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Looks pretty awesome.

Canada's Wonderland has announced AlpenFury, a new Canadian record-breaking Premier launched coaster for 2025! https://www.canadaswonderland.com/blog/media-center/2024/canadas-wonderland-announces-alpenfury-canadas-longest-tallest-and-fastest-launch-coaster Canada’s Wonderland is inviting guests to face nature’s wrath next year on AlpenFury, the longest, tallest and fastest launch coaster in the country. When fire and ice come together inside the mysterious Wonder Mountain, the force will propel riders into a thrilling journey beginning with a launch that blasts the train out the summit, 50 metres into the sky. The coaster will span 1,000 metres across the park, reaching speeds of 115 km/h, flipping and twisting through nine breathtaking inversions – the most of any launch coaster in North America. “AlpenFury is a world-class attraction, and we’re excited for the unique thrills it will offer our guests,” said Phil Liggett, general manager at Canada’s Wonderland. “The combination of being blasted out of Wonder Mountain, and then racing through nine inversions one right after the other, is going to be an experience guests won’t soon forget.” Designed by Premier Rides, AlpenFury will be the park’s 19th roller coaster, the fourth to interact with Wonder Mountain and the signature attraction in Alpenfest, which will be officially designated a themed area of the park next year. It is in this village that guests will find themselves at a festival celebrating the mystical union of fire and ice. A sled haus offers a journey aboard a sleek, modern sled into the heart of Wonder Mountain where this powerful, natural force awaits.

Absolutely. They're really good for kids. (bad for parents.....)

So glad you got to explore the Tower! Lol, I have a picture of Joel, age 9 sitting on the King's potty. Very jealous that you got to do the ceremony of the Keys, that's one I haven't scored yet.

Day -1 (part 1): full day spent at Tower of London, Crypt Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, and more! FLASHBACK TO PRE-TRIP: Once I knew a while back I was going to be in the UK, and starting in London, my #1 bucket list item was to visit the Tower of London. and I quickly scored a ticket for it. my #2 bucketlist item was to get a ticket to the "Ceremony of the Keys" - which is the ceremony that happens each night at the Tower, that locks it down in the name of the Monarch. And tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys are *very* hard to come by (limited to less than 50 a day, and they sell out instantly). The tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys go on sale on the first day of the month - and as noted, they tend to sell out instantly. Despite my trying for hours in the queue, I was unsuccessful in trying to get a ticket. . even when it finally let me in to see if there were any tickets avail. (what can I say? I was working, so just left that window open in the background to see if MAYBE I could score 1 ticket). When I finally got into the ticket purchase site, it looked like nothing had ever been made available? Certainly if it had sold out, they would say sold out for the days, right? so I sent a polite email to the Historic Royal Palaces, questioning if I had done something incorrectly, and noting I was in the city just this one day and would love to get a ticket if there is any way possible to squeeze me in. And then I went ahead and purchased my ticket for Tower Of London (complete with guidebook), for 10am on that Sunday, figuring I'll knock out the Tower of London, then go find some other stuff to do - maybe go back to the British Museum or the London Eye. cut to two days later, and I got an email response from the Historic Royal Palaces, explaining that there had been a glitch in their computer system, but the tickets were live now, and try this link. And sure enough, I was able to score a ticket to the Ceremony of the Keys! INCREDIBLY lucky. . as the whole month of June actually did sell out less than 30 minutes later. so it was fate that I happened to be on the computer and saw the email as soon as it came in. Downside tho? I now had to be back at the Tower of London at 9:30 pm, since that's when the Ceremony starts, and I had already purchased my ticket for 10am. Oh well. . was gonna be a long day, but worth it. back to real time: I woke up fairly early on Sunday (9am) - which was surprising how exhausted I had been the day before, and grabbed some coffee, then headed down to the lobby to ask the best way to get to Tower of London. they gave me several options, but the simplest was "grab a cab and they'll drop you right in front of it". So I did that, and the doorman called a cab for me. before long, we were pulling up by the main entrance - something I found out later most Cabs aren't allowed to do. . how I got so lucky? I dunno. it was still well over30 minutes before the Tower opened for the day, and some folks were already lining up in the queue for entrance. But since I had some time, I walked over to the river to snap some pictures of the London Skyline. ians of the Tower of I believe this is "the shard".. the well known building in central London and to my left? the famous Tower Bridge. on the day I was there, it was not scheduled to raise for any ships - I was told the ships have to put in a request 24 hours in advance - but I still managed to get some great pics with the iconic red double decker busses crossing in some shots. Still amazing to see this famous landmark in person. the gift shop had opened early, so I went in and browsed a bit, and chatted with one of the ladies behind the counter. (what can I say, I have the gift of gab). we talked about where i was visiting from and how the Tower of London was top of my list of things to do in London, and she advised me: "go to the Crown Jewels first. Everyone will wait for the first tour that starts at 10am, but ignore that - the tours happen every hour - and go to the Crown Jewels, it will be the shortest wait it ever is" I thanked her for the advice and headed out to queue up, as they were opening the gates a little bit early. (and spoiler, as you'll see, her advice as SPOT on. . . I was basically walk on for the Crown Jewels, but by Noon? it was a 2 hour wait just to get in that building!) Pics of the Tower of London from the queue outside to get in. Entrance is on the far right. looking down into the moat here. the famous Menagerie that was kept at the Tower is represented all over by these amazing Wire Sculptures. myself and a Beefeater (Yeoman Warder) - the Ceremonial Guard of the Tower of London. he was happy to stop for a picture with me. tickets scanned, and into the main complex. these people are gathering for the first tour group. I was headed to the left to follow the Cashier's advice on what to do first. the iconic and most famous castle keep in the world: the White Tower in the center of the Tower of London. as I was there on a Sunday wasn't allowed over here. This lovely area is the section of the complex that holds the Church, and it was off limits. There were a lot of folks in Suits, and members of the families that live in the Tower headed in for services tho. THIS is where I was headed - the Crown Jewels. as noted. .a walk on. absolutely NO Photography allowed. and no cell phones or cameras even allowed out while walking thru. the stuff in here is truly impressive tho, and well worth seeing with your own eyes. More of that fabulous wire art - it was all over the Tower complex walking along the side walls among the turrets - and there are TONS of paths and tours one can do at the Tower of London, I easily spent 5-6 hours here - one gets some nice views of downtown London, and the outer walls of the Tower. the exhibit about the Menagerie is in one of the many turrets. Very thick walls on the inner parts of the Tower complex. Peeking out thru one of the "turret slits". . . great views everywhere. This is in front of the Crown Jewels complex. I got very lucky and happened to be there the 1 week that the Yeoman Warders (the guys in the Red uniforms with the giant Bearskin hats) had stepped aside to honor the Brigade of Ghurkas - who were being given the honor to celebrate the 110th Anniversary. a bit more info from Wiki (and from the Beefeater who explained who the gentlemen were taking part of the Ceremony of the Keys later that night): The Royal Gurkha Rifles are Infantry are manned by Nepali soldiers and officers; and British officers, it is this blend of cultures that makes the RGR unique. Gurkhas are known for their professionalism, fighting prowess, humour and humility. so instead of seeing the Red Uniforms and Bearskin hats, I was pleasantly surprised to see the guards at the Crown Jewels were the Royal Gurkhas it was a really cool experience to see something that not a lot of people get to experience while in London. in a building off to the side, is a museum honoring all different Battalions who have fought for England. I particularly was impressed by this display from "the Jewish Legion" In addition to the museums on site (as well as a couple of way overpriced snack places), there are also free tours, and several free shows put on thruout the day at the Tower of London. I was admiring this Cannon, when I heard a commotion, as they were getting ready to start a show about the famous Ravens that live at the Tower, and how they got there. so I walked to the other corner of the White Tower (hadn't been in there yet) to see what was up. as you can see. . gorgeous day too. the show gave off VERY "Renaissance Festival" LARPing vibes. . but they all stayed in character, and told a fun story that got lots of laughs from the crowd. this is the giant that kidnapped a Princess and brought her to Wales, and how in rescuing her, the Ravens came to live at the Tower and as long as there is a Raven at the tower, the city will never fall. (behind him in the queue to go into the White Tower) and I think I managed to get just one of the Ravens in this pic. . but hey, at least I got one! Joining the queue for the White Tower. . and couldn't resist another Selfie with Tower Bridge behind. the whole entrance floor of the White Tower is dedicated to displays of Armor but you are able to go up multiple floors, and explore a lot of areas of this famous keep. and there is a small section dedicated to Torture - but most of that stuff is in a smaller museum area in another section of the Tower Complex. but (t) yes, you can go into the famous White Tower Toilet. whoo-hoo! it was blocked off. . so please don't use, but was still an interesting thing to see the White Tower , of course, has a cathedral on an upper floor: and a pretty impressive display of weapons. this one caught my eye, as it's firearms that are covered in jewels and stones: they even have a full size Dragon on display on this floor - made out of weapons, and bullets. remnants from some of the many fires the White Tower has withstood over the years. and down in the basement is the weapons room. . all displayed lovingly. there's also a small display here about those executed at the Tower of London. and like any good tourist thing? you exit the White Tower thru the gift shop. tho in the middle of the gift shop? the White Tower's Well Exiting the White Tower. . wowza. . look at the line for the Crown Jewels now!!! (and per that clock, it's only 12:05 More Menagerie wire animals. the Moat around the back side of the Tower of London has been turned into a wildflower sanctuary (something I'm pretty familiar with from here in Texas with Ladybird Johnson an all). So I went down that way to have a look. I found this part of the Tower just fascinating. . . and it was such a lovely day, that I spent a good 20 minutes here talking to the ladies who were educating anyone who came down here about the flowers. one of them took this picture for me with the dragonfly sculptures in the gardens. which don't photograph near as lovely as they looked in person. There was a tour of the Tower about to start up (even tho I had done a lot of it on my own already. . but I had time, so I headed back in to where the tour started) and here we are starting. . by the infamous "Traitor's Gate" exiting the Tower complex to the Thames river and then continued up thru the Queen's quarters, and the King's Quarters - that can be entered via just over the Traitor's Gate (something I found interesting) following the crowd for this tour. they've restored as close to the originals as they believe. . . I think it's rather impressive. I particularly liked all the stained glass. and vaulted ceilings and I love me a throne, of course. (tho couldn't sit in this one) tour done, I was starting to get a bit hungry.. but decided to do one more round to make sure I didn't miss anything, this time walking along the walkways connecting the turrets. and got a lovely selfie in front of the White Tower and again, Tower Bridge overview of the complex. . discovered more pretty neat sculpture are among the walkways.. .made to look like Battalion Members fighting. looking down to see some of the residences of folks that live within the Tower walls. (families of the Beefeaters) the thing I was going to later tonight, the Ceremony of the Keys? No photography allowed. So I took advantage of this display of Tower of London Keys to take a pic now, since not allowed to later I mentioned earlier that there was a torture display area somewhere in the complex. . it's down here, kind of "hidden" in a tiny area in one of the corners, where the walls connect. . . coming out of the torture area, I made a quick pit stop and realized I had done the whole tower complex. I had been there almost 6 hours, and it was just past 3 pm. I had about 7 hours to kill, and considered just heading back to the hotel to nap, as my sleepyness was catching up with me. and then whom did I bump into? why Mr. Ryan Crash! also on the TPR trip, and also sightseeing the day before the trip starts officially. what are the odds? so we snapped a pic and briefly chatted before heading off knowing we'd see each other tomorrow. Still. . really wild to bump into him in all of London. I went ahead and exited the tower complex and headed along the Promenade along the river . . here's a pic of the outside of the Traitor's Gate. and one final pic (for the moment) of the Tower Bridge there were lots of food trucks here along the side of the Tower/along the river, but I was kinda in the mood for a sit down service. I popped back into the gift shop to thank the Cashier from earlier, bought a few things, and she suggested the plaza around the corner for a meal. I almost ended up at WagaMama, but I knew that the welcome dinner was at one of those the next night. . so I kept walking for the moment. goodbye for now, Tower of London, see ya in about 6 1/2 hours for the Ceremony of the Keys. to be continued. . .

115 for the all park pass, + 150 for the add on = $265 which, I say again, is STILL a great bargain as it includes parking. but I really don't know where y'all are getting 190 from. EDIT: unless the site is smart enough to know I'm looking it up from Austin, and is giving me a higher price as I'm much closer to the Schlitterbahn park)

Alright, maybe it was a slight troll on my part but there are parks out there that like to out-Six Flags some Six Flags parks. If every park everywhere just tried to emulate Kings Island then no one would ever need to complain about anything.

^ which, as I even said for $265. . is a great deal, if you plan on visiting multiple parks during the year. (it includes Parking)

$183 at Kings Dominion for everything. All the other Cedar Fair parks are going to be fairly similar. You'd think Six Flags will have to offer similar pricing. Still haven't seen any rumors/etc on their pricing yet. Diamond + All Parks add-on for ~185-200 is my guess currently.

I figure legacy SF Memberships will be going bye-bye... so get all the use out of them now, while you still can