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Yes--she does roar at the train.

This past Thursday (May 9th), I made my first visit of the 2024 season to Canada's Wonderland! A lot of changes have been made during the off-season with a new security checkpoint entrance at the front gate, the demolition of buildings in International Festival (for the next addition), renovation and renaming of Backlot Café, a renovated Wonderland Store, new signage around the park, the removal of Xtreme Skyflyer (announced earlier this year), and, Viking's Rage refurbishment, the removal of the maximum height requirement for most rides in Planet Snoopy and Kidzville (yes, I have now been on all of the roller coasters at Canada's Wonderland!), and a few other things mentioned below! Check out the photos below! New security checkpoint at the front gate. This new layout with the path going under Leviathan has a much better flow than last year's setup! The new structures look great too! New signage at the front gate area has been installed. It looks very clean and easy to read. The Wonderland Store was renovated and expanded during the off-season. New directional signage has been put up around the park. The old Tiny Tom Donuts location in International Festival was demolished during the off-season. The Multi-faith Space building and surrounding structures in International Street had also been demolished this past off-season. Tiny Tom Donuts was relocated around Wonder Mountain where the Alpen Amusements claw machines were. During my visit, the donut making machines were being installed. I assume the new location will open soon. The Coca-Cola Refreshment station in Action Zone was removed and replaced with this structure. I have a feeling it will be a new Coca-Cola refill station, but we shall see! In the Grande World Exposition of 1890, Backlot Café has been transformed into the Grande World Eatery. The building has received a fresh new coat of paint and a major transformation going on inside. I look forward to seeing the final product when it reopens this season as it was quite dated last year. Here is the former location of Xtreme Skyflyer, which was removed earlier this year. Judging by the signage, it looks this area could also be associated with the work happening around Wonder Mountain. The building next to Klockwerks, which has stood abandoned for the past decade, is now being used as a Coca-Cola refresh centre was the other location in International Festival was recently demolished. With the on-going construction in International Festival, the exit path for Thunder Run was rerouted with this nice boardwalk for this year. During the off-season Viking's Rage received a major overhaul consisting of a new electric drive system and a new coat of paint, closely resembling that of what it looked like when the park first opened! Hopefully it will be ready to reopen soon! The old diving structure at Arthur's Baye in Medieval Faire was recently removed. It is said to be replaced with a new one sometime this year. The lockers outside Wonder Mountain's Guardian have been removed. I later learned that the ride now has the moving bin system that Yukon Striker has! Here is a quick look inside the newly renovated and expanded Wonderland Store. The new layout flows a lot better! That is all the updates I have for now!

note that Pepe is there too. nothing to do with "woke". . .which is a GOOD word, it needs to be taken back from those who think it's an insult.

A couple of years later.... Just bought this thru eBay. It's a wonderful mini of Tokyo Disneyland's Space Mountain, in recognition of it's "Final Ignition." Which will be at the end of July, when it closes for good, and is re-imagined and rebuilt (and moved back several hundred feet), for a 2027(?) opening. When you remove the Mountain itself off the base, the light show can be projected on the ceiling. A very cool souvenir. The box. What it can do. Mine, lit up. Pretty.

One of the Japan sellers I deal with, thru eBay, always sends me extra stuff along with what I've bought from her. Lately, she sent me a small catalog of souvenirs available in the new Fantasy Springs, opening in June. The writing is all Japanese, but the photos show what's available. I especially get a kick out of the 'hairdos' that the Elsa and Anna dolls have.

Funny part of that old looper is it took Indiana Beach nearly 3 years to install a PORTABLE coaster.

Some Thoughts on the Loch Ness Monster: The Legend Lives On The Loch Ness Monster started thrilling riders the same year that I graduated from high school--1978. Although I think the word “icon” is overused to describe some theme-park attractions, I think it fits the Loch Ness Monster. It would be hard to imagine Busch Gardens without the sight of Nessie’s interlocking loops from Grimm’s Crossing or the bridge between Italy and Germany. Her nearest coaster neighbors, Alpengeist and Griffon, may be taller and faster, but the Loch Ness Monster really sets the scene. Plus, for many local residents (and their kids), it was their first “big coaster.” It made sense for Busch Gardens to restore and enhance this already classic ride. So, after replacing 900 feet of track (including the two loops) and adding to the theming in the ride’s queue, station, and helix cave (call it “Nessie’s Lair”), how did they do? I’d say quite well. The ride itself is still the Loch Ness Monster we remember, but it’s less clunky and janky than it had become during the last few years--about as smooth as a 1970s Arrow coaster can get. This retracking should ensure the coaster is around for a long time to come. The park has been building the ride’s backstory for a while, too. The Loch Ness Monster has been spotted for the first time in years, and there’s a contest and cash prize for the first person to provide any photographic evidence of its existence. They’ve been playing up this story on social media through a series of videos featuring “Duncan,” a Scotsman obsessed with spotting Nessie and winning the cash. The main queue is filled with artifacts, such as old photos and news stories, about Loch Ness. There’s a small radio room that offers a few hints at what you’ll encounter during the ride, and the station itself has been repainted and decorated to better resemble an old Scottish castle. There’s new train-dispatch music, and the safety spiel is now delivered in a Scottish brogue. As for the ride, you’ll encounter the first evidence of the monster’s existence as you round the turn to the lift hill. There’s a radio shack broadcasting a message about a “wee craft” they found washed up on the shore--a wrecked coaster car with what looks like a dragon’s tooth sticking out of it. Nessie’s Lair now boasts spooky lighting, roaring sound effects, and Nessie menacing you (via video) as you twist around the helix. She gets another shot at you right after the second loop before you return to the station. Busch Gardens managed to upgrade a classic ride while maintaining the experience of the original coaster when it opened back in 1978. Well done! Here's a look at the Loch Ness Monster's media day. Theme Park Review thanks Busch Gardens for inviting us to participate. Just hanging out with my new Scottish chum, Duncan, who assured me that he was going to win the big prize. Hmm--a harbinger of things to come, perhaps? How can Nessie hope to elude capture when they have all this high-tech gear? I've seen a craft like this before . . . but where? You might see a tooth like this again. Keep your eyes open. Here's your chance to win big money. But don't be taken in by clever fakes like this. I know that monster is around here somewhere. Maybe I'll have better luck from bridge between Italy and Germany. Wait a second! What's that? Aha! The big prize is mine, I tell you! Mine! How do you like that, Duncan? "Grr! Nessie eat you now!" Don't miss your chance to join the Loch Ness Expedition. Thanks for reading.

The last three times I went to Cedar Point, I went in mid-June. Just shoot for whatever is available first from Sun-Friday and go from there. I don't think you're going to get nightmare scenario (pun intended) Halloween event FL situation where you will wait over an hour. Will you maybe wait 30+ minutes for some rides? Yeah. It's Cedar Point. But, with 3 days of FL, you can take your time and get everything in. The alternative is to go earlier in June when the park isn't open as late, and just make the most of it. I'd personally rather ride less and have 10-10 to come and go from Breakers as I pleased, and not get to ride as much. The combination of Breakers, Cedar Point, and FL is a well rounded experience regardless. If less rides and 'a little' more wait during the day means I get to view the park lit up, so be it. I always take my chances on that. My other advice is when (not if) you see Maverick's FL spilling out into the midway, just pass by and check it again later when you're in the area. That FL queue is either feast or famine. Good luck with your health problems. I hope they don't get in the way to the point where you can have an awesome time. I'm not a fan of long narcissistic TR's anymore, but I'd definitely like to see yours when it's all over.

Thanks for joining us for lunch! And for being part of the Cult of the Lake Carousel.

Day 22: Saturday, June 24th - busy morning at Särkänniemi (before a drive to Helsinki). Part 2 of 2 from the Lake Carousel, I had spotted that giant tire, which seemed to lead to another "themed" area going thru there, and we found a section themed to Motocross (complete with people just sitting on the photo op, as always happens). . over here is the park's final "big" coaster (no, I didn't ride the kiddie coaster, despite it's nice location just off the lake). MotoGee - a fun Zamperla moto-coaster complete with the kinda awkward seating. . .LOL. . but with some nice theming (including starting lights and sound effects) it was a fun coaster, and being so compact, it felt much faster than it was. I liked it. whee!!! not sure who took this. . possibly Andy? we were getting hungry and after looking at options, several of us decided that Smisty and Erik had a good idea to try out the restaurant at the top of the tower. so we headed in that general direction, me stopping to snap pics as we made our way up towards the front of the park / tower entrance. Tornado and the flume, really do almost interact with each other. Not on the level of Grona Lund interaction, but close enough it's impressive. I can't remember if I rode the flume here? I THINK I did (tho I know I didn't ride the rapids ride). ah. . here's the main entrance to Tornado, that we skipped earlier by going in thru the exit. Down the steps into the underground launch. not quite sure what this open space was by Tornado's entrance. was it overflow queue? was it an abandoned Ride Pad? It did kinda look like a small flat ride was here at one point. maybe it's a performance space? there IS seating over there. Great view of Tornado's big loop, from the Flume turn around area taking a peek at the menu, it was a bit. . . fancy. but I like trying fru-fru food, and they had several set menu choices - and were not busy at ALL.. so a bunch of us decided to join and have a fancy dinner. To get there tho? you have to ride in the disco elevator! with kinky 70's mirrored ceiling. . . oooo. .the view from up here is lovely! looking down, this was a whole section of the park I had not been to yet (and wouldn't get much time in, as the meal -as most FANCY places are - was slow and took a while, so it ate up more than an hour of our park time. I'm not complaining, it was SO worth it. and I'd do it again, choose sit down fancy restaurant over area of park. tho this area appeared to be themed to "farm" society (tho I DO believe it's based on a children's show, going by the characters that were around in there). The only "big" ride over here is the rapids ride, you can see just below. ohhh. . the observation level is still one level below the restaurant - which now that I think about it? did rotate. so up the stairs. felt a bit under-dressed, but the hostess (once she got over the surprise of a group showing up on what I suspect is a typically slow-ish day for them, as this seemed to be more of an evening/dinner place) was pleasant and led us to a table. before ordering anything tho, I took a quick walk around (needed restroom) and snapped pics of the views the hostess came up behind me while taking this and explained the area below used to be Christmas Town, and before that ? it was themed to Moomin. she also pointed out the wedge shaped building below and said that used to be the Dolphin theatre, but that the park had filled it in with concrete and were planning some kind of new show/attraction there, but she wasnt' sure what. I took the "long way" around back to our table, so I could snap pics from all angles. they really DO cram quite a bit onto this peninsula. back at our table, the waitress snapped a pic of all of us who were about to enjoy the meal. I think a couple of us went with the set "Finlandia" menu.. hey, when in Rome, right? it was unique, and all of it was very good. the deer was SO good. I think it was the apricot sauce that cinched it for me. you can see, they weren't very busy. I think just one other couple was up there with us. I VERY much enjoyed the experience tho. ' Celery Gelato. . .with hazlenut and I believe this was a moist strawberry vanilla cake. after our meal (which I think took almost 2 hours? maybe slightly less), we had only an hour or so until it was time to meet the bus and head out. since the elevator is in the tower, and the base holds the Aquarium/reptile house, I went to check that out: after a quick stop in the gift shop to pick up a few things, I headed over to the "farm" area for the last 20 minutes I had, to check it out. the rapids ride is very pretty, and it certainly is a showstopper to come across the name of the ride in the middle of a waterfall. but as i was worried about time - and REALLY didn't want to get on the bus for a drive while wet, I skipped it and checked out the area instead. lots and lots of characters, and folks IN character here. I think this *might* be an upcharge area? not 100% sure, but I do remember these two checking to make sure I had an armband on. yeah. . GOTTA be based on a kids show. there were some people over here, who appeared to be waiting for whatever show this was gonna be. and live Pony rides!! haven't seen that in a park in a long time (Six Flags Over Texas used to have pony rides). they were small ponies, so I watched, and didn't even ask. I mean, if adults can't ride the carousel? no point in even asking about the live ponies some live pigs, and sheep over here too. and then some "not so live" cows. making weird faces. ummm. . . ok ? hey, Elissa! at least I didn't Hump it! (and it looks pretty happy. . LOL) there's one you can "milk" too. .and a very nice Finnish Gentleman asked me if I'd like him to take a picture. so in two days, I'd "milked" two cows in Finland! there's a little mini-obstacle course over here too, that was pretty popular with families. (it had a line) and before heading back to the bus, I checked out the gift shop over here, that was full of plushies, and kiddie toys. i honestly *almost* bought this guy. . but as I had some Särkänniemi swag already? I didn't want to overdo it. and then it was time to head back to the bus. . we had a drive to Helsinki ahead of us still today. hope you've enjoyed following along! one evening, and one full day left in the trip!

Rode TT2 for my first time this morning and all I can say is wow. Went in with low expectations, came off so pumped up I got right back in line for another lap. To me, it seems like more of a complete ride now. The backwards launch is unlike anything else I have been on and the trip up and over the top hat now is absolutely crazy. CP has a major hit on their hands and I am looking forward to riding again soon.

^ Marvin is often out and about at SFFT

I really don't think it has anything to do with wokeness, but it does have a lot to do with litigiousness. Looney Tunes are aimed at a much younger demographic than FPS games, most of which I believe have a recommended age on them. If I remember correctly there was a lawsuit aimed at holding a LT cartoon responsible when some kid jumped off the roof imitating a character; and no I don't remember the outcome. However, whether that is justified or not it does mean that companies, including the media outlet airing said cartoon, will then protect themselves in the future. That all happened way before anyone used the term woke. If you want to blame anyone blame people that launch frivolous lawsuits.

I have never eaten sushi and I don't know if I ever want to try it.

I agree, but won't get on a soapbox about it.... Looney Toons has gotten the woke treatment but yet look at the FPS games out there and the violence in action movies and they label Looney Tunes as too violent, makes sense to me but I"ll hush.