Coasting for Kids 2011 at Dorney Park - I Swear I'm Innocent

Disclaimer: This is not just a trip report. This is a preemptive defense against potential future accusations of line jumping in Dorney's entry plaza.

I arrived at Dorney for Coasting for Kids 2011 to find a rather crowded entry plaza. I looked around for familiar faces and saw some folks I recognized from last year, but I didn't see Carrie or April, my two fellow Coasterbuzz cohorts that were participating this year. As such, I figured I'd get my ticket and then go wait back with the rest of the crowd for my fellow Fun-and-Only-Team members.

The Guest Services windows were both closed initially, but opened up shortly thereafter. I went up to the window and got my ticket. Apparently, I had missed a few things. One, I saw Carrie and her husband in the reflection of the window, and apparently that had been waving at me to get my attention. Two, that crowd of fellow participants were apparently in line for the window to which I walked right up.

Now, there was a clear 10+ foot-gap between the window and the nearest person to it, so I proclaim justification for my assuming there was no line. As far as not seeing Carrie waving at me to get my attention, well, I do have glasses so my vision isn't that great. I plead the blindness defense.

;)

Anyways, I met up with her, her husband Dave, and April, and after a quick breakfast and a heads-up as to the workings of the day, we headed off to the ride.

The morning marathon actually went by pretty quickly, stretching about two hours and twenty-five laps. I was able to "get in the zone" and make it the whole way through to lunch.

The lunch break was a nice hour-long reprieve, and then it was off to riding again. I had missed the first lap of the afternoon marathon (I had left the lunch pavilion for a short bit, and apparently everyone left sometime while I was gone). I was bummed about missing the first lap initially as I was adamant I'd ride every lap, but circumstances later in the afternoon eliminated any disappointment I had.

The marathon stretched thirty-four laps (having missed the first, thirty-three for me) and lasted a little over three hours. While the novelty of the ride had kind of worn off a bit due to the number of laps, we were still able to keep ourselves entertained, be it through our own senses of humor, including the return of the most exciting lap ever, or by listening to other people's discussions (I'm going to my happy place, I'm going to my happy place).

The marathon probably could have continued well over forty laps were it not for a storm that hit briefly, resulting in the cessation of said marathon. Seeing as I had contemplated taking a break after lap twelve, this reprieve, which came twenty laps later, was most welcome. It gave me time to relax and get back in the zone before returning for a ten-lap encore marathon. Two laps in, Carrie hit fifty and reached her goal, but April and I rode it out, including all three or four last-rides-of-the-marathon laps. They extended it a bit, and I wound up with sixty-eight laps on the day, three shy of last year.

We headed to the theater in Planet Snoopy for the awards ceremony, where Carrie again won her VIP tour by being the number-one fundraiser two years in a row. The ceremony over, we went our separate ways, with me hitting Hydra and Talon for one lap each before beginning the journey home.

All in all, despite a few glitches, it really was a wonderful day hanging out with great people, especially Carrie, Dave, April, and Mike, and it was great to see the massive increase in fundraising this year over last as well. Here's looking forward to next year, where hopefully, I can tell the difference between a line and a random crowd of people. Oh, and where hopefully I'll be able to see someone waving at me to get my attention. ;)

I finished with 63 laps, having taken a couple of nature call/drink breaks during the afternoon session. I was also counting only in my 46-year-old brain, so I may be off by one or two.

I was on the one ride in the heavy rain, and I'm convinced there may have been some hail involved, too. That was the most painful ride of the day. I had taken a break after 50, (rode ThunderHawk) and the 51st was the rain lap.

Food: Tasty bagel and muffin in the a.m.

Lunch:

Fried chicken..mmmmm! Hot dog: not bad at all. Ice cream sandwich: Haven't had one in years..very tasty! Hamburger: Well, three outta four ain't bad.

After the awards, which I missed part of due to a lack of knowledge of the location of the venue..sorry, Carrie!..I hoped to hit Thunder Canyon for a thorough drenching on this hot day. Although the line was manageable in terms of length..maybe 45 minutes..I didn't want to subject myself to the awful heat while standing. Shoot the Chute and the flume? Same deal. So I just went on the bridge and caught the splash on White Water Landing (do I have that name right? I always forget.)

After that, I took four rides on Talon and split a little before 7. It was good to meet a few of you folks.

I wound up with 46 laps with 43, 44, 45, and 46 all being "final laps."

All I could think of after we left was "This is your brain on Steel Force." Oh and that guy screaming "We're gonna slam! We're gonna slam!" after most of the laps.

I had a great time riding with Justin and Carrie and also meeting Mike and Dave. Thanks guys for a great day!

Many good one-liners and laughs. Thanks to all for making it such a successful event. It was great to see Justin again (after he finally turned around and saw me, anyway! ;) ) and it was great to meet April and Mike.

I think we proved once again that Dorney's where it's at! :)

Here's a video that Dorney put together from the event. It's pretty cool, despite them tying GKTW to IAAPA... and the typo on one of the slides, "Give Kids the Word". :)

Always room for more education, I guess. :)

I saw that video yesterday, and I wondered what IAAPA had to do with the event.

I like the part near the beginning where the camera pans right to Carrie. lol

^Where can I find the video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4RTHrV7Gao&feature=youtu.be

Smoke329 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4RTHrV7Gao&feature=youtu.be

Thanks, smoke! I've just sent it on to my co-workers, family, and friends, including those who sponsored me. For anyone that watches it, that's me in the back seat on the train and dumping cold water on my bald head near the end!

Carrie J. said:
Here's a video that Dorney put together from the event. It's pretty cool, despite them tying GKTW to IAAPA... and the typo on one of the slides, "Give Kids the Word". :)

Always room for more education, I guess. :)

That wasn't the only typo. And the splashing of the IAAPA acronym all over the place made me wonder exactly what their involvement was, if any. Were they a sponsor of the event? If so, I must have missed the memo. But that's something that could happen VERY easily...

Anyone else have a different link to the video? Looks like the one above was removed.

I am not sure why the link doesn't work anymore. If you go to youtube.com and put in the search......2011 give kids the world and dorney park host coasting for kids you should be able to find it.

Was that just good editing, or did you people take a hill out of Steel Force while you were there?

Some will do anything to fit a few more laps in, RGB. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LO4Rs9EyyY

DaveStroem said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LO4Rs9EyyY

Most people I sent it to told me it had been deleted. This link works. And I notice IAAPA's letters are no longer on it.