Yeah. I mean, Fire Chaser Express, I will say it's kind of intimidating the approach to it because it's so high. Not that there's a big drop necessarily, but like you look up and you're like, dang, that's all the way up there. But Mystery Mine is all covered up. You can't really tell like how big it is. was just so bothered by the fact that it went backward like he could not get over that was That was the scariest part to Milo too. we We ended up in the rocket area and he doesn't like loud sounds. So he was already like covering his ears frantically hoping like there wasn't going to be an explosion sound. And then we started going backwards and his little face was like,
Speaker: It was cute, but like I was like, oh, no. And then when it ended, i was like, are you okay? He's like, yeah, yeah, that was a little scary. He's like, but now that I know, now that I know, and then he wrote it again. That's awesome.
Speaker: What else? What else? I didn't get to write Tennessee Tornado because Ben didn't want to, so I let Amelia go. Yeah. And didn't try to. it It was running per usual, although it has a new paint job now, which is interesting to see.
Speaker: It doesn't look as rusty as it used to look. um Yeah, Dragonfly is still good. Nothing else really notable that I'm... Thinking of I did try Aunt Granny's restaurant for the first time, which is sort of their i want to call it buffet style. I guess it's family style, family style restaurant um where you sort of pick out entrees and sides and they just bring it all out to the table at once and everybody can try everything.
Speaker: um It wasn't like mind blowing, but it was it was pretty good. It's like better than, you know, normal theme park food. And it's kind of a unique experience to be able to eat family style and like try or try all the different things for a set price. So.
Speaker: The food lines were equally long as the ride lines. Like on Friday, we got ourselves in a situation because there was like no mobile ordering available. And like all of the places we went had super long lines and we kind of like ate a later lunch and like my kids were getting hangry and so was i So that was a little bit rough with all the school groups.
Speaker: But all of the food that I ate while we were in the park was good as per usual. Yeah. um The biscuit was really good. You loved that freaking biscuit. I love that biscuit. It was like a, I don't know, like garlic cheddar or something.
Speaker: It good yeah um i was going to hit you guys with a hot take though. And I'm going to say that the cinnamon bread is good, but it is way overrated.
Speaker: It is not what it's hyped up to be. It was so good. It was so good. They did. Did you eat it, Tyler, during the race? no No.
Speaker: I don't think I could have at that point. If it was like mile two or three, I would have, but not mile 12 or whatever was. afraid. afraid because I had heard from some of the people that did the 10K that it was like a condensed bite-sized piece of cinnamon bread and like a little like condiment thing that they handed you. And I heard that it just like got stuck in your mouth and they didn't have water with it. Right. Oh my gosh. So you're like running with that stuff in your mouth. Yeah. And it's like hard enough to fuel while you're running. Just imagine cinnamon bread, like soaking up all the remaining hydration you have and getting stuck in your mouth. I was like, hell no. I was like, I am not doing that. For us, it was at like mile 11 and a half.
Speaker: That's just the wrong timing. I did consider taking the little condiment thing and holding it for a mile and a half and eating it. I didn't do it. into it Like little reward. Yeah, think you can go up to your local dying mall to the Cinnabon and get something that's just as good. No.
Speaker: No. Cinnamon bread is unique. And it's unique between the different parks that do it. Yes. I like Dollywood's the best. I do like the different flavors that Silver Dollar City has, but something about the crunch of the cinnamon on the Dollywood bread is different. And it it's so good.
Speaker: I didn't get any crunch on mine. Plus, is it really that unique? Well, now it's not because Urshan's rolled it out to every one of their properties. that's what ah That's what I'm saying. You said it's unique between all the parks that offer it.
Speaker: No, it is. i mean, that's what I'm saying. The only only Dollywood cinnamon bread tastes like that because the one at the one at Silver Dollar City does not. It's different. I like to the one at Kentucky Kingdom better.
Speaker: I haven't tried that yet. That's like the. be yeah is said It's been like three years, but yeah, I would like to try that. Uh, okay. What else? What else Dollywood anything?
Speaker: What are we missing? We did some mountain coasters. Oh yeah. Yeah. A lot of them. Some people, I think Zach did like 11. but yeah i just know There are that many around, so it's believable. Steve did also.
Speaker: Yeah, Steve. I met Steve at a plus one and he was doing all of them. um But the ones that we did at a group were ah one of the newest ones there. Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster, which is dual track, which is pretty cool. um Unique concept. um When I raced, I didn't really sync up with it was Chris from Austin across from me and he was so far behind. I was like, dang.
Speaker: I'm going win no matter what. um But it it was a cool concept. The right side seemed pretty crazy. like Was it? So I didn't ride the left side, but I only rode the right. But people that rode both said the right side was way faster. Interesting. it seemed like you were about to... The back of the sled was about to like fall off the tracks, which...
Speaker: That sounds like a very like GP thing to say, but yeah, maybe I need to try that. Cause I only did the left side. normalrold I only did the left side. Oh, do yeah. interesting Interesting. I had to leave a cred to pick up when I go back.
Speaker: Uh, so we did that one and then we returned to our, one of our favorites, uh, lost mine, which has some really cute theming on it. Um, it's pretty long, lots of lift Hills and, um, cool lighting at night and everything. And it seemed like everybody enjoyed that.
Speaker: It's borderline spooky. A little bit. Yeah. Yeah. You know what else is spooky? You missed it, Joey, because you weren't in there. Ben had a real spooky nightmare on Saturday night into Sunday when we were trying to sleep for our race. It was so weird.
Speaker: Was he talking? me Wait, you weren't in there, Joey? No. He went into the open king bed. i didn't want to wake you guys up because I knew. Yes. I was worried about waking you up. So I just took an open bed.
Speaker: Did you not want to wake us up or you didn't want to get woken up when we woke up? Oh, to be honest with you, I hadn't even thought of that, but that would have been terrible too. Yeah, it was 3.45. didn't think about the 3.45 alarm. I was just like, I don't want to wake up the kids. But apparently they were awake anyway. Oh, Ben said some real spooky stuff. he So I'm like finally asleep, like in a dead sleep. And all of a sudden I hear...
Speaker: Mama, Mama. And I'm like, yes, Ben, what? And I'm like answering him, but he's like not understanding that I'm answering. And then I hear him like scamper over to where your bunk bed was. So he like moved from his top to Joey's top, which were like in an L shape. And he's like over there leaning over the edge.
Speaker: above Tyler and I'm like I could see him because I'm on the bottom underneath where his was and he's leaning and i I like jumped up I was like Ben Ben no like come to the ladder and I finally get him to come around and he's his eyes are still closed but he's saying mama come with me oh no i was like say what He kept saying, come with me. And I'm like, come down here here. Let's go to the bathroom. Let's wake up. I like take him in the bathroom to pee. He comes out and he's still, his eyes are closed and he's like getting into bed with me, which I let him because I'm like, what the heck's going on? He kept saying, mama, come with me. And he fell asleep on me, but he was shaking.
Speaker: It was weird. was real weird. Oh, wow. I really missed out. I don't know what's going on in there, but.
Speaker: like i was adopted I was about to perform an exorcism. So i very on theme. And then I asked him about it the next day and he had no clue what I was talking about. Oh yeah. Yeah. That was me when I used to have night terrors. I come downstairs and my mom would be like, do you remember what happened last night? I'm like, what are you talking about? Yeah. He doesn't usually have like terrors like that. Like he'll wake up and come in and say, I had a bad dream or like, I need somebody snuggle with me. That happens all the time. So I thought that's all it was, but he, there was something, something was going on. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. About those woods. Yeah. And you guys in the cabin too, which doesn't help. I know. And he's like, Captain, come with me. And I'm like, where, Ben? Where? my gosh. Yeah. ah ah yeah So anyway, ah mountain coasters and then um some of us went up to Anakista on Sunday. ah It's pretty, pretty nice views up there. um It's very well maintained and has like nice landscaping and stuff.
Speaker: We did like a treetop walk. That was pretty cool. um And that's all I concluded. And we only got to do one of the two months and mountain coasters, at least while I was up there, because Of course, Railrunner, like the crazy one that everyone talks about, was closed.
Speaker: And it didn't open until like two hours after we got there. And we just wanted to leave. So I didn't get to ride that. But it's a nice place. um And it was it was pretty cool to to go up there and see it.
Speaker: Yeah, you're definitely missing out, though, with Railrunner closed and the ski lift closed. I mean, those are two best parts of it. Yeah, yeah, I can imagine the the views from the gondola pretty cool. The truck ride up was interesting, though, because it's like open air and you're going through the mountains and winding your way up. But yeah, the gondola would have been a better view.
Speaker: i will' see maybe Maybe I'll go back. ah the the It was like 10 minutes, maybe the truck ride up to the top. Yeah. I mean, they're not going super fast because they're big and they have to like negotiate sharp turns. But um yeah.
Speaker: So that was interesting. I think that's pretty much it. Yeah. So it was a fun time. um Night flight is just amazing. Not even close to being done. So we'll see if that opens the season. If it does, I'll go and report back.
Speaker: I don't know if anybody else wants to, but um it'll, it'll be interesting to see when that ride opens, what it's going to be like. All right. yeah So. um We've had other ah theme park visits. Tyler, you were on a long road trip, I guess.
Speaker: and Part of that included a stop at Six Flags Over Georgia. Yeah, I kind of just like planned a trip to drive to Mississippi. i mean, I was going like I was seeing a concert in Mississippi, but really it was just because I haven't been to Alabama and Mississippi yet, and it's I'm trying to go to all 50 states. So I was like, it's a good excuse to to head down there. But that trip took me right through Atlanta. um I was trying to go to Six Flags on Friday, and I didn't realize until like the day before that it is closed on Fridays, which I thought was kind of bizarre because like it's Georgia. The weather is pretty nice this time of year. It's a huge population area.
Speaker: Um, but yeah, it was closed and I texted you Joey about it and your explanation made sense that they just can't staff it just because the pay sucks and there's so many other options in the metro area.
Speaker: yup It's basically all high school kids that work there. So they were all in school on Friday. Yeah. So, but, uh, Sunday on the way back, I was able to stop in for like an hour and a half.
Speaker: um broke up my 12 hour drive home that I thought was a good idea when I planned it and it was not. But um anyways, um got in. okay First of all, the toll situation was atrocious.
Speaker: Why do they only have four tolls to get into the parking lot? It was backed up on a Sunday. Yeah, it was like 30 minutes after opening. We were backed up all the way to the like ticket area.
Speaker: Interesting. I've never seen that before on a Sunday at least. Saturdays, yeah. But yeah, there's only four. It's not a lot. Yeah, and they only staffed three of them. So um yeah, not great there. But it did only it take like 15 minutes, which wasn't terrible compared to what it looked like.
Speaker: Because I was like, I don't even want to do this. I want to turn around, but there's nowhere to turn around. So I was just kind of stuck. um Let's see. Got in took a right, and Twisted Cyclone was already like three quarters of the way full, so kept on going. It's still on one train, so that's why.
Speaker: Ah, yeah. Yeah. I'm glad I didn't even try then because that would have been probably over an hour. And I knew I had like two hours max if I wanted to make it home by 10 p.m.
Speaker: because I was working the next day. So um went around, found the mine train, which I did not ride last time, hopped on that like a one train weight. I think that thing's kind of fun. It's definitely very janky, but I don't know. There's something cool about just going so close to the ground. And I love a three lift hill ride for whatever reason. Yeah. Yeah, it's a classic. I ride it almost every time I go there just because there's never a line.
Speaker: It's just unique. um And then the main reason I wanted to go was to hit Gold Rusher, which I don't think i even remember that they changed the name from Surfer.
Speaker: It is a better theme, more appropriate for the area than the surfing thing. Yeah, it it does seem that way for sure. But I had a hard time finding it. Maybe I just don't know the park well, but I feel like I could see it and I thought it was very close, but I still had to walk another like quarter mile before I could get to the entrance.
Speaker: It's very weirdly ah located the entrance. You have to go all the way down to like the the ravine or whatever to get to it. Yeah, right. Yeah. But I thought it was really fun. did like 15 minutes. um It kind of felt like Pantheon, just the top hat and um whatever you call it, the straight track part.
Speaker: Great Hank time at the top. um Water effects were better than no water effects, I guess. Kind of weird, but... um Steaming is fine, but it looks very nice in that area.
Speaker: i appreciated it. It did not spin as much as I thought it would. I got maybe like a quarter rotation throughout the whole ride. Yeah. Yeah. that you are They did an upgrade on it. Intamin did. They added a whole bunch more fins to it to try to get it to spin more, but it's just, it's not enough to overcome the momentum of a bunch of people sitting in a circle.
Speaker: Right. if you get an unbalanced car, which is really only possible when there's no line, it it will kind of pick up and spin a little bit more. um But it's it's very random when it happens. It's a lot of times you'll get a ride where it barely spins at all.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, that's fine with me. I don't like spinning rides anyway. So no complaints here. um But yeah, it seemed like a great addition to the park. I thought it was pretty fun. Very, very short. I feel like I would have liked maybe one more one more cycle yeah each slide. but If you've gotten one more pass with like that ejector airtime, that would have been great. yeah Yeah. there There is some good ejector on it, actually, which I was surprised.
Speaker: um Let's see. Went to Great American Scream Machine. i had not ridden that since the retrack. And I don't know.
Speaker: It was fine. It's it needs gravity group. I didn't have a problem with it, honestly, when I wrote it in probably twenty one. Like it was very rough, but I feel like it was sort of that woody charm that it gave.
Speaker: And now it's a little smoother, but it just doesn't do very much. Yeah, it's it's inoffensive, but it's not exciting. Right, exactly. i do like the water element, but got that. um Walked past Goliath. I really wanted to ride Goliath, but the wait was probably about 30 minutes. It was maybe like four or five switchbacks downstairs.
Speaker: which normally when I see it, it's like on the stairs. So yeah, it's a bit long for that. Yeah. So skipped it. Unfortunately, i I was just ready to hit the road, grabbed some mediocre chicken tenders with my dining plan and headed out.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's over Georgia. Yeah. I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish besides a Goliath ride, I guess, but I got the new cred, so I was happy enough.
Speaker: Glad they finally opened it this season. Nice. Yeah, because it wasn't open before, right? Earlier. now I think the first three weeks it wasn't open. So I think you caught it on its first ah first weekend of operation.
Speaker: Nice. Yeah. yeah there i mean yeah yeah I finally got lucky on a cred. That's amazing. Yep. Yep. All right. Well, Rafa also had some adventures on a cruise. Tell us about it.
Speaker: Yeah, I had definitely had some FOMO when it came to Dollywood. But glad you guys had a great time. but Yeah, this this past weekend, we actually went on a three night cruise to the Bahamas with MSC, which we've never gone with MSC Cruise Line before. And I didn't know what to expect because I heard a lot of like negative comments about the food and like the quality of like, I guess, what they had to do, like the activities and all. And I actually really enjoyed it.
Speaker: Like it's such a cheap cruise line, um like not quality wise, but like just price point is very cheap. We actually got, it was an interior room with the drink package and wifi included for 500 bucks, which is like what you would normally pay for like probably most of an interior room through Royal Caribbean or even carnival nowadays I'm hearing is very expensive. Is that $500 total or each?
Speaker: $500 each. Yeah, so each person paid $500. Yeah, so the cabin was $1,000 for Shay and I. um But we each had the drink package and then we had the Wi-Fi and and yeah in the room. So it in my opinion, I think it's you get it's a lot of bang for your buck for sure.
Speaker: um i really enjoyed it. Yeah. What did we do exactly? um We didn't really do any excursions when we went to the Bahamas. Like we really, we've done the cruises before. And if you've gone on a cruise before and you've gone to the Bahamas, it's like the same thing every single time you go.
Speaker: So we didn't even like, we just got off the ship for maybe like an hour or two at the Bahamas. And then we just went back to the ship and just did everything that they had there. um One fun thing that we did, we actually did a yoga class. And the yoga class was with alcohol, like it was with drinks. So you had to have like you had to hold a glass of whatever you were drinking and do all of these yoga poses and like stretches and exercises with that one hand holding the drink.
Speaker: that sounds kind of hard. It was very hard. And they were anticipating, they were like totally expecting for like people to like, drop yeah, but we, I mean, I don't think any of us dropped that. think the instructor actually dropped her, her drink, um, which was pretty funny, but yeah, that was a funny activity that I didn't expect to do on the ship.
Speaker: Um, What else? um They had a pretty solid like water park in there. The food was really good. The shows were fun. um of course, you're not going to get like the quality that you would get out of like a Royal Caribbean cruise. Royal Caribbean is like...
Speaker: the cruise line. Um, but I mean, everything was pretty solid. Um, one thing that I thought was interesting though, is that since their ships are smaller, they do reservation systems when it comes to their like shows, like their productions in the evening.
Speaker: And at first, like I wasn't crazy about it, but honestly, like their app is super easy to use. So like, all you have to do is the day of you just, you know, make sure that you reserve for you and your party and you're good.
Speaker: Um, They had three shows. um So one for each night. The first night was ah like a queen tribute. And then they had a Michael Jackson night. And then they had like a Neverland.
Speaker: I don't even know what that was. like it was that it was called Peter Punk. And I have no idea what that even means. um But. Like, I don't even think Peter Pan was ever in it. All I saw was like a Captain Hook guy and like a bunch of like random characters doing like acrobatic things, which was a cool show to watch, but I just don't get what the point was. But whatever. It was a fun watch. um What else did we do?
Speaker: um And then on our last day, they take you to the MSC, um like their private island, which was really nice. A couple of friends, the friends that we went with, they actually surprised Shay and I as like as a wedding gift. They got us like a private cabana on the beach there, which was really nice.
Speaker: And It actually ended up being free because like a piece of wood fell from the top of the, of the cabana. And funny enough, i was standing right where it fell. i was standing under it for maybe about like 20 or 30 minutes with my drink, just talking with everybody.
Speaker: and the moment that I stepped away to go to the bathroom, like I heard everybody in the cabana, like being really loud and obnoxious. And I'm like what the hell are they going crazy about? And it's because apparently right when I walked off, like the piece of wood fell like right there where was. So because of that little incident, we got the cab, the cabana for free, which was pretty neat, but.
Speaker: How's the word? Wait, what? How big was this piece of wood? was like, ah I mean, it was pretty long, actually. Like, i I don't think it would have, like, killed me or anything like that. Like, I don't think I would have been that bad, but it would have hurt not killed. but it wouldn't have killed me. No, no, no, no.
Speaker: I think I mean, i don't even think stitches would have been necessary either. But you should have just you should have just stayed there a little bit longer and the whole cruise would have been free. oh my gosh, we tried to do that. We're like, Rafa, like lay there. And I'm like, okay, fine. I guess i'll lay there for a second. And I tried to lay there, but like the attendant didn't get there. Like, and we were just like, you know, we had a couple of drinks at that point. We were just joking around the whole time. So we're like, we're not going to pull this off. Like, whatever. Let's just see what they give us. And that's it. So we got to freak a free cabana out of it. But, um,
Speaker: But yeah, all in all, I mean, I recommend it. Like if like with MSC, like their cruises are definitely on the smaller side, but they're perfect for like the weekend.
Speaker: um I don't really, i mean, maybe, mean, maybe i would try a longer sailing with them, but I feel like for a weekend cruise, like it's more than enough. The amount of the, the amount of activities that you get on the ship, you know, the food quality.
Speaker: um i think the only thing that i didn't, that I wasn't crazy about was like their, their special drinks, like their cocktails and all, they didn't have much variety. um So the drink package was good. If you just wanted like your beer or like your generic rum and Cokes or margaritas or stuff like that, like their specialty drinks weren't anything special. um But I mean, besides that, honestly, like everything was pretty good.
Speaker: So yeah, I would definitely recommend cruising with them because we had a good time. Nice. Sounds fun. I've been met on a cruise in a while. That might be.
Speaker: That's something we've talked about. Some Buzz Bars people getting. was just about to make that comment. Can we please make that happen? i feel like call Unless there was a roller coaster on the ship, we'd have to call it a shindig. But why not? i mean. Yeah, I think the dis thist the Disney Cruise have. Oh, I don't know if a Disney Cruise would be a good idea with Buzz Bars.
Speaker: yeah Why is that? Oh, I just think family friendly. I don't oh know about that. Yeah, know. Some of the carnival ships have those bolt. Yeah, that's what was going to say. That might be something we can look at. Well, Coaster Studios does their like group trip every year, I think on the whatever ship has the bolt. i don't remember. but Yeah, we might want to do a shorter one to start out at some point, but we'll see. We'll see. Yeah, it's really fun.
Speaker: All right. Last part, chills. um I think before we do the game, I'm going to do some of the questions that we had because they are related to chills. um So we got a question from Keith who said, um keeping in line with kind of Dollywood's theme, um if they were to actually go full send on a horror or spooky Halloween event,
Speaker: What would be some good ideas for them to use? It's an interesting question. It's almost hard to imagine Dollywood going actually scary because they just do the like pumpkin happy corn festival vibes for Halloween.
Speaker: um But I don't know. i feel like you could leverage some of the stuff that they have there and expand upon it to have some fun houses like a Tennessee tornado house.
Speaker: yeah If it's been like destroyed by a tornado or something, that could be kind of cool. Like if they went with like the theme of the coasters? Yeah. Just general themes around the park, yeah. um They could do like a ah firehouse one for Fire Chaser.
Speaker: Mystery Mine basically is a haunted house. That would be kind of fun to like add to the storyline with a house somehow. What else? Big Bear Mountain, you could have bears like Yeti. Ooh, yes.
Speaker: And actually put an outdoor one in the woods with bears. That would be great. um Let's see. What other themes? i don't really know what you do with Thunderhead.
Speaker: i think a general just like mountain man type of one would be cool, but... Yeah, like moonshine guys and all of that. Yeah. I don't know why this just popped into my head, but like zombified Dolly impersonators.
Speaker: was thinking you that too, but... Also, Dolly is like the icon of Dollywood. That would actually be kind of weird and scary. Dollywood would be hilarious. She would never, though. She's like so particular about her ending.
Speaker: Never happened. um I could definitely see like a scarecrow one or like a corn maze one just because of what they've got going on there. And then they do have the... um Is it called County Fair? I can't remember exactly what that section of the park is, but like the kids area. It's kind of fair themed, so you could kind of do a carnival-esque, clown-ish type thing over there.
Speaker: Honestly, there's a lot of... yeah Things that they could kind of tie into. The theming is like already there. So yeah, it would kind of work. hollywood But also the craftsman's Valley gets really dark at night. That would be an amazing scare zone.
Speaker: Yeah. i don't even care what the theme is like. It would be. oh you know, what it could be. It could be themed to the birds because they have the eagle exhibit. It could be like a bird scare zone. It's just dark.
Speaker: yeah I like it. That's kind of fun to think about. I wish they would do it now. yeah And his second part of the question was, if you could only gain access to that event by finishing a full marathon at Dollywood, would you do it? Yes. I would do a full marathon just because. Joey, your answer is no. i already know.
Speaker: I'll do it. I just don't know how fast I don't even know if I would do a half. Forget about a full marathon. Like have fun.
Speaker: it would be diabolical if you had to go and like do all of that right after the race. Oh my gosh. What if they gave you like fast lane or whatever they call it for the whole year?
Speaker: For the whole year? Yeah. I don't even know. i don't know.
Speaker: The thing is like I would walk a 10k or a 5k but walking a marathon would take so long. That take you like 10 hours. Yeah. It's just like, it makes no sense. And I'm not a distance runner. I can sprint pretty well actually, but distance running is just not my vibe. I just, it it wears me out so fast.
Speaker: ah So most people would Keith, not I. the auto floor If it we're actually real, maybe I would. I don't know. ah i think you'd do it.
Speaker: I might, I might. It would be so shocking to have a Halloween event like that at Dollywood that I might have to just because it would be so unexpected. All right, cool.
Speaker: Well, that's all our questions. So we're going to move on to a little game. um We've I think Rafa, you were scrolling Tic Tac, right? I was as I always do. I was scrolling through TikTok and I actually saw um but they were doing it with coasters. It's kind of like a blind ranking where basically um you're going to give somebody a list of in their case was 10 houses. But for us or 10 coasters, but for us, it's going to be 10 houses and you're going to blindly rank them from elite, great, good or mid. You only get one elite spot and then you get three choices. i mean, you get three spots for great, good and mid.
Speaker: So yeah we did a random name selection. So we'll have Joey listing for Kelly and then Kelly for me, Tyler for Joey, me for Tyler.
Speaker: And yeah. Yeah. And the houses that we picked are um from HHN Orlando because we've all been there starting in 2023, 24, 25. So that was a list of 30 houses. And then we also threw in the four houses at Horror Unleashed in Vegas because we have all also done that. So we should um be aware of all of these houses. so All of us have done them. So we kind of know what they are.
Speaker: We just don't know what order they're going to come at us in or how to place them properly. So that's the interesting part. ah um All right, I guess. I'm starting with Kelly. Here we go.
Speaker: face right now. I'm so excited for this. And mine are randomized. um So i'll I'll give you the year as well. They're kind of all over the place. All right.
Speaker: Number one, Kelly. The Darkest Deal 2023. damn. up the
Speaker: rankings as help. oh do you have to pull your list? Can you say how many there are for each one? Yeah. There's one elite, three great, yeah three good, three mid. Yeah. um I'm going to say i'm gonna say great. I really love the Darkest Deal and could potentially put it as elite. There's a couple houses I have ranked higher than it, and I would be okay if a couple that I have ranked lower than it end up at elite. So we're going to say great.
Speaker: I love the Darkest Deal. Love. That's a good one. We'll see what happens. hi Number two, the horrors of the Wyatt six, 2025.
Speaker: Love that too. um I'm also going to go with great. Actually. i really love that house. Only one more great left.
Speaker: I know. not real quick. so All right. Number three, goblins feast, 2024. Okay. um I am going put Goblin's Feast at good.
Speaker: Yeah. That's what I expected. Okay. know. Yeti Campground Kills 2023. all right ah number four yeti campground kills twenty twenty three Yeah, that's really good.
Speaker: So everything is in my rank order so far, and I actually have Yeti between Wyatt Six and Goblin's Feast. I am going to put it at good because I don't want to take up all my grades yet.
Speaker: This is number five, Galkin, Monsters of the North, 2025. I loved Galkin so much. Yeah, yeah I'm going to take my third grade for Galkin, I think.
Speaker: All right. Number six, Universal Monsters at Horror Unleashed. Mid. yeah I like that.
Speaker: All right. This is number seven, Major Sweets Candy Factory 2024. Oh, i liked Major Sweets too. Here we go. um ah Easy me.
Speaker: um
Speaker: See, it's interesting. I have it higher than Goblin's Feast. I'm going to go with good. So I only have two mids and one elite left. yeah yeah Okay. Here we go.
Speaker: Number eight. Dueling dragons, choose thy fate. Mid.
Speaker: Happy with that. All right. Number nine. of
Speaker: Insidious the further. Elite. This is working out for you. This is working out for me because that's the highest ranked house I have. so yeah And the last one.
Speaker: Dolls. Let's play dead. Oh my gosh. That worked out perfectly for you. Killed it. Killed it. day I almost switched the order on the last two just to mess her up, but I decided to be faithful to the list that I wrote.
Speaker: oh my God. i did so great. ah Yeah. Honestly, that's a pretty good ranking.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm not that mad at any of that.
Speaker: All right. I'm up next for Rafa. All right. Okay, so mine have a theme, but I'm not going to say it or you guys can guess it at the end. Okay.
Speaker: So the first one is dr Oddfellow's Twisted Origins. Hmm. That is a good one. but I feel like you're going to throw me, you're going throw better ones at me. I'll go with good.
Speaker: Okay. Next, I have Goblin's Feast. Hmm. I want to go with mid, but I feel like you're going to even worse at me.
Speaker: ah You know what? Fuck it. Put it in mid. Globulin. Globulins.
Speaker: Okay. Next we have Slaughter Cinema 2. That
Speaker: that one was a good one. I'll go with... I'll put that... I'll give that one of the grades. All right. Next we have 2. Oh, that's mid.
Speaker: For sure. That's the easiest one so far. Okay. Next we have hatchet and chains. Ooh. Okay. hu That is tough. but i want to play it safe and I'll put that in elite.
Speaker: Okay. I'll go with elite, but I feel like you're to throw something that is better than that, but i that's, there's not much better than that. Yeah, exactly. Like that's, that's really good.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. Next we have darkest deal. I'll put that. I'll go with good. Okay. Next we have Monsters Eternal Bloodlines.
Speaker: You know, I don't even remember that one that much. That was the all-female cast. Yeah. Yeah. But i had I did have some good runs in that one. It was very variable for me, so that's that's tough.
Speaker: Yeah. Because I remember having like some pretty shitty runs at the beginning, and then towards the end of the season, it got so good. Yeah. Yeah. We have two great, one good and one mid left.
Speaker: Yeah, I think, you know what? I'll put that. a Okay. You know what? I'll put that at good. I'll go with good. ah so so yeah i feel it. I feel like this is not going to be good. Okay. Next we have museum deadly exhibits.
Speaker: Okay. Okay. I'll put it at great only because I feel like there's going really bad one coming. Next we have Galkin. Ooh.
Speaker: Okay. Yeah. That's going to have to be a great. I can't. Okay. So what what the fuck is my last mid? You're fine. It's dolls. Oh my gosh. Thank God. Okay.
Speaker: Okay. That's a pretty good list too. That is good. I'm not mad at it. I'm not mad at it. I'm not mad at it. I would i would definitely flip a couple things. For me personally. I wasn't like a huge plotter cinema person.
Speaker: Darkest deal is too low. Museum is too high. I actually wasn't even crazy about Darkest Deal, honestly. When you said that, I was reminded that that's not your favorite. yeah Yeah, it wasn't my favorite. So I was okay with putting that there just because I feel like the theme was it was worth being ah in the good category, I think.
Speaker: Okay, do you guys know what the theme is? I was trying to think and ah what is it? um Oh, wait, there. Oh, yeah, was gonna say they're all originals, but you have Fallout in there.
Speaker: No clue. Hold on. Hold on. do I got nothing. Tyler has a thinking face.
Speaker: They're all in like the same three tents in the back. Yeah. They're all. wait. They're all tent houses. Yeah. Ah, yeah, they are. Yeah. That's interesting. All right.
Speaker: All right. Joey. Let's see. I don't know if I was too cruel or not cruel enough. I don't know. We'll see how it plays out. He's trying to psych me out.
Speaker: mine Not too bad. mean, maybe. We'll see how it plays out. First one is the Last of Us. Mid. Number two, Insidious.
Speaker: Ooh. Um... That's a big decision early. Yeah. yeah But for me, it's going to go on great. Okay.
Speaker: Number three, we have dolls. Mid. Why did we all put this on our list? Because we all hate it. Because we all thought it was
Speaker: See, I thought everyone was going to but Chucky. ah Number four, Blood Moon. Elite. Oh, okay.
Speaker: I respect that. Yeah. That might be controversial, but I don't care. I mean, I respect it. It's, it's, you know, I love, I love Blood Moon. Me too. ah Number five, El Artista.
Speaker: Great. You guys would put it in good. i would put it in great actually. I'd put it in low good. All right. Number six, the darkest deal. Ooh.
Speaker: Okay. i only have one mid left, a lot of good and one great. I'm going to put that in good. Okay. Number seven, we have Yeti campground kills.
Speaker: I love Yeti. um yeah Interesting. I'm worried that there's not going to be another great. i don't know. I don't know. I'll hold on. I'll put it in good.
Speaker: Number eight. Yeah. Number eight. Five nights at Freddy's. Oh, mid. Thank God I still have that. and There's to be something worse.
Speaker: Oh, no. Number nine. Triplets of terror. Oh, that should be mid, but it's going to go in good. Watch Chucky come next. Oh, boy.
Speaker: And your last one, Chucky, ultimate kill count. know ah fine I'm filling my notes, so Joey doesn't think I pulled an audible. It's on there.
Speaker: but Oh, well. I should have put Yeti in great. That would have worked out better. I was not expecting you do well, and yeah. It's not terrible, though. It's not terrible. I mean, it's not. I mean, all of the things I put in mid are mid.
Speaker: There's just yeah more mid. yeah There was just a lot of mid. yeah All right. My turn. with Tyler's turn. all right. So the first one...
Speaker: First one is The Weekend, After Hours Nightmare. o At Orlando, right? Because you didn't do the holiday. In Orlando. Yeah. um I'm going to go good. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: All right. So the next one, Dueling Dragons, Choose Thy Faith. I did like that house. So did um o This is tough. It's either good mid-throw.
Speaker: Hmm. I'm trying to decide if I think you're going to screw with me a lot or not. I think I'm going to put it in mid. I did like it, though. Okay. All right. So the next one is Blood Moon, Dark Offerings.
Speaker: It's either great or elite. um Yeah, let's go great. All right. Next is Chucky, which I did have this on my white list. Yeah, it's mid.
Speaker: All right, next is Terrifier. oh gosh. It's another great early because I loved Terrifier. oh All right, i I'm going to hold out. I think I'm going to put it great.
Speaker: All right, and the next one is Scarecrow in Vegas. Okay. um Yeah, I'll put it at good. I mean, it was a great house, but I don't think the Vegas ones can really compare to the Orlando ones for the most part.
Speaker: All right, next is Triplets of Terror. Hmm. Good or mid? I think you're going to throw a mid one at me, so I'm going to say good. All right. So, okay. So, so far you have elite and then you have one good, i'm sorry, one great and one mid. So next I have bugs eaten alive from 2022. I'm screw myself, aren't I? yeah.
Speaker: See, I would put that in good, but I use my good spaces. I'm going to put it great because I think you have a really good one and a really bad one coming. All right. So the next one is Monstros, the Monsters of Latin America.
Speaker: okay it's got to be mid. So your elite. Oh, no. Your elite is the Horrors of Blumhouse.
Speaker: I'm kidding. I'm fucking with you. It's actually, it's Deadman's Pier. Oh. Oh, okay. Even Blumhouse, that's not, like, horrible. There could definitely be worse, but... Yeah.
Speaker: But yeah, Deadman's Pier. You had a good one. Once I saw it, I'm like, okay, yeah, he's going to finish with a good one. I'm pretty happy with that, then. I think I probably would have put Blood Moon Elite, then, and put Deadman's Pier great, honestly. Interesting.
Speaker: Yeah, I like both of those a lot. I'm happy with that list. We all did pretty well, I feel like. Yeah. Except my Chucky and Great. Jeez. It's painful.
Speaker: I probably did put too many nids. I should have put another. I wasn't thinking about it, though, either. Like, you know, picking out three specifically nids. I would not change mine a single one on mine.
Speaker: Yeah, I should have thought about the order of it more. Yeah, it's just kind of worked out. actually Not bad. That was cool. Yeah, think would probably just flip meet museum and Dr. Oddfellow. Just those two.
Speaker: Yeah, but everything else is good. Yeah. Let us know if you guys enjoyed that. We had fun doing it. so We'll have to try again in a couple of years when we have some more houses under our belts.
Speaker: and That'll get really random, just picking different years and all over the place. yeah all right Or we could do scare um scare zones. yeah We could add some more stuff into the mix. That could be interesting for sure.
Speaker: all right well Hopefully we'll have an announcement soon. yeah my gosh yeah I feel like it's in a minute. That's all we've got this week. So we're just waiting and seeing what's going to happen over the next two weeks.
Speaker: um We'll see you guys soon. yeah Hopefully we get an announcement from Universal. um haven't really seen anything. I've seen a lot of back and forth about how this Scream Early is going to work with the no real answers. Certain Universal people are saying that it's going to be one way and then other ones are saying it's going to be another way.
Speaker: so Very I did hear one thing, though, that I want to mention. um I think it was from HHN three six five. So shout out to them. But um they said on some Facebook group, somebody emailed guest relations and guest relations said that the scream early 2 p.m. opening is only for the scream early. It is not for the stand screen. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker: So so they've gotten that answer. And then other guest relations people said the opposite. that your past gets you in. So there are screenshots all over Facebook of people at Universal saying one thing and then another thing. and it's not meshing up.
Speaker: ah But yeah, I saw the same one that Tyler did. things That's one of those things as a guest services worker, just like, don't say anything. Just say more details will be released. Yeah. Yeah. And I think some of them might not even fully understand the question that's being asked. And they're just like, well, yeah, your pass gets you in early because you can get in anytime. But they don't understand these like early house thing.
Speaker: They might not even know it. It's on the website. Yeah. Or they're they're answering five emails per minute and half of it's with chat GPT. Right. It's just a bot. ah yeah yeah Yeah. But we shall see. Hopefully more to come on that front.
Speaker: And yeah, thanks for listening. um Follow us on whatever your podcast platform is. um Instagram, thrillschillsandspills. And so you can follow along. And thanks for listening. And stay spooky.
Speaker: Bye. Bye. That's tea, actually.
