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Photo TR: Divv's INTIMIDATING Adventure


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Hello!

 

Fresh off the TPR Mid-America Trip we jumped straight onto the IntimidaTOUR, a trip borne out of Cedar Fairs decision to build two coasters themed around some racing driver on the East Coast of the US. This was probably the shortest TPR trip I'd been on but since it was straight after Mid-America it served as a fantastic add-on and let me visit quite a few parks I'd never been to before. As always, Robb and Elissa pulled out all the stops to make sure this trip was amazing! I can't thank them enough!

 

UPDATES:

Day 1 - ARRIVAL DAY (below)

Day 2 - CAROWINDS (below)

Day 3 - DOLLYWOOD

Days 4 & 5 - PIGEON FORGE AND MORE!

Day 6 - BUSCH GARDENS WILLIAMSBURG

Day 7 - KING'S DOMINION

 

Day One:

ARRIVAL DAY

 

On this morning a bunch of us flew in from Minneapolis to join up with the Intimidatour participants. The day was mostly a bus ride but was noteable for me due to the restaurants we visited.

 

- KFC. This was noteable because it finally gave me the opportunity to try the famous Double Down! As a fast food fan I was intrigued when I saw this revealed and was saddened that it was available only in the US. Luckily for me I got to visit KFC on the Inimidatour and try one for myself!

 

- The Tilted Kilt. Kind of like a Scottish themed Hooters. This place was awesome. Hot girls in little tartan skirts serving you food and beer. Works for me!

 

- Papa Pino's. This restaurant was right next to our hotel. We didn't eat here but since they had a bar Southern Steve, Ben and I figured it would be a worthwhile visit. Thanks to Steve's charm we managed to stay in the bar as they cleaned up and closed the restaurant all the while trying all the different spirits from their shelves which clearly hadn't been open in years. Needless to say, it was good to have Steve with us on a US TPR trip!

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FINALLY!!! After 12 days in the US I got my hands on the famous Double Down from KFC!

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It was awesome! I really wish KFC UK would start selling these!

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From lunch to dinner… This is The Tilted Kilt. Now I had never heard of this place before Elissa told me about it but turns out that this place is kind of like a “Scottish Hooters”

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So naturally I was right at home!

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Robby and Tyler don’t quite know what to do with themselves!

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The Tilted Kilt didn’t just do girls they had some pretty good food too!

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Not only did they do girls and food. Celtic, the greatest football team on the planet were honoured on the restaurant’s wall! Screw you, Scottish Steve!

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TPDave doesn’t quite understand why there is a picture of England’s Stone Henge on the wall of The Tilted Kilt. I don’t quite understand why they let TPDave in in the first place!

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Just like a normal Saturday night in Glasgow for me!

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Being that Southern Steve is on this trip there’s no way we can pass up the opportunity to hunt down the nearest bar to the hotel!

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This barmaid was awesome and kept serving us drinks after they closed. I think it was the Southern Steve charm!

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The Intimidatour has begun!!!

 

Carowinds is our first park and it is up next!

Edited by Divv3k
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DAY TWO:

CAROWINDS

 

The first park of the trip was Carowinds. A park that straddles both North and South Carolina. It's a nice park with some fun rides. It has some nice loking areas but also suffers from that Cedar Fair condition of lifelessness and concrete in areas.

 

On our day we got some great ERT on Afterburn and Intimidator which was a lot of fun. There was also a great behind the scenes tour at Intimidator which gave a nice view into how the ride works.

 

But no doubt, the highlight of the day is the incredible theme song that plays when the park opens. It's this point you really get the lowdown on Carowinds. No need to consult your calender when you're at this park, because EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY!!!

 

Here's the photos...

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CAROWINDS! It’s a magic breeze!

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TPFail managed to spill coffee all over himself this morning. Fortunately for all of us he wouldn’t have been allowed in the park had he taken his soiled top off!

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We started out our morning with some Afterburn ERT!

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We’re special! So special!!!

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Afterburn is actually a VERY good B&M invert IMO. Definitely the best coaster at Carowinds for me.

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And now for the main reasons we’re at Carowinds– the first Intimidator of the Intimidatour!

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Wouldn’t Dale be proud?

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This is the Twisty section but unlike the other one this one just has floater twistiness.

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I’m still not really sure who he is but apparently he’s a big deal in the Carolinas!

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Look at that for an ERT train!

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Anyone know what this ride used to be? I don’t have a Scooby!

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"using your Boob"

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Southern Steve is rockin’ the 3D look!

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Well done on Boob Lasters guys. Unfortunately you didn’t get enough points to beat the high score for the day! I forget who actually got the high score though.

 

 

 

Oh wait… Me!!!

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OMG, it’s NASCARDave!!!

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I spent the whole time in line for the boomerang bitching and moaning about how much I hate these rides and how I only ride them for the credit.

 

At the point where the train got to the top of the lift I realised that I actually got this credit at Geauga Lake. Damn it!!!

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We all managed to survive the B&M stand up. I don’t seem to remember much about it though. Couldn’t have been that great.

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When will America learn that this is NOT the English flag?!

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This looks like LOADS of fun!

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Neil can hardly contain his excitement!

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The Wild Mouse is something that everyone seems wild about!

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I’m all for Wayne’s World themed areas!

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I just wish the Wayne’s World themed ride was good!

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TPSad and TPPathetic.

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Kristen was good enough to ride with a few of us so that we could get our Taxi Jam credit. Much appreciated Kristen!

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It doesn’t matter what state you ride Thunder Road in, it’s not very good in either!

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No beer on this coaster. Which is a shame, would have made it better.

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Best. Hat. Ever.

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In the afternoon Carowinds’ Steve Jackson gave us a fantastic behind the scenes tour of Intimidator!

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Look, I’m taking this photo from behind the scenes!

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Lift hill nerds rejoice!

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OMG, OMG. WHEELS!!!

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Excuse me whilst I indulge in an orgy with the B&M test dummies.

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Check out TPGeek right up front.

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TPDave just wet himself a little.

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OMG, track schematics!

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This here is where all the hamsters live and spin the wheels that make the lift work.

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In all honesty I wasn’t that impressed with the B&M Intimidator. Out of all the B&M hypers I’ve been on I would rank it towards the bottom.

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But even then, it’s still a good ride. Just not anywhere near my favourites!

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No Vekoma flyer for us today. Damn you Erik!!!

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TPDave is pretty cut up about it.

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But things were made better for Dave when he made friends with the girl at the Domo stand!

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DOMOS SCISSORING BETWEEN STATES!

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My head is in two states! How cool am I? Fun never ends Carowinds!

 

Carowinds is certainly one of the nicer Cedar Fair parks and just don’t forget – EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY!!!

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I should try and find that shirt so I can take it to Japan! I love coaster shirts

 

I was taking to him about the differences between their ride and I305 and asked how tall the Carowinds Intimidator was. His response of just staring at my shirt was epic!

 

Dave

Edited by TPDave
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DAY THREE:

DOLLYWOOD

 

This was a park I'd been excited to visit for years! And after visiting it's sister park, Silver Dollar City a week earlier my anticipation had only grown even more. Thankfully Dollywood didn't let me down!

 

The park has a great array of coasters, they're all in the upper tier of their ride-type in my view. But really it's the other things like shows, staff, atmosphere and food that set Dollywood apart from other parks.

 

We got a great range of perks starting with a really cool tour and ERT on Tennessee Tornado in the morning followed by some great ERT on the Mystery Mine and Thunderhead in the evening! On top of all that we also got priority seating and a behind the scenes tour of one of the park;s the shows!

 

Okay, without any further here's Dollywood, where every day's Sha-Kon-O-Hey!

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It's Dollywood or bust!!!

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What better time to make your first visit to Dollywood than the 25th anniversary?

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We start off our morning with a special behind the scenes tour of Tennessee Tornado!

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Don’t mess with this dude.

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TPGeekgasm.

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Tennessee Tornado is a total anomaly amongst Arrow loopers in that its actually smooth!

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I guess Vekoma will take credit for this one, since Arrow gets the balme for all the Vekoma roughness!

 

We had some great ERT on it!

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The new attraction for 2010 was the ropes assault course called Adventure Mountain.

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This was a LOT of fun! Well done to Dollywood for adding this!

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It’s quite a decent size too! Not a bad work out in the morning!

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Of course since we’re special (so special) we got Q-Bots!

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And now for the BEST food outlet in all of Dollywood!!!

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YUM! Can you see what that is?!

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That’s right – cinnamon bread!!! The best bread on the planet!!!

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OMG, I want more of this right now!!!

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Dollywood is also home to one of the most renowned GCI woodies around – Thunderhead!

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Look at the GCI woodie doing it’s GCI thing!

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I really liked Thunderhead. Not my favourite GCI but right up there with the best of them.

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Not to be outdone by Silver Dollar City in Missouri, Dollywood has some kick-arse skillets as well!

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But forget about the food, there’s a kiddie coaster to ride! Well actually don't because it’s food themed!

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Yay, we fit!

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Okay, back to the real food! These fry type things were great!

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After the awesomeness of the Silver Dollar City train ride how could we pass up Dollywood’s?

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TPMesmerised.

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Choo choo!

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Watch out for that BEAR!!!

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Dollywood used to be a Silver Dollar City too! Fascinating!

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TPDave was amused by a bat called Able. I forget why.

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If this is anything like the Silver Dollar City swing (and why wouldn’t it be?) then Barnstormer will be a great addition to Dollywood!

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Plenty of paraphernalia is available for all you cock fanatics.

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Don’t buy the melon, the melon is bad. So says Steve!

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Whilst everyone else trip goes out drinking tonight TPDave is gonna stay at the hotel and weave this basket.

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Special Dollywood Coke! Cool!

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For our TPR included lunch today we were treated to some more local cuisine at Granny Ogle’s Ham & Beans!

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For starters we had this awesome corn bread brought to our table. So far so good!

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When the sign says Ham & Beans it REALLY means Ham & Beans!!!

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And that’s a good thing because this meal was GREAT!

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We picked a good time for lunch too as it meant we got to avoid this crazy downpour!

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Steve was crazy enough to brave the weather so that he could have a smoke.

 

 

 

Then Steve disappeared for a bit. No one was quite sure we had gone. Then he returned…

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In 2010, it’s all about the HAT!!!

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As another of our TPR perks we were given priority seating at the park’s show – Sha-Kon-O-Hey!

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How can you visit Dollywood and not see their show? Sha-Kon-O-Hey is fantastic! I’m still singing along with the tunes!

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Steve and the hat were thrilled to take part in TPR’s special behind the scenes tour after the show!

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Oooh, behind the smoke screens!

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What looks like a house is actually a melding of flumps and penny chews. Who would’ve thunk?

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How special are we??? That’s right, so special!

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Steve somehow managed to get through this part of the tour whilst fighting the urge to make off with the bird hat.

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This all looks pretty important!

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Luckily for everyone I was kept far away from the guitars and microphones during Sha-Kon-O-Hey!

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It’s all about the TPHat!

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Smile guys, we’re about to ride Blazing Fury!

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Blazing Fury is very similar to Fire in the Hole at Silver Dollar City and is just as good!

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Fireman on the pole!

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It’s all about the DW hats!

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Okay, enough rides and shows, let’s get back to the FOOD!

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TPTasty!

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Of course there’s plenty of Dolly related stuff around the park too, like this tour bus.

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There’s also this place if you really wanted to get the lowdown on who’s park you’re in.

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Just like the inside of Scottish Steve’s wardrobe!

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The Topple Tower was down for our visit but having been on them in other parks I wasn’t too concerned!

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We ended our day with some fantastic ERT on Thunderhead and Mystery Mine!

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If only TPDave was pretending to snore the rest of the time!

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Woohoo, you can’t beat a bit of Eurofighter ERT!

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Mystery Mine is one of the only Eurofighters in the US and one of the best themed coasters you’ll find in the US!

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I still prefer Saw at Thorpe Park. I feel really dirty saying that but it’s true! That said, it’s still an awesome ride and it’s not at Thorpe Park which kind of makes it better than Saw by default!

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What a time we had at Dollywood, where everday’s Sha-Kon-O-Hey! Thanks to the park and Robb & Elissa for setting up such an incredible visit for us all!

 

More Tennessee fun is up next!

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Great TR Divv! Wish I could have joined you all for this trip - but I spent all my money on the European trips instead.

 

Dollywood is my fave park in the U.S. - absolutely charming and delightful, with an atmosphere not usually found in American parks. I haven't been since 2008, so I'm definitely due for another visit soon.

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If this is anything like the Silver Dollar City swing (and why wouldn’t it be?) then Barnstormer will be a great addition to Dollywood!

 

Rode it yesterday for the first time and it is a fantastic edition to the park!

 

With a big new ride next year, you can almost guarantee a TPR Trip to Dollywood as well!

 

Yay!

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Looking at your pics of the cinnamon bread made me salivate...

 

We finally have KFC double downs downunder. They're so good. Fun trick: Get a Double Down, insert it between a standard KFC burger and you get...a Gang Bang!

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