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^ Did you eat there, and if so, anything you enjoyed, particularly? We're not going to the Fair until the 31st. We checked the PNE site for what food trucks, etc. were there this year. But back when I was in Playland, and on the West Coast Wheel, I could see the Revel District area .... but no major BBQ places there! Not a single one. I was shocked. Then, in their food list, there was only one - lonely - food truck, selling BBQ, listed. And that's it, from what I saw and read. So if you saw other BBQ spots there, I would love to know, w/o wandering aimlessly on the grounds.

,,,and bless Tegan & Sara for that ear worm of a theme song! Great look at Lego/Billund, Chuck. I loved that version of 'LegoLands'.

Mmmmmmm, I do love getting park soundtracks, etc. And I listen to them all, too! Good set of swag, Bert!

Our annual Out on Screen queer film festival is now over, and I must say I really went to a good number of enjoyable shorts and features this season. 12 times, which is up for me. Last year, after OOS came back from Covid stuff (was only online viewing for two years) I attended only 5 showings of films. It just depends on how I'm feeling, and how much I really want to see. And I do see the Opening, Mid-Week, and Final films, which at least is a minimum of three, lol. Anyway, very enjoyable this year. And looking forward to OOS' 36th Season! This year's OOS Pass, annually decorated by me.

^ We finally saw it, and enjoyed it, even with Cage as over the top as he can be, LOL. It was a fun different way to do a vampire film. And Awkwafina is everywhere in movies, it seems. No complaints, she's a great actress! ......And our annual queer film festival, OUT ON SCREEN just wrapped up it's 35th Season. It was a good one. But rather than repeat it all here, here's the link to all I posted...

Our annual OUT ON SCREEN Film Festival, just wrapped up a ten day schedule last night. Lots of Shorts Collections this year. More than I ever remember, seeing before. A lot of good Feature Films, too. Best one was "1946", which looked at how the word "homosexual" did not appear in The Bible until.... that year. It's true! Really, an amazing documentary, with a lot of film shot in Canada. It is worth seeking out, if you ever get the chance to see it. And during the Festival, lots of photo ops, heh. Also, I manage to 'decorate' my Passholder Pass (I am at "Producer Patron" i.e. monthly donations) every year, since 2008. And here's a link to OOS' website. https://outonscreen.com/ Can't wait for next year's Festival! Somebody always takes photos of us and my pass, every Festival. This was Opening Night, Aug.10/23. My Passholder Pass and the Festival Program Booklet beside it. The theme of the 'decor' on my pass, is always dictated by the Festival's Program booklet. And I give thanks to Michael's Arts & Crafts in Vancouver, as well as any Dollar Tree store, which has the cheaper supplies. etc. ...And I added stickers to the back of it, as well this year. Clark and myself, having our photo taken for.... (David took this side pic of us, being 'taken'.) Damn I hate those bags under my eyes! <sighs> Clark still looks as woofy as ever. Clark, Lisa and my David in their 'shot'. Great Festival!

Great set up and displays, for an obviously classic Carousel. Thanks for sharing all the info!

I got back to Playland yesterday, three days before our annual fair, The PNE, starts up. I decided to immediately head over to Coaster and get one - more - ride for "the season." It was a 40 minute wait in line (starting at 12:10), but there was lots of chatter around me to enjoy. And .... by the time I got into my coaster seat (12:50), the queue had tripled in length, and that was before the Real Crowds showed up after 1 pm. This was the last Wednesday for that 2-for-1 entry deal, so I expected Coaster's queue to be totally slammed, by the time I left the park. And .... it was, lol. Here's the photos I took yesterday... A reminder of how old Coaster is. The crew started training with two coaster trains running. But the second train had "special guests" on it. And then there were the bunch of flamingos there. Have no idea why. New banners up, but the photos still show the former trains, with no seat belts on the riders. Did You Know?.... And a special shout out to Mr Leroy, who built Coaster back in 1958. I'm in the loading station, and this is the queue now. I started out in line, under the blue shade canopy, at the left there. The ride was still great, so I'm over ranting about their installing the seat belts. And in the entire season, I got two rides on Coaster. Even water dummies have their On-Ride Photos, too! Noted. Scooby ........ Do? It was a long wait for this ride too, of all things. But it was very crowded that day. And the crew was loading all 16 gondolas, which usually only happens during The Fair. My gondola is almost here! I never get tired of seeing our mountains from the West Coast Wheel, with such clear skies. The Coaster Shot. SkyBender was very busy, too. Very, very busy yesterday. Getting very busy on the new coaster. Hmmm. Is all that pink stuff for the new coaster? Stay tuned .... My lonely little Stella Artois. No Playland food, eaten today. It looks like the Haunted Mansion walk-thru has "added on" to it's property. Looks interesting. Hmmm. Wonder what this will be for? Guess we'll find out, when we visit The Fair on the 31st. Artsy fartsy shot. It's just after 2pm, and this is the 2-for-1 Deal queue. Yep. We'll be there on August 31st. What I brought home. Boo.

^ I think that this hotel is one of The Best Hotels ever booked on Scandi Tours, Bert, thanks to Robb and Elissa's awesome pre-planning, etc. Great you got to experience it and the short ferry ride across.

Every time I go to Playland(PNE) I always have a Stella Artois, with my park food. And my latest imbibing, was two days ago. At the Ride Side Bar, they have to pour you the beer, into a plastic cup. And if it were evening hours, I could stroll around the park with it, too. But for daytime hours, I have to stay in the outdoor patio area that's fenced off. No big deal. Enjoyed, along side an order of Mexican Beef "Totchos" (read: Tater Tots)

Today, I got a quick visit in, to see any more stuff going on with the new coaster ..... uh, Land. Coaster queue was back up to it's usual hour+ wait. But there was more to come. People I mean. Here's the pix I took today. Enter the park, and this is the Coaster queue I see. Which will get MUCH BIGGER after 1 pm. (stay tuned) I'll try and remember this, next time I ride Kettle Creek. Looking through an Event Tent, to where Breakdance is 'dancing.' Wouldn't it be funny (not) if Coaster stopped right between those flags? Large shot of the new coaster site. Shaping all that dirt takes a lot of machines to do it, I see. Watering down the dirt. "The Mountains Shot" Had planned to try at least one of the Totchos combos offered. I stuck with the beef one. I was hoping that what I was now looking at, was indeed, sour cream..... It was. Very very messy. But I'd say it was pretty loaded from bottom to top. Went well with my Stella Artois. No Scramblin' happening today. Promised myself to get the Dark Fudge Apple this time. But now they several new fudge flavours! Arrrrrrrrgh! Nearly 1 pm, and I come out of the park, seeing these queues at the ticket booths. There was a new "deal" being offered to the GP... any Wednesday (of the three remaining, before the PNE opens), and ONLY after 1 pm, can you get "2-for-1" tickets to Playland! GRreat offer, right? That said, everybody and their families showed up. Also, no pre-buying online was allowed. You had to queue up here at the ticket booths to get the tickets, etc. And on and on. Blocked my view of any oncoming bus, but that was okay. Not my headache inside, for the next few hours!

^ Those are some really beautiful pizzas you've created, up above. What more can I tell you, except nom nom nom nom.... yum.

Last Wednesday (the 19th) I was finally able to get my first ride on Coaster, with it's new revamp and seat belt addition, etc. But it was due to something similar, that happened to me in the TPR China Tour in 2012. And that is, a board outside the park's entrance, shows what rides (usually coasters) are down for the day. Long story short, there was one coaster supposedly down, but started testing when we were there and BANG! All of us, off like a shot to get ahead of the queue, and get at least one ride in on it. The same happened with Coaster. Outside the gate, the board was there, with Coaster and another ride on it. I was shocked, then. I mean, again it's down??? But when I was in the park, I suddenly saw a train on the lift hill with gp on it!!! So I bolted as fast as I could to the station... and the rest is my Coaster History, lol. How the lineup looked, before everybody in the park, rushed to Coaster. Took only 10 minutes for my one ride... so far. Sooo close to riding it again. And the seat belts weren't that bad, I must confess. Still a great ride. There will be another photo coming up, like this one. Of Coaster, just running. A reminder about neext year. Noted. Mmmmmmm. As seen from the Ride Side Bar. With my Stella Artois beer. There is actually some nice landscaping touches in the park. Dealing the asphalt everywhere is not a landscape artist's dream. But they do a great job with what they're given. New for Playland. Um .. .it was open but nobody was there. I guess it was in pre-opening format. Back on the West Coast Wheel. Hardly any snow up there, now. Light crowd everywhere, as mostly everybody is now at Coaster, lol. Busy, busy. Decided to finally get some "home made" fudge, etc. But ..... They were selling no fudge slices. Only fudge was on the apples, Hmmm... So I got one with caramel all over the Granny Smith apple. Sliced it up and ate later. Was nice retro feeling. And I just noticed the more permanent (semi-permanent?) park snacks structure that is built. now. Hmmm. Could this be the start of the big extension in to a theme park that Playland is eventually aiming for? Stay tuned for that. And IMhO, the Ugliest On Ride Photo I have ever had taken! <shivers> But - First Coaster Ride in nearly 4 years! Review of Coaster: The Ride. I was allowed to ride single in the car, so that was nice of the guys. There is a rule about that. Has been for years. But usually they only push it, during the PNE itself, and/or special events like Fright Nights, etc. Anyway, getting on was easy. But when we got off, the line was now to the usually place I'd seen before. I used the seat belt, and found it was an easy strap that straps into the middle from which ever side you're on. It's then auto locked, but it doesn't really lock the strap. You can still push it out a bit, etc. Which worked awesome with the actual ride. You got bits of air time in the usual spots, but it was still trying to throw everybody around, and the push back with the belts was different, and actually fun! I didn't expect that it would be like this. So I came off Coaster very enthused (still), and would definitely ride it again and again.

Now that Coaster was open, starting this past week, I went to the park on Wednesday (12th), to check on it and see if it was worth it to ride it, now. Here's the short stack of pix I took of it, plus More Machines on the New Coaster site! Enjoy... A pleasant change on the Not Operating Board. Coaster's queue when I arrived. I wasn't too sure of how I'd cope with the heat, etc. So I passed, on this visit. It WAS nice to see a single rider in there. Hopefully I can do that, too... eventually. And "Up They Goooooooo"! This place, which used to be a second Coin Arcade, has been shut down since before Covid. Would make a nice, if small, dark ride bldg. And where I was planning to eat .... not open on this day. The bugs are whirling. Just a beer for the day, with no Mini Donuts bought. Call me old fashioned, but I do like the look of tattered flags. The new coaster site .... With more machines pushing and pulling all that dirt around! Nice. This is why Enterprise wasn't working. It's on a stationary "TILT". Whether random or intentional, I do not know. And a final Sky Shot.

Wow, Bert! Soooo much packed into that castle! Exhausting, just to look through all your photos, pic by pic. And that chest of drawers (blue with gold trim?) reminds me of those (are they called) Royal Doulton ware? Not too sure about that. And yes - ditto a BIG wish for a gift shop version of that statue, to buy. Love this all, and we're not even out of Denmark, yet!!!

^ Well, surprise, surprise! Maybe it'll happen... by the time the PNE opens, possibly/probably. I took 2 pix of them testing the train last week, Will show here. I'm now doing Wednesdays at Playland, since my partner has his Rock & Gem Club in the community centre across the street from the PNE grounds. So I grab a lift every Wednesday (starting last week), and after that, work my way back home on transit. No big deal. And that will get me at least 9 visit to the park, before the PNE starts up. Here's all I took of last week. Enjoy. Will pick some up later, with the $1 refill. I wonder if anybody uses this, at all. I never see anyolne using it, 'cept for pix. And this is KIDS' PLAYCE... Complete with Beaver Tails and Grilled Cheese Sammiches! Woo hoo! A few of the rides had their lights on. Skybender's light package looks very nice. Probably great at night. Two - two - two machines on clearing the dirt dirt. Nice. Oooooo, I see testing, there. And on the Reverse Curve. And I saw only one train run. Nothing after this sighting. There are other mountains to see from the West Coast Wheel. WOWZa! More of the same, as before.... With Stella. This time a hot dog. I ordered the Southern Comfort. It was messy, but good. Tomorrow, I plan to try one of the new food spots in the park....

^ Finally! I'm heading back to the park on Wednesday, so here's hoping .... knock wood.... salt over the right shoulder ..... 'usual precautions.' I haven't ridden Coaster since 2019, when my "beat my age" mini-marathon put me at 72 rides that season. 6 more than my (then) age of 66! And now this time, there's seat belts to contend with. But y'know? For my physical health, they may not be such a bad idea. For myself, anyway. And...... also ....... got my HAPPYLAND ticket, too! See you then! I'll be in the pink camo cap, lol. (like my avatar is wearing)

Just read this little article on chocolate and candy bars available ONLY in Canada. And not in the USA. Huh. I'd forgotten about that. Here's what was listed: Aero; Crispy Crunch; Caramilk; Coffee Crisp; Smarties (like M&Ms); Mr.Big; Wunderbar; Bounty; Big Turk (love the name!); and Mackintosh's toffee bar. But - has anyone in the U.S. actually found this stuff in stores (or parks) near where they live? Just curious. Also, Hawkins cheesies; Lay's Ketchup chips; and a lot of Maynards candies, including wine gums, and gummies galore!

A new photo has been posted, showing a part of ZOOTOPIA, itself, now built! And compared to the original artist's concept .... it looks damn good! The original art for a "street" in ZOOTOPIA. And voila! Looks really great. And THANK YOU to you who took this photo. Much appreciated. ^

Damn I miss Bon Bon Land! Great start to your TR, Chuck. Looking forward to more of your tour.

Here's the second set of photos I took at Playland, yesterday. My first of three rides there, was the West Coast Wheel. Great views when the sky is clear. And not just of the park. WHEEEEEEEEE! Still a great view of Skybender, in action. Our mountains are so close to us, here. Good skiing up there in Grouse, Seymour and Cypress I'm told. <sighs> New coaster site. And Dirt Has Been Moved Around! Skybender, in it's Crazy Cycle. I really like this Upped Level of operation on Gladiator. It's "almost" a thrill ride, now! Goes higher than it used to. This was my second ride, there. No big line. Easy on, then OMGGGGG, and a very - slow - descent for all the arms at it's end. No one here, so an easy order of Mini Donuts from Fun Dunkers. And then headed to .... Open days and nights that Playland is open. And at night, the whole park site is open to stroll with your drink/beer. etc. So what goes best with a Bag of Mini Donuts? Why, a Stella Artois Beer of course! The Indigenous artwork is on my camera case, bought last year at the PNE. Great view from where I was sitting. With a view of The West Coast Wheel, too. Really Great View! Then I headed over to Explorer Balloons (ride #3) for another "in the sky" view. Great family flat. When the skies are clear, you can get some great shots of AtmosFEAR in action. I enlarged this, because from the Balloons, I saw workmen on the Reverse S-Curve part of Coaster. At least 3 of them, there. All the Arcade Games were open.... ...Not so much the Play Quarters Arcade. It's been closed since Covid, and I wonder if they're ever going to re-open this, sometime soon? I have the feeling, they aren't going to reopen it. <sad if true> So since Coaster was closed, nobody really took up space here at Coaster Dogs. Great for me! (o: I had their great corn dog, with plenty of mustard. and a HUGE "regular sized" drink! Had a nice time Playland, see you next Sunday. Because.... "Speaking of 2023 Playland Season Passes"..... Nobody was going to get their Pass no matter how early they bought one. I find out. So Ticketleader decided to email us with a Day Pass ticket on it, to use on one of the days listed on the ticket. Playland was only open on weekends, so that meant we got 8 free Day Passes. But they sent each one with a separate email. Which = 8 emails from them. Totally ridiculous way to handle it, I thought. And now today, I get two separate emails from Ticketleader letting me know, that A) My Season Pass has been mailed to me, and I should get it in one to two weeks, and B) My pass is to be picked up at Playland's Customer Service window. Uh .....wtf? And that was it. No day pass attached, to get me into the park, to pick up my Pass. But....was it there? I phoned Ticketleader, got a nice service agent, and he's sending me a free Day Pass to head into the park next Sunday (July 2) to "pick up my Pass." And he said "If it's not there, it was probably mailed to you." Sighs. So "To Be Continued". Hopefully to be resolved next Sunday. Here's hoping. EDIT TO ADD: And now I received a day ticket for for "any day" admission to Playland. BUT - I forgot to tell the agent that we don't - have - cellphones - at all. I need the email to have a printable ticket attached. Not a Mobile Ticket. <sighs> Will contact them again, tomorrow. Got till Sunday, so this should be resolved easy. I hope. EDIT #2 TO ADD: Called Ticketleader back today (Tues), explained what happened and they immediately sent me a Day Ticket for Sunday/02 that I can print. Problem solved! ...and EDIT #3 To Add: My actual photo pass arrived here before I went. Fini.

Yesterday, at Playland.... In all of the Day Passes Ticketleader sent me (more about this at the end of the second set of photos) I ended up using only two of eight tickets. Opening Day, and yesterday. Last Sunday in June. I asked at Customer Services if my Pass was there, told no, and that was that. Like I said, more on that later. So I took it pretty easy, in both using transit to get there and back, and doing the park. I went around 2pm, and with three hours left in the day hours, it was pretty busy. Still nothing on Coaster and even the nice young ride ops were moaning about it, too. "Too long for this to be going on," said one of them. I totally agreed. Still, I took my time, ate only from booths that didn't have huge lines (like White Spot did, so I passed on that). I did find a Fun Dunkers Mini-Donuts place at the west side of the park, near Hellevator. Hardly any one there, compared to the main one near Coaster, and is usually always mobbed. So I got a bag of mini donuts, then took them over to my fave watering hole .... the Ride Side Bar. Then iI had a corn dog at Coaster Dogs, which had no one there, since it was close to Coaster, and well... anyway! Easy for a final snack for the day, and then I headed out. But first. a quick look at front yard gardens, I always see on the way to my bus stop, 8 blocks from us. Always an interesting stroll... And down to the left, here.... ...is this on a garage. Beautiful. And yes, we do grow palm trees of various kinds, here. Truth! "Art in The Yard." I think. A used everything store, with sturdy chairs for the kids... ....and a nice two-seater for parents/lovers/friends, etc. (o; This is one of my favourite parts of the walk. Always loved that painting on the wall, there. And so, onto Playland. I took a fair number of photos, only missing the centre part of the park, and at the back of it, where the new coaster is going, and where Scrambler now sits. But like I said before, I took my time, and took photos of everything I saw. Then filtered out a few, etc. Enjoy....but first.... Here's what the entrance plaza looks like, with one important part of it, square in the middle... A little bit closer, now? See it? Also, not where the queue is handled, over on the far right. Everybody runs right past it, then find out once they're in the park that <boo hoo>Coaster is not operating. So they complain, "not being warned." 'Kay... And there it is. But a lot of people miss it. I think it needs to be posted more in that plaza. Triple O's had triple the # of people there ordering and waiting. I passed on this. Aw darnit. But I know what's definitely open today. Kettle Creek Mine Train was running full tilt. This is where the Scrambler used to sit. For a long time. Now it's a Group Events. with a pretty big onsite kitchen Grouse tent? Aw, Grouse tent, and a Seymour (mountain) tent too. For parties, etc. And one for Cypress. Nice set ups. And here's the last one of set #1 of my photos. More to come in a bit. But for now (cough cough) enjoy. Playland's dear old smoking corner. Vapes, too. Fun corner. I quit over 8 years ago! More to come...

Disney has just released some beautiful new concept artwork for pretty much everything in Arendelle: World of Frozen. Except the sweets/candy shop, "Northern Delights." Here it all is.... Along the way, in the "Frozen Ever After" water ride. Great total theming surrounding riders. This looks like the ending of the ride, like at EPCOT, but more enhanced and enlarged in design. Nice. Wandering Oaken's Sliding Sleighs' Loading Station. It might be the Unload one, too. More of the Sleighs' queue. The left photo, I believe, shows that sauna room of Oaken's. And his family, too. "Tick Tock Toys & Collectibles" I'm wondering if that staircase at the back, goes anywhere. "Golden Crocus Inn" Restaurant. Named after the national symbol of Arendelle. And a scene from "Playhouse In The Woods" (an interactive play experience).

^^^ That was A LOT of smoke and flames in those videos taken! Glad to hear that no one was hurt or injured,

Just got home after having a wonderful sushi lunch today! And not just "any sushi." This was The Britannia Sushi Tower, which piles sashimi, rice, avocado etc. all together in one big serving. Delish. Ready for It. So much to dig into! Lettuce around the base, made of sticky ride and avocado. Sashimi and crab meat piled on top, with yam flakes over that. Mmmm. I "Toppled the Tower," to see every morsel more closely. (o: Finished! Arigato, Britannia Sushi. Be back again, real soon.