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Europa Park, Day 1, part III (Rulantica!) so after getting back to the room, and changing to swimwear. . we headed out to the shuttle bus stop, and took the short ride over to Hotel KRØNASÅR - which is themed to a Museum of Natural History (and also contains the connected "Rulantica" - a HUGE indoor/outdoor waterpark that Europa Park is continuing to add on to. it's also very heavily themed. I wasn't sure I was going to actually swim, as I'm not a waterpark fan. . and once I saw the actual inside of the park? yeah, I kept my phone/camera with me, and decided to just take pics rather than get wet. enjoy: the lobby here is quite impressive! and this sea-creature skeleton? really cool. up the stairs and across the bridgeway gets you into the main Rulantica lobby. But before we head down to the entry booths, let's check out the really neat models they have on display here. . . (honestly worth the trip over here just to look at these, even if not a waterpark fan) I believe this is a model for the reimagined Pirates a peek inside EuroSat (pre CanCan coaster overlay) a super cool model of Wodan. . . with Blue Fire cutting thru it on the end there! Atlantica Supersplash. . and how it interacts with Wodan at the turnaround. after drooling over the models, we went thru entrance, and down into the locker rooms - you walk thru the locker rooms (which are huge. . and turns out there are two completely separate ones, so really pay attention where you put your clothes, or good luck finding your locker after a few cocktails (as I found out later.. . LOL). then you pass thru the shower rooms, and bathroom areas. . and you come out into the main atrium of Rulantica. STUNNING: a photo op? where I can put my face in Snorri? don't mind if I do! the main Wave Pool which is the center of the indoor section of the waterpark. big ol Dragon-slide on the left. . along with one of those "we're gonna fly off it!" triangle shaped tornado type slides. outside is a whole other section with a play area - and they are building more slides over there too. and on the right are the big bars/food areas. . as well as the lazy river, a "rapids" river, and more super steep hidden slides. and just beyond the wave pool (between the wave pool and the outside sections). . . water obstacle course. That many on the TPR trip braved (Robb put up footage on their insta) . .but only the super light (ie: skinny) folks made it across the floating islands easily. as I was nursing a bad ankle on this trip (injured it ~1 month prior to going and still had a brace on the entire trip). . I didnt' even attempt. but was fun to watch others wipe out. stepping out back - as it was SUPER humid in there, as one would expect an indoor water park to be. . what's this? oooo. . they are smart! big outdoor bar by the kids play area outside. the options all look pretty good. . and they were. Tho all came from a machine, that seemed to mix all from the same spout (so I do wonder if some of them might taste off if it "bleeds" some of the other mixed drinks coming thru). still. . what I got (and I can't recall. . tho I had 3 of them, and yep, was feeling it by the time I left. .LOL), but it was GOOOD. drinks in hand, started to explore the outdoor area.. . here's the map . . everything in the "triangle" is indoors. and they are adding new stuff both to the left and the right of the outdoors area at the bottom of the map. as you can tell, they have a lot of room for expansion and new attractions here. yeah.. you are gonna get WET at Rulantica. . .everything sprays and shoots water! something new that was just about to open. . .as super splash battle crossed with a Tilt a Whirl looked like to me. huge, and looks like it's a TON of fun. pretty close to being open, but wasn't open yet on our visit. new concept from Mack rides: sand volleyball, and more room for expansion. (it was already close to 9pm I think, and just look how light it still is.) back inside, to meet up with some TPR folks, and James and Ryan wanted to ride the Dragon Slide theming everywhere. . and so well done. .this was over the lazy river. and just to the right here, was a lagoon you could leave the lazy river to hang out in. . as it had a swim up bar with in-pool seating. if you went up a few levels, was a large restaurant/bar that overlooked the entire indoors area. and also had these really rather cool "clear sections" of the steepest "drop" flumes. . so you could watch the riders zoom by while you relaxed with your drink or food. yeah. .it was a hell of a climb on the stairs to get up to these flumes. . but those that rode them said it was well worth the treck up there. the bottom of the steepest "tube" slides skloosh! James and Jon enjoying the slides. . . and a blurry pic. . but probably THE most thankless job in Rulantica. She stood at the end of the slide catch pool. . and squeegied back in all the water that sklooshed out all over the area after every batch of tubes cam crashing down. she looked miserable. . but repeated this every 15 seconds or so. . . a peek at the indoors kiddie section that's to the right of the lazy river entrance. which is this middle ramp down. yeah. .it can get a bit confusing. . especially after a few drinks! LOL this seemed to be the entrance to a great hall / party room that can be rented. . . loved the design here. the giant screens behind the eating area (connected to the "fast food" option. . pizza/italian stuff. rather soothing. and occasionally an octopus (or Snorri) or some Mermaids would swim by and stop to interact with those sitting at the tables and eating. at the top of the wave pool.. looking out. I was getting tired - it had been a full day, and was ready to head back to our hotel, so started making my way back to the dressing rooms. . tho I hadn't realized there was more than one. and it took me an EMBARRASSINGLY long time to figure out how to get back to the level of dressing rooms that we had come in at, and where my locker was so I could get my shoes and shorts back on over my swimsuit (that I had put on just in case I decided to swim). Eventually tho.. I did find the locker, got changed, and visited the gift shop (which is where I bought the pregnant mermaid dolls, after eyballing them a few hours earlier in the gift shop from the Rulantica ride in Europa Park itself). I wandered around the hotel a bit, and had an offer to join Jon and Ian for burgers, but I really wasnt' that hungry (still very full from the awesomeness that is Raclette). . so decided to head back to our hotel. this statue is out front of the Hotel KRØNASÅR why is the naked woman carrying a horse on her back? I dunno. . . oh. .this explains it. tho I was a bit too buzzed to really understand it.. reading it now from the pic is the first time it makes sense! LOL it started to drizzle a bit again, while waiting for the shuttle. . but eventually it came, and I snapped this pic from where it dropped me off at our Hotel Andaluz. exhausted. . I went up to the room and took a shower (that humidity in Rulantica really did a number on me. . stinky!). . and decided I did want to eat some of the snacks I had packed, before turning in to bed. it was close to 10pm, and I had an exhausting, fun filled day. And tomorrow was gonna be day two at Europa - with still a TON of things I hadn't done yet. James came in around this time, and I climbed into bed while he was in the shower. it wasn't too late, but we had a full day tomorrow, and i wanted to be refreshed and ready! to be continued with Europa Park day 2 (sometime next week).

And I never quite figured out which character Arthur was, but I miss him already!

Annual passes are gone again and season passes are back. They now have more new names. These are season passes instead of annual passes/memberships--Instead of expiring 12 months from date of purchase, Gold expires on Labor Day 2023, but Platinum and Diamond expire 1//2/2024. This is for Great Adventure. Other parks are probably different for maximum confusion. This brings the number of annual pass types currently outstanding to 34. Source

They can just reroute the boats through Hadrosaur Cove.

Crowd levels so low single train ops still result in station waits during Fright Fest? Selim is doing a wonderful job. Good CEO there. Good lord he's going to kill the company.

Not trying to hijack the thread whatsoever, just wanted to post 2 quick pics of the room at Hotel KRØNASÅR because I thought it was really interesting! We stayed there a few weeks ago. ... and more bewbs! Rulantica's outside rapids River is absolutely insane. It's probably my newest favorite non-water coaster waterpark attraction. Lying on your stomach and what feels like gliding on ice is awesome. The one big drop in the middle after the split on the right straight into a turn/wall was my personal favorite! All the stairs there were brutal, I felt like I was going to drown on the drop slide slides because I didn't wait to catch my breath after walking all the steps. Really bad idea. lol Anyways, thanks for taking us along! Looking forward to more!

Wouldn't then it also make sense for them to follow a "you can see it but you don't know" thing this time around? I would be very surprised if they announced anything prior to the end of summer 2023. They're marketing the new Boardwalk stuff, and a "new Dragster" would make good driver for 2024 pass sales.

Damn. Now I want raclette bad...and to go back to Rutlantica!!!

Life imitates art.

The park is offering trails for no additional cost on Friday nights through Fright Fest.

I visited CP again last night and while it wasn't quite as empty as it was on my first Thursday visit 2 weeks ago, crowds were still light by Cedar Point standards. Between 5:45 and 8:30, I was able to ride Valravn, GateKeeper, Matterhorn, Millennium Force, Rougarou, Iron Dragon, Cedar Downs, Tiki Twirl, Troika, Lake Erie Eagles, and Steel Vengeance, all without FastLane. Maverick (which I did not ride) seemed to have a long wait (30-45 minutes) again, but everything else was either a 1 train/cycle wait or a walk on. And again, I did not encounter a single unfriendly employee. They called me by name at the parking booth and entrance, the girl (name tag said her name was 'Z') on Rougarou was super nice, and a woman at the Pagoda Gift Shop was so nice I could have talked to her for hours. I don't expect to be treated like a king at a theme park, but it does make for a much more pleasant time when your interactions with staff leave a positive impact. Now onto some more random thoughts. - Steel Vengeance at night is insane. I had never had a night ride on this before and I am so glad I did. Posted wait was about 30 minutes and they were actually asking for single riders, so I cut about 10 minutes off my wait by being called up. In any case, the darkness just makes the ride so much more disorienting. The barrel rolls seem to last longer. The airtime hills seem more pronounced, and speeding through the structure at the end felt like sheer chaos. If you have a chance to ride this at night, I highly recommend it. Best ride I've ever had on SV. - Valravn rocks. While I still think Yukon Striker is a better overall experience, this ride is just so smooth, the view from the top is perhaps the best in the park and that first drop is crazy, no matter what row you're in. - GateKeeper felt like it had square wheels on. I don't know if it was just the seat I was in (row 3, outer left) or what, but the usual smooth, flying sensation felt like I was off-roading. Ugh. - Rode Tiki Twirl for the first time in years. I don't remember it going as fast as it did. Probably won't be riding again anytime soon! - Now I know Rougarou isn't a favorite of many. It wasn't really a favorite of mine either. Not sure what it was, but wow. What a ride. Airtime, positive forces and dare I say a smooth ride made me re-think why I usually avoid it. - Seeing Top Thrill Dragster from Iron Dragon was unique as I didn't realize so much track had been removed. Whatever they are doing is definitely interesting. - And to keep this short since I could go on and on about how great Thursday nights are, but I'd like to compliment the scare actors in the Harvest Fear and Tombstone Terrortory zones. No one was safe from their antics and even better, they were doing some tremendous tag-team scares where one monster would come up in front of you or walk slowly along side you without saying anything... then out of nowhere, someone would scream at you from behind. I'm easy to jump scare so they got me good! I'm hoping Thursdays stay like this for the rest of the season, but I have a feeling people are realizing this is a great time to visit. Anyhow, it was another great night at America's Roller Coast. Now if I can only find a day to get down to Mason for KI's Haunt...

As part of a bunch of announcements across SeaWorld and Busch parks, SeaWorld San Diego has announced their newest roller coaster, Arctic Rescue, to open in 2023! Arctic Rescue will be the longest and fastest straddle coaster on the West Coast New family-friendly ride with 48” height requirement has three exhilarating launches that increase in speed at each launch Ride to bring awareness to threats facing Arctic sea life from climate change and global warming Annual Pass Members will be the first to ride before the official opening https://seaworld.com/san-diego/rides/arctic-rescue/ SeaWorld San Diego is thrilled to announce that the highly anticipated coaster, Arctic Rescue, will open in Spring 2023. Joining other thrill rides at the theme park, Arctic Rescue will be the longest and fastest straddle coaster on the West Coast. This family-friendly multi-launch ride invites guests to hop on a snowmobile and launch at up to 40 mph on a chilly adventure as they race through the unpredictable arctic climate to help animals in danger. With its 48-inch height requirement, adventure seekers of all ages will enjoy the thrills and chills of Arctic Rescue. SeaWorld’s coolest new coaster will feature a unique indoor launch station where passengers will start their journey inside of the Wild Arctic exhibit and launch outside straddling a unique snowmobile style vehicle. Guests will race through the Arctic and experience three exhilarating launches, each faster than the last, at 34, 38 and 40 miles per hour. The straddle snowmobilestyle seats allow for an immersive ride experience for each rider as they lean into banks and turns and glide up heights as tall as 30 feet along the 2,800 feet of track. Manufactured by Intamin Worldwide, each train will hold 16 riders in eight, two-person rows. “We’re continuously looking for ways to add new experiences to the park for our guests and this new coaster is a great addition to our ride line-up and a perfect complement to the Wild Arctic exhibit,” said Jim Lake, SeaWorld San Diego Park President. “The ride is also an educational opportunity for guests to learn more about climate change, how it impacts animals in the Arctic and what they can do to help the issue. I truly feel that seeing these animals upclose at SeaWorld allows guests to build a stronger connection and encouragement to take action to help protect them.” Unpredictable climate fluctuations and global warming is happening in the Arctic three times as fast as the rest of the planet. As a result, the Arctic sea ice that many animals rely on for survival is melting, threatening the survival of many species and forcing them to change the way they hunt, breed, and migrate. The ride is inspired by the heroic efforts of the SeaWorld Rescue Team and their dedication to rescuing animals in distress and in need of care. Riders will race the unpredictable arctic climate to save these animals in danger. Arctic Rescue is incorporated in the Wild Arctic exhibit which is home to a ringed seal, walruses, and belugas, some of the species most impacted by Arctic sea loss. The new ride will bring awareness to the pressures the Arctic is facing and allow guests to visit, see and learn more about each animal whose species call the Arctic their home. Arctic Rescue will be the perfect addition for the Coaster Capital of San Diego and SeaWorld's ever-growing ride portfolio, which includes Journey to Atlantis, Manta, Electric Eel, Tidal Twister and Emperor, voted one of 2022’s top best new attractions in the country by USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice poll. Arctic Rescue will join the park's famed attractions as a must-do experience for coaster enthusiasts everywhere.

Europa Park, Day 1 continued . . . after snacks at pirates. . we headed over to the Greece section. I had no interest in the Atlantica Supersplash over in the Portugal section, as that is the exact same design as the Journey To Atlantis ride at SeaWorld San Antonio, so i've ridden that tons of time (and honestly don't think it's worth the line, just for that short backwards "coaster" section). I don't think anyone in the group I was hanging around with wanted to ride it anyways. but we all were interested in what was over here in Greece: Poseidon: the Water Coaster: (and oh, look, I actually did get a picture of Sliver Star - in the back on the right. Funny. . thought I had missed it). saving the best for last tho, we went to hit the other attractions in this section before heading to Poseidon (and they have construction walls over here, for the new coaster being built that was part of the presentation, but I dont' think I actually did get pics of those). 1st stop was "Curse of Cassandra" - a really cool Madhouse. before this trip, I never had ridden any type of Madhouse, and this being the first one, I was really super impressed with it. But like SeaStorms, and slow boat rides around lagoons, it seemed that *every* park had it's own Madhouse.. so I ended up riding 7 or 8 of them during the trip. Curse of Cassandra was a pretty good one, and if I'm recalling correctly, the "benches" had moving parts in them to indicate creatures/bugs moving beneath you as the whole room spun. I enjoyed it. but only got a picture of a statue outside it. we then walked around the Poseidon lagoon area to head to Pegasus - a powered junior coaster. but managed to perfectly capture the big monorail passing by (reminding me that I hadn't ridden it yet, and sadly never got to it on this trip. . . even tho it passed right in front of our hotel room!). as noted, Pegasus is a junior powered coaster. it reminded me a lot of the Flight of the Hippogriff, tho maybe slightly more exciting in the layout. the entrance certainly is more interesting. not just a horse's ass. . you enter under a Trojan Horse's ass. . . and the train certainly is pretty exciting. . .at least the front car. for some reason, the queue is themed around an Archeological Dig. . .complete with animatronics. . . and holding up of Medusa's head (ok ???). . . LOL but yeah, the trains sure are pretty! tho I had to laugh, in that the kids who were lined up to ride in the Pegasus front car? yeah. .they can't see ANYTHING. . . LOL great view of the "coaster section" of Poseidon next door from Pegasus' loading area tho again. . as with every other section of this park, the theming is pretty immersive. this was the way to get to the Poseidon queue. . .I don't have any decent pics, so won't share, but we did get more than a little "moist" on the splashdown section. and tho I bought the picture and we're mostly smiling (this is the presplashdown), I must admit that the coaster part of the ride, was quite a bit jerky. it wrenched my back a good bit, and I did have to get into my travel medical kit to take some Aleve after. . . . but overall it was fun, if a bit painful. (so no, didn't ride it again on this visit) good pic tho. clockwork from front left: Andrew (happy Bday! today), Ian, John, Ryan, Jon, and me. (and two other folks park visitors in the back seat) we had another pass for Arthur, so we headed back thru fairytale land. . but first we had to move out of the way for some street entertainment rolling thru (I believe this was passing thru the England section)? she comes out and fluffs a pillow. .that fills the air with foam. the kiddos were having a BALL underneath playing in the foam coming down. back to the weirdness that is Arthur. WTF are these? I dunno. . but I like them. I really, really like them. a little blurry, but coming into the loading platform from the dark section. and the folks pushing the buttons and discussing why they didn't turn around as the other cars did (I'm assuming that's what they were discussing, and the answer is that you have to all hit the buttons to break the alien's mirrors if you want the car to flip around backwards. . I think? who knows! but it's brilliant). exiting the ride, there were lifesize fairies !! OMG. . am I gonna pose with them? what do you think?? (as Elissa put it when i shared this pic: "Nightmare fuel" a Rastafarian bee. why? Arthur !!! we were starting to get a little hungry, so we headed over to Switezerland (just LOOK how lovely) .. . but first, stopping in France to get a fresh Baguette. why? RACLETTE of course! yep, it was time to finally try the famous Europa Park Raclette. mmmmmmmmmm OMG. . looks amazing. oooy, and gooey, and so, so good. . slurp!!! the view we had while eating. the Swiss Bob Run - a bobsled coaster, that actually has a pretty steep "roller coaster" style drop, hadn't been running all day. . but while we were eating, we heard the unmistakable noises of a chain lift. So after we finished our Raclette, we headed down the street to check out if it was open. But first. . . . yes! not only was it open, but it had *just* opened. . whatever they had been working on (we saw guys on the chain lift earlier) they had gotten it going. So the line wasn't bad at all..maybe 10 minutes. lots of interesting wood carvings in this queue: yeah. . I took this picture for the uniform. (I'll be honest. . .we all have our types, and this is one of mine. . so yes, this counts as eye candy too.. . tho the uniform IS rather cute) Ian and I actually spent a lot of the trip sending each other pictures of "interesting" things we saw in the parks. . . but I won't share most of those. . LOL Naughty Naughty, but still. . just some clean fun for the most part. I actually thought this was a real guy in the operating booth. . but when we got closer? nope, Europa Park found a way to squeeze an animatronic in, even in THIS open queue. . James got to ride without someone sitting in his lap! so did Ian and John. . .tho I think that Andrew and Ryan had to share one, if I'm recalling? (I know we teased them about having to share on one ride. . was it this park guys?) after a GREAT ride on the Bobsleds, we made our way back to France for quick queue on EuroSat: CanCan Coaster - yes, we liked it so much, the rides this morning weren't enough, and we used quick queue to ride it again. after our ride, it was noticed that there was . . . SOMETHING. . . right next door. We weren't sure what it was, but it seemed to be a dark ride with really no line, so we hopped in the queue. HA! this made me laugh. . . . and it gave a clue that this ride had *something* to do with Dinosaurs. maybe? ok.. yes. it's a WTF animatronic Dinosaur ride.. that seemed to be about a little old lady who collects dinosaurs, and is throwing a birthday party for one of them yeah. . that really is what it seemed to be about. it was so messed up. . and OMG. . so amazing. Absolutely loved it. . think I rode this stupid thing 4-5 times as well. . it was so good! and the section with the bees? has pumped in Honey smells! are those little dinos using a litter box? (complete with dino poop in it)? why yes, yes they are told you. . amazeballs! what's this? a kitchen. oh my. .they are baking a cake for the dino birthday party! and you can see the vehicles here too.. . omnimover, like Haunted Mansion. . . it was so great after a ride (or maybe two?) on the Dino Birthday ride, that I never got the name of, but per Wiki is called: Madame Freudenreich Curiosités we headed over to Silver Star, to attempt to get a ride or two more on it (if I recall, it wasn't an option on the Quick Queue choices, so we were going to just wait in line). . but as we got in line, it promptly went down for mechanical issue. we waited a little bit to see, as B&M typically come back up pretty fast . . but when they started to flush out the queue, we decided to instead head over to the Italy Section to try and ride Ghost Castle - a dark ride "inspired by" the Haunted Mansion (as you can see, the sky had started darkening again.. so perhaps Silver Star went down for lightning in the area?) we didn't do the 4d theater here, but there was a nice little back alley shortcut we took near it to get to Italy. ok. . it's an arcade. . with 3 games in it. but how cool that two of them are Pinball Machines. . and the third is a PacMan that plays all versions of the PacMan games? and you come out from the alleyway right next to Ghost Castle . and the store sold a lot of really cool stuff. But I was determined not to fill up my suitcase completely on the 1st big park of the trip (tho I couldn't help myself later). .so passed on much of the "horror" merch. .even tho I liked a lot of it. wow. .the Italy section is really lovely too! That shouldn't surprise me. . but every section of this park being so gorgeous continued to surprise me over and over. and of course. . there were bewbs. ok.. time for Ghost Castle. with Pirates! see. .there's pirates. . it's not too much like Haunted Mansion oh. nevermind. although there are some very obvious "lifts" from the classic Disney Ride (something true in almost every "haunted" attraction at any park we went to). .there was actually a lot of really unique set pieces in here, and I really enjoyed the ride. This is another Dark Ride at Europa that I went on multiple times. and damn, if this isn't really well done. Even if a heavily "inspired" by bit? SO well done. Italy has another Dark Ride: PIccolo Mondo . . . Sadly, this was by far, the worst ride in the park. And it was slightly racist. . I mean, think of the most stereotypical "Italian" things you can think of. . now put them all into one ride. yup. .they made Pizza. Yup. .they twirled big Mario-mustaches. . Gelato. Gondolas. just awful. . . and boring. but at least the gondola you ride in has a parrot on the back "steering" you. they're happy because it's over. . .LOL yeah, this is, I think, the only Dark Ride in the park that was one and done. It was getting late with the park only being open about an hour more, and we hadn't even made it over to Iceland yet. . the whole section that has Blue Fire , and Wodan. . so we headed over that way, determined to use up our remaining quick queues on those rides. so we headed that way. . and found ourselves in. . . Amity ? (new England)? no idea.. LOL. .this section isn't even listed on Wiki entry, so can't even look it up. There was a giant shark hanging for photo ops (that I think I took a pic with the 2nd day) . . it was beautiful tho. . and we discovered a little restaurant "hidden" behind a quick serve counter that we utilized for lunch the next day to get away from the crowds and have a relaxing meal. this is over the rapids ride. . . which we'd ride the next day. and yup. .it's an animatronic! HAHAHAHA. . . We rode Blue Fire with the quick queue. . I liked it for the most part. the dark ride section prior to the launch is really fun, and unexpected (tho it shouldn't have been. . EVERYTHING seems to have a dark ride section here). . .and it has a bunch of really fun airtime, in particular that spectacular loop. But it also has a heartline-roll type of hangtime element 2/3rds of the way thru that I absolutely *hated* I know you aren't going to fall out of the restraints, but it takes that roll with so much hangtime, it's just not my cuppa tea. . . sorry. so Blue Fire was good. . but not in my top coasters here. unlike: holy hell, I loved this coaster. I think I rode it easily 10-12 times during our visit (including many rides during ERT on the 2nd night). SUCH a good coaster, and way way up on my top 10 (probably ranked around #2 or #3). So much airtime, and laterals, and so smooth. . just brilliant. and the theming. . wowza Wodan and Blue Fire are so close to each other. . you're able to get lots of pics with trains on both from the exit platform. . so if you'll indulge me here: after a couple of rides on Wodan (I think we used our last two quick queues there), we headed back across to the "New England" section. .as we had heard there was something there not to miss. coming back from the Iceland side over the rapids, I spotted another fun animatronic. There's cool stuff all over this park. ohhhh. .the inpark monorail comes over here too? yeah, *definitely* riding this tomorrow. and here's what we came back for. Robb had told the group that there was a hidden dark ride that we should not miss. I was convinced he was just messing with everyone, to try and get us to go on something awful. . but you know what? he was 100% correct. .this was SO good. Yeah, it was basically just an advertisement for Rulantica masquerading as a dark ride, but it pulled out some really neat tricks, and made it well worth the while to ride on (think i rode it three times?). As Albert put it: "that's the best commercial I've ever ridden!" "Snorri" is the baby octopus mascot of Rulantica. . hence what I assume this ride is called: "Snorri's Tours" I won't spoil the surprises.. but will just say. If you get a chance? ride this thing. it really is "hidden" in a basement, and I'm glad Robb flagged it for the group, otherwise would have missed it! and the gift shop at the end? O. M. G. pregnant "Barbie" mermaid? you bet your sweet ass I bought this and hauled it home. (I sent this pic to Nick and told him I bought it. .and his response was "of course you did" that's a fond memory of my Husband. . and it made me smile to type this) and yes.. her stomach DOES come off, and there's a baby mermaid doll in there! the park was starting to shut down as it was close to 6:30 pm, so we headed towards the resort gate. . stopping to snap a few pics of Blue Fire's loop as we passed by it: and Wodan's quick queue entrance as we passed and the Splash Battle ride - that I never bothered to go on (not a fan of these, and these too were in most of the European parks). they sure are photogenic tho. but we had to make our way out to the Hotel. . as we had to go back to the room to change - most of the TPR group was headed over to Rulantica to check it out, as the indoor waterpark was open until (I think) 11pm. so. . . looks like there is going to be a Part III (tho shorter than parts 1 and 2) as I took pics at Rulantica too. so see you real soon to complete day 1 (really? this is only day 1????).

^ good. make it difficult and then maybe this asinine behavior will stop.

Lol. Keep it up, you’re doing a great job.