Having a birthday in February is sort of tough, because I although I'd like to spend it at a theme park, all of the parks near Washington, DC are closed this time of year.
So, I do my best to find experiences that are as close as possible to what the parks provide.
This mostly consists of me heading to my local "Dave and Busters" to recreate the experience of playing games in the park arcade. If I'm lucky, maybe Dave and Busters even has their film simulator running too!
Honestly though, I'm looking for some fresh ideas and that's where you come in.
For this week's show, we want to know what winter experiences you have found that remind you of the summertime fun at the regional parks.
Tell us your idea right here on the blog by using the "Comments" link below. You can also e-mail us by using the address over on the right or use our Contact Page!
The best way to get on our show is to call our voicemail line at 206-339-3360 and tell us your story!
11 comments:
For the last few years the Coaster Crew has taken a long weekend in January and stayed at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. This past January we had a group of 16 people enjoy the largest indoor waterpark in the US. Nothing better than riding waterslides for a few hours, then hanging out in a heated indoor/outdoor jacuzzi bar while it's 20 degrees outdoors. To top it off they have great restaurants, a late night dance club and plenty of activities for adults and kids. An awesome way to hold off the winter blues.
The best thing that you could do would be a drive-by! It gives you the feeling of being in the park next to the big roller coasters, and is easily done by driving on fowler avenue by MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry), and driving on the roads that branch off of that, in Tampa, FL next to BG Tampa. SheiKra is visible along Interstate 4 heading to Tampa for a while! You could also take the 1st exit off of Dale Mabry Hwy and keep going straight until you hit the entrance w/ the sign, Busch Gardens Tampa. Montu is very easy to see over here. Kumba is the hardest to see, but w/ some good drive-by techniques you could find it as well. Since Cheetah Hunt is being built, it should be visible as well behing Montu.
Going to a real IMAX theater is as close as I'll get to having a real theme park attraction. When big movies like Tron, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland are shown in IMAX format with the added effect of 3D, it as close as I get to those big effect 3D movies at the theme parks. But beware of those rip-off IMAX where they have the screen in a smaller aspect radio from a true IMAX theater.
Rides release on DVD or Blu-Ray like Back to the Future, Aliens:Ride at the speed of fright on the Alien Anthology set, and Shrek 4-D ride on the Shrek DVD,and the Blu-Ray relase of Disney Parks is how I get by. Watching youtube videos of other rides, but also the great site Martin Videos which includes almost all the Disney parks around the world, but other parks like Knotts, and Universal. Check it out at http://www.martinsvids.net/
Embarrassed to say, but video games like Toy Story Mania for the iPhone, Wii and even the board game. Also Universal Studios Theme Park Adventures for the GameCube and the NES Magic Kingdom I'll will break out the old system just to enjoy my fake theme park experiences.
Watching a movies in D-Box seats. These special seats are encoded with motion action. Muck like 4-D attractions at theme parks, these seats move during action sequences. D-Box are spreading thought out the country and are also available in home theater version. Having a D-Box seats for the living room is expensive, but it's one way in bringing the theme park experiences home.
I would have to disagree with youngthegiant about the drive-by comment because I live 5 minutes away from Six Flags Great America and have to drive by it every day going to work and nothing makes me want it to be the start of the season than to see the skyline of coasters just sitting lifeless until spring.
I usually get my fix by listening to CoasterRadio.com podcasts (of course) and fire up my NoLimits rollercoaster simulator with some of the coasters I have very fond memories of riding and watching it in fullscreen or even on my LCD tv gives me the memory of riding my favorite coasters or ones I have not ridden yet when its cold out or launch my AirCoaster iPhone app to experience it on the go.
I Like to check out rollercoasters and other theme park related things on youtube.
I'm lucky enough to live in Utah where we have some of the greatest ski resorts and snow around. I'm not huge into snowboarding, but I try to go at least twice a season. The experience of being strapped on a board and zooming down the mountain through trees is the best winter roller coaster fix I've found. It's a rush!
Although I haven't been yet this season, I will be heading up to the Canyons Resort in Park City for some snowboarding next week.
Alpine Coaster or Alpine Sliders. If in the area of Park City,Utah or Ober Gatlinburg, TN. Riding these extreme coasters build around nature is the funniest thing to do. Sun or Snow these are open all year around. But if your lucky, finding someone with a backyard coaster is the coolest thing ever.
The Amtrak stop near me is one of the few parts on the Northeast Corridor in which the express trains can go their full speed of 150mph. Its fun to just bring a chair and watch the trains speed by 6 feet away. Its as close of a roller coaster thrill I can get when the parks are closed during the winter. : )
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