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Checking QQ prices will let you know what the park thinks about the crowds.

Jurassic Quest! If you want to see some realistic looking dinosaurs....go watch the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. If you want to see some awesome looking animatronics that look like real dinosaurs that are roaming this planet.....go to Universal Studios and ride some of their rides. If you want to see some robots that move about 2 inches that closely resemble some type of dinosaur....then Jurassic Quest is right up your alley. My boys have been enjoying the Camp Cretaceous show on Netflix so they were really excited that Jurassic Quest was coming to town so they could see some dinosaurs. There were a lot of animatronics, some bounce houses, some areas to "Dig for Dinos" and some "rides". It was a fun way to kill about an hour out of a day (and $35 per person!!!!!) so here's what we did. Enjoy the pictures! We are ready for Trailer Park Dinosaurs! This way to all the excitement! At least they gave us a very detailed map of where everything was! And here is the "Quest" part of Jurassic Quest! Find the clues, answer the clues, and get something at the end. Can you guess what it is? Read further down to find out.... "insert John Williams Jurassic Park theme" Here's some Dinos! And some more Dinos... The boys were pretty excited to see "Bumpy" from Camp Cretaceous. I think Jurassic Park may have taken some liberties on what the Velociraptor looked like. I wouldn't be terrified of these "birds" Oh my god! A Griffinsaurus is being hatched! Or it was just another egg from this weird looking nest. It's a Jacksonsaurus Rex! I would be terrified too if a dinosaur had red lights coming from its mouth! Cool fact...these are real dinosaur fossils and such. Another cool fact, this area had to be kept cool in order to preserve the artifacts. And then we saw a real dinosaur! It was a baby triceratops. And of course when we went in to take a picture, it started eating Griffin's hair. This was a cute little experience. Speaking of cute, look at that giant Allosaurus wanting to eat the baby Stegosaurus...that's so adorable! Moving outside, there were some larger dinosaurs on display. This Gigantosaurus was too loud for Griffin. And this one had a tail gone rogue...it was swinging wildly in the wind! Why are all the dinosaurs mouths open? Maybe that's how they really died...from swallowing things they weren't supposed to since their mouths were always open. Check out this guys fur coat! I'm sure Cruella De Vil is jealous of the fur! Best part of the whole experience (and the only reason it was sort of worth the money) were the awesomely themed bounce houses. Can't go wrong with a dinosaur on the loose trying to eat you as you are sliding down a slide! Some of these houses made me wish I was still a kid! But then I see some bounce houses where you slide into a dinosaur's butt and I'm glad I am not a kid anymore. Either way, the bounce houses were a hit and a great way to let loose some energy! Racing slides? Yes please! Continuing to stroll around, we came across some other, fierce looking Dinos. Spinosaurus anyone? Finally found the Tyrannosaurus and his little baby Rex. And when there's a Tyrannosaurus rex...there's almost always either a Triceratops or Stegosaurus fighting them. I guess those guys just never got along. And of course there's a Triceratops you can ride on. Speaking of "rides", you can "ride" some dinosaurs. They move about 1 foot and shake. It's like a massage chair on top of a dinosaur robot. But at least they have different ones you can "ride". But the best ride was being able to go on these "walking" dinosaurs. Griffin was so excited that he got to ride Bumpy from Camp Cretaceous! I don't think Bumpy was too thrilled.... There was also a place to dig for Dinos! Time to check out some underwater dinosaurs. But first....the Megalodon mouth! This thing was HUGE!! Actual Megalodon tooth. (Like how is says "Real Fossil" next to it......) I personally think the mouth was more impressive than the animatronic. But my boys thought the thing was HUGE and "just a great white shark". Hey Jeff Johnson...how's it going? (You thought I'd go a whole dinosaur report without that reference? Never!) The boys finish the "Quest" and got their prize! It was ... drum roll please ...... a tattoo and/or a sticker. Wow....it was totally worth it. So if Jurassic Quest ever comes to your city and you just so happen to have an extra $35 per person to spend on about an hours worth of time....maybe spend it on this attraction. That's all folks! Thanks for reading.

The Jurassic movies DID take artistic liberties on raptors. It was either that or differing evidence of their appearance came out after the first movie, cant remember which.

I have thankfully set aside extra $!

^Be ready to grab QQ if needed!

Alright, for the next batch, we'll focus on the Tampa / St. Pete area, which is usually sort of my "home base" for Florida trips. Spending some time near Busch Gardens? Looking for a quick and easy escape to nature while you're in the area? Just a few miles away is... Lettuce Lake Park That is, if you like boardwalks through swampy areas. I do. Maybe you do too. From what I recall, this was a rather loud and obnoxious ibis. With sharp eyes, you might see the gator hiding below. Views from a tower above the Hillsborough River. Same river that runs through downtown Tampa. Further south, on Tampa Bay, another little park to check out... Picnic Island Park It's got grass and trees and water, what else do you need? Maybe some birds? A pelican, resuming normal safe operation. And now, diving in for a snack. Downtown St. Pete across the water. We'll get over there shortly. This spot is on approach to Tampa International Airport, so you might see some traffic overhead. Or, some arrivals at MacDill Air Force Base, like this KC-135 Stratotanker. Don't get too crabby. Yep, there were also hundreds of these little fiddler crabs at Picnic Island. Picnic Island isn't actually an island, though. That kind of bothers me. Another little park out in Pinellas County: Boca Ciega Millennium Park. Some people ask me if I need a vacation from my vacations. But walking around places like this is my vacation. Another obs tower view! As the sun begins to set. Not a bad spot to spend an hour. Onward to see the sunset at Pass-A-Grille Beach. Some clouds in the sky, but it's still nice. This little platform at the end of the jetty says "keep off" so of course I went out there. The southernmost beach of the main populated stretch of beaches in Pinellas County. Just to the north, the opulent Don CeSar hotel, with sunset onlookers watching the sky. A relaxing scene. Some clouds got in the way, but it still looked nice. The next morning, I headed back to the southern end of Pinellas County for a trip to... Fort De Soto Park I think this is the fifth time I've been out to this park. It's one of my favorites. This is the Fort De Soto Gulf Pier, with more birds than people. This one has the right-of-way. This egret was about to go fishing. I think this great blue heron was just catching some sun. See that stretch of land across the water? With the tower near the right side? That's my next destination. Egmont Key State Park But how do you get to Egmont Key? You get on Hubbard's Ferry. The boat doesn't look like much, but on these calm waters, it does the trick. Egmont Key has been on my list of places to visit for a long time, and I finally made the time for it on this trip. There's only one way to get there -- by water. And unless you have your own boat, you're taking the ferry, and you're on their schedule. The island has no facilities and no concessions. You're on your own for three hours with whatever you brought with you. Actually, that's quite nice for a chance of pace. The 1858 Egmont Key lighthouse. You can't climb it, but it's a landmark for the area, extremely visible at the mouth of Tampa Bay. A cemetery near the lighthouse -- or is it? Actually, all the residents were removed and re-interred elsewhere. Up above, an osprey on the weather equipment. My kind of bird. Egmont Key is also home to the ruins of Fort Dade, a fort built during the Spanish–American War in the late 1800s. This is one building (the Guard House) that was actually up-kept. Pathways through the former fort. And if you want an idea of the atmosphere around here, I was completely on my own at this point, hiking on a virtually-deserted island through historic ruins and scenic pathways. At the south end of the trails, I headed west toward the beach on the Gulf shore. Stubby looking dead trees on the beach. Egmont Key is also a National Wildlife Refuge, and the southern tip of the island is off-limits to visitors. So, I walked north from here. The beach here is pristine. Ruins of the fort's power plant, and finally getting back to the area where some day visitors were stopping by. People go snorkeling around these ruins, too. Fort Dade's bunkers, building up an otherwise flat stretch of island. There were quite a few people on the north part of the beach, but it's still pretty neat to visit somewhere kind of remote like this. The birds can drop by whenever they want. And before I forget, Egmont Key is pronounced "egg-mont", and I might have messed that one up once or twice before I figured it out. The ruins of one of the batteries, open for exploration. Atop the battery, now devoid of any heavy artillery. A view over Egmont Key from up above. It's a pretty scene. Oh, and one more thing. Egmont Key is home to a huge population of gopher tortoises. Who wouldn't like gopher tortoises? They crawl around and eat grass and that's pretty much it. They're the best. Gopher tortoises are listed as a vulnerable species, but Egmont Key's population is quite large. I've never seen more than one or two at any nature preserve or park I've been to before, and I saw five at Egmont Key. I even found two at the same time! If you've never been to a Florida park and run across a gopher tortoise, you're missing out. It's like finding a hidden gem, or finding a winning scratch-off ticket, or finding a modern-day B&M that doesn't suck. You better get back on the ferry on-time, or else you're going to find yourself stranded on a remote island for the night, and I wouldn't recommend doing that. Heading back across to the mainland, with the Sunshine Skyway in the distance. So, I've been to Tampa many times, but I'd actually never spent any time in downtown St. Pete. So. Downtown St. Petersburg The big attraction here is The Pier. It used to be this weird upside-down pyramid thing. Now it's modern and it's better and it's a great place to walk around. The big building at the end has a tiki bar on top, or you can just head up there and use it as an observation deck. Which, of course, I did. There's downtown St. Pete off to the west. A very busy general aviation airport, Albert Whitted Airport, just to the south. It's just little airplanes, but a whole ton of them. Way across the bay, there's downtown Tampa. We'll get there in a bit. This is art! OK, I'll credit the artist. It's called "Bending Arc" by Janet Echelman. Hey, did you know the first commercial airline flight took place right here in St. Pete? This is a replica statue of the Benoist -- the first airliner. The Benoist was flown by Tony Jannus, pilot of the St. Petersburg - Tampa Airboat Line. The first flight was on New Years Day in 1914. And now you know. A pelican on the pier. Another view of the pier -- and downtown Tampa in the distance -- from Albert Whitted Park. If you're into art, one of St. Pete's main attractions is the Dali Museum. For performances, the Mahaffey Theater is right next door. I was actually supposed to see a concert here during this trip. I had a second-row ticket for Steely Dan. The show got cancelled due to the pandemic. Boo. A slightly smaller airplane than the ones from earlier in Miami. Still, kind of fun to watch from up close. Maybe the busiest little airport I've seen. South of downtown is Bay Vista Park. Another nice view of the skyway, and a visiting great egret. Overall, not much to see here, just another little waterfront spot. So, that brings us to the Sunshine Skyway. And in particular, the Skyway South Fishing Pier. Here's another bit of history! The big dramatic Sunshine Skyway bridge is actually the second to stand on this spot. The first was struck by a freighter in 1980 and collapsed in a horrific deadly tragedy. So, they built a new bridge, just east of the location of the old one. What do you do with the approaches to the old bridge? You convert them into giant fishing piers. And the views are pretty nice. Bridges are cool. The Sunshine Skyway is one of my favorites. It's not the first time it's appeared in one of my TRs, either. It's got about as much airtime as Kingda Ka's second hill! Oh! Take that! OK, heading into Tampa now. Here are a couple views from the southern end of Davis Islands. Yep, it's another little airport, and a view of downtown. Also, a hecked-up boat. No trespassing! The sun sets on Davis Islands, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Tampa. Star athletes live out here. People like me only visit and take pictures. Alright, one more little airplane shot just because. Time for another night set. Downtown Tampa -- From the Platt Street Bridge (and nearby) Dusk. Dusk-er. Dusk-est. Night. Yep, this is a nice view, and the changing shade of blue in the background make the shot. Sunset on the Jose Gasparilla. Insert stupid pirate reference here. A view over the Platt Street Bridge. The convention center walkway. Colorful lights and a nice downtown. Moon over Tampa. So, what's the story with Jose Gasparilla? Jose Gasparilla's final battle took place on December 12, 1821, when he and his krewe attacked a "slow moving" merchant ship off the coast of Gasparilla Island. The attack began and Gasparilla soon realized it was a trap. The merchant vessel was a disguised U.S. Naval Ship, sent to capture him and his krewe. Jose Gasparilla quickly understood the battle was lost. 40 years of pirating had been a good life, but now he was trapped at the bow of his sinking ship. Feeling the inevitable; he wrapped himself in the anchor chain, raised his sword and said: "No man will determine my fate, only I will choose my destiny!" He then threw himself into the waters of the Gulf, never to be found. And now the city of Tampa celebrates him with a pirate festival every winter! Just north of downtown... Heights Public Market / Armature Works Tampa's best food hall. Only food hall? Not sure. A cool place to stop by, even late at night. Not my first visit here, in fact. It's just about a mile north of downtown. Still crowds of people at 10PM on a weeknight. Oh, and a good view of downtown across the Hillsborough River too. Almost done with Tampa. But there hasn't been any hockey yet, so that has to change. Tampa Bay Lightning Actually, much of this Florida trip was built around the Lightning home opener for 2021, which I had very good reason to want to attend. Because, well, they were celebrating back-to-back Stanley Cup championships! And I happened to be in attendance at the last one! *FLASHBACK TO JULY 7, 2021* Steven Stamkos lifts the cup! Steven Stamkos lifts the cup again at 4:15 AM, this time like 4 feet in front of me! Phew, that was a night! *END FLASHBACK* Alright, back to October. So, introduce the new team... And then, the moment we've all been waiting for! Raise the banner! Watching your favorite team win a championship, and being there for the banner-raising, is probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Sort of a dream to actually get to experience it. I went back to another game a week later, and saw the banner in its final spot -- marking the team's third championship overall. And that wraps up Tampa, but we've got some central Florida stuff yet to come...

And finally, Part 3 of this trip report, which I don't know what to title other than: October 12-21, 2021 -- All The Other Crap I Did In Florida Sometimes when I do TRs, I'll throw in a short bit of "other stuff" after a theme park segment. This time, it's all getting its own segment. This is really long. I apologize in advance. Just wanted to get it all done in one shot. Florida is much more than theme parks. Interesting cities, wildlife, nature, hockey, tons of water, and an endless supply of ideas for a photographer. This stuff isn't anything even close to resembling chronological order -- just gonna throw it all together kinda-geographically in three parts, from east to west to central, and see how it turns out. So let's start on the Atlantic coast with... Flagler Beach Pier Actually, this is the last thing I did in Florida, on my way northbound out of the state. I like piers. Scenic, relaxing, good for photography. Bird on the pier. Red flag means lightweights better stay out of the water. A distant view north. Flagler Beach is about halfway between Daytona and St. Augustine. Looking south, on the steep, red-tinted beachfront of the Atlantic coast. Very different from the Gulf coast. The end of the pier. I have walked the plank. Fishers out in force -- and catching stuff, too. Also, surfing! Let's head down the coast to... Cocoa Beach Pier And hey, this one's got a tiki bar at the end! It's a wider beach here. Zoomed in, you can really see the curvature of the barrier island. Cocoa Beach is just south of Cape Canaveral. If you've heard of it, it's probably due to the 40 million advertisements for that surf shop. You know the one. And the surfers were out today! So were some dolphins, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a shot. Off to the north, the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, and some launch facilities nearby. Is that a roller coaster on a cruise ship? See, this post has theme park content! Sort of! Sometimes you take the waves. And sometimes the waves take you. Next up... Sebastian Inlet State Park Not much here, just some fishing piers and beach areas, but another scenic area to check out. Piers line both sides of the inlet. On a Saturday, it was busy with boats coming in and out. Plus, a whole bunch of people fishing. Waves crashing ashore to the south. And shorebirds scurrying around. A1A is a scenic drive, with parks and beach access all over the place. Even on a Saturday, most of the beach spots weren't too crowded. Here's another park further south. Round Island Riverside Park This park goes out on the west side of A1A toward the intracoastal waterway. Some walkways through the mangroves. An observation tower! Views out over the water. Distant boats. I don't own a boat. I just get to look at them from afar. Also, a whole bunch of these lizards running around. Kind of like the ones you see at Disney, only twice the size. Across A1A is Round Island Beach Park. A quiet stretch of beach on the Atlantic coast. More pelicans flying by than you can count. Waves and condos or whatever. This is just outside of Fort Pierce. A pleasant curl. Some serious fishing going on, too. Alright, heading way way way further south for a night photo set... Downtown Miami -- From the Venetian Causeway I arrived just after sunset, as the lighting got good. An orange glow on the skyline. Oooh, klassy! The view on the north side of the Causeway. Miami has so many tall buildings near the waterfront. It's nuts. This is one of those nice photo spots I didn't read about anywhere or anything -- I just sorta played around looking at maps and found it on my own. Long exposures at night -- and airplanes streaking across the sky. Two cruise ships sort of blocking the view. (For some reason, some of these pics are a little fuzzy in-line in the thread, but if you open the full size version they should be OK.) A closer view of downtown. A little bit of Disney magic to keep this almost relevant! They've even got a big wheel. I have no idea why these fireworks were occurring, but I'm not going to complain. I just had to switch targets real quick in the middle of my photo set! A nice spot with a nice view. I wasn't the only one who stopped to take a few pictures from here. And then, another angle from the next morning. Downtown Miami -- From the Rickenbacker Causeway Great view, sketchy location. I might have been trespassing to get this shot. Not totally sure. But I definitely had to drive on a dirt path with potholes the size of my car. It's an interesting skyline because, unlike a lot of big city skylines, so much of this one is residential. By air or by sea. In this case, by air. At the southern tip of Key Biscayne, one of my favorite Florida State Parks... Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park You can start with the pristine waters. Or, the birds, like this Great Blue Heron. Or all of these birds in flight. The main attraction here is the Cape Florida Lighthouse. It's 95 feet tall, and dates back to 1825 -- renovated in 1855. Let's climb up! One of the rare US lighthouses I've been to where you can actually get in the lantern room. The lens is unimpressive and modern, though. The views are tropical and beautiful. A nice beach for the Miami locals. The city is not far to the north. And there's South Beach, where you can take your talents if you'd like. Recreational opportunities abound. Just offshore is an interesting oddity -- a collection of stilt houses called Stiltsville. Can you imagine living out there? There were originally many more stilt houses, but after a handful of hurricane impacts, only seven remain. Next up, a quick stop at the Woodlawn Park Cemetery. This is a weather history stop. The 1935 Florida Keys Labor Day hurricane is one of the worst in the country's history. This is the site of a mass grave for US military members who died while out in the keys. About 80 veterans were buried here, but very few of the graves are individually marked. After this, I went to the famous Versailles Bakery on Calle Ocho. I got some outstanding pastries, and a terrible Cuban sandwich. The inconsistency was baffling. Finishing off the Miami segment with some planespotting at Miami International Airport. Yep, for the three or four of you who like airplane pictures -- this is the best spotting airport in Florida, and probably top 5 for my favorites in the country. Miami has a ton of traffic from countries in Latin America, so it's not just your typical US carriers coming in here. Nonetheless, here's one for Garbles. It's an American hub, so here's a 777-300. From some of the spotting locations on the east side of the airport, it looks like the planes are landing right on the Dolphin Expressway. Iguana-spotting? So, another spotting location -- the Hilton on the Blue Lagoon -- is absolutely overrun with Iguanas. More than I've ever seen. They are funny little creatures, and not particularly shy. Not particularly little, either, now that I think of it. Back to the airplanes -- it's interesting to see stuff like Cayman Airways that you just don't get in the midwest. The best spotting location is outside of a furniture store at the west end of the southernmost runway. You can get really close. Seriously, the planes land right in front of you. And this spot is always crowded with locals watching too. This spot is best when planes are landing from the west. Hey, who you lookin' at? The queen of the skies. From here, I headed east, crossing the Everglades on the Tamiami Trail, and then eventually... The Loop Road If you've never heard of the Loop Road, look it up on your mapping website of choice. It's a 27-mile loop off of US-41 that cuts way deep into the wilderness of Big Cypress National Preserve. Most of the road is gravel, but in decent shape. Just very, very dusty. The gators are plentiful, including this very large one just a few feet away from me in a culvert. Further along the Loop Road, I came across a spot called Sweetwater Strand. It's a swampy waterway about as far as you can get from the main road. I parked, turned my car off, got out, covered myself in bug spray, and just spent 15 minutes kind of observing. Not a single vehicle passed me in that entire time. You could hear birds and animals calling in the distance. Pretty cool place. Fish in the stream. Cypress rising above the water. And one more gator, just because. Heading north on the Loop Road, I came across a whole bunch of little things crossing in front of me. Baby softshell turtles! Probably two dozen of them, recently hatched, trying to get from one spot to another. Look at this little guy! Maybe 3 inches long, at most. I had to move a few of them out of the way to ensure I didn't hurt anybody before I drove through. With that, I headed north, and we'll pick this back up in Tampa for the next section...

Splash Mountain, by a lot

Sarkanniemi Sarkanniemi has an amazing setting. This park is in the city of Tampere situated on the water. The one downside with this location is that parking is a hot commodity. I made sure to arrive over an hour before opening to secure a spot. And it turned out the park was open for a private event, so I was able to ascend the Nasinneula observation tower (Finland's tallest structure at 551 ft) to get some unique aerial shots of the park. Most of the coasters at this park are clones. But they're cloned models I enjoy. Hype is one of the best Sky Rocket II's because of the lack of comfort collars and view. The rest of the ride has the usually strong bursts of airtime and great hangtime on the barrel roll. Motogee is a fun Zamperla motorbike coaster. I think these rides have underrated launches and the compact layout has some fun turns. Trombi is the Zamperla Volare. I know most people hate these rides, but I genuinely like them. I've never found them uncomfortable, so I can enjoy the forceful turns and freaky barrel rolls. I did have to skip the Vauhtimato kiddie coaster though. That ride's queue line was spilling way out into the midway and I didn't think it was worth it. The lone unique coaster and undeniable star is Tornado. This is a rare Intamin invert and I really liked this coaster. It rode much differently than a B&M invert, but it was still smooth and enjoyable. The highlights are the two barrel rolls. Both had oodles of hangtime and the first one has one of the best near-misses of any coaster as it goes through an underground tunnel above the load platform (on-ride photo was taken with an approved Go Pro). The park had a pretty unique flat ride lineup. They had a well-run Zamperla Power Surge in High Voltage and a really weird Huss flat ride called TakeOff, but unfortunately this one wasn't run all that fast. I had to skip the rapids due to its line, but I waited 45 minutes for the flume. It was scenic, but the drops were shallow and not all that thrilling. Because of crowds, I ultimately decided to forego the second half of the day at Sarkanniemi to return to Linnanmaki. This proved to be a wise decision. Linnanmaki was dead due to a rainstorm. I was able to ride Taiga 7 times in an hour. I did like Sarkanniemi. The coaster lineup may not have many unique ones, but Tornado is a really nice coaster and the park has a great atmosphere. And it also has this adorable piggy train.

PowerLand This was a park north of the major cities in Finland and I knew very little about it prior to my visit. The park didn't have the atmosphere of the two city parks south of it, but PowerLand was clean and well-run. The main reason for my visit was the duo of Infinity Coasters. One was Junker and the other was junk. Junker was excellent. It's one of the most underrated coasters I have ridden. The launch has some real power to it. The rest of the ride has some strong airtime and awesome hangtime. And you usually get great laterals as you're coming out of your seat as well. I got nearly a dozen rides on this coaster after a marathon at the start and end of the day. The best comparison I can give for a coaster stateside is Adventureland's Monster with the launch of TMNT Shellraiser. One of the most puzzling coaster additions of all-time is Junker. This is a Gerstlauer infinity coaster plopped right next to Junker with the exact same colors and exact same theme. While Pitts Special has some good ejector airtime on the first drop and speed hill, the rest of the ride is sort of awkward. The elements are too large and/or drawn out. Thunderbird is the coaster that was cloned for American Thunder at Six Flags St. Louis. Those who rode American Thunder in 2020 said the ride was running slower than usual. That is how Thunderbird ran. It was smooth, but it only had a few mild pops of airtime. Cobra is one of the best boomerangs. It's one of the newer ones, so it tracks very smoothly. It also has a blast of fog as you careen through the station and a unique set of trains. Joyride and Neo's Twister are the park's two family coasters. Neither were standouts, but they were fine for what they were. And I of course rode the kiddie coaster. It was a royal pain to find since it was tucked in the far corner of the park only accessible by a narrow, hidden pathway, but I got the credit! Beyond the coasters, there were a few other rides of note. Pegasus was a crazy flat ride from Technical Park. The ride program was throttled, but when it ran at its highest speed, I had no clue where I was going between all the flips and rocking. It was a delightful blend of hangtime and positive Gs at its highest speed as the seats would randomly flip. Kwai River was a bizarre log flume. After the first drop, you don't hit a splashdown. Instead, you continue speeding down this track and round an unbanked turn, getting some nasty laterals. You then go down another drop. The final plunge is pretty big for a flume and even gives a pop of airtime. Dragon Tower is a great drop tower. This is another Moser model, but the spinning seats grant a great view for everyone on the ascent. And the drop had me floating out of my seat the entire way down. One cool thing they do is that they alternate running it as a drop tower and an observation tower. There are two separate lines, so you can pick the program you prefer. Devil's Mine Hotel was a creeky dark ride, but the ride worked well enough and I really liked the western theming around the attraction. The one weird thing with this ride is that you had "ammo" so you only had a limited number of shots you could take. I've never seen a shooter limit this before. There were also some weird kiddie rides. There was a line of mechanical bulls that was chucking children left and right. And then there was this ball pit mounted on a rotating platform. I don't think we'll ever see either of these in America. PowerLand was a park I really enjoyed. Crowds were manageable and the ride lineup was pretty unique. But the reason to come here is for Junker. That ride is fantastic.

Linnanmaki This was the park I was most excited for in Finland and it did not disappoint. The park is located in the heart of Helsinki atop a hill. So you have a mix of the city's energy and stunning views. The park is small in terms of land, but it's very dense and many rides are stacked on top of each other. My first day there was quite busy, but I returned for a few hours after Sarkanniemi on a rainy day and the park was a complete ghost town so I could marathon Taiga. Taiga is easily the star. This Intamin multi-launch coaster feels like Velocicoaster crossed with Helix. You have some of the best inversions of any coaster, several nice moments of airtime, and impeccable pacing. And the ride's placement on the hill allows the ride to offer great views and suddenly increase its speed throughout the ride. This is definitely the best coaster in Finland. Taiga was much needed since the park's other coasters, while unique models, were decent at best. Kirnu is a ZacSpin run correctly...unlike the former Green Lantern that is now being scrapped. This one actually rotates and the final flip is downright wild. Ukko is a fun Maurer SkyLoop. It offers great hangtime at the top and good positive Gs going through the station. The restraints are less than ideal though since they sit on your stomach rather than your lap. Salama is a Maurer spinner. The layout circles above the rapids ride. This one had a decent drop at the start, but it didn't spin as much as some others. Linnunrata eXtra is a weird Zierer coaster built inside a former water tower. There's a little space theming and if you ride in the back, there's one or two drops that will whip you down since the trains are so long. Vuoristorata is a classic scenic railway. This one still operates with brakemen, but this one is run super conservatively. The operator had to push the train with his foot on some of the turns. As a result, there were only 1-2 spots of airtime, but it was still cool to ride a piece of history. Pikajuna is a Mack powered coaster that offers some nice views of the park's other coasters. Tulireki is an abomination. It's the only Mack E-Motion coaster remaining and I can see why there aren't more. The vehicles are able to rock both side-to-side and forwards-and-backwards. This makes the ride feel like a shopping cart riding down a cobblestone road. Even if it tracked smoothly, the ride would be awful since it's trimmed extensively. The park had some nice flat rides. The best was Kingi, the massive Moser drop tower. The view was incredible and I floated the whole way down. Magia was another cool one. This is a Technical Park Moondance. I rode one of these at Playland's Castaway Cove a few years ago and was blown away by the centripetal force and sustained positive Gs. This one started off similarly intense, but the final 2/3 were much more mundane. There were a few dark rides too. There was a classic haunted house, a walk-through, and Taikasirkus. Taikasirkus should be avoided if you have a phobia of clowns. You pass what seems like a hundred clowns while hearing the same song on repeat. And there's even one scene where the clowns are scooping up elephant turds. Hurjakuru is a fun rapids ride. It has a themed tunnel at the start, some themed sprayers, and a massive waterfall.