Roadside Attraction

"Roadside Attraction" is the 16th episode in the second season of Gravity Falls, and the thirty-sixth overall. It premiered on September 21, 2015.

Official overview
Grunkle Stan takes the kids with him on a road-trip to sabotage all the other tourist traps in Oregon.

Synopsis
The episode begins with everyone packing up their belongings into an RV. Stan announces that the crew of the Mystery Shack is going on a road trip across Oregon to visit all of the other tourist traps that are there. Every year, they all prank him, and this year, Stan's making sure he gets his revenge. Stan, Dipper, Mabel, Soos, Candy, and Grenda are all heading on the trip.

Mabel has packed everything, including a box belonging to Dipper labelled: "DO NOT TOUCH." Mabel drops it and the contents spill out onto the floor, revealing numerous photos of Wendy. Dipper scoops them up, while Mabel and Soos tell him that he should really get over Wendy, and that this road trip is a good chance to move on and meet other people. After drawing inspiration from a picture on a brochure, Dipper becomes enthusiastic, and they set off.

Their first stop is Granny Sweetkin's Yarnball, its attractions include the world's biggest yarnball, and the world's biggest knitting needles. Dipper tries to get over Wendy by talking to a girl, however he crumbles due to lack of confidence and is rejected. Dipper asks Stan for advice on girls. Stan tells him the key is humor and confidence. They unravel the ball of yarn and leave.

Their second stop is Upside-Down Town, and its attraction is a house that is upside-down, where one uses Velcro shoes to stick to the ceiling. Dipper tries out Stan's advice and by talking to a girl name Emma Sue and receives her email address. Dipper's confidence is boosted and he greets Mabel, Grenda and Candy, complimenting them while doing so and causing Candy to notice, happily, that he's "good different". Stan and Soos turn the attraction right-side up and leave in a hurry. Their third stop is Log Land. Stan releases a beaver to destroy it, as Dipper meets a new girl and gets her phone number. Their fourth stop is a Corn Maze. Stan sabotages the maze by releasing corn weevils as Dipper meets another girl. Soos ends up getting stuck in a corn maze and is left behind.

They stay overnight at Septic Ridge RV Park. In the hot tub, Stan tells Dipper some stories from his past (about him and girls). Dipper asks Stan if it is a good idea to lead the girls on, as he only wanted to move on from Wendy. Nearby, Mabel, Candy and Grenda sit around a campfire eating marshmallows and playing Truth, Dare, or Don't. Mabel and Grenda learn that Candy now has feelings for Dipper, as Mabel devises a plan to get them together.

Their final stop is Mystery Mountain. On the way, Mabel and Grenda try to get Dipper and Candy together. Mabel tells Stan that she will get carsick at the back and she wants to sit at the front and Grenda questions if she can she take two seats and Stan lets them, forcing Dipper and Candy to sit together in the back. Candy seizes the opportunity to ask Dipper out on a date when they get to the mountain. Dipper, afraid to hurt Candy's feelings, accepts.

When Dipper questions Stan about his methods of getting girls at Mystery Mountain, Stan assures him that his methods are fine and demonstrates on a ticket booth worker named Darlene. They end up going out on a date at Widow's Peak. Dipper and Candy go to "Mummy Town, U.S.A", where Candy begins making advancements on Dipper. Suddenly, three of the girls that gave Dipper their phone numbers and email find him. They ask him to choose which one he likes, pressuring Dipper to confess that he didn't like any of them and that he was just trying to learn how to talk to girls. They all storm off, including Candy, leaving Dipper alone.

Meanwhile, Stan and Darlene are at a spider attraction, where Darlene reveals herself to be a spider-person and kidnaps Stan by trapping him in a web. Stan manages to radio Dipper and he alerts Mabel, Grenda and Candy. When Darlene transforms into a full spider and gets a drink to go with Stan, Dipper, Mabel, Grenda and Candy untie Stan and run.

Unfortunately, the sky tram they ride is the slowest in the world, the Trambience, allowing Darlene to catch up and cover the whole vehicle in spider silk. Candy, using the pamphlets she read in the RV, releases the Trambience. They fall down the mountain safely, as Darlene becomes trapped under the boot of a Paul Bunyan statue. Darlene attempts to trick Stan into releasing her, however the kids stop him and they leave. In the RV, Dipper and Stan have a heart to heart about girls, as Dipper apologizes to Candy using a pamphlet he made. Candy then says that she has lost interest in Dipper when she saw him run away from Darlene screaming, and they reconcile. They arrive at the Mystery Shack, decimated by the owners of the previous pranked tourist attractions. They leave, and Dipper asks if they have to clean it up. Mabel responds that Soos can take care of it, before realizing that he is not with them.

During the credits, Soos is standing in the center of the corn maze. He remembers when Abuelita told him that if he ever gets lost, he should stay exactly where he is, and does just that. He then remarks that he would make a great scarecrow.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Jeff Rowe
 * Josh Weinstein
 * Alex Hirsch
 * Directed by:
 * Sunil Hall
 * Storyboarded by:
 * Emmy Cicierega
 * Alonso Ramirez Ramos
 * Vaughn Tada
 * With the Voice Talents of
 * Kristen Schaal as Mabel
 * Jason Ritter as Dipper
 * Alex Hirsch as Grunkle Stan and Soos
 * Carl Faruolo as Grenda
 * Chelsea Peretti as Darlene
 * Niki Yang as Candy
 * Additional voices
 * Matt Chapman
 * Alex Hirsch
 * Nicole Mitchell
 * Kari Wahlgren
 * Casting by:
 * Sara Jane Sherman

Character revelations

 * Candy is in the sixth grade. Though it is unspecified as to whether this means she is going into sixth or seventh grade in the fall.
 * Stan Pines was married to a woman named Marilyn, who divorced him after only six hours.
 * Soos was duct taped to the ceiling of the Mystery Shack for 78 hours last summer.

Series continuity

 * As established in "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons" and "The Last Mabelcorn," Dipper hasn't gotten over his crush on Wendy.
 * The letter Dipper intended to give to Wendy in "Into the Bunker" is in his "Do Not Touch box" along with pictures of Wendy.
 * On Stan's map of tourist attractions around Oregon, the Tent of Telepathy is crossed off, as it is no longer a tourist attraction due to Li'l Gideon's arrest.
 * Carla McCorkle is mentioned again as a previous love interest of Stanley Pines.
 * Mabel tries to get Candy and Dipper together. In "The Love God," Mabel put figurines of Candy and Dipper next to each other in her category "Future Matches?"
 * On Stan's map of tourist attractions in Oregon, there is Ye Royal Discount Putt Hutt, seen in "The Golf War," and the Petting Zoo seen in "Mabel's Scrapbook: Petting Zoo."

Trivia
''"Oregon is known for its natural beauty, but, lets be honest guys, trees get boring after a while." "That's why man created tourist traps. There's a really big shoe, for example. And the yarn ball is neat. I haven't been there but I've heard good things."''
 * On the side of Stan's map of the tourist traps, there is a box with text in it which reads:
 * A cartoon version of Alex Hirsch can be seen riding the Trambience.
 * One of the numbers written on Dipper's arm ends with "0618."
 * Stan's ex-wife, Marilyn, is mentioned in the episode's cryptogram, but was actually supposed to first be mentioned in "Dreamscaperers." For a production art shot of a hallway in Stan's mindscape there is a cryptogram that reads "EWTUG AQW OCTKNAP." Once decoded using a "two letters back Caesar cipher," it reads "CURSE YOU MARILYN." However, in the actual episode, this message is edited out.
 * The Fire Retardant Raccoon was originally supposed to be named the "Fire Retardant Bear."

Cryptograms

 * During the end credits of this episode, there is a cryptogram that reads "VCDH, PZNS P CSSOS VDPUHB GTXILSKTV, VYSCIYROZN USLQR WXW NDM WDQVZOGS, EEG PTUVZHBSTH R WOAZMEJ PJAPURU PCH JDGHN GRW OADRX WVT LEP." Once decoded using the Vignère key DOPPER it reads, "SOOS, LIKE A NOBLE GOLDEN RETRIEVER, EVENTUALLY FOUND HIS WAY HOMEWARD, AND BEFRIENDED A TALKING BULLDOG AND SASSY CAT ALONG THE WAY."
 * The cryptogram in the episode's end page reads, "21-23-6-12-23 11-21-21-9-6-13-12-19 6-19-4-3-6-10-19-20 23-12-12 16-15-5 18-12-9-1-19-6-5, 11-23-6-15-12-23-10 20-15-2-9-6-21-19-20 16-15-11 23-18-4-19-6 9-10-12-25 5-15-26 16-9-3-6-5, 22-19-23-4-6-15-21-19 5-12-23-8-8-19-20 16-15-11 18-9-6 22-19-15-10-17 23 21-23-20, 9-12-20 17-9-12-20-15-19’5 4-16-19 22-19-5-4 17-15-6-12-18-6-15-19-10-20 5-4-23-10 19-2-19-6 16-23-20." Once decoded using the combined cipher it reads, "CARLA MCCORKLE RETURNED ALL HIS FLOWERS, MARILYN DIVORCED HIM AFTER ONLY SIX HOURS, BEATRICE SLAPPED HIM FOR BEING A CAD, OLD GOLDIE’S THE BEST GIRLFRIEND STAN EVER HAD."