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I agree that Montezooma's Revenge is the better ride, but Tidal Wave didn't always stop in the station. Sometimes, the train would ride pretty high up the back spike (but GA was never consistent in allowing this to happen).

At least your original question has now been answered: Nobody knows!

Hmm--might be looking at a future "photoshop" contest here.

^They could give it some sort of Wild West theme--yee haw! It's the best little whorehouse in Buena Park!

Crack house?

I love the poster of Superman squatting, obviously in deep thought, over a pile what could be mistaken for excrement (actually rocks, I guess) next to the men's room. Now that's brillant themeing. I've been to Great Adventure twice over the last couple of years and liked it each time (but agree that Ka is extremely overrated and that GASM and Rolling Thunder suck). Haven't experienced Batman in a Box yet, though.

Piers with sparklers in his hair would make for an interesting display.

^"You can call me . . . Joker!"

^Hmm--not sure how much good the euro coins will do you in the Scandanavian countries, Terry. I know that Sweden and Norway still use krona (or kronor, or how ever it's spelled). I think euros are good in one of the Scandi nations, though. My Scandanavia trip deposit is on the way.

Excellent report--good work on the captions. I kind of like Dorney, myself (particularly Steel Force and Laser--oh, poor Laser).

^Well, I'd already been through Masquerage twice this season (Howl-o-Scream started in mid-September), so it didn't have too many surprises for me. It is a good maze, though. I was also a bit concerned that I might smash the camera into a wall or something.

^Yes, it's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

I like the Brewmasters Club, too. I guess it's possible that whoever ends up buying the parks could pay a licensing fee to Busch/InBev to keep the Busch name and the beer, but who knows?

More songs about rides and food. Aghh! Bloody Mary has followed me to the airport! Thanks for reading. A bunch of us checked out Innoventions' new Stormstruck attraction. Fun to do once (especially if you like having water squirted in your face at random intervals). "The secret is to swallow hard before the snail has a chance to crawl out. That's how you eat escargot." Canaba rules! Their soup has cheese and bacon! It will be a honor to die a horrible death in the icy vacuum of space with such stouthearted men as you! Time for one last lap around the food and wine festival. . . . and state-of-the-art animatronics? I mean, how can you beat this incredible combination of themeing . . . And now, "the greatest ride in the history of the universe"--Dave Thomas. (Well, I can't vouch for Dave being the "greatest ride," but he does say that about Dinosaur.) "Grr! Spend money in my giftshop--or die!" Oh, that loveable Yeti! Up to more adorable hijinks, again. Ice? It wasn't that chilly this morning. A lift with a view. Animal Kingdom is a beautiful park--even if it could use another E-ticket. Eric wishes me luck on Expedition Everest. And Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto beckon. Yeah, hakuna freakin' matata to you, too--now get outta our way! The giant head of broccoli beckons. The jungle beckons.

Well, all good things must come to an end--let's end this TR with Busch Gardens in Tampa, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot, shall we? Beware! For in the dead of night, when the moon is full, this meerkat becomes . . . absolutely nothing. I mean, he's just a meerkat. Hell, being as he's out in broad daylight, he's not even a vampire meerkat. Next up--that other park with animals and that other park with food. I'll swallow your soul, Colin! We weren't doing Howl-o-Scream, so I decided to make my own version. Bwa-ha-ha-ha! I'm a mummy! You're all petrified. I can tell. It does amaze me how well Busch hides the ugly Tampa neighborhood that surrounds it from view. "OK, we're gonna amble into a three-way here. You folks might wanna come back in an hour or two--then you'll see some really hot action!" Once again, Larry is special! On Sandstorm! (If he were in Williamsburg, he'd be special on DaVinci's Flying Machine.) Yes, we suckered ourselves into yet another water ride--the Congo River Rapids. Rich and I got it the worst. "Oh, I scarfed down way too many tourists this morning . . . pass the Pepto." "Ah, good morning! You all look so delicious, I hardly know where to start! Busch always has great food!" See, Cameron? Angus isn't so bad. So, is Gwazi as bad as it's made out to be? I've ridden both sides once, and it was OK each time. Guess I'm just lucky (or addlebrained).

The last bit ties into a big scene in the movie, where the leader of the cannibal cult is whipping his followers into a frenzy before they deep fry some poor guy. Too bad it ended up being just some skinny dude on a stage and one guy with a chainsaw at HHN. It was the weakest house of the night.

I've never been to Branson, but I think some park just has to adopt that "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots" attraction.

Passable cheesburger and the samurai wings were OK, I thought. But that's about it. Carrabbas made up for it and then some.

^Oddly enough, the possum was from California. Maybe they couldn't find enough live, unsquished ones in Virginia.

More Universal and IOA. Hmm--either there's two Wicked Witches up there, or I've chugged a few margaritas. Busch Gardens Africa is next. I think this is a rather blurry shot of Scary Tales, my favorite maze of the night. Looks like we have Jedi protection, too. While Erik distracted me here, some dude with a rat hanging from his mouth freaked me out! Excellent! Hmm--Asylum in Wodnerland looks more like "Rave in Wonderland." Hey, caterpillar! Pass that hookah! We now know the secret of Jeff's longevity. Look at his eyes! He's a vampire! SAY MY NAME! CRASH! TINKLE! "Oh, joy! Oh, glee! The trolley is here, but I have to go pee!" "Oh, the pain! Oh, the sorrow! The trolley won't get here before tomorrow!" We ambled back to IOA, where we were acutally dumb enough to get soaked on Ripsaw Falls. Curse you, Snidely Whiplash! "Sigh! Does Chuck never tire of these group shots?" "Ack! No one wants ta play Willie's rigged game!" The Krustyland themeing kicked butt. I was looking forward to checking out the Simpsons ride. I liked it quite a bit. "Matt, come share my 'specialness' with me." Psst! Nobody told Rich that we replaced the water in the kids play area with pure Clorox bleach. Let's watch the fun! You can just see the joy radiating off him as he gets his credit. Aw, Larry is special, too! Yeah, I'm a major Rocky & Bullwinkle mark. Aw, if Joe wasn't a special person before, he is now. After the tour, some of us went back into the studios.

Next up is IOA and Universal for Halloween Horror Night. I've always look forward to HHN--particularly this year. The "Bloody Mary" storyline Universal posted online was excellent, and I think they really delivered on the mazes and scarezones this year (particularly Path of the Wicked, with its flying monkeys and Wicked Witch, and Fractured Tales). Here's my take on the mazes, starting with my favorite. Scary Tales--BGE started its own twisted take on fairy tales at Howl-o-Scream last year, but Universal's maze leaves BGE in the dust. You have to like any maze with a hot Little Red Riding Hood in leather who sharpens knives, right? Body Collectors--The Collectors are sampling the good people of Victorian London, using serial killers such as Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd as cover. The sheer atmosphere of this maze is tough to beat, and it's the goriest one of the lot (especially the "chiropractor"--you'll know him when you see him). Dead Exposure--This was the most interesting concept for a maze, I thought: the last night of a tabloid photographer's life as seen through the flashes of his camera. This was, possibly, the best use of strobes ever, a real "now you see the zombies, now you don't, now they're in your face" experience (excellent work by the scareactors here). The Hallow--A good companion piece to Scary Tales, this maze also had a bit of a "storybook" feel to it. Basically, it's a generic story about a "bad place" possesed by an evil force, but very well done. Reflections of Fear--This was the "icon" maze, which told the story of Dr. Mary Agana, who eventually became the vengeful spirit "Bloody Mary." I think I was one of the few in our group who liked this maze, mainly because I thought it tied in well with the Web site (and the good doctor's experiments in fear). It was cool to see Mary's case files come to life. Interstellar Terror--The movie Event Horizon, a story about a lost spaceship possessed by an evil force, comes to mind here. The sets and effects used in this maze, including a "weightless" body, are well done. Creatures--Not the scariest, but easily the funniest maze of the night. Rednecks defend their roadhouse against space aliens; frankly, it's tough to know who to root for. I enjoyed the black humor here, but I think the timing of the scares and effects were a bit off when I went through it. Doomsday--This was the weakest maze of the night, but it is based on a movie I didn't like, which probably colors my opinion a bit. Basically, it's Road Warrior meets 28 Days Later. The Bill and Ted show was excellent--better than last year's, I thought. We also received a behind-the-screams tour from Mike Roddy, one of the creative artists behind HHN. Mike took us through Interstellar Tour and Body Collectors that afternoon with the show lighting on (but no effects or actors), and held a Q&A afterward. This whetted all our appetites for the mazes that night. My thanks to Robb and Elissa for setting all this up, and to Universal, particularly Mike Roddy and Karyn (sp?), for taking good care of us at HHN this year. What a great night! Nothing tops Halloween Horror Night in Florida! Here's a look at IOA, Universal, and HHN. Thanks for the awesome tour, Mike! More to come from IOA and Universal. "Now serving number 7!" "Yeah, I'd like three pounds of the flank steak and some of that nice looking tripe." "Well, don't shamble by like ninnies! Go ahead! Evisicerate someone!" I couldn't help it! I was just so hungry! "As usual, Watson, I am amazed by your uncanny grasp of the obvious." "I say, Whitechapel, Holmes! Looks like dirty work afoot, wot?" "Captain Ren Hoek here! We are being pulled into the heedious vortex of the black hole!" "Coolant system rupture" is one of the little-known side effects of Viagra. "Scott to Bridge! We lost emergency power down here! I'll have to be takin' the mains off the line before we pull the body parts out!" "Scott to Bridge! I found the problem with the warp drive. There's a disembered corpse stuck in the matter-antimatter convertor." "Why do spaceships always have chains hanging from the ceiling?" Prepare for Interstellar Terror! They took us through a cast members' exit that linked the two parks. But when it comes to riding a beast, No one beats Guy, no not in the least! (Why does it seem so appropriate that Guy should be in picutre number 69 of this TR?) Normal people may shrug and ask "why?" When goofs with cameras go prancing by, Before we descended the depths of Hell, We took over the Caro-Suess-el!

Just a bump--I moved this thread to the main forum after adding a video. Enjoy. If that is the correct term.

An old book I read in high school, Funland USA, mentioned that Messerschmidt had designed a suspended coaster, but I had no idea that one had actually been built (the book, as I recall, said the design wasn't safe, or something along those lines).

I sent one from Williamsburg last week.

More like an astringent aftershave.