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I might be in the minority, but I found the launch on Lightning Rod to be a big nothing. the rest of the ride is great tho, once you crest that lift hill. . . so I have ZERO issue with this change.

Fear the Five: Howl-o-Scream 2023 Begins Maniacs, swamp people, chainsaw-wielding clowns, and more took over Busch Gardens during the opening weekend of Howl-o-Scream 2023. Theme Park Review was invited to the Media Night on Friday, September 8 for a reception and a chance to experience this year's fiendish goings on. So, what's new for Howl-o-Scream this year? Lost Mines: The Descent (new maze, Escape from Pompeii building)--a group of miners are possessed with desire for the gems they unearth and become freaky mutants with bad attitudes. The park did a good job redressing last year's somewhat generic Inferno maze with claustrophobic earth-and-rock walls and shored-up tunnels. As usual, some of Howl-o-Scream's best sets are in this building. Fest-Evil (new TERROR-tory, that is, "scare zone," Festa Italia)--this party of fiendish, soul-stealing Mardi Gras revelers ties into the Death Water Bayou maze nearby. Watch out for evil harlequins, gator people, and voodoo masters. The returning four mazes have been "revamped," as Busch Gardens likes to say--that is, they've been tweaked and reworked a bit. Death Water Bayou: Full Moon (Festa Italia near the Roman Rapids)--I don't think this voodoo maze has changed all that much from last year, although that's OK, because it's still the best one. I did notice some more blacklight effects, so this indoor/outdoor maze is best experienced after dark. It's the best haunt they've put in this space since the original Ripper Row maze. KILLarney DIEner: Infested (Ireland, Battle for Eire building)--looks like the cannibal diner has a bug problem, so pest control been called in. But be careful. They're not too picky about who or what they exterminate. Nice sets and creatures, but there's still that long exit walk where nothing happens. Nevermore: Chapter 3 (Germany, old Drachen Fire station)--more creepiness courtesy of the stories of Poe. There are a few slightly different scenes, and I think they made the maze a bit more disorienting than last year (more twists and turns). I'm a fan of Poe, so I always enjoy this one. Witch of the Woods: Scorched (Germany, entrance on the left of the Festhaus)--the local villages tried burning the woods to get rid of the witch with predictable results; that is, they just ticked her off. The maze does have a scorched look and smell to it now, although it really hasn't changed much otherwise. This outdoor maze is best after dark. But be warned--it's a bit of a hike from the Festhaus to the entrance, which is behind Verbolten. You can still run from fiendish childhood characters on Scary Tale Road (Germany); be served up on a platter in the Meat Market (New France); get stoned in Gorgon Gardens (Italy); and survive being harassed or offered a "good time, dearie" by the denizens of London's Whitechapel at Ripper Row (England). The Terror-tories were pretty active last weekend, and there was a roving Hack Pack of chiansaw-carrying clowns. These "scare zones" used to be a weak spot for Howl-o-Scream, but they've been improving over the last few years. All rides, with the exception of water attractions, are running during Howl-o-Scream (including Verbolten, which had been closed for over a month). The kiddie rides and Forest of Fun shut down at 5:00 pm, though. Three Howl-o-Scream shows are currently running all day: Jack Is Back (of course) in Ireland, Phantoms of the Festhaus (Germany), and Skeletones (Italy). Monster Stomp on Ripper Row opens on September 28 in the Globe Theatre. The mazes and TERROR-tories usually open at 6:00 pm. My Media Night experience was disrupted by a thunderstorm. I was waiting for it get darker for the outdoor mazes and ran out of luck, so I went back Sunday night to check out the rest of Howl-o-Scream. Despite the stormy weather, they're off to a good start. My thanks to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for having TPR at this event. I look forward to Howl-o-Scream each year. "Fear the Five" . . . what? There are five mazes and five TERROR-tories, which makes 10. Just pick the five you're most afraid of, I guess. The Virginia Beer Company strikes again! This time, it's a nice cream ale. The park put out a good spread that night. All this terrifying merch can be yours if the price is right! "Oh, I made them some lovely finger food, but was it good enough for their high-toned reception? Bah! They can be yours for a few shillings, dearie." "You! Seen any signs of the Ripper about?" "Ripper? Why no . . . no Ripper here. Why do you ask, officer?" Do I need one of those helmets with a lamp on it? A candle? Maybe a canary to check for poison gas? "Don't go in there! They ain't got no workin' toilets! Why, I barely made it out before . . . well, maybe you don't want to hear the end of that story." "We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig dig! We did the whole day through!" "Yeah, it's hard work, but you meet all sorts of interesting people . . . who you get to eat!" Whew! After being stuck in that mine all day, I'm ready for something more festive, like Mardi Gras. Yessir, I just want to . . . er . . . let the good times roll? "Hey, you got just the soul I'm lookin' for!" "Yes, you'll hope this party will never end . . . and it won't!" "Helluva a party, eh?" Maybe I can lose them in the fog. "Oh, did you come from the Fest-Evil party? We know how to have a good time here, too. Just remember: . . . . . . Don't look into her eyes!" Busch Gardens has been renovating the Italy/Germany bridge all year. It's looking good. Damn! I am sick of all these @!$%!! phantoms in this @!$%!! festhaus! Shall we ponder a quaint and curious volume of long forgotten lore? "Could someone get me some Neosporin and perhaps a bandage? Thank you," Wow! Tempesto must be a really dangerous ride! "Yeah! When they tell ya to keep your hands, arms, and legs in the ride vehicle at all times. you best pay attention!" I think I would've gone with a closed casket, but maybe that's just me. They're still partying on at Fest-Evil. I think I'll peacefully commune with nature in this fetid, evil swamp. What the hell. Hmm--when pumpkins start dismembering people, the party is getting a bit out of hand. "Gimme a shilling or I'll sic the Ripper on ya!" Somehow, I got out alive. Thanks for reading!

I was hoping for a tire drive

Yeah ever since it started cresting the top at a lift hill's pace, the launch really doesn't seem to be as "necessary" other than the excitement of launching up the hill and the gimmick. As someone who visited Dollywood for the first time this year and found LRod closed all day and not a soul in sight, I am 100% for this change. I also love Dollywood's transparency about this. Can't wait to visit again next year!

hahaha. .and forgot I had this video too! XRWU2498.MOV

unfortunately, Tivoli Friheden did not offer really anything in terms of branded souvenirs. . certainly not magnets. but I did pick up this (they also had a hat, but I tend not to wear many hats, and have a ton of them that I inherited from Nick. . so went with the pin). I'm proud of myself for doing it. . . so I'm glad I got the pin, and might make it a magnet, as I'm doing with the Bakken keychain.

Day 7, June 9th part 1: Tivoli Friheden. getting up early, I took advantage of the nearby Starbucks machine in the gas station and walked over to get coffee, snapping a pic of the front of our hotel. (it looks like an office building outside too. . . . I liked it, very no frills, but comfortable) ok.. NOW I'm ready for the day. I was psyching myself up. why? you'll see. very quiet in the morning in Arhus . . with a lovely church closeby - tho the one time I tried to go take some pics of it, as Big Mike and I got closer to it, we discovered that there was a Casket being unloaded and seemed tacky to take pics during a funeral. (I think I might have some closer shots of it on another day tho). walking back to the Hotel, to get ready for the bus this morning. . we were headed to a smaller park today, Tivoli Friheden, in Arhus Denmark. the "big" reason we were coming here? that tower in the background of the prior pic, and this one below. the last operating SCAD tower in the world. SCAD = Suspended Catch Air Device Tower. and I'm terrified of Heights. yeah. hence the need for coffee this morning. for a smaller park, they do have a lot of rides, tho other than the SCAD tower, nothing really "extreme". . more family thrill stuff. very cute logo tho. Us, along with some school kids (I think?) got entry early and we headed directly for the tower. passing a very nice two tier carousel and a decent ferris wheel. for some reason the Pizza place (called PIT.sa - yeah. .I dunno, but it works, LOL) had Carousel Horses on it's sign. Wasn't super crowded when we went there to eat lunch later. A surprise, as the park was full of school kids. but it made for a nice quiet meal later. Standing at the base of the tower, I started to have some doubts. not everyone was going to ride it.. so there was no shame in backing out. But I had PROMISED myself that I was going to do things I'd be scared to do. My spouse dying suddenly showed me life is short, and there are no guarantees. . so I was determined to ride it - if I could. you see, they have a weight limit - minimum AND a maximum. and they put you on a scale to make sure you fall in that range. I had an out if I was too heavy. . but I actually was a good amount below the top weight. . so I was gonna force myself. tho probably shouldn't have watched the first couple of folks go. . . . when it was my turn, we got suited up - complete with a hard "shell" attached to our backs. here's Steve and I. . . yeah. . look how "confident" I am. (think these pics are courtesy of AJ ?) then they put you into a tiny elevator, and bring you all the way up to the top. here's Jon watching us up there.. he stayed on the ground. smart man. thanks to Elissa (this video) and Robb (the next video). . . my turn is documented from the bottom of the tower, and the top. yes. . I'm quiet. I honestly, was too terrified to scream. I think some folks lost money, if they bet I was gonna be loud. VNSD3606.MOV GEGI8065.MOV but I did it.. my legs were shaky, but I managed to "gracefully" get out of the net at the bottom. and was shocked that I did it. and then immediately broke down crying the moment I had all the gear off. . . . yeah. but I DID it! once i got myself all composed again? I rewarded myself with Ice Cream while watching everyone else who wanted to go, take a turn (the elevator only carries 5-6 people at a time, so it was small groups). and then we were given lunch vouchers, and let loose to do what we wished in the park. as not a huge park, with no really extreme coasters, it was an excellent opportunity to spend just half a day here, and then take in some local sights/museums. . as there are lovely canals and architecture here in the city. this is one of the 3 coasters in the park: Tyfonen - a spinning wild mouse. (or is it called Spiseriet ? I didn't see the Tyfonen naming on the outside of this ride) (the park used to have a Suspended looping coaster - extreme - but after some injuries / deaths, the park removed it last year. . tho the ride pad is still there, now with some "jumping" playground stuff there. and they did just announce a decent sized new coaster will be coming in 2024. . I'd assume in that spot) Here's Jonathan, myself and Ian after we finished spinning. . pic, I think, courtesy of Jon? you are EVIL. . I did you once. . never again. . . . well. . not in the same way, I guess. . . Somehow I didn't get a pic of the outside of this ride, but it just cracked me up. at one point it clearly was a haunted house ride thru. then they apparently decided to make it like Resident Evil with Zombies among the haunted house. . oh, and make it a shooting ride. in 3D - which didn't work that well (think un-maintained Six Flags Level). I mean, if you're going to SHOOT, might as well be fully immersive and make the riders cops. well. . we can slap "Police" on the side of the ride vehicle.. that makes it fully immersive, right? it was so hysterically awful. . with the vast majority of the 4 3D screens being blurry messes, even with the glasses on - that made everything else so dark, so the remaining practical effects that were NOT part of the shooting became really hard to see. and for some reason the "scorboard" at the load station, not at the exit. very pointless. . but funny to ride (once) for the "what the F did I just ride?" quality. I mean. . look at the front of that vehicle. It's a POLICE CAR, I tell ya!!! this is another of the rides I forced myself to get on. . I was terrified of it, and this is really the only other "thrill ride" in the park. heck..it's in the park logo, showing it going almost upside-down with free spinning seats. But I took a deep breath and got on it. and it ran a SUPER gentle program. these pics are really as high as it went, and the seats did not free spin (I asked the op about it when he was uncuffing us, and he said the seats hadn't flipped in a while, they stopped doing that). I have to wonder if it ran a more gentle program because of all the kids here today for the school event? so I rode it, but then was a little embarrassed I had been afraid of it. they also have a smallish drop tower next door. . but I skipped that, having had enough "freefall" today. a low to the ground air-race (not Zamperla tho). . got some of the TPR folks excited. . and David (and Jonathan) had the kids in awe by how much flipping they got during their cycle. . . tho if I recall, the operator cut the cycle a little short to protect the record that someone had on the flips for the year. and yes... with only 3 coasters, I rode all 3. here's Dragen - the park's wacky worm. . that went around, I think, five times? All I recall is the transitions weren't super smooth and I was ready for it to stop, and we kept going!! something that got repeated on the park's 3rd coaster: Bisværmen (Bee Swarm) - a spinning coaster. look at me. .all smiles. Happy we're riding a spinning coaster BEFORE we eat lunch. not super intense..but it spun, a LOT. and we were unbalanced, because of the two kids on the back of our car. who BEGGED the operator to send us thru on another cycle (after it had gone around 4 times in the 1st cycle). . so she did. yeah. .8 laps was a lot of spinning. but was fun, I'll admit. even tho we knew we were having Pizza Buffets at the next two parks.. . the Pizza place really did look to be the best choice - it was quiet, and the food looked decent. so here was lunch: complete with yet another of the same scary clown. I guess he must be a famous "clown type" in Denmark. at least he was in Black and White and not with a blood red mouth this time! right next to the Pizza place was the Ferris Wheel. . so that seemed to be a good place to go next - a calm ride. with an animatronic George Ferris in the queue. do I know why? no, I don't. Was George Ferris Danish? Myself, Hawk, Doug, and Big Mike riding the wheel wait wait wait.. .what is that coming off the tower?? is that a zip line??? Oh, HELL no. but it doesn't LOOK like a zip-line. . it looks like they are riding a bike? and it spins as it goes up? hmmmmmmmm and oh. . look how close we are to the Carousel! I know what I'm doing next overlooking more of the park. . there's a whole other section (more park, with only some smaller rides) on the left - that my pic of came out blurry) I was proud of myself for waiting, but now it was time for carousel. and as I got closer to it, I saw it really was an older carousel that was very well maintained, rather than a newer version with plastic figures. there were no other takers - you can see the operator just hanging out on the horse. he was amused the grown men wanted to ride. of course, we headed upstairs to the upper deck where Hawk and Doug rode in a suspended "balloon" over the lower deck and myself and Big Mike rode in Separate "tubs" some really nice design work up here. . even if the color palate was a bit ugly (too much repainting, I think) but as usual. . in my happy place. and I got to be a 4 year old, giggling at how the flower above me looks kinda like a butt-hole. tee-hee I have ZERO memory of this. . but apparently Tivoli Friheden has a shooting "theater" type attraction and Big Mike won, and was "Legendary!" from our die on "Neon Ninja" I was only "Awesome!" this I DO recall.. it was an "Illusions" house, that also was a fun house. not as good as the ship themed one at Bakken (or the one that tried to kill me later at Grona Lund). . but I liked it. remember that "Zip Line" thing that was attached to the SCAD Tower? well, it turned out it was an upcharge (something insane like only $3.50 per ticket) to ride this spinning "bike" thing up to the top of the tower. you had to have two people to ride, so Hawk volunteered to go with me, and I again - fear of heights and all - headed back up to the top of the tower. here we are looking all Motorcycle-y badass as we're about to launch into space and by "launch". . I mean, slowly get pulleyed up to the top of the tower. they dont' wanna take ANY chances on things (or you) falling off the "bike". . so well secured with belts and chains (oh Daddy!) and NO loose articles allowed. I'm King of the World, Hawk!!!! whee.. . ' tho fear of heights, I really wasn't scared here, because we were so well secured in. in this pic you get a good view of the tiny elevator they bring you to the top of the SCAD tower in. and then I discovered we could spin via the "steering wheel" yeah, we still look like we're sitting on a flying toilet, but at least it made it a bit more fun. whee! after the fun, a few folks wanted to ride the swings, and Big Mike wanted to do bumper cars. I just wanted to sit.. so plopped down for a cycle on "Bench: the Ride" and took some pics of them enjoying. love the look this woman shoots Big Mike when she realizes she's got an American driver right behind her. . .LOL and he's pretty aggressive in the bumper cars.. . going after folks to ram them! oh. .I have to *thank* Big Mike for these pics of me from the Funhouse. whee. . . .? (THIS one is a posed pic. . I wasn't about to go down this damn slide after falling in the barrel) enough rides we decided to head over to the "garden" side of the park. there are a lot of "questionable" art installations over here, and the park was really starting to get crowded as it got into the afternoon. (turns out there's a weekly concert at the park, and they have been getting really big crowds for each concert). I asked who was playing, and was told just someone local, but everyone comes out to enjoy the music and fill the park. one of those art installations: some of the stages set up for the concert (and a playground in the back) a kiddie bumper cars is over here as is a kiddie plane ride. and further back is a lake with swan boats. and oh. . and obstacle course - which didn't open until the afternoon, so I think most of the TPR folks who love this kind of thing, missed it, as it was closed earlier. it's a pretty long course too. . as you can see here, it goes over the lake on rope bridges. it was open. . there's a kid on the platform up top (just behind the grey support on the left) and here's one of the bands that was playing. .they sounded pretty good from what we heard. really loved these deco light fixtures. . after checking the times of the Museum in downtown - and really was excited and wanted to go by the museum tonight - I believe we headed out from Tivoli Friheden around 3:30 pm. . as more and more people poured into the park. a look at the bike parking, as we went around the corner to the Taxi/Lyft/Uber stand.. yah. .was getting busy. and with that, we grabbed an Uber, and headed to the Arhus Museum to check it out, as they were open for a few hours still. to be continued. . .

About dang time. I'm surprised it's taken this long to swap to a chain or cable lift. They knew from the first signs of trouble that the launch motors kept shifting with the structure but they insisted on keeping it for some reason. All that to say, I got to ride this bad boy in it's second year and it was wacky, especially the night rides. There's nothing but inky blackness on the far side of the hill.

I wonder if they'll claim the world's fastest chain lift. That would be some great marketing.

I KNEW we had posed for a picture at Hansa! found it as working on my next update.. it got filed in with the Tivoli Friheden pics. here it is. . . the group of us starting our day at Hansa Park. enjoy! next update coming soon.

I agree that Rutschebanen is way over-braked. The old version with the brake men was much better. I still get a kick out of Tornado, as insane as it is. But, yep, the fun house and the haunted-house ride are the two best attractions there.

I still don't now which one is you and which is Daniel in that one pic, twinning!

Bakken is the world's oldest amusement park. I guess. I mean, I'm not going to check. And I'm certainly not going to argue the point. Because, in the end, it doesn't really matter. Being old doesn't equate to being good. If it did, I would be awesome. 08: Braking off the Chain No entry fee for this park. You can be menaced by the clown for free. Is there a difference between this clown and the one at Tivoli Gardens? No. They literally have the same mascot, despite not being otherwise connected (as far as I know). Both park's also have a "Rutschebanen." Which isn't too surprising since it's literally just Dansk for "rollercoaster." There's one big difference, however. Whilst the one at Tivoli Gardens still operates with a brakeman, this one was converted a couple of years back to a more traditional coaster. And how exactly does one do such a thing without completely reprofiling the ride? Easy, you just add brakes everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I'm talking about an offensive amount of brakes. This ride should be called Brake Mountain. Like, leave some brakes for cars on the road. I'm not even sure this really counts as gravity-powered anymore. Of course, without all those brakes you would be dead. The same way this ride is dead. Except you probably wouldn't be converted to a zombie cyborg. Hopefully, Bakken would just let *you* die. Daniel and I both wore red, making it hard to tell us apart. Bakken is actually Dansk for, "We hope you like stairs." Actually, it's not that bad. It's mostly just the front part of the park that's hilly. It's just that once I start writing angry captions, it's hard to stop. Even if the park doesn't really deserve it. I'll try to calm down. THIS RIDE IS GARBAGE Literally the worst thing I did on the trip. To be fair, the park was trying to help us out by putting it in "Turbo Mode." And I'm sure some people enjoyed it. But I found it violently horrible. And it didn't even spin. At least not on my one and only ride that's ever going to be. This kid gets it. This is literally my new least-favorite roller coaster. It was quite warm this day, but luckily Bakken does have one (pretty-wet) water ride. Bumper cars. See, this is what happens when I stop being angry. It just becomes nothing. I am entirely rage-powered. What do you think is happening here? My theory: The regular-sized scientist has enlarged his girlfriend, and she's so excited about how far ahead she can now see that she doesn't notice things in the road right in front of her. The best coaster at Bakken is this surprising Intamin family coaster, Mine Train Ulven, which both doesn't beat the crap out of you and doesn't have brakes every five feet. It's not going to rearrange your top 10 list, but it's fast and smooth and fun and comes very close to quite a few trees. Hey, they have one of these things. And Smisty is on it. I didn't ride, mostly because I didn't want to sit in the sun for the loading and unloading process. And they have a fun, traditional dark ride. So things are starting to look up. Hells yeah, *I'm* an American! And I love dining! Huh. Yeah, I guess that's sort of American-ish. What if we put our double shot in a little pit? That would be cute, right? Yes. It's adorable. Well, what if we also put of wild mouse in a pit? Would you like that? Yes, yes I would! It's a Mack, and a fun one. Plus, you know, pit. I mostly took a photo of this place because of the horrific decoration of a demonic child going all Erik on a ice cream cone. But one nice thing that I'll say about Bakken is that there were lots of ice cream choices throughout. The best attraction at Bakken was this boat-themed fun house. 59 PXL_20230607_122500938.TS.mp4 I don't normally post videos, but it's hard to really convey the movement of this thing via photo. An obvious reference to, "You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish." Best new-to-me fun house of the trip. I don't normally think of theme park games as being particularly attractive to seniors, but damned if Bakken didn't figure it out! Outdoor tracked jungle-themed ride. It was so hot the sun singed off part of my hair! Indoor tracked jungle-themed ride. That probably would have flowed better without the weird hair joke photo in-between. We nearly passed this by because we didn't think it was a dark ride initially. Not sure why. It looks like a dark ride here. Another white clown, another swastika. Yeah, I don't have to go that bad. (That joke was overdone during the trip, but I don't have anything better so...there you go.) Done with Denmark forever, we head to Germany via ferry. And then a bus ride. And then a surprise late dinner by our very thoughtful host hotel for the evening. And then our unique room in the basement. And then, finally, sleep. Oh yeah, Bakken. Well, I think I liked it just a little bit better than BobBon-Land, so: 4