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On the way back from Cedar Point (normally a 8-9 hour drive), I decided to "stop by" (ignore the fact that it adds 6 hours to my total drive time) Kings Dominion again to try to catch the full Queen's Ball show, that I missed during my initial Haunt trip here and my attempt after Kings Island to catch the show. Was I successful? Spoiler alert: I was! BONUS! Kings Dominion Sunday, October 30th. My only rides of this trip were Reptilian (3 train wait, front row, maybe my first time on this at night) and Intimidator 305 (13 minute wait for row 2). But rides were not the purpose of this trip: I did, finally, on the last day of the season, get to check out the Queen's Ball musical portion of the show. My review: Heads Will Roll (the 2021 Haunt show) this was not. The Astaroth and Burnette characters had almost all of the songs, and it actually had a cohesive plot to it, which is always nice to see, despite being substantially shorter. I was informed that the show production company that had put together previous shows had backed out of the contract with the park at the end of August, and the in-house park staff were left with two weeks to put something together, and this is what they did. Massive shout outs to George (Astaroth), Alex (Burnette the Barker), and Sheri (Queen) for putting together an awesome show on short notice, as well as David (unofficial park photographer) for the info on the production. They all have awesome Instagram profiles, go check them out. Tons of pictures: And of course, here is a bunch of highlights, in video, for you to enjoy: Queens Ball 1 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 2 - Trim.MP4 This guy's range will never cease to amaze me. Queens Ball 3 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 4 - Trim.MP4 And her powerful voice...OMG. Queens Ball 5 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 6 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 7 - Trim.MP4 On with the rest of the TR! Apparently they had been setting up for Winterfest already... But all of the Halloween Craft Booths were still set up. I of course had to head down to the Cleaver Brother's Stage for some more of the multi-talented Burnette the Barker, who is always hilarious. Barker 1 - Trim.MP4 Barker 2 - Trim.MP4 Barker 3 - Trim.MP4 Of course I got a picture with the man himself. Hey look, they fixed the winking tower! And that closes out my Halloween park trips for 2022! Thanks for reading everyone, even if some of it was a few months late.

nice. . love seeing the pics. and Ocean Potion? hahahahaha

I wonder if it was originally the matter of money, maybe someone convinced the head of the park that they could do it faster and cheaper. But I think after all this time and money spent, I wonder if dollar for dollar it matched up? I mean they already spent the money to two-way ship all the horses and such to get stripped and cleaned, so how much more would it have cost to have it all done at one shop and one crew. In the end it's going to be nice to have the carousel back, even if it's just to bring some life in that corner that is elsewise a passthrough. This was the parks choice, this is how they wanted to spend their money, we can all groan and complain for the next ten years but what is done is done. Now let's go back and enjoy our park for what is and be greatful that Saint Louis still has one.

There is one thing the park could have done to get this done faster while still doing it the 'right' way - send everything to PTC for a refurb by them. I'm not sure why they didn't go that route but what they decided on was a full true refurb done in-house and with a small team - and that leads to a couple of years of downtime. Even a PTC rehab would have it down at least a year.

And no one will ever convince me that there wouldn't have also been complaining if it was a 2-month replacement with plastic horses and generic art decals on the boards. We beg and plead for good work to be done - for things to be done the right way. And then it happens and it's not worth it.

And onto Cedar Point Day 2, Saturday October 29th, 2022. Same format as before.... Ride wait times and/or commentary from my notes (all times with FL+, arrival around 11:30) -Iron Dragon, 3 train wait, next-to-last row. Running kinda slow. -Millennium Force, 20 minute wait, row 2. -Gemini, 1 train wait, row 2, red side, did not win. -Steel Vengeance, 33 minutes (from entering line to locker retrieval), front row. -Maverick, 15 minutes, back row. -Raptor, 8 minutes, back row. -Maverick, 24 minutes, back row. -Midnight Syndicate show 2022. "Nowhere near as good as last year's, but very similar to last year's in that it seems to drag on and do nothing and then gets really cool right at the end, and then its over. So that's kinda meh but still good." Bonus here! Actually encountered another trans person in the wild while waiting in line. Like, I know that other ones of us exist, but it's always refreshing when you run into one at a "normal" venue like an amusement park. -Blood on the Bayou maze - A long, meandering walk through the Millennium Island with very few actors and very few decorations and kinda a whole lot of nothing going on. It took twice as long to walk to it than it did to walk through it. My sympathy to the kid who was having a panic attack near the end of it. -Cut Throat Cove maze - Not as good as last year; pretty much the same props but a lot less actors. -Maverick, 19 minutes, front row, to close out the night. So yeah, that was my experience at Cedar Point's Haunt, 2022. Overall a good time as always, but not a whole lot of innovation on the Halloween-y stuff front, and pretty much helped solidify my almost-definite decision to not renew my CF Platinum Pass for 2023. Anyway, may the pictures flow.... My favorite! Nerd shot. Busy busy. This is a panorama, gotta click to view the full thing to get the best effect. Kinda blurry, but this was the closeout on all of the remaining Top Thrill Dragster merchandise...the first clear indication that the ride would at least be getting a new name in the future. Motion blur intentional. And that puts a wrap on my 2022 Halloween park adventures....or does it?

Everyone loves when people forget about posting TRs until like 5 months later, right? Haha...sorry I completely forgot I had these to post. Enjoy a flash back to October 2022 before the parks open for the year! Cedar Point Friday, October 28th Okay, so since this was in fact over 5 months ago, this is just going to be largely a picture/video dump with minimal commentary, which I will cover all at the beginning. Ride wait times and/or commentary from my notes (all times with FL+, arrival around noon) -Raptor, 2 train, back row. -Blue Streak, 1 train, front row - tons of airtime, the train was flying through the course. -Valravn, 9 minutes locker-to-locker - was denied not only a row request but also a specific location within a row. -As of 1:00, the only food places observed open was Coasters Diner, Farmhouse, and Back Beat Que, all with massive queues. This included stands. Had to leave the park and go to Perkins in Hotel Breakers to get food without having to wait 30+ minutes. -Magnum XL-200, 16 minutes locker-to-locker, row 2. -Gatekeeper, 17 minutes locker-to locker, back row. -Around 3:30, left the park to take a nap in my car. -Millennium Force, 32 minutes locker-to-locker, row 2. -Fortune Teller - 16 minute wait, 5 minute reading. More than what they do at Kings Dominion, but less time with the fortune teller than last year. Got the Ant card, and had a pretty accurate descriptor. -Opening Scaremony show - Okay, I guess. I liked the "audience participation" factor where they had actors in the crowd that would act like they were being controlled by those on stage. -Skin-n-Bones feat. Vaze show - Not my scene, a little too hard rock for me. -Slaughterhouse maze - Meh as always. Not much else to say. The "inflatable walls" were not fully inflated, making so you didn't have to squeeze through them at all, which kinda makes sense in a post-COVID world. -Cornstalkers maze - No change from last year. Highly entertained by a group that was getting scared and stopping and running. -Fearground Freakshow maze - 99.9% same as last year, but I actually did get got by one of the actors, so good on them. -Bloodbath maze (new for this year) - VERY well done. Got a legitimate two scares. Great artistry; starts as a nightclub and ends as a hotel kinda theme. Not a lot of actors (a recurring theme), but overall very, very good. -Steel Vengeance, 36 minutes locker-to-locker, back row. "I hate this stupid f'ing locker system...it's such an insanely good ride but that locker system is just so f'ing stupid." -Eerie Estate maze - Supposedly this was all new? The only thing new I noticed was the Ouija board scene at the beginning where the "employee from the Sandusky Bureau of Paranormal Activity" talked about the place being haunted and then the board thing starting moving on its own. After this, I guess I left, since my next set of notes videos were from the next day. Enjoy the pictures and videos of day one! Yep, good to be back. At my happy place. Poor Mantis. This thing was kinda cool; I'd never seen it before. Lip Sync Monster - Trim.MP4 Fortune Teller tents. Many more than last year! I still like how Cedar Point keeps their scary stuff in one area. Par for the course for food lines on this Friday. Very detailed mannequin. Taking a smoke break outside the Magnum entrance (from the "good old days" of when I still smoked haha). Guess CF got a bulk rate on these things? This was animated at night; I tried to get a good video of it but failed miserably. I have a couple of friends who would absolutely adore this shop! I do like how they integrated the Mr. Midnight character into more than just the dedicated show. Enjoy some video: Opening Scarymoanie 1 - Trim.MP4 Opening Scarymoanie 2 - Trim.MP4 And that about wraps up day one. I'll leave you with some videos of rides in action that I can't quite remember when I took. Maverick 1 - Trim.MP4 Maverick 2 - Trim.MP4 Millie - Trim.MP4

That's it! we need the Mule-Go-Round back!!

Packed at Dollywood today. Park is still understaffed. Took about 30 minutes just to get in the park with my season pass. Lightning Rod broke twice in the first hour, the second time while I was on it for a rollback. Not sure if it ever opened up for the rest of the day because I left early because ride wait times were 2 hours. They also closed the Timesaver check-in inside the park and built a new Timesaver building outside the front gates that also houses a rental annex for scooters. They also built a new security building so all the white tents are now gone. These two new buildings look much nicer. Not sure what they will do with the old Timesaver building, but that entire area of the park is looking desolate. Big Bear Mountain appears to have all its track in place too.

And while that may be true... What about what the ride actually is justifies the other five years of development?