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Day 5, part III: Klotten Klotten was a wonderful park, and I'm so glad we got a chance to stop in here. It's a very traditional "smaller" park, but it has a few big rides. In addition to animals/petting zoo like, gardens, and a ton of "self operated" rides - things I've never seen before. the main sign Park map: Klotti - I'm pretty sure he is a Bear, tho he reminds me of the Buccees Beaver the main reason I was so happy we got to stop here was that Klotten has one of the TPR famous "Boat jump" self operating rides. we didn't have a lot of time here, so Elissa had advised to go do what was most important to us FIRST to make sure we got it. what most important to me was this.. so went and got in line for it a bit slow moving, but because you can only do one at a time as it's self operated. the instructions: my turn! wheeeeee! over the self operated boat jump is the self operated skyline. . . it had a weight limit tho, so I didn't do that one. . LOL and a pregnant goat. . after the boat jump, we headed to the main "big ride" section of the park. passing by the giant slide in and around this "mountain" are 3 rides. a bobsled coaster, a flume with a vertical lift, and a dark ride. the Bobsled was up first, and tho I can't recall the name of it, this one was recently in the news because of a death on the ride. But I believe it has already reopened. some of the TPR crew cued up in front of us in the line. hi Daniel - and Happy Birthday! beautiful setting, and a great ride. really fun, and fairly extreme for such a small, charming park. walking down the pathway to go to the flume ride. . . a peek at the vertical lift for the flume out of order, but a few pics of TPR folks on the bobsled. . I believe courtesy of Andy? back to the flume. . . they are pretty serious about getting the weight distributed correctly (likely because that drop is so steep) after the flume, we walked over to this self operated "whip" ride. there was one attendant just making sure that folks buckled the seat belt, and started the spinning. . but otherwise, the riders controlled how far you swing out, and when, as the ride rotates. never been on anything like it in my life, and it was a pretty amazing experience. More animals right over the ride enclosure, that one can go interact with. . wheeeeeee! About to walk back to the main ride structure, to ride the coaster again, and to take a spin on the dark ride in the base of the "castle". I like how the rides interact with each other. . . um. . yeah. this is the "magic wand" that you use to "shoot" at things in the dark ride! you point it at the targets and push the button. BWAAA-HAAAA-HAAAAAA Pic courtesy of Robb. . . as I forgot to take a pic of it as I was so busy giggling about it. Doggies were welcome in the park as well.. this doggo was so pretty back to the coaster! getting a little overcast, but still a beautiful day no Carousel here. .but they did have a single rail "horseback" ride, so of course, i HAD to ride that. it's like a zoo crossed with a park. What Elissa said about Knoebel's vibes above, is very accurate. I really liked this park, even tho not hugely themed, or a big park. I had decided that Klotti was a Bear. . so I wanted a pic with the bear: and then John volunteered so I could take a pic hugging a real Bear: headed back towards the front of the park, as it was almost time for us to head out to go to Phantasialand for hotel check in. more of the self operated rides in this park: this one was hysterically odd. you ride the "wave" and you control the "swing out". . but the entire point seemed to be just to swing out under the waterfall that comes on when the ride starts. yeah. the kids seemed to be having a BLAST on this. I just watched: glad we did the boat jump early! some of the self operating rides closed down early! a trash can with a pourpose a self run "swinging rocket" is hidden behind these trees and a "pull yourself up" tower adult "death" versions of kiddie playground rides. . . LOL. .this sucker spun FAST one last view before heading back onto the bus. . pic courtesy of Elissa. . and the group shot, courtesy of Robb, before we got back on the bus and headed off to Phantasialand for check in at the Hotel Charles Lindbergh to be concluded in part IV. . . .

We were at the ACE Coaster Christmas event last weekend. Unfortunately, a cold snap AND a surprise little snow storm late Friday night meant that it never got above 35 on Saturday so only Thunderation and Fire in the Hole were open. They did have flooded mine going and a handful of the kids rides. Also, no giant swing. Of course the train is still closed and obviously no water rides, so.......it was not the best day for an event which was exactly no one's fault. Since there are only so many hours you can fill up with shows, food and Grandfather's mansion we left a little earlier than we normally would have on Saturday. With all those rides down the midway on the big hill that leads to the Opera House and therefore the lines backs up there was so crowded you almost couldn't get through. But huge Kudos to the park. We had presentations with coffee, hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls in the morning and since I am sure they could see it was not going to be a good day for rides every attendee (and I think it was around 200) got a free ticket for next year, some Christmas ornaments and a freebie raffle with various tchotchke's. We also had the Trailblazer pass that gives you 8 skip the lines. That we were always going to have since ert is usually impossible at this event due to, too cold before park open and too late/cold after park close. For the event tickets and trailblazer's were good for Sat and Sun. The presentations included Worlds of Fun and they gave us a nice preview of Zambezi Zinger and some of the 50th anniversary plans for next year. Brad Thomas gave a small presentation for SDC. Taking a book out of Universal's "it's just a churro stand" playbook he insisted the new building going up is a Dollar General, but he did indicate that it would not be open for customers until 2024. He also talked a bit about the big land purchase and that there would be work done on parking and road into the park. Not sure if he was connecting those two or not. He did mention that maintenance had made a path between the park and new territory that and ATV could navigate. Announcements about what would happen there to come at a future date. Our group speculated that the new land might be hotel and/or water park and/or new parking lot and entrance. Or the other option which is we have no idea whatsoever. Shockingly, no one from SFSTL showed up to present anything about future plans. Went back on Sunday armed with extra Trailblazers thanks to several people that had to leave for home first thing on Sun morning. We had a very narrow window of opportunity, approx 2-4 to get rides in while the temps were cooperating. Hit Outlaw Run (one train ops), Powder Keg (two trains), Time Traveler (also two trains) as many times as we could. Wildfire never opened, although it did test. Not sure if it was temps or mechanical. We had to leave about 4 to drive back to STL anyway and just about that time the coasters started to shut down again as the temps dropped. Gifted all the leftover Trailblazers to families with kids in the hopes they could use them that evening on kids stuff. Plan to use the tickets on a nice warm summer day next year and if I do anymore ACE Christmas events I think I'm heading down to Texas to chase the warm weather

It's insane to me that anyone still believes that parks actually care about this. Anyway, be right back. They just called my boarding group for Tron.

On the way back from Kings Island (normally a 9-10 hour drive), I decided to "stop by" (ignore the fact that it adds 6 hours to my total drive time) Kings Dominion to try to catch the full Queen's Ball show, that I missed during my initial Haunt trip here. Was I successful? Read on. BONUS! Kings Dominion Sunday, October 16th. I arrived at the park around 4:00 PM, grabbed my FL+ wristband, and then made my way around the park. I had some time to kill until 7 PM, when the show would begin. The skies were overcast, and the weather forecast called for a good chance of light rain, but I figured, "hey, shows should still happen in the rain, right?" Winterfest preparation had begun: I grabbed a "quick" ride on Reptilian: 17 minute wait, with Fast Lane, for the front row. Yeah, they really need to put a grouper in place to manage this station. Here was the standby queue on my way off the ride. After that, I decided to just plop myself down in front of the main stage to make sure I got a good spot for the opening ceremonies, Blood Reign. Despite the same name, this show was different from last years. I know I provided some pics and videos in my initial report, but this time I was a lot closer! Note that a slight drizzle had begun. As a bonus, here's videos of pretty much the entire show: M4H03298_Trim.mp4 M4H03299_Trim.mp4 858818504_BloodReign3_Trim.mp4 Now, Queen's Ball was supposed to immediately follow this show, but the Astaroth character (so dreamy), said something to the effect of "come back later, I melt in the rain." Uh-oh. I asked one of the ushers if that meant that the show wouldn't be happening as scheduled, and they confirmed: try again at the 8:30 show. Bummer. With some extra time to kill, and the rain increasing slightly, I took another walk through Grimm Woods with my not-the-right-color Fast Lane band, and noticed a really cool animatronic dragon at the end which I hadn't noticed last time. Unfortunately, the oven prop in the Hansel & Gretel section was still not illuminated. I then took another walk through Trick or Treat, and it was good as always, but was a pure conga line. With the crowds at the park, and many rides shut down for weather, I guess they didn't have a choice. Winterfest lights in place. I made my way back up to the International Street Bandstand, and plopped myself down in the still-increasing rain, waiting for the show to hopefully start up. The ushers first began pushing the water from the stage in an attempt to dry it, but around 10 minutes before the show was to start, some of the entertainment managers came out, walked over the stage, and shook their heads. Alas, it was not to be. Sad face. Now properly soaked, I depressedly made my back to my car, and began my 4 hour drive home. *sigh*

and credit to Robb for that pic! forgot to post the "Swag" from Holiday Park & Klotten - just magnets, as no shirts at Klotten, and teeny tiny ones (that were a little dull) at Holiday Park.

That flume was so screwed up! Love the group shot!

Closing day! Been here 1 hr 10 mins and already ridden Scream, Thunderbolt, Skyscreamer, Wicked Cyclone, Pandemonium, Batman, Joker, and Harley Quinn. Everything is open except the Vekomas. Love 40 degree nights here...park to yourself! Skyscreamer was spinning more than Pandemonium. Quite a...uhh...thrill 400 feet up in the air being spun around 270 degrees everytime you went around the north side. Actually a bit unnerving lol. Marathoning Superman the rest of the night. Following up on the rest of the night...after waiting 1 train for a front row ride, hit Cyborg, the Mouse, and Supergirl. I was so spoiled that I just missed a load on Cyborg, so I ran to the Mouse and rode it real quick then went back for the next cycle on Cyborg haha. Finished the night with my ass plopped in row 9-1 on Superman for 7 consecutive rides. Pretty much the same trainful of people cycling around and around until the last train finally went out at 7pm. Good times! Will miss HITP, but glad they gave us a couple bonus weekends in November with the full park. Speaking of HITP, surely a couple Jerzdays in my future between now and New Year's Day.

All of the Volcano remnants have been removed. As far as unique flats, the general consensus in the rumor mill is possibly a Gerstlauer Sky Roller which is something CW has that is not in the US.

^People care, but until it's more official there isn't much to talk about. I mean, if they put the Denmark Tornado cars on VelociCoaster then we'll talk more, I promise.

Day 5 part II: the drive to Klotten (part III will be coming up soon. . but didn't want to bog down the park pics with the journey pics) the German countryside is GORGEOUS. .and the road to Klotten involved narrow roads, that twisted back and forth, very much like that famous street in San Francisco. HUGE kudos to our driver, who expertly navigated multiple sharp turns with a giant bus (much to the annoyance of Motorcyclists and bikers, who were also on the road with us, but had to wait for the 3-4 point turns around some of the sharper curves. it was pretty anxiety inducing for me, but I calmed myself by looking at the scenery. . I mean, just LOOK at these pics. the tourist town we went thru was lovely as well, and then back up the hills on the other side of the valley to the park entrance. enjoy these pics, and actual pics from the park soon! and we're here! just LOOK at that view from the parking lot! and they know the view is incredible. . . they set up a photo-frame op for it (I took a pic in front of it, but got a better one on the way out)

Okay, time to get back to it here. Kings Island: 2022 Haunt Day 1 (October 14th, 2022) After my long drive from Delaware, checking in to my hotel, I made my way over to Kings Island just before 5 PM (for a 6 PM opening) on Friday the 14th. This was the sight I was greeted with: Oh yeah, it was gonna be busy. But it was good to be back for Haunt! The lines of people waiting to get in at 5:15. At 5:45, I was finally inside! I grabbed my all-season Fast Lane Plus wristband and Fright Lane lanyard, and then hung around for rope drop with the massive crowds: The releasing of the monsters! M4H03118_Trim.mp4 You can also see that the preparation for Winterfest has begun, with the lights on the buildings and decorations in the Tower Gardens. An ominous Angel of Death watches over park goers: Hey look, Kings Island has these things too! Except here, the art in them was designed to the various mazes and and scare zones throughout the park, instead of generic Halloween-y scenes like at Dorney. Before proceeding further, I came across one of the history signs I hadn't seen before: The first stop on my agenda here was the new-for-2022 maze, Hotel St. Michelle, way back in no-mans-land at the old Action Theater. I opted to not use my Fright Lane for this yet, and had a 5 minute wait. I was very surprised that they were initially sending guests through alone (or with your personal group); this obviously wouldn't last throughout the night, but it was a nice touch at the beginning of the night. Of course, about half way through I caught up with the previous groups and it became a conga line. All said and done, I thought this was a great concept and there were a TON of actors (though very few were in character, just doing generic groans and screams), but it was definitely too dark to really appreciate the artistry. Next up was an old favorite... Again, I didn't bother wasting my Fright Lane yet, and had zero wait. They modified the layout her from previous years, and changed out the "moving-car" prop for a band(?). As with Hotel St. Michelle, it was far too dark to fully appreciate the artistry, and despite having a lot of actors, all but one were not in character. The one that was, though - a faux mannequin - was absolutely spectacular and actually got me the first time through. Now it was time to check out the new scare zone... I swear Cedar Fair got a group rate on these water-crate-things. No scare zone actors yet, so it was time for... My first use of the Fright Lane. More or less unchanged from last year, but the addition of some very detailed alien costumes was a nice touch. The mirror-suit from Kings Dominion's 21 would fit in perfectly in the mirror maze section of this house (which I mentioned to the staffers outside). This one also had a ton of actors, with the scientists playing their roles well. Next up was... No wait with Fright Lane. Now anyone who is familiar with my reports knows just how over the whole butcher-shop haunt theme I am. That said, this was a very pleasant surprise! Again, tons of actors, all of them in character, and there were a couple of very nice physical prop gags, including a wall-closing-in-on-you thing like at Madam Fatale's Cavern of Terror, which was my next stop. But not before grabbing a shot of this awesome decoration: I guess this was a thing? I didn't take a notes video after it, so from what I can remember it was pretty much the same as last year. Again, a ton of actors, which was an awesome constant at Kings Island's mazes. With all of the indoor mazes complete, it was time for some shows. First up was Terror Rising, their main musical show at the stage at the end of the fountain. This was your typical "drummers over an EDM backing track" type of show, but with the variant of including a guitarist and dancers. I did not stay for the whole show, but here's a video: M4H03152_Trim.mp4 As it still wasn't 8:00, and Cornered (their lone outdoor maze) had not yet opened, I grabbed some more pictures of the decorations... ...and then took in part of the Monster Rock show, held in the Festhaus. Fun Fact: They legally cannot call it "Monsters of Rock," which would be a much more fitting show title, as the name is trademarked by a company that puts on classic rock shows on cruises. Anyway, this was kinda "meh" I guess. It was entertaining enough, but I swear the acoustics of the Festhaus are not suited for this and the vocal talent just isn't there. How Kings Dominion holds such a domain over musical Halloween shows over the rest of the Cedar Fair parks is beyond me. That said, enjoy some videos...perhaps you'll find it better than I did. VID_20221014_200532006.mp4 M4H03167_Trim.mp4 M4H03168_Trim.mp4 With those two shows out of the way, it was suitably after 8:00, and was now time for Cornered. This was a vast improvement over previous years' Cornstalkers mazes, with plenty of wide open areas and a distinct lack of actual corn. It was very long with a lot of actors, with no narrow corridors of corn walls, and was the surprise of this trip. That said, I'm still totally over this theme. Now it was finally time for some rides! First up? Nerd shot. I had a 5 train wait for front row (both trains running). I can't remember the last time I rode this at night, and let me tell you it was awesome. Almost completely black. See? A bat train actually passes right in front of the camera in this video. M4H03180_Trim.mp4 We can all add The Bat to KIs list of awesome night rides. Now it was time to take in the Coney Maul section of the park, their carnival-themed scare zone. Zephyr looking all foreboding... So you see those trees that are all lit up in red? Yeah, not just red! I guess this is where the pixel mapped lights from Kings Dominion's Winterfest ended up. Anyway, it was really cool. M4H03184_Trim.mp4 I always love the light packages that CF parks have on their Troikas. I then took my second laps through Hotel St. Michelle and Madam Fatale's Cavern of Terror, both now pure conga lines. Very poor showing. This was the walkway between Coney Mall and Rivertown, where the Pumpkin Eater scare zone was last year. Are we sure it's not Winterfest already? Ah, here we go! The Beast, at night, front row! 25 minute wait. It took me all fucking year but I finally got my front row night ride, and it was incredible as always. So, so good. Nice little advertisement for the painters of the Eiffel Tower. I didn't realize it had only been repainted three times. The Squishmallows store is back, but moved further down International Street near the Auntie Anne's pretzels. Which, by the way, I took this picture in line for. A rather substantial line...It took me 21 minutes to get to the counter. It was right around 11:00 at this point, and having been up since around 4 AM, it was time to head back to the hotel for a well-needed rest, wrapping up Day 1. Stay tuned for Day 2!

Day 5, part I : Holiday Park Day 5 was probably the most packed day of the trip, as we were going to be seeing a total of 3 parks thruout the day - starting at Holiday Park, then a 3 hour drive to Klotten, then ending the day checking into Hotel Charles Lindbergh on-site at Phantasialand! thank goodness it wasn't a super early start to the day (up and at the bus at 8am). . but it was gonna be a packed and fun day! Sun peeking thru curtains - time to get up and pack up, and head down to breakfast and the bus! we were only here one night, but the included Breakfast buffet was really good Loading the luggage on the bus, I was able to get a pic of the wheels from Monster that were given to TPR from Walygator Parc and here we are, bright and early, back at Holiday Park to spend a chunk of the day. we were here until, I think, 1pm - so we had 4 or so hours in the park once open. but we were here well before open, as we had ERT on Sky Scream and Sky Fly. . . so the place was still pretty deserted right now. it was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day. our park guides met us out front, and we headed to the back of the park for Sky Scream. but of course, I took the opportunity to snap pics as we walked back thru the empty park. a Dinosaur themed rapids ride - a popular theming choice for rapids rides in Europe, I discovered. I see you Expedition GeForce! we'll get to you right before park open! First "official" ride of the day oooooo. . . as the Terminator said, "I'll be Back" the park's horror dark ride "Burg Falkenstein". . wonder if it's inspired by Haunted Mansion? the theming is lovely. . I adored the themed lampposts. . . several different themes thruout the park depending on which section you were in. headed back to Sky Scream, it felt like we were leaving the actual park, and heading into the woods. passing by Sky Fly. . we'll be back here in just a bit. oh, this is rather cool. . the entrance way into the section with Sky Scream is passing under a section of a classic Corkscrew that used to be at the park. they even have a plaque up: Sky Scream is a heavily themed SkyRocket II .. . .which is themed to horror/scares. So odd, as it's so close to what is a charming children's section (that we passed thru and I said the theming was charming). . so it's a whiplash effect that you go from charming to "scare the shit out of you" I personally am not a huge fan of this type of ride (I don't like the restraints, tho if I recall? this one was lapbar only, which made many on the trip very happy). So I rode it twice during the ERT, and then went to go take pictures. this was an interesting machine in the exit "arcade". . . I guess you make the bear dance? or maybe win it? I really couldn't figure out what the point of "Pink Date" was. . . LOL pics of Sky Scream in action: in the exit arcade, showing some of the heavy theming. . . why someone wants to pay a Euro to be shocked, I dunno. . but the "game" seems appropriate for this ride's exit arcade ok? not sure what the limo had to do with anything. . but it was kinda neat. ok, Sky Fly has started testing. .they are almost ready for us. I chose not to ride this at Tripsdrill. . but decided that we have ERT on this here at Holiday Park, I'll ride it. Even tho I'm not very good at getting the flipping action going. nicely themed area around it. and what I really appreciated, is that they had some kiddie rides around it - similarly themed to flight - so that the kiddos that weren't big enough for sky fly could have something to ride while the adults rode the bigger ride. I wish more parks would do stuff like this. (it really fills out the area, rather than just plopping a ride in the middle of nothing) more themed lampposts. . . love it. here we go. .almost my time to give this a shot these pics are either Brad or Andy. . (tho possibly AJ). Sorry I can't recall look how graceful! I was excited! I got TWO flips. LOL theming! we headed over to GeForce for 1st rides of the day. . and then we headed off on our own for a few hours in the park with the parks version of fast pass, and lunch to cram into the next few hours. let's start off with the horror dark ride. huh. . the vehicles do look a bit like Doom Buggies. . . is this gonna be a Haunted Mansion "inspired" ride? NOPE! the animatronics do stuff like lower their top to show old lady tiddies and Bears pull down pants to show bare butts and there's a big Dragon I had no idea what was happening. . but I loved it. I think I rode this three times during our time in the park. as was the case with almost all the European parks? the place is spotless, and just lovely. after a 2nd time on the horror dark ride, it was time for a quick coffee stop (which if I recall, Andrew treated us all for). . so we stopped at this little both which also sold chocolate covered fruit (and non dipped fruit) as well as coffee. I didn't mind spending time waiting for coffee (even tho we were only at the park for a couple of hours more) because the view while waiting for the coffees was pretty hard to beat: and nearby was (I think) the worlds biggest beer keg the park was starting to prep food for the lunch crowds, and man did it smell incredible over here! we weren't gonna eat here (as our lunch was good at the restaurant next door only) , but the length of that hotdog/sausage thing really did catch my eye. . .LOL instead, we headed over to the newest section of the park - and indoor section that seemed to be a kid's area, themed to fairies (very well, I might add). .tho it might be themed to a kids show? as the rides seemed to be focused on different characters. We headed here because of the coaster credit: Tabalugas Achterbahn , a family Zierer indoor coaster. It wasn't really a kiddie coaster tho, it moved pretty fast, and was well themed. the other rides in here were a combination of kiddie (a traditional carousel), young adult (the coaster, a ropes/adventure course), the coaster, and an older adult (a fairy themed ride where you controlled how your "fairy hangglider" moved up, down, or tilted). as noted. .they did a really good job theming inside this building. headed thru the "cave" queue to ride the family coaster. this little dragon might be Tabaluga. . .since it's his coaster. the coaster goes around, and thru, this environment. . . nicely done. feels pretty speedy too, probably because of the theming around it. it doesn't do much, and it doesn't look like much. am I gonna ride it anyways? It has "Karussell" in the name, so you bet your sweet pattootie I am! you just sit on the non moving animal, and the platform slowly turns. but oh my, look how much fun I am having sitting on a pig! would have ridden the chicken, but was worried it was too low to the ground, and would not look great standing back up (LOL) the sign for the Ropes/Adventure course. . didn't do that due to lack of time. we still wanted to hit the drop tower, the rapids, the flume, more rides on GeForce, and a few other things. . possible because of the fast lane passes we had. Jon and I on the Dinosaur rapids. we rode with other TPR folks as well. . but I recall we didn't even get slightly wet - on what ended up being a hot morning, it was slightly disappointing. the big Carousel was just teasing me. . but I knew I'd ride it before leaving, so we by passed it for GeForce, and then on to the park's flume ride. we got slightly moist on the flume, but not bad. . . everyone was hungry, so we headed to the restaurant to eat lunch. the pizza was surprisingly decent (tho it doesn't look that great). but the schnitzel was very good. and the theming in this restaurant was cute - tho giving me "Olive Garden" vibes. pic from Robb that he shared during lunch - his view of the park (and Expedition GeForce) from the top of the drop tower. Robb's pic inspired us to go to the Drop Tower next. . and using the Express Pass (I saw on Andrew's lanyard in a prior pic, that I've been calling it fast lane, but it's Express Pass here) we were at the loading station in no time. these ladies were advertising inside the queue. . I think they might be from Eurovision contest? but they are supposed to make us feel uneasy about our choice to ride. I think? it was a very fun tower. . .I Intamin, I think. and it reminded me 100% of Dungeon Drop (astroworld)/Superman Tower of Power (same ride, but moved to SFStL). it brought back some nice memories I think at this point the group I was with split off to go get some last rides on GeForce. . but I had something else on my list I had to do before we left. So while they went to ride the coaster, I walked back over to where we had eaten lunch. for this. yes, I know. . I'm a Carousel nerd. I mean.. look how happy! I don't think I'd have been ANY happier if I had been on a coaster again but I did go join them for one last ride on Expedition GeForce before we headed out, as I hightailed it over that way to ride with them. as we were heading out towards the bus, stopping to take a fond last look at this park. we weren't here for a full day - but I honestly don't think it's a full day park. So it was enough. buh bye Expedtion GeForce. . you lived up to the hype! snagged from Robb's post as we were on the bus headed to the next park. I really do miss the German Countryside. It's so beautiful! I mean. . . GORGEOUS and lots of windmills. . . we had a few hour drive, so some napped, many chatted excitedly about the morning we had just had, and we looked forward to where we were headed: Klotten - a very traditional park, with several "do it yourself" rides, including an infamous "boat jump" ride, that I've always imagined trying! Klotten, here we come! to be continued in part II . . . .

I'm working on day at Holiday park, and hopefully will have up this evening. but I found some misfiled pics from Tripsdrill. . so want to share these three before moving on too much, as they show how much joy I was having! I'm guessing these are courtesy AJ, Brad, or possibly Andy

oh, and I just could not forgive myself if I didn't post this classic right away tho. . . that I took that next morning in the park . . . featuring: ANDREW

a few more pics from the Evening at Holiday Park (until I can get time to post the daytime update). happy riders, about to ride back row on Expedition GeForce. and yes, the airtime back there is amazing. Happy TPR riders, getting rides in before the rain starts: and my last ride before calling it due to rain. . .I'm in row 6, my face is covered by my hand protecting from the rain (that HURTS when it hits you going fast on a coaster). . LOL but many of these folks braved the rain and rode it over and over until soaking wet. Hopefully will be able to get next update ready in next few days. Unfortunately, life kinda got in the way a bit. . . but working on improving things, and hope to update soon.

Had a fantastic time at SWSA yesterday. . . including two behind the scenes tours of "the Swamp" house from last year, and the new "Dis-Assembly Line". . . as well as a tour of the construction site for the new Catapult Falls. it was good to get out of the house, and actually had "fun" for the first time in months! have lots of pics from the Houses (as we got the skip the line fear passes included as well. . .and can post those if anyone is interested). But just a short report from yesterday, mainly of pics from Catapult Falls, and the scare actors in the scare zones out on the walkways: behinds the scenes, baby. . the benefit of going to an event run by Thrill Seekers United. . . just a great group of people, from a FB group focused on Central Texas. Ray G from SWSA is a really good guy (got a nice hug from him as he hadn't seen me in 4 months due to my husband's illness/passing). he led the small groups (groups of 12) on the hardhat tour of the site. where the big splashdown will be they reused a lot of the existing structures that were remaining from the old log flume. . but are repurposing. where the wood is, is going to be the LIM launch portion these are the footers that will support the big splashdown (steepest in USA). . and further back are the footers for the lift mechanism for this drop (have a pic of that coming up) the new ride won't interact with Steel Eel - as you come in and exit from the right side. . . but it gets pretty close, and you'll be able to see riders from both rides as zooming by the splashdown pond and turn around back into the station at ride end the footers for the vertical lift before the big final drop scare actors roam thru multiple different scream zones at Hall-o-scream. . it rings the lagoon. these ladies are the new "Sirens" that go with the new Atlantis house area. over by the Vampire area dance party with acrobats are now in front of Shamu Stadium (while there is another DJ / dance party going over by the Pengins across the lagoon, with more "Cirque" performers) Scare Actor hovering around outside of Milton Manor. . scaring the crap out of folks with his shovel. I think these ladies are headed to the Penguin area as performers such as this guy and these guys (that's a trampoline at the bottom of the drop)

SeaWorld San Antonio has sent us a press release announcing the addition of a new water flume coaster, the first of its kind to feature a launch along with the steepest drop on a flume attraction. The combination of these and more features make Catapult Falls a thrilling new addition for the park which will launch in 2023. SeaWorld San Antonio today announced the construction of a NEW water flume coaster, Catapult Falls, coming in 2023. The first-of-its-kind ride combines the thrill of a launched roller coaster, the excitement of a vertical lift elevator that lifts riders above the theme park, and a water flume ride with the steepest drop, to produce multiple rushes of adrenaline as well as moments of exciting splashes to cool guests down. “Catapult Falls will be the perfect addition to our already fantastic line up of family rides,” said Byron Surrett, SeaWorld San Antonio President. “Not only will it provide thrills for those wanting the exhilaration of a coaster-type ride, but being a water ride, it will give guests one more way to cool down in the hot Texas temperatures. It will be the perfect family adventure ride.” World’s First Launched Flume Coaster and Steepest Drop in a Flume Attraction Guests will experience the world’s first launched flume coaster! Eleven boats, each with eight riders, will catapult through the launch at speeds of 30 feet per second, allowing riders to feel the rush of a coaster while experiencing the rocking and swaying of riding on a track of water. Once at the peak of the ride, guests will experience the world’s steepest drop in a flume attraction! Angled at a staggering 53 degrees, the chute plummets riders into a watery splashdown at over 37 miles per hour. The duration of this one-of-a-kind attraction is in excess of five minutes, making for a wonderful family adventure. North America’s Only Vertical Lift Flume Coaster After winding through a series of twists and turns, Catapult Falls uses a state-of-the-art elevator, the only one on the continent in an attraction of this kind, to lift guests up seven feet per second to reach a height of over 55 feet. The breathtaking views don’t last long as the ride prepares guests for the ultimate plunge! Catapult Falls makes its debut in 2023 joining an impressive collection of thrill rides including the Great White, a floorless inverted coaster; the Steel Eel, a hyper-coaster that takes guest through a series of gravity defying camelbacks; Texas Stingray, the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in Texas; Wave Breaker: the Rescue Coaster, where guests board jet ski-like cars and join SeaWorld’s Rescue Team to help an animal in need; and Tidal Surge, the world’s tallest and fastest ride of its kind. Best Way to Play Be among the very first to brave the all-new adventure on Catapult Falls – Pass Members will have the unique perk of being among the first to ride this exciting new attraction, plus experience unlimited thrills time and time again with a SeaWorld Season Pass or Annual Pass. For a limited time, guests who purchase a Season Pass will get unlimited admission for all of 2023, the rest of 2022 for free, and a free Aquatica 2023 Season Pass all for as low as $94.99! This incredible deal also includes free parking and discounts on in-park offerings. For even more unbeatable benefits, guests can upgrade to a SeaWorld Annual Pass for as low as $6.99/month. With an Annual Pass, guests will enjoy 12 months of visits with special benefits like free parking, free guest tickets, access to special VIP events, savings on merchandise and more! Theme park enthusiasts can take advantage of these unbeatable offers that allow for fun at the biggest and best theme park in Texas. Admission to popular events like Howl-O-Scream, Christmas Celebration, and the Seven Seas Food Festival are included when guests purchase an Annual or Season Pass! These amazing deals on Annual and Season Passes can be purchased now at SeaWorldSanAntonio.com. About SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) is a leading theme park and entertainment company providing experiences that matter, and inspiring guests to protect animals and the wild wonders of our world. The Company is one of the world’s foremost zoological organizations and a global leader in animal welfare, training, husbandry, and veterinary care. The Company collectively cares for what it believes is one of the largest zoological collections in the world and has helped lead advances in the care of animals. The Company also rescues and rehabilitates marine and terrestrial animals that are ill, injured, orphaned or abandoned, with the goal of returning them to the wild. The SeaWorld® rescue team has helped more than 39,500 animals in need over the Company’s history. SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. owns or licenses a portfolio of recognized brands including SeaWorld®, Busch Gardens®, Aquatica®, Sesame Place® and Sea Rescue®. Over its more than 60-year history, the Company has built a diversified portfolio of 12 destination and regional theme parks that are grouped in key markets across the United States, many of which showcase its one-of-a-kind zoological collection. The Company’s theme parks feature a diverse array of rides, shows and other attractions with broad demographic appeal which deliver memorable experiences and a strong value proposition for its guests.