Cyclonic

I saw photos of the signage as well and thought the same thing.  Disney seems to be doing the opposite of every other place that has placed the markings, from Universal, to Wal-mart, to the Lowes, to my local pizza joint.  They are point out where to stand as opposed to where not to stand.  Heck, they could even do it as Micky ears and make it fun.

We're ending up not making it out this weekend either.  Just too many things going on at home, we need a weekend to stay home and breath a little.

:welcome2: :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy

We are hoping to travel to Colorado next year and wanted to know when is the best time to go? Also where would be the best spot to stay. We want to hike and explore, so state parks, Koa?

We did a Colorado trip last year, in June.  The weather could not have been better the entire time we were there.

A couple of campgrounds I can recommend:

Clear Creek RV Park, a muni owned campground in Golden, CO.  Very clean and well run, all 50amp sites, but only some with sewer.  It is a great place to stay if you want to explore Denver.  Though thing about this is they do not take reservations, you have to call the morning of arrival to see if there are any sites open.

M Lazy C Ranch.  This is a dude ranch with a full hook up campground.  Our tiny trailer fit into a spot that sat up above the campground and overlooked the campground and the mountains beyond.  It backs up to Pike's Peak National Forest, with a chuck wagon dinner, horseback riding, hay rides, a shooting range, and more.

It has been a little while, but since we are a month out I wanted to see if anyone is still doing this.

Becky and I will be there in the T@B at J&D, arriving sometime the morning of the 18th and leaving on the 20th.  We are in site 14A.

Yes, this is going to be a go, weekend of September 19, J&D Campground.  I'll be making my reservation this week.  I am going to be looking for a site in the A section.

Ken,

 Since our gc is an older buggy I decided to go the diy route.  I considered getting a pro job but that was going to be way too expensive for me.  I took off everything on the body bolted on I could.  I went to Walmart and got some sandpaper and I chose Krylon Fusion paint for plastic. Took about 2 or 3 afternoons.  I also used black sprayon bedliner in spray cans for the roof supports and backseat rails.  I think I got that at Lowes or Homedepot.

 It's no Herbie like in the above posts but for $70.00 it satisfied me.  I bought the seat upholstery online.

I think it looks great, $70 well spent.

bhall, the information is invaluable, as I have not stayed there before.  It really sounds like J&D is the place to stay for us.

So, A section at J&D in September, the weekend of the 19th sound good to everyone?

OK, going to go a bit further afield, this time to Iowa.  Adventureland is a cool little park near Des Moines.  I took a detour and stopped for a visit while traveling to Wyoming last June.  I have been wanting to visit this park for some time so I could ride their funky looping coaster, the Dragon.  I am a sucker for the strange, and sometime painful.  It wasn't too bad, but what a great park.  It was not at all crowded, and had some great rides.  I even took in the circus.

They also happen to have a campground next to the park.  There were a lot of retirees in the campground, they work part time at the park and can stay in the campground.  The circus performers were even camped there, practicing their acts after the park closed.

Not as grand as Main Street USA, but nice none the less.  You even enter the park under the railroad station:

The campground was a short walk away from the park entrance, though they had a shuttle too.

The Whip from 2011

Best Regards,

Norm

Love the kids in this one, that is great.

Well, it looks like September is the better time for most.  September 19 would be the quieter weekend, as the following weekend the Bloomsburg Fair starts, so I guess it depends on if folks want to coincide with the fair or not.

But Lake Glory and J&D look pretty good.

J&D looks like it would have everything we want amenity wise, if we can get sites close together.  There is a playground behind the stretch of sites 83-100, but that is only good if the sites aren't being taken up by seasonals.

No seasonals at Lake Glory, so no worries there, and the sites look like they have a little more space.  They just don't have the amenities of J&D.

Myself, I am still leaning towards Lake Glory, as I think the shuttle to the park would be nice, and I like the look of the sites better.

I am also leaning toward September 19, as it is in that nice lull season before the fair and then the Covered Bridge Festival.

I prefer September as well, it is just a bit quieter then, and I like the idea of doing it at Lake Glory as well.

I know several have expressed that they would be interested in having a GG at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, PA.

For those that have not heard of the park or have not been, it is a classic, family owned and operated amusement park.  They do not charge admission, and rides are on a pay as you go basis.  They also have some of the best coasters in the world, with the Phoenix consistently rated as a top ten wooden coaster.  The park also has tons of other rides and attractions, shows, games and picnicking for 10,000.  Yes, you can bring your own food in, though they also have great food at reasonable prices.

There are a couple of camping options:

Knoebels Campground - It is right next to the park, most sites are wooded, tightly packed, and tend to be small, though there are some larger, open sites.  Cabins available.  Sites are electric only, no water or sewer.

Lake Glory (This is a PDF)- Owned by Knoebels but a couple of miles away from the park, but with a shuttle to the park.  Smaller and quieter then Knoebels Campground, Many full hookup sites, and there are cabins available.

J&D Campground - Just a little down the road from the park, I hear good things about this campground, but have never been.  RV camping only, all full hook-up sites with electric, water, sewer, cable, and wifi.  No cabins.

The toughest thing will be to decide when to have a GG.  Right now we plan on heading up in July and again in September.  I have not booked a site yet. 

July is great up there and probably offers the most flexibility for folks with the kids, but it could be difficult to get sites close together unless we start booking very soon.

September is quieter in the campgrounds and park, but the kids are back in school.

So, what are everyone's thoughts?

We looked at it and, unfortunately, decided we cannot make it this year.  We have a couple of other obligations and a media day event that weekend as well.

I think that a Knoebels Grand Gathering is a "grand" idea.  I will start a separate thread about it.

While on Knoebels, how about another photo from there:

Worlds of Fun Kansas City, MO

Boomerang

 

One of several Midwest parks that I have not gotten to.  Last year I had it on the "maybe" list while traveling out west, but I just ran out of time and had to keep moving through the Kansas City with no time to stop.

I am one of the few enthusiasts that actually like boomerangs, they are fun rides, you just have to ride defensively, and some parks have converted to just lapbars, which makes for a fantastic ride.  Sure, they are a dime a dozen, but a great addition to mid-sized parks.

Here is the first US installation at Morey's Pier is Wildwood, NJ:

Great idea. I think though if posting pics on here you could mention at least the place if not the name of the ride as well. In case someone wants to go there. 

You know, I typed that and didn't even realize I forgot to put that down.  All fixed

Yes, there are great places to have fun besides Disney!  Post pictures you have taken of them here.

I'll start with one of my favorite places, the Flying Turns at Knoebels:

That is a really neat setup. I haven't seen that option. So, does the bike rack attach around the drawbar and tighten down, or is it a passthrough style with a keeper bolt? Who makes this?

It has a pass through with tighteners that hold it in place.  I took it across country last year with no issues.  It is made by Swagman, and I got it on Overstock.com for $90 with free shipping.

I just put the MK fireworks into our itinerary every day on the MDE app so I would know when they were if we were at the campground because they seem to change a bit.

Hauling the bicycles is a little bit different on our camper because they shape is such that you cannot mount a bike rack on the bumper or a hitch on the back of the trailer.  So I found a hitch rack that will attached to an extended draw bar and the bikes sit between the TV and the trailer.  I actually like this a lot because I know the bikes are safe and secure there as well.  The trailer has not problem turning with this setup, but I cannot add a larger tongue box or the spare tire mount there and have this work.

Well, when we lived in Atlanta we found the mountains of western North Carolina and decided that would be our retirement home.  So, we found 3 acres with 450' on a native trout stream and built a home for our trailer.  This photo was taken during construction.  Now, 8 years later the grass is nice and green and I have added concrete walkways around the building and driveway in front.

 

 

 

 

The door is 15 feet wide and 14 feet tall with full clearance for the trailer the entire length of the barn.  I went ahead and built it 50 feed deep in case we decided to move up to a coach.  The road out front is two lane paved, but there is a ditch across the street - so it took a little practice backing the big trailer in.  Now, after a few times doing it it's easy peazy.  Last time I did it at 1AM with no spotter.  i just had to get out a couple of times to convince myself it was going in OK.

 

To the left of the door is an efficiency apartment with kitchen, shower and laundry facilities.

 

I have even added two campsites down by the creek with water and electric (20/30/50 amp).  My own little campground

OK, I want to retire there someday too :)

Very nice!

Good info.  Next year I'll bring my own and give it a try.  It took about a day to get one on this trip, and besides, I would rather use my own equipment.

I was thinking about it and why they don't have more units.  I wonder if it is because of the way cable internet works.  I noticed that it seemed very slow, even with my netbook plugged directly into the modem.  With cable internet, the more modems on the line per hub, the less speed there is.  They probably have a limited number of modems because if every site had a modem the internet would become pretty much unusable.

Just more reason to get dedicated wifi out to the loops.

First, welcome aboard!

We had a good overnight stay at the KOA in Kingsland, reasonably priced, level pull through, clean bath house, free waffles and coffee each morning.  It is off of GA exit 1.  Don't know about places to eat, seemed like there were plenty of choices in Kingsland off exit 3.

And it's gone!

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/541529019224756/photos/a.548974328480225.1073741829.541529019224756/942250422485945/?type=1&theater

:bravo: :bravo: