EVEN MORE Great America + Happy Hollow + San Jose Shenanigans : My Bodacious ACE Coaster Con XXXVII Trip Report - Part III

Hey! BIG day today! Lots of exciting ACE stuff and San Jose stuff going on today! Let's GO!!

 :}

It's the morning of Day 3 of Coaster Con at California's Great America, and that means it's time for THE MIDWAY OLYMPICS!!! I did the Midway Olympics at Coaster Con XXXV at Dollywood, but my team (Mat, John, Jeff, myself; "The Silly Homos") did so poorly that I decided just to skip it at Six Flags New England the following year (plus, we didn't have Mat and John with us, AND I had been up at 6 the previous morning for the Bizarro walk-back tour, so I wanted the extra sleep time).

This year, my dear friend Mark Brunner, head of the Midway Olympics, roped me into the competition along with all six of the boys. Mat, John, Jeff, Dan, and Tom made up a team ("The Silly Homo-sapiens"), while Steve and I joined a team with Al Soares, Mike Thompson, and former Ms. President of ACE Carole Sanderson ("The Orphans"). It was a great bonding experience for us all!

Round #1: Batting Cages! Mike's history with baseball gave us an advantage here, but pretty much every team struggled with this one. 

Round #2: Strength Tester! Steve and Al put their strength to the test and both had quite respectable showings.

Round #3: Basketball! Steve and I both tried our hands at the long shots, but we both failed to make a single basket! 

Following an undocumented Round #4 of Plinko in which Carole managed to catch one ball (I caught a whole lot of nothing), Al and Mike made us proud by nailing several plates in Round #5: Break-A-Plate

Round #6: Magic Waters! Steve and Carole both rose to the challenge for this one, with Carole winning the match! Round #7 was the Soccer Challenge, in which I managed to score 1 of 3 possible goals. I also managed to nail one of the light fixtures on the ceiling...

Round #8: Alley Cats! Steve and Mike gave it their all, but no points were scored. The game attendants told us that "zero points" was becoming a theme for this one.

Final Round: Jacob's Ladder! Let's see how I do (photo by Steve).

Welp.

The deceptively-cruel twisting antics of Jacob's Ladder thwarted all ACErs who challenged it. Fortunately, we were awarded points based not on whether or not we actually reached the top of the ladder, but on how many ladder rungs we were able to set foot. I, like most ACErs, managed to climb six rungs before eating it. Rung seven is when the latter goes completely taut; the six before it rest partially on the inflatable blue tarp, which seems to give climbers a false sense of security. 

Below is an animated .gif of M&M's performance on Jacob's Ladder, which I was fortunate enough to catch right before I had my go on it.

Beautiful.

At this point we turned in our point sheets. We were certain that we wouldn't be placing this year based on our performance. lol

Now that the Olympics are over, let's go for a drive!

Good morning Grizzly track inspectors!

Hey look! it's To--

!!! JOHN! GET OFF YOUR PHONE! This is California! You'll get pulled over!

Mat! Be sure to lead by example when driving your go-kart. 

These were my first go-karts in a while. While I enjoy go-karts, I'm not against this new trend of Cedar Fair parks replacing their go-karts with giant B&M coasters (Banshee; Fury 325).

Psycho Mouse's queue building was originally one of the park's train stations. The cheese makeover of the station (some kind of cheddar-swiss hybrid, I think) is part of what gives the ride a nicer presence than most mouse coasters.

Already Facebook-famous: Jazz hands on Psycho Mouse!

And also the milder, less-psycho Tom and Mat mouse.

Tiki Twirl (formerly Survivor: The Ride) is the park's dressed-up Zamperla Disk'O Coaster. The boys rode it while I was on the walk-back tour yesterday, and I went ahead and skipped it due to lack of desire. 

In fact, there wasn't much left for us to do in the park besides a little gardening

and a few more rides on Gold Striker! Farewell, Great America! You were truly great. And gay. Gay and great. :}

Now it's time for a regional favorite for lunch: Pizza My Heart! 

Pizza My Heart started in Capitola, CA (just outside of Santa Cruz) in 1981, but has since grown to over a dozen Bay Area locations. The one in which we're eating seems to be fairly new; I don't recall there being one right next to Great America before. :}

Pizza My Heart uses super-fresh local ingredients and assembles pizzas in their own unique way: cheese first, then a drizzling of sauce via turkey baster, and then lots of toppings!

Each order is by-the-slice and is served on a Pizza-My-Heart frisbee that you can take home for just 75¢. Here's my 3-slice meal. :}

Now for ANOTHER local favorite: Happy Hollow!

Happy Hollow dates back to 1961, but in 2008 the park closed for two years to receive a massive park-wide remodel.

Pretty much the entire park feels brand-new. Beautiful aesthetic touches everywhere, mixed in with some classic kiddie rides. 

Ahh! Here's what we came for! The "Pacific Fruit Express" (or, as I like to call it, "Fruit Box Coaster," a name born out of my inability to remember what the ride is called during the planning process of this trip).

The excessive hoards of kiddos enjoying Fruit Box Coaster was honestly a joy to see. 

Kiddo parks like this seem to harbor happier kids than kiddo areas at large parks. Despite the enormous volume of kids, we didn't see any of them getting fussy.

It appears that John has earned the trust of one of the kiddos. Hopefully this will lead to an alliance between our groups that will in turn lead to the kiddos enlightening us on their superior way of life.

John's kiddo is trying to convince him to put his hands up.

"Like this!"

After procuring our credit, we walked around the park a bit more to enjoy the atmosphere. 

Look! We found Dan's Party Place! And here I was thinking this was a family park… ;}

This sign can be found in one of the bathrooms, written in 3 different languages.

Noted.

Mat has found his inner child. In fact, he probably never lost it. :}

*o*

omg.

Cuteness overload.

Soon we bid Happy Hollow a fond farewell and set off on our next San Jose adventure! Surprise! It involves food. 

Psycho Donuts! A San Jose "institution" since…well…since whenever it is they opened. :}

"Would you like to pop some bubble wrap to help with the anxiety of picking the perfect donut?" asks the Nurse.

Seeing this reminded me of the biggest Pokemon fan I know, my roommate (and Thrillography contributor), Julie!

This ones for you, Julie. :}

Mmmmmm. Couldn't ask for a better snack. A "Cookie Monster" donut and a Stewart's key lime soda! 

Back at the hotel, it's almost time for the Annual Coaster Con Banquet! That, of course, means that it's time for the pre-banquet mixer!

Steve and Michael looking dapper in their matching outfits! :}

The table settings! Notice our super-cool bottles of wine. :}

One of the banquet's many orders of business following the opening/meal is the awarding of the winners of the Midway Olympics! Now, I, Steve, and the rest of the "Orphans" weren't paying much attention to the points n' such because we were all pretty sure that we didn't place. Bronze and silver medals were awarded (M&M's team won silver!), followed by a short pause, during which all of the Midway Olympics teams who actually felt like they had a shot held their breath in anticipation. I, meanwhile, was busy making myself little sandwiches out of caprese salad and dinner rolls that were still left over from dinner, and Steve was checking Facebook on his phone. 

"First Place in the 38th Annual ACE Midway Olympics goes to:

The Orphans!"

I wasn't really paying attention, so it took me a few moments to figure out that our team won. I was soon awash with excitement as our team was briefly whisked away for photos.

Bad cell phone picture of the winning team! Woohoo!

The banquet continued without a hitch and ended with a delicious chocolate fondue reception! :}

TOMORROW. We leave at dawn for Vallejo. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom awaits! It's going to be a long day, so get some sleep!