It took a long time to figure out how to post for our 2009 Disney Christmas adventure. The regular video and review just didn't seem to do it justice. After the Cynical ThinkTank podcast was launched, we quickly realized we had our forum. You can listen to our two part podcast available on iTunes, Cynical ThinkTank Blog, or MP3.
WARNING! The Cynical ThinkTank Podcasts contains coarse language and strong controversial opinions. If you are brainwashing your children to believe there are words that are "bad" or you have issue with the quest for knowledge even if it calls into question your own beliefs, don't bother listening. However, if you know me, you'll be fine.
Each year we pick a new hotel-casino to stay at for our week in Vegas. Recently, we have chosen to stay one night on Fremont Street and the rest of the trip on the strip. In 2009, we picked Planet Hollywood and The Plaza. Our experience at the Plaza was one of the most disappointing we have ever had in Vegas, while Planet Hollywood became one of our favorite properties. What is more impressive is how they managed to take such a damaged brand name and reinvent it into something this cool.
The Planet Hollywood Hotel-Casino is a complete remodel of the old, often troubled, Aladdin. The Aladdin was a property we always admired but never had the chance to stay at. So when we learned that Planet Hollywood had bought it, we were quite upset. It is not an exaggeration to say that we hate the Planet Hollywood brand and always regarded its restaurants as a poor man’s Hard Rock Café. However, once we started seeing the results of the ongoing remodel, we were intrigued. After taking a stroll through the casino, we were convinced that this was a property that we wanted to stay at. Our experience was nothing short of awesome.
This year, we changed up the usual August formula and decided to go in September so we could be in Vegas for the NFL season opener. I had always heard that football season in Vegas was a madhouse and it was next to impossible to find seats in the sports book for the games. So we decided to call and see if people were able to reserve seats. What we got was the VIP package including a roped off entrance, our own couch, three oversized chairs, four individual flat screen TV’s, a personal waitress and concierge for the entire day. It was amazing! They even allowed us to reserve the same section again for Monday Night Football. It may be the coolest experience we have ever had in Vegas, and IT WAS ALL FREE! I like being phamous at ph Vegas!
For the rest of the trip, our experience somehow maintained its momentum. We loved the décor and atmosphere of the casino. It is incredibly modern, young & hip with places like the Heart Bar to hang out in, located in the middle of the casino. The place is huge so it took a little time to get used to the layout but that, is part of the fun of staying at a new property. It has a nice selection of slot machines and some great video poker. This is one of the coolest and possibly our favorite casino on the strip.
The room was nice with a great view of the Fountains of Bellagio. It was hands down the second best room view we have ever had of the strip (the first being at TI with a view of the entire south strip). We enjoyed the Pulp Fiction Hollywood Hip room. The beds were comfortable and the room looked cool but it did feel a little cramped with the large plush chair and themed end table by the window.
The pools at Planet Hollywood are located on top of the casino, in front of the hotel. This was cool because for the first time when we hung out at the pool, we had a strip view. The pool décor was a little lacking with Astroturf grass walkways that made it hotter to walk on than the concrete it was covering up. We also felt the pools were too cold to swim in most of the time which is unusual for pools without a waterfall element attached. The pool area is huge, so we didn’t have any problems finding a chair any time of the day, as long as we didn’t want to sit by the pool. All and all I would say that we liked it but hope this is still a work-in-progress for Planet Hollywood.
We didn’t get a chance to try the Spice Market Buffet but loved Planet Dailies. I highly recommend the Crème Brule French Toast. It is amazing but be prepared for a delicious sugar overload. Planet Hollywood’s sports book doesn’t have a bar style grill that you can order food from, so we got a chance to try the famous “Pinks Hotdogs” before their grand opening. Being a guy who likes his food simple, I was impressed. I enjoyed a simple hot dog with mustard and some chili cheese fries and loved it so much, I went back for seconds. It was exactly what I needed during a Vegas, NFL football Sunday, drinking binge. Ph Vegas has a great food experience.
I can’t say enough good things about this resort and even more impressive, they changed our perception of the name. I still hate Planet Hollywood Restaurants but I love ph Vegas. Once we have stayed at all the resorts of interest in Vegas, this place will definitely be on the top of our list of places to stay at again and a must visit casino during every future trip to Vegas. Ph Vegas is all good! Trip Pics & Restaurant Reviews
Las Vegas. My favorite place on the planet. The sounds, the excitement, the heat, the resorts, the lights; I love it all. I can wander up and down the Vegas strip or Fremont street all night just looking at everything. I can walk through a casino and just listen and get excited. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gambling like everyone else in Vegas but that isn't what brings me back.
Keren and I go to Vegas at least once a year, usually in August because we love the triple digit heat. We both enjoy the pools, the booze, the shows and various versions of gambling. However, Keren enjoys Vegas in a very different way than I do. She likes the spa's, fine dining and Cirque shows, all of which don't interest me. The fact that we have such different intrests that can all be served is another reason why I love this town. It is also the reason that you will often get both of our views on each trip we post to cover all aspects of Las Vegas. What happens when we go to Vegas will be posted on this blog, well most of it. Enjoy.
Sorry it took so long but we have a lot of content to update the blog with.
First, the reason for the delay... After our 2009 Vegas trip, we wanted to make a big post with a lot of pictures, loads of reviews and a fantastic video of Vegas at night set to Sinatra’s "Luck be a Lady". After working on the video for weeks, we tried to post it on YouTube. Shortly after, we were informed that since the rights to that song belong to WMG (Warner Music Group), we weren't allowed to use the song. Apparently, WMG doesn't allow any song they have the rights to to be posted online. So I would like to say officially....FUCK YOU WMG!
So after multiple attempts to re-cut the video with different songs, I conceded that if I could not make the video I wanted to make, I wasn't going to post one. Although I don't agree with WMG's stance on the use of their music, I can't argue with their right to do it.
Brokenhearted, I decided to take a break from the blog. Yet, I didn't stop filming or documenting our adventures in preparation for the day I was ready for our triumphant return. That day is today.
Coming soon; Vegas trips, our Christmas misadventures at Disney World, Beatles Rock Band, more past and future vacation adventures, snowboarding and more videos. We are excited to be back and hope you enjoy all we have share.
When we moved from Ohio, one of the things we knew we would miss was our proximity to Cedar Point and Kings Island. However, we were we were pleasantly surprised at what a good Six Flags park Chicago has. Luckily, we live closer to this park than any other park before it. It has some great coasters including the first in the Midwest and possibly the best flying coaster we have been on, Superman: Ultimate Escape with one of the best loops (head first, front flip) we have ever been on. Raging Bull is a fantastic hypercoaster with awesome air time and a top speed of 73 mph. Six Flags Great America is also home to the first inverted coaster in the world, Batman: The Ride. This coaster, unlike many "first" innovative coaster types holds up over time and is great fun. American Eagle is a very good out & back, racer wooden coaster. When it debuted in 1981, it was the fastest coaster in the world at 66 mph and is still the tallest, longest, fastest racing coaster in the world. The Viperwooden coaster is a mirror image of the famous Coney Island Cyclone and great fun. Honorable mentions go to Whizzer, Demon & V2.
With all those coasters, you would think this is a world class amusement park. However, Six Flags Great America has some egregious offenses. The first of which is The Dark Knight coaster. The shittiest coaster to ever ride the coat tails of a great movie. The queue themeing is the best part of this ride which should be advertised as a children’s ride to give people a fair expectation. It’s a dark ride coaster that culminates in a Joker less mouse trap of a ride. If this ride has a line longer than 15 minutes, move along. Trust me! You are missing nothing.
Next is the worst standup coaster we have ever been on, Iron Wolf. In a genre infamous for being rough rides, it is, without a doubt, the roughest. So bad in fact, you spend the majority of the ride just trying to limit how much you rattle around in your seat and trying to minimize the pain until it finally ends. I would liken the Iron Wolf ride experience to Son of Beast, with the loop, at Kings Island. It sucks and can ruin an entire day at the park. At the very least, make sure you have some ibuprofen with you. You'll need it when the ride is over.
The final, and probably the worst issue we have with Six Flags Chicago is the ride management and largely the reason we experienced the worst day ever at an amusement park. The line queues are some of the worst we have ever experienced. The staff seems to have no sense of urgency or pride in what they are doing and makes little to no effort to fill trains to capacity. Maybe this is just a testament to the available work force in Chicago but it sucks. In most cases, if you want any chance of getting on all rides during the day, you need to get a Flash pass, and now your ticket just doubled in price. Nothing like spending $100 a person to spend a day in a park not named Disney. As a season pass holder, I can tell you that at Six Flags Chicago, it feels like Al Capone is running the place because if you don't buy a Flash pass, you’re fucked. It feels like a setup.
The most frustrating part about Six Flags Great America is that it has so much potential. Overall it has great coasters, decent food and some good themeing. They just need to find some more people who give a shit to work there. Regardless of our experience and complaints, I highly recommend this park. I'm glad we have had the opportunity to make it our home park while we are here, but it still isn't Cedar Point or Kings Island. I would be remiss if I didn't give Six Flags credit. During our “worst day at the park”, we were sharing our experience via Twitter, as we do during all our adventures. Six Flags took notice and started Direct Messaging me asking for more information about the problems we were having and pledged to forward our comments onto the park. Hopefully it makes a difference but I am a cynic. Also, don't forget the history of corruption in Chicago because depending on the day you go, it can feel alive and well at this park.
So with Mark starting the blog – and doing a fantastic job with the videos and park summaries – I kind of felt like I needed to contribute. It occurred to me that I should write about things that I like but that Mark has no interest in. (Trust me, a lot things fall into that category!) This will mostly include reviews on restaurants, movies and books - and so Keren’s Korner was born. (Disclaimer - Mark has seen way more movies that me and will definitely have an opinion - however - his opinions are usually verydifferent from mine.)
The blog should be a great outlet for me, since I normally can’t discuss things like food with Mark (he's a bit picky!) Also it is possible (however unlikely) that someone else might find it entertaining. Because it’s tougher to critique food and movies after you’ve eaten or seen them, I’ll probably start with books. Along the way, I may decide to blog about something else entirely. I’m leaving it completely up to what may be.
Also, I welcome comments or recommendations. I’ll do my best to try / read / see / eat what I can. I hope you enjoy!!
This is Idlewild located in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania and the last stop on the Western PA Trip. It added two coasters, Rollo Coaster and Wild Mouse, to our conquered list and further reinforced that amusement parks aren't always just about the roller coasters.
This park features two very unique attractions. The first being Story Book Forest which features some "life size models" of your favorite fairy tails. Examples include three real little pigs and a shoe big enough live in. The second is Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe. It combines a train ride back into the forest just like the trolley car that takes you to the Land of Make-Believe in the TV show. There you will see animatronics of all your favorite characters including King Friday as they take you on another adventure in the land of Make-Believe. Both attractions are equally endearing and great fun for children & adults who grew up with stories.
The only noteworthy coaster was the Rollo Coaster which is a wooden coaster built from the very trees that surround the park. The track is also placed in a heavily wooded area engulfed by tall trees. Idlewild is surrounded by greenery and the signage isn't very good. We actually drove pass it the first time because if you don't know it’s there, you will never find it. However, this does really add to the overall aestetic of the park.
Idlewild is a really nice starter park for kids with rides and attractions heavily themed for children, but we enjoyed them all the same.
Keren & I have been happily married since 1996, no children. While one of us is a bit more antisocial & vulgar (Mark) the other more than makes up for it with her patient & tolerant demeanor & sweet disposition (Keren). One of us is also very good at sucking up. You guess who.
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