Photo TR: larrygator Takes Off to The Great White North

[juliootCan I park my donkey here?]

^^ I know! I realised what I was saying just a second after posting it lol.

Then I remembered the words of the immortal Bob Uecker on how to catch a knuckleball. Wait until it stops moving then pick it up.

[rollin_n_coastinDon't put that donkey on the floor!]

Finally had a chance to catch up on the trip. Awesome stuff!

I really want to get out West one day and check outnsome of the national parks as well. Agree with Chuck -- that last West Edmonton caption wins lol

[maverickpointCan I park my donkey here?]

looks like tons of fun

[larrygatorObsessive Overlord of the TPR Park Index]

I have more credit whoring from small parks and mountain coasters in Quebec and Ontario (which I did the two days before Levia-thon Bash), but I won't have time to post them before I leave for New Hotnesss in the AM. So everyone just hold their breathe for 2 weeks.

[kasserooShe turned me into a donkey! I got better...]

Larry,
That was an amazing trip report on Galaxyland and Calaway Park. You really captured the atmosphere if both parks quite nicely!

Also, it was great to meet you at Dave & Busters on Saturday (at the trivia game).

Were you playing with Jo? Sorry I'm terrible with names and faces.

Yup, that was me!

[larrygatorObsessive Overlord of the TPR Park Index]

My time in Canada did not end after this trip, for the next wekeend I was off to Canada's Wonderland for Leviathan Bash. But alas, before getting to Toronto I needed to credit whore the area.

The morning of July 27th started at 4AM as I had an ambitious agenda of hitting Santa's Workshop (North Pole, NY) before heading to Montreal for Viking Mountain Coaster at Mont Sant Sauveur, Pays des Merveilles and LaRonde.

First Stop: Santa's Workshop.

This building looks the same as when my family visited in 1974.

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Lots of costumed characters at the park.

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I planned to just stop for the coaster but decided to walk around the place.

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I visited the reindeer barn.

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I picked up a couple of chocolate chip cookies at Santa's Bake Shop

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A hat was made for me in this building 38 years ago.

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The line to sit an Santa's lap was too long.

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I'm really at the North Pole

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In this building you can make toys.

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Woody the Elf is there to help with the toy building.

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The park even has it's own musuem where I found this sign welcoming me back.

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People still use this mailbox to mail letters from "Santa" to their children so it will include a "North Pole" postmark.

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Here's a link to my family photos from Santa's Workshop in 1974

The day almost turned into a disaster when 20 minutes after leaving Santa's Workshop I noticed golf ball size bubbles in the sidewall of both driver side tires. I had hit a giant pothole the night before and the tires looked fine in the AM before I left home. I'm lucky they both didn't blowout. However finding two new tires in a northern New York village, 40 miles from a major city is not easy? I ending up buying two used 18" tires (my car usually takes 16") from a salvage yard and having them put my car on blocks to replace the tires. This two hour delay sounded a lot better then the estimated 5 hour timeframe for new tires to arrive from Plattsburgh.

About 3 hours after getting the tires fixed I arrived here and felt dirty and that wasn't only because my hands had not been washed since helping to change/rotate my tires.

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Ka-ching! Now where's the Purell.

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After the kiddie park was a 10 minute drive to Mont Sant Sauveur for their mountain coaster. I love mountain coasters and this one provided two pops of air.

a la carte pricing for the mountain coaster and/or zipline. I scored a $2 off coupon from the woman working the ticket booth when I used my French on her. Parlez-vous anglais?

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This is the first mountain resort I've been to with a water park

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A small portion of the water park

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This is the longest wait I had encountered to date for a mountain coaster.

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Going up the lifthill.

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While I like the flats at LaRonde the park is just horrible. I pull up to pay for parking and they can not take credit cards at the booth, seriously. For this trip I had planned to put everything on credit card since one $20 Canadian note left from last weekend's trip. I was planned to hold on to that $20 and some coins to pay for small food/drink items at the parks, but now this evil LaRonde employee took practically the last of my Canadian money. Combine that with the horrible operations at the park and I am only posting one photo from the evil LaRonde.

Beaver Tails with Nutella are Da Bomb, luckily I had about $5 in Canadian coins in my pocket to cover the cost.

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[cfcI've gone pantless!]

Combine that with the horrible operations at the park and I am only posting one photo from the evil LaRonde.

That'll learn them French Canadian varmits!

[larrygatorObsessive Overlord of the TPR Park Index]

The next day was a driving day around Ontario to pick up credits. The stops included Wild Water and Wheels, Ridge Runner at the Blue Mountains and Sauble Fun World.

Ok, I'll admit it was a faux pas on my part that I neglected to remember that someone had posted on TPR that the coasters at Sauble Fun World were no longer operating.

The drive took me through a lot of Ontario. I never passed so many yard sales in my life and did not realize how many places in the area sold home bottled honey and maple syrup.

[beatle11I prefer to mate with donkeys over humans!]

You didn't go get the indoor Mack credit in Quebec City, or did you already have that one? Too bad about Sauble's coasters not being running. Their website still lists Looping Star as "Now Open" and says nothing at all about them not running.