Interviewing Jim Dean Park President of Busch Gardens about Cobra's Curse

This interview is from Media day for Cobra's Curse.

JD: Hello, I am Jim Dean and I am the President of Busch Gardens and Adventure Island Tampa.

Me: Hello Mr.Dean! It's a pleasure to finally be able to meet you!

Me: Why do you think that it is important to have thrill rides that the entire family can ride?

JD: Well, we want to appeal to the whole family and we got have got some of the best roller coaster in the world with Sheikra, Montu, and Kumba. Falcon's Fury is one of the greatest drop towers ever. We want to make sure that we offered an attractions for the entire family, even four and five year old kids can ride Cobra's Curse.

Me: That is fantastic! My entire family including my Niece who is four is waiting with anticipation for the ride to open! It's all she has talked about for the past couple of weeks!

Me: So, I saw on Facebook that you have actually ridden the coaster a few times! What is your favorite part?

JD: Everybody is going to say that the spinning is their favorite part. Coming off of the vertical lift to the snakes mouth, that is pretty fun. Then you dive out into the Serengeti where you are going forward. When the spinning starts though, the real fun happens! You never know how your cart will spin. It's different each time. 

Me: This is unrelated to Cobra's Curse, but on Monday I was in park and I heard a woman complaining. She was complaining that every time a new ride comes out, it has been a roller coaster or Falcon's Fury. Do you have any plans to replace Gwazi or Tidal Wave with something that is for those people out there, who are not coaster enthusiasts? 

JD: We are always looking at our attractions across the park to make sure we are maximizing our geography. We have got so much real estate! With Gwazi, it was simply just time for a change, as was the same for Tidal Wave. We are looking at some things, but they take years to bring to fruition. We are indeed looking at attractions that are not major roller coasters. We want to make sure we offer things to families.

Me: Are there any plans to build any rides that are disabled friendly?

JD: Sure! Do you have any ideas?

Me: I was talking to a woman on Twitter and she suggested maybe carnival type rides. Or something that is easy to get those who are confined to wheelchairs on and off, without much effort. 

JD: Sand Serpent is a family ride. We would love to add more of those. I've even seen children in wheelchairs riding Falcon's Fury! That must be such a thrill for them to be able to ride it! 

Me: Oh indeed! I couldn't even imagine riding Falcon's Fury myself! My Grandmother wants to ride it and she is 80 years old!

JD: Bring her on over!

A huge Thank you to Mr.Dean for allowing me to interview him on Media Day! I wasn't on his list of interviewers and he took the time to talk to me! It was so kind of him and it was such a pleasure to finally be able to meet him! I have only ever heard such great things about him and I am so glad that we have him as the Park President!

Mock Ice Cream Sandwiches

When I was younger, my Grandmother made up "ice cream sandwiches" once with Cool Whip. I thought it was the COOLEST thing ever. I mean, obviously it isn't ice cream, but sometimes I just can't handle ice cream. It's been ages since I've had this, but I just recently thought to myself "uh omg I need this in my life!" so a quick trip to the store and I had everything I needed! ...Okay I only really needed the whipped topping but we don't need to talk about why I have 3 boxes of graham crackers in my kitchen. <_<

So, like I said, this is something super simple to put together and something that you can completely customize to your personal tastes. Heck you can even get different kinds of graham crackers too (hello chocolate covered ones, I'm talking to you!)

Ingredients:

• Whipped Topping
• Graham Crackers
• Food Coloring (Gel or Powder. I will touch on that at the end) (Optional)
• Flavoring (Optional)

Utensils:

• Bowls
• Something to stir with
• Frosting bags or just Ziploc Sandwich bags
• Scissors. 

• Take your whipped topping and divide it between your bowls depending on what colors you choose, if any. 
• Now you're going to want to use either powdered or gel food coloring because the liquid will mess with the consistency a bit and it might mess with the taste as well.
• Once you've got your food coloring in your bowls, now would be the time to add your flavoring. I used maybe 1/2-1tsp if you want a reference point. 
• Mix WELL.
  
  Once combined, spoon your whipped topping into your bags.
  NOW if your whipped topping seems to be a bit too melted, just pop it into the freezer for about 5 minutes. Don't let it freeze for too long, otherwise you'll have to soften it up, or risk busting the bag. Trust me, I know this from experience. 

Now, this is the part of the blog post where I tell you that I dropped the ball. I was working on this blog post at probably 3am because I wanted to get everything ready before the kids woke up. That was my mistake because when I put them in the freezer I fell asleep. That was also the last picture I took. Shame on me, I know.

All you need to do is break your graham crackers in half, like you normally would and pipe your whipped topping on. Apply the top and let them set again in the freezer. I put them in a pan and made a single layer. Now, make sure you put them in the freezer, or at least make sure your kids know (if they help) to put them in the freezer. Cloe wanted to put them away and she put them in the fridge. Cue melted mess. Thankfully it was savable by just putting it in the freezer to re-set. Gotta love toddlers! So, I don't have a finished product from this set but I do have a Instagram picture from when I made them on my Dad's birthday.

This is something super fun and simple to make with the kids. It really takes no time at all.
Now Samantha of screamviolenc3/Sam Says Woah had mentioned using Nutella or Cookie Butter with this. You could totally do that. You can mix it into the whipped topping if you want. If you do add fun things into this, send me a picture! I would LOVE to see it!

I can't wait to see what you all come up with!