BIG NEWS!

My best friend Stacey and I have been chosen as finalists for 67 DAYS OF SMILES! Check out our website for ALL the info!!! www.kyleandstaceysmile.com

Sweet Dream

I wanna be in Orlando right now. At Blizzard Beach, on the lazy river with a twist ice cream cone in my hand... Then the next day go to Disney World with a park hopper pass and not have anything planned for the day and let the magic lead us, even if that means riding the monorail in a circle and stopping at all the resorts and exploring. (Stacey of course is by my side through this).

Contests and all of that stuff aside, that is what sounds just perfect to me right now. That's all. Goodnight.

Spare Time

Since I rode the Raptor at Cedar Point in 6th grade, I've been following roller coasters and amusement parks. I love knowing all of the little things going on in parks across the globe, and one way that I keep updated is by looking at websites that talk about it (filled with people equally or more obsessed as I am). In case for some reason you also want to follow every detail about every amusement park in the world, here's some of my favorite links:

www.screamscape.com (lots of news/rumors)

www.coasterbuzz.com (news/rumors/forums)

www.pointbuzz.com (this one is dedicated completely to one of my favorite parks, Cedar Point

www.ihavenothingbettertodothanlookatamusementparkwebsites.com (ok I made that one up)

So in case you wanted to know what I do in my spare time... there it is!

Top THRILLS!

Here's a quick list of some of my favorite rides that I've ridden across the world...

1.  Millennium Force - Cedar Point, Sandusky Ohio

takes you up 310 feet, drops you down 300 at an 80 degree angle.  93 MPH!  It's a very smooth, very fast, very thrilling ride!

2. Spiderman the Ride- Universal's Islands of Adventure - Orlando

I don't even know how to describe this ride!  Let's just say they spent $100,000,000 on this ride and it PAYED OFF!  It's an indoor ride that includes 3D, real explosions and an ending that will make you think you really dropped off a skyscraper when you really only moved a foot!

3.  Oblivion - Alton Towers, England

this one isn't the tallest or fastest, but it drops you STRAIGHT down into an underground mist filled tunnel.  It's original and terrifying!

I have SO many more favorites, but these are just a few.  What are your favorite rides?  I wanna know (and ride them if I haven't yet!)

We interrupt this broadcast...

Aside from loving thrills etc. I also have a passion for acting.  I was fortunate enough to be in the closing  cast of RENT on Broadway (a lifelong dream).  Here's a youtube clip of my life backstage at this amazing show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj8Azn7e__U

We will now return to our regularly scheduled programing...

It's all come to THIS!

If you've been reading my blog, or you know me you know how much I love adventures.  Well I HONESTLY feel like all of my adventures have led up to this moment.

There's a promotion that Orlando is running called 67 days of smiles.  Basically the city of Orlando is looking for a pair of people to go down there for 67 days and experience every attraction Orlando has to offer (sky diving, amusement parks, gator wrestling etc.)  They want this pair to document their experiences and blog/twitter/facebook/etc. about it.  Not only do they pay for all of the attractions, but they also house you and give you a car.  And if that weren't enough (for me it totally is) they pay you $25,000.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!??  They need a one minute video and 500 word essay describing why we should be the "smile ambassadors" for Orlando.  Obviously since the second Stacey and I heard about this we have been working our butts of making sure we do everything we can to show "67 days" how perfect we are for this.

If you would like to follow our quest you can add me on twitter (user name kylepost), join our facebook group, 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=88439204654&ref=ts 

or keep an eye on this blog.  Submissions are due June 30th and we would find out by mid July if we got it.

THANKS!

Kyle (and Stacey)

Partner in Crime

I've had this odd fascination for amusement parks and thrills since I rode the Raptor at Cedar Point in 6th grade.  Then in 8th grade I met who would turn out to be my best friend, Stacey Doornbos.  The reason we actually became such good friends was because one year she invited me and some other friends to go down to Cedar Point with her and her family.  2 years later and we are STILL going to amusement parks every chance that we get.  We have SO many funny stories from going on our adventures together but here is one of my favorites:

So Stacey and I tend to do things FULL OUT.  One spring we decided to go to Cedar Point for opening day.  We also decided to get season passes, which meant we had to be there at like 8am to avoid long lines (we didn't want to have to waste one second getting into the park of course)  Cedar Point is a 5 hour drive from Holland Michigan, so we got up at 3am wearing t-shirts we had decorated showing our excitement/love for the park.  We wanted to get there as quickly as possible so I was speeding a BIT (ok I was going 95 in a 75)... I was young and reckless ;)  The only thing that makes my heart drop more than the first drop on a good ride is seeing red and blue flashing lights in my rear view mirror.  The cop asked us where we were going and we just pointed to our decorated t-shirts.  I think he saw that we were SO excited and didn't want to ruin our day because he let us off the hook!

When we got to the park, we were first in line for season passes.  That's when we saw a news crew coming up to talk to us. Apparently they saw our t-shirts and wanted to know why we loved amusement parks so much.  We of COURSE did an amazing job showing our enthusiasm.  So amazing in fact that the public relations manager of Cedar Point came up to us, let us in the park for FREE before it opened and had us ride the brand new roller coaster front row for the film crew.  It was pretty amazing.  We met the CEO (I of course already knew his name and what he looked like b/c I'm dorky that way) and we developed a bit of a relationship with the public relations manager.  The next year they were opening Top Thrill Dragster, the tallest fastest roller coaster in the world and Stacey and I were invited to come back for Media Day to ride the ride and talk to all kinds of news sources before the park was even OPEN!

Just goes to show you what a little enthusiasm (and some spiffy hand decorated t-shirts) can do!

Nickeled and Dimed...

So not a lot of people know this about me... because it's kinda strange... but I'm mildly obsessed with amusement parks and I have been since I first rode the Raptor at Cedar Point in 6th grade.

By mildly I mean I could tell you WAY too many facts about WAY too many rollercoasters in the US.  Like I'm talking height, speed, length, who designed it, how much it cost etc. 

ANYWAYS, when I was dirt poor in high school I wanted a season pass to Cedar Point SO bad.  I didn't care that I lived almost 5 hours away, I knew I could make it worth my while.  So instead of just finding a job or something, like a normal person would do, I went around my school shaking an old water bottle and asking for spare change from students/teachers.  Yes, I was a bum in Holland Michigan.  You would be surprised how many high schoolers and even PRINCIPALS have no problem donating nickels to a worthy cause.  You may laugh now, but it worked baby!  In less than a month I had collected enough money to get the pass AND get a friend in with me for free.

So go ahead and laugh... but I was laughing all the way to the front line of the Raptor baby!

Hello there!

Hey everyone

Welcome to my new blog, it will document my life... but specifically my obsession/love for amusement parks and rollercoasters!  Have fun