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I'll be a KD's Haunt tomorrow night with Rick "Coaster Palooza" Moore, then I'm off to Florida for HHN at Universal and the Bash at BGT.

The amount of food in this TR is terrfying! Deliciously terrifying!

Moving right along, character actor Charles Napier died recently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeELolhu6sU

^I imagine it went something like this: "So, BGT has one peeing baby doll in their toy factory maze, eh? Dammit, then, we'll have 20 peeing babies! CP for the win!"

No argument here--the day at Knoebel's was amazing, and I'm really looking forward to riding Black Diamond when it opens. I really need to make my way up to Elysburg more often. The pepper jack cheese on a stick rules!

Hmm--theming a coaster to Frasier's love life would've made sense. Too bad they never built that hyper. Again, it's cool to see all this "Great America that never was" stuff, Shane.

YOu are, indeed, fortunate to have even tame Lusse Auto Skooters in Oregon--we don't have them in Virginia. I had no idea that Oregon had any seaside attractions like this.

You can never have too much fog!

^KD was reletively subdued with the fog compared to last year, when it was billowing out into the parking lot. It does add a lot of "atmosphere."

^I hope you can find me in all the fog!

You're a genius! This could be the start of whole new series of flicks!

^I think only Hurler is closed during Haunt, and Ghoster Coaster (the kiddie wooden coaster) runs during the day, but they close the kids section shortly before Haunt begins.

More Haunt--and more fog. Did I mention that KD likes fog? And scary toys? (My god! BK! The Sign of Burger King! This is truly hell!) "Welcome to Medieval Macabre. . . ." " . . . Please do not touch the bumper cars. They will not touch you." There are supposed to be Ruins around here, bit all I can see is this big orange eye. "OK, we have these leftover statues from the Paramount days--find me a reason to use them!" Fog! Blue lights and fog! A recipe for TERROR! This is Outbreak: The Evolution. At least KD has kept its tradition of putting their worst maze in the Flight of Fear queue. Clowns? Why did it have to be clowns? At least KD has a bigger and scarier clown zone (CarnEvil) than BGW. Cough! Hack! Is this more fog, or have I found Jeff Johnson? "I can see through the fog--and I'm watching you!" "Welcome to KD's Slaughter House! It takes all sorts of critters to make our fritters!" This snack stand is cursed! This glowy bling is cursed! This fog is . . . . . . "Yes! Cursed! We get it! We're all cursed Give it a rest!" "Yeah--get out!" Ok, ok, I can take a hint. Thanks for reading.

It can be a bit difficult to find your way around Kings Dominion during their annual Haunt, thanks to the fog. Yes, KD loves their fog machines. The chemical clouds spew from every corner and crevice, nook and cranny--and probably from your own personal nooks and crannies, thanks to breathing it in all night. But floating particulate matter aside, KD puts on a pretty good Haunt with nine mazes (two were all new this year), six scare zones (including a new "steam punk" zone for 2011), a haunted car ride (Blue Ridge Bloodbath), and five shows (usually the weakest part of the event). I checked it out on opening night last Friday, where the park broke the Guinness World Record for the largest number of people dressed as vampires (I was not among the legions of the undead). I didn't hit the car ride or the shows. With so many mazes, they can't all be great, but three of them are very good, and there's only one complete bummer (at least on that Friday night--Haunt can be a bit variable as October moves on). Here they are from best to worst: Club Blood--I thought this vampire nightclub was looking a little tired last year, but the park added some new gimmicks, and now it's back to being their best maze at Haunt. Plus, I'm quite the celebrity at Club Blood, as at least one bloodsucker knows my name. The Doll Factory--Last's year's best maze drops to second place, but this tour of a creepy toy factory with dolls made from spare body parts is still quite good (especially at the end). Slaughter House--This one reminds me of "Leave it to Cleaver" from Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Night a few years ago (a tour of a meat-processing plant run by cannibals). I believe KD livened this one up with a few new "gags" (pardon the expression) this year, too. Toxic Plague--This bug-filled sewer is the same as last year. Cartoony, but enjoyable enough. Cornstalkers--This cornfield of carnage is new for this year, and it's fun, even if the scarecrow monsters are all pretty much alike. It's also pretty narrow, but the scareactors still have plenty of good hiding places. Medieval Macabre--It certainly smells "medieval" (that is, kind of skunky) in this pit of plague and depravity. Although they improved the scenery outside the maze this year, most of the inside (except for a few set pieces) consists of crudely painted flats. OK, but not great. Asylum--I preferred the original Maze of Madness from a few years ago, but this stroll through a loony bin is OK, just sort of generic. Camp Killauee--This Friday the 13th-inspired summer camp of horror is also a bit generic, but at least it makes more sense than the Blackbeard maze that used to be here. (Blackbeard in the woods of Doswell?) Outbreak: The Evolution--This year's second new maze, and easily the weakest, most generic of them all. Most of the sets consists of flat white walls, and the mutant monsters seem to be recycled from the old Alien Outpost maze (which had better sets). KD does a better job with scare zones than Busch Gardens, as a general rule. The most interesting one was Ironworx, the steam-punk zone, even though it wasn't so much scary as just plain odd (the scareactors had very good costumes, too). Here's a look at KD's Haunt. I made miminal use of my flash to try and capture all the foggy atmosphere. So, expect some "atmospheric" (that is, "blurry") pictures. Look! A rainbow! There's hope for humanity! Correction: There was hope for humanity. Yes, abandon hope, all ye who enter! Even the shop windows are cursed! But you can buy Fright Lane to save you from the CURSE OF THE ETERNAL QUEUE! (I didn't need it that night.) Here are a few of the 1,000+ vampires who helped KD break that record. Hey, those aren't vampires! Vampires can't be photographed! I call shenanigans! You know, there are many uses for corn. Cornbread. Corn chowder. Corn chips. Side dish for roast leg of YOU! Just like in a horror movie, people always have to enter a spooky old barn. You'd think they'd learn that all they'll find are old piles of horse flop and horrible, bloody death! Welcome to the Necropolis! We hope you enjoy our fog. Welcome to bucolic Camp Killauee! We have many fun activities for you, such as spear fishing, machete throwing, and ax murdering! Our crafts instructor will show you how to make a nice wallet from your own skin and an ash tray from your best friend's skull! Your parents will treasure these fine gifts, made with love! The entrance to the Asylum is here somewhere--trust me. "The Asylum? Where is it? I can't see a thing in all this freakin' fog!" This is the truck next to Toxic Plague, so that you will know it if you see it again. Hmm--looks like Captain Nemo's crew may have mutinied. This certainly is an impressive apparatus. I have no idea what it does. That's what makes it so impressive. Look! Steam-powered lasers! This steam-punk technology is incredible! You know, I bet this guy supplied his own steam-punk costume--and he probably has a Klingon outfit hanging in his closet, too. Bye bye, Ironworx, you amazing World of Tomorrow, you! More to come from Haunt.

^Yes, without cow on a string, we would not have bird on a stick. Universal paved the way!

^Happy news indeed! You'll be able to better appreciate the glory that is Dinosaur, too.

You may have answered your own question. It's one of those attractions that's fun once, but that's about it.

I agree with you about the bumper cars--they should always have heavy-metal music, fog, and light shows! BGW used to "trick up" some of the flats in Festa Italia and their train for Howl-o-Scream, but they haven't done so in years. Looks like you had a nice warm up for Busch Gardens Bash, Scott.

Kind of pointless to complain when the park provides a backstage look at a new ride during its early phases of construction, don't you think? We'll be hearing more from the park about Verbolten in the future--please be patient.

I need to make a southern California trip during October. I haven't been to Haunt at Knott's since 2001, and HHN at Universal looks great. I'm an old Alice Cooper fan, too.

This thread is about Busch Gardens Bash--not Legoland. Please stay on topic. You've also been warned about grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Please read TPR's Terms of Service before posting again. We now return back to the BGT Bash thread, which is already in progress. I'm really looking forward to this event--should be the top Bash of my Year of Bashes (although SFOG set the bar pretty high). Cheetah Hunt and HOS both look great.

^Escape from Pompeii was running during the day last Sunday (they use the lower floor of the building as a house). As for "sloppy, local, drinking entertainment," you'll be in Williamsburg--good luck with that. (The Corner Pocket in New Town might be a good bet--drinks and pool.)

^I think so. The shows start up before the houses and scarezones, which open at 6:00 pm. If you're there on a busy day, you can get Quick Queue (it includes houses).

Interesting--I remember from the 2010 TPR Mid-America tour two technicians mentioning that Paul Revere was one of the toughest rides to work on.

Now HOS truly begins . . . Whatever you say, Bela. Uh oh! Someone's cranked up the fog machine! Must be nearly 6:00 pm. Hang on to your extremities, folks--there are Scavengers about. Hey, that is one nasty booger you got hangin' outta your nose. Wanna tissue? "I'm a crow with a foot--and I know how to use it!" This was the longest line of the night (about 15 minutes). The maze was new, so everyone went there first. Hmm--I think these signs may provide a subtle clue about what will happen inside. Yep--I may be on to something here. Deadline--the maze that shows us why it's a bad idea to build a subway under an active volcano. My favorite sign at HOS. Best laid plans . . . Hmm--that might be Italian for "zombie," unless it's some kind of pasta. There's even a bit of a "pre-show." Darkness falls. When there's no more room in Hell . . . . . . Bozo will walk the Earth! "D'uh, dy-er, me scary clown! Kill you good!" Their evil has even spread to the buffet! That is one blue ghoul (the "Lady of the Gardens"). This is the entrance to Bitten. I'm reasonably sure it's cursed--but not as cursed as Drachen Fire (which inspired a lot of cursing from me). Hey, just in time--may as well drink a brew and watch Fiends. Who could possibly be annoyed by this wholesome family entertainment. Yes, even the Jello Shooter girls are very wholesome. Is that a chainsaw, or are you happy to see the nurses? Things were a bit slow in the gift shop, so the Monster was out looking for victims, er, guests to get their picture taken with him. (This was pretty funny. He'd point at random people, and, by god, they'd buy a picture.) The Monster chose the glasses for me, by the way. That's all--thanks for reading!