So on July 3 we leave to Tampa International Airport at 6 in the morning. Three was nobody on the flight which was really shocking! We fly into Philadelphia around 9:30, we have bout an hour to kill for my Grandma and Grandpa's flight from Ireland to come into from there trip they had before this one. So we went to the Rocky statue, and go up the huge steps like in the movie too! We eventually pick them up and on the highway, we drive past the Philadelphia sports team stadiums which are very nice by the way. I wish Tampa could make them so close together in one parking lot. We get to our Renaissance hotel, not very far from the action where we go. We see the Liberty Bell and were they signed the Deceleration of Independence and that's about it for day one, here are the pictures!
On day two it was the fourth of July, so there was many festivals, celebrations, and parades of what happened 236 years ago. We mainly go into the visitors centers to learn about it and there were many people dressed up of what they wore back then. I would of love to got to Hersey's Park or Dorney Park since we weren't to far away from them but, there weren't alot of billboards for them. Finally, my Dad and I go on are first real train ride, not the silly old fashioned ones at Busch Gardens, a Acela one. I do have a miniature model of the train by the way. So ya we were flying by the way to Baltimore, were they would pick us up to Washington D.C. We go see the fireworks next to the Washington Monument, which was huge by the way. The definelty need to add a drop tower on the side of it. But, you can't go up into it because there was a Earthquake not to far away last August, the made it very unstable and put so cracks in to the bricks holding it up. Here are the pictures for that day!
That's alot of cupcakes and cake, the line was huge to get a piece
George Washington's grave
The parade
The house were they made the first U.S. flag, I forget the girls name who did it
On top of the station, you could fall into the train tracks if you weren't looking, but you could climb out on the short side for the Septa train. We were in Delaware at the time too
I took these beautiful pictures!
the final encore at the end was awesome and fast, the worst part was all the people trying to get to the metro(subway) at the same time, it was so hot and humid down there
Okay, here's the rest of my vacation! So on day three we took the hop on hop off sightseeing buses that are always driving around D.C. everyday. We went to the World War 2 memorial which is right between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument too. After going to the Lincoln memorial, took the sightseeing bus to the Jefferson memorial which offered a great view of D.C. We went to the Vietnam memorial where they have all of the troops who died in the war. Finally, we go to the Holocaust cemetery where you can take a tram ride that look like the ones at Universal Studios Hollywood up to many things with three stops included. You also get to see the grave of where John F Kennedy is and his family too, you have to be super quiet when around it and show respect. The Richelieu of the changing of the guards is something you don't want to miss but, does get boring after a while before it starts watching a solider doing the same walking steps back and forth over and over again. I did get to see where they made the U.S. paper money. It was a forty minute tour and you get to watch down on the very little workers and the machine print the flying money out, it was cool! that was what happened on day three, here are the pictures. You guys are probably waiting for my birthday and my BGE trip report by now.
I'm holding the Washington Monument badly!
The Jefferson monument
The Lincoln monument
The Vietnam memorial
The holocaust church
The changing of the guards area
A fantastic view of D.C.
There was no picture taking allowed ob the tour but, in the gift shop there was. It was organized nicely with a huge queue to lead you to the next stop!
Dang, I'm always stuck at 5'8.
On day four, we went to the White House to get a self guided walk through tour that takes you to certain rooms only for the public to go. Guess who I saw, the presidents dog bow twice, I guess he got out, or was going to the bathroom outside, he was huge but, no pictures where allowed inside, only outside. During security they had a k-nine behind a wall sniffing you from a fan blowing on you for a few seconds then the next person went, I thought it was neat. Next, we went to capital building which it was beautiful in there with many paintings and statues of famous people in America back then. After we got a tour of the capital, we went to the House of representatives chamber we Obama does tons of his speeches. That room was huge with tons of seats in it to watch, bu no one was there. We went to the senate and legislative buildings which were under construction and where they do court for along time. Finally, we saw where Abraham Lincoln died, he got assassinated in the theater right across the street, bu the line was huge for that. I also saw the Version Center where the Wizards and Capitals play. Here are the pics!
On day five which was 7/7/12, we went to the Smithsonian museums. We already went to the main huge one twice, which was cool with many exhibits there and things to do. First, we went to the American History museum with three floors of exhibits but, many of them were closed off for construction. They also had some simulators that costed money, it was funny, because it was right next to the huge food court with everyone in it. My Grandpa would of thrown up on the ride. I'm not a huge fan of simulator, only Star Tours 2. The food court would of reminded me of the Tomorrowland food court at the Magic Kingdom. After that, we went to dinner at the Washington food place next to the monument and guess what happened, my grandpa got a free pull-pork sandwich from the cashier, because he said that he was homeless ans he wasn't, and his name was Ed like the cashier's name too, they high-fived each other to that was very weird. He got many free things during this trip, he was going to write a book on how to get free things in D.C. There was many homeless people asking for money and were sleeping on the walls ans such. Finally, we went to the Air and Space museum which just looked like the movie, if you have seen it before. It was a huge museum, with many planes on display, they had the real wright brothers airplane on display too, but I don't believe it, because it was in perfect condition. Enjoy the pictures!
Inside the American history museum (I took these pictures)
A bad picture with me in
The Air and Space museum
Another bad one of me too
That model was huge, and it had a blinking red light at the top too! If only the spaceship worked for real.
On day six, we drove to Mount Vernon, which was pretty neat, but boring at the some time.I did see George Washington's grave by the way too. I saw where the nationals play too, the ballpark is nice, but it's in a bad area of town. We drove by Kings Dominion, by all I could see was the huge sigh in the front and the standing part at the to of the Eiffel Tower. I just wanted to get to Williamsburg to see BG. I went to Water Country USA later that evening, which I thought was great. Much better that Adventure Island at my BG. Most of the slides beat the ones at AI my favorite slide was the dropping slide side of the Vanish Point. The drop was fast, but it was a crappy speed losing layout after that, they should of put a loop instead! Here are the pictures!
The boys in front of the huge lake
Ah day seven is here, what you guys have been waiting for. So in the morning at 8:15 we went to a pancake breakfast place which was okay. Around 9:30, we started heading over to the park to beat the early crowds at the entrance, and when we got to the Italy parking lot, it wasn't that crowded as I expected it to be. Apollos Chariot was making it's early morning test runs to get it warmed up for me! I knew that BGW was the mos beautiful theme park, but I didn't know that it had it for 27 years in a row, wow! So we got into the park a little earlier than expected, but we had to wait at the Sesame Street place until 10 to let us go to AC and Escape from Pompeii. So me and my sister decide to go on Grover's Alpine Express real fast in the back row with no wait. It's exactly like Air Grover at my BG, but with theming! So when we get back to the crowd guess what, they have already left! What a terrible start to my birthday! Thank god it was only a minute ago, so I run to catch up with my Dad and Grandma who are already going to Apollos Chariot, the first coaster for the day! So us three decided to go on AC in the front row first, and it only had a two train wait so we did it. But, with only a one train wait left my Mom and Sister decide to do Ac in the third row too. I was shocked, because I thought that my sis would be to scared to ride this coaster. This was my first B&M hyper coaster I three years since Diamondback in 2009 which I thought was better than AC, but it newer than it. You get plenty of airtime in the front row, I was the first drop was stepper, the restraints are very comfy, and I was the helix in the back was a little bit faster. So we do it again, bu this time in the back row, with two train wait again too. You can see all of the coaster s from the lift hill of AC too ,which I thought was neat. I didn't get as much floater airtime as I did in the front, I think my restraint was locked in to tightly. So now we heads over the bridge to ride Verbolten where they were still testing it, so we had to wait five minutes like everyone else did. I take some great pictures from the bridge too! First off, nice theming at the entrance and in the queue, why can't Chettah Hunt be that awesome with a german lady talking too! This coaster had the longest wait of the day at about thirty minutes, but my Dad and I waited the extra ten to ride in the front row, while my Mom, Sister, and Grandma went on to ride in the fourth and fifth row instead. I liked how they loaded the trains very fast, and they didn't wait for the train in back of you to finish up. The trains took a while to come back in to station with the long layout. The yellow train is still in the transfer track station too. It was a good ride, I think I got the forest scene, was there a short MCBR inside the indoor part to? The only complaint is waiting so long before and after the track dropping part. But it was a good ride overall. I think Chettah Hunt is a tad but better with the three launches that are a little faster and the heart-line inversion. After that, we get a huge refillable Mach tower cup, which was closed by the way too. I've never been on a real drop tower before. Doctor Dooms Fear Fall does not count by the way, and that's not even that tall too! My sister and I go on the the huge swing ride. That was my first real swing ride for adults, because they always have ones for the little kids, which they do right across from it, with the exact same theming, I thought that was funny. I gt the end seat of course, it was good overall,but I was dissy towards the end. We skipped the bumper cars, which I don't car to much about, to go on Curse of Darkcastle. Remember people, never go on the bumper cars at SFMM, they are very painful with no cushion inside the cars, but that was a while ago, so things may of gotten better with that ride. I knew that Curse of Darkcastle was like the spider man ride at IOA, but the two row cars look weird, and they had the old non HD glasses. The ride only had a ten minute wait, and is there supposed to be a pre show for that ride too? I think spider easily killed that ride any day! My Grandma and I went on Alpengeist in the front and back row with very little wait for both rows. The ride was smooth and fast all around, just the chain dog for the lift was super loud and the first half of of the cobra roll was rough but the second half was smooth. The definitely us that brake just before the turning drop I noticed. My Grandpa and I went on Le Scoot together, I thought my BG flume ride was a little better and longer, but the queue for that ride was huge, the wait was only like 10 minutes for the ride too. I barley got wet on the final drop thankfully, the final drop's splash didn't get over the log. Next was griffon which only had a two train wait for the front row. I was surprised by the one train station, because it came after Sheikra, which had better paint colors than Griffon and that has a two train station, it looked different. The view at the part where you hang didn't have a great view, but the overall ride was great. I loved the two immelmens and the small air hill before the water splash down. I went on Lochness Monster in the front and back row. It was a good coaster overall, I love the loops and triple helix in the dark! The first drop is rough and the brakes before the first loops are annoying too. We then walked to ride Europe in the Air which was the worst ride in the park by far. I thought that it was like soarin but it was a jerky start tours ride that was very fast and confusing. I like the fans on that ride that blowed at you! We go on the skyride which was cool, I liked going under Griffon, and I get so good pictuers from it! I went on Escape from Pompeii which was good, I like the fire and falling sculptures inside. I sat in the back row so I didn't get wet. Sprayer number six and eight were broken and kept going off anytime! Finally, my family went on AC again, because they loved it and it was there favorite ride in the park, it was mine too! So it started raining real hard in the station and they're still sending trains with riders on the ride and when it was are turn it wasn't real good it was like bullets were going into you, but the rest of the train loved it and was having a good time. Right when we made it to the MCBR, guess what, we stopped suddenly for like five minutes in the rain! They said on the speakers that the ride was experience technical difficulties. We barley made the last hills to make it bake to the station where we sat in the brakes for five more minutes again! We then make it back to the station with all of the upcoming riders cheering and clapping for us like on the Incredible Hulk ride at IOA! We then go to the gift shop and buy two cool Verbolten towels to dry us off and I buy four t-shirts with my money! My family goes to Olive Garden that evening to celebrate my birthday, then we got to are ghost tour at night in the rain and lightning. We leave five minutes early from all the lightning about to strick us, and that was the day. Enjoy the pictures!
Without the train testing
With the train testing
That takes skill and timing
Three awesome coasters all together!
The closed mach tower
Oh ya, they're hanging 205 feet up and they're about to go 90 degrees straight down!
Stupid tree is in my way from a good picture!
This is for you 2015ASM!
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From the skyride
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We got lucky with a train next to us!
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This is also for you 2015ASM
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With the train
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My grandpa was in the way
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Oh ya that takes more sill and timing I was so close for a perfect shot, but close enough!
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The shirts that I got from the park and a map for keeps!
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Eating my birthday icecream!
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Can you see any ghosts in the pictures through the windows?
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So on day eight we got to colonial Williamsburg and enjoy all the fun reenactments they do and all the fun activities that you can watch the people do, liker they did back then. After that for a couple of hours, we go drive to Baltimore, where while stay the night and drive the rest to Philidephia! I saw Camden Yards where the Baltimore Orioles play and where the Ravens play to in the stadium across the parking lot! Here are the pictures!
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The capital building of Williamsburg
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Some guy talking about it inside the building, my dad took these for some reason
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Downtown Baltimore
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On the U.S.S constitution
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A guy firing a cannon, that was very loud and not real!
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On day nine, it was the saddest day of the trip. We drove to Philadelphia, and flew back to Tampa later that evening! We flew over the Kennedy Space Center and Walt Disney World, so I thought that was cool seeing that from the air! I hope you guys enjoy the trip report, and all the time that I put in to make this possible for sscoasters to see and enjoy!
Please comment!
The stuff that I got for my birthday!
A Tropicana Field poster
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A classic three feet tall knex Ferris wheel
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