Congrats on that, btw! My wife agreed to marry me after the first pin, I know how this works.

I'm looking forward to this and think the idea of doing the afterparty at the Ramada makes a lot of sense. I'm certainly in to trying to make it work.

They're not perfect, to be sure. I forget what the confusion we had at the front desk was but it wasn't insurmountable. I've done a lot of hotel restoration work and I would bet it has been a distressed property in recent history but they do seem to be trying to bring it up. I spent a little time talking to employees (and the bartender of course!) and they seemed to have a relatively good grasp of the objective.

I like the fact that it's a little off the beaten path. Pretty much every option is a ~15 min drive but I would feel secure leaving a trailer there; being on the back corner of an industrial park means there is absolutely no thru traffic.

Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?

I will make my reservation tonight, and if I can swing it will plan on bringing an EM for the Lehigh room. That'll be a call I'll have to make much closer to the date though.

Ever play a Flip Flop on skates with the tilt bob out? It's a great drinking game.

Ramada gonna be the place to be, still trying to decide whether to stay one night or two. Two is awfully tempting but I feel like a bit of a jackwagon spending for that second night when I live less than an hour away.

The discount code for the Wingate is: "Don't wanna party with the Americans, eh?"

Up to his armpits in Star Gazers, I would imagine.

You comin' to Allentown this year, @greatwichjohn?

Actually I'm juggling dates right now but it's beginning to look like I won't be able to stay overnight this year. My youngest sister is getting married in San Diego in May and I'll be lucky to make it at all.

Hey now, is that proper etiquette? Asking a guy who said not ready yet, no prices or pics, if he'll match an arbitrary price?

Oh, it's you.

We stayed at the Ramada last year also with a bit of trepidation and while it had some of the tell-tale signs of a formerly distressed property, they really did seem to be on the upswing. Check-in was a little silly as there was a guy under the counter fixing the printer while the lady was leaning over him trying to ring me up, but I was sympathetic as I've been that guy under the counter before. Hotels are a weird animal but this one seemed to be getting its act together.

The bartender in the little bar on the main floor was really fascinated by the whole idea of people traveling as far as they had to a pinball show and she found the term "pinhead" to be rather amusing, so she yelled across the bar to another table of guys: "Hey are you guys pinheads?" A Canadian gentleman responded by simply standing up and raising his sweatshirt to show a pinball shirt with the word 'pinhead' on it. After chuckles and introductions, we put together that one of them was there for Marco and actually had an order up in his room for me I'd intended to pick up at the show the next morning. This is the community-type stuff I'm hoping to see fleshed out by this year's efforts, even though I may not be able to attend myself.

The room wasn't perfect but it was clean. The staff were helpful and the free breakfast was pretty decent too. My wife sleeps late but I was able to load up on caffeine and carbs before we checked out. I felt our ~$80 was fairly well spent...

Funny you say that, someone at league this past week was looking for one.

I drank a bottle of tequila in the parking lot with them while we listened to their new demo. It’s really good! Then we toured the bars and ended up in a Pinsider’s basement playing until near dawn. Had such a great time all around.

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I played it a bunch of times, it was really fun and looks amazing. Lots of great shots, couldn't hear the callouts well and definitely noticed the flippers being a bit weak later in the day - may have been all day but I just didn't notice until later. It was hard to make the left ramp when needed but a little more power and it'd be no problem. That left scoop though! You know how fast the TNA scoop kicks out? This isn't much different except there's no flasher or anything to indicate if it's coming so a center drain is often the result unless a slap save can grab it. I had the best luck just flipping the right flipper a couple times when I knew it was coming so my timing would be right. If the tilt bob was in it, it was loose as hell so that at least helped.

As if Stern uses a single designer?

Iron Maiden fits the exact same description and it's the first Stern I've been excited about in a long time.

I dunno, I picked through a lot of ramps looking for what I was looking for. I hear you though.

That guy's an asshole, I have it on good authority.

That's why I don't use it, or Messenger.

When I worked in construction, we quickly learned how to find the GC when we arrived on the site. He was always the loudest guy and probably throwing things.

Agree 100%. By the way, who was the other Nick with the custom bingo machine? That was the absolute coolest thing I saw at the show, without a doubt. He told me people confuse you and him all the time so I figure you know who I mean.

I thought I understood how they worked but I had no idea, to be honest. He spent a bunch of time showing me why he loves them and now I do too. I also now understand why they were outlawed in the first place... I could have dumped a lot of coins in that thing and I detest gambling.

I've never stayed until 8pm on Saturday before but there were surprisingly few holes in the lineup until after about 6pm. I've seen tumbleweeds by 5pm in past years.

I had some clown pull that one in the Alice Cooper line. After waiting quite some time, the guy in front of me started a one player game and plunged the ball. Then a friend came up so he jabbed the credit button and made it a two player game. While his buddy who never waited in line was playing, a third guy showed up and they added him in as well. I finally asked them if anyone else would be joining their party today. They acted like I'd pissed on their golf shoes. I had no reason to push it further, they sucked at pinball and were done quickly.

I was one of those 300 and left very impressed. The light show is phenomenal and I really appreciated you taking the time to describe the development... cool stuff.

So, how can we get more than just a couple cops to show up? We have a reputation to build here.

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True. On the other hand, Lancaster cops will kick your ass for no reason at all. Sit on Water Street and watch them come out of the parking garage all swollen at shift change.