bert425

you'll get a cheaper car rental from Pitts. So i'd reverse your trip (that's what we did years ago. . .flew into Pitts. drove across the state hitting parks, and ended in Philly for some Culture, returned the car and flew home from there). granted it was years ago. . but it saved us a TON of $$ renting that way.

I don't even remember the cars. . I must have completely missed that! There wasn't a true dark ride in this park? Weird! I really did like this park. . it had two coasters I REALLY liked (Tonnerre 2 Zeus, and Pegasus). . a reason to come back (that new Intamin). . and THREE carousels. it wasn't my favorite park on the trip, but I did like it. I wonder what that was a pic from tho. . maybe that was from the walkthru you mentioned? really no idea - tho I had my mind on other things as well at this point in the trip, even tho Nick had told me he was doing better in the Hospital.

Parc Astérix swag. . . Drink bottle (that was filled with Flavored Icee like drink - this was the only way to buy it, no regular cups. but the refill in the container was cheaper, so it was worth it) but yes, I schlepped it all the way home: T-Shirt (which I BELIEVE translates as "So, who's the boss?". . .but I prefer to believe it says: "WHO'S YOUR DADDY???" Tonnerre 2 Zeus magnet: and park magnet:

. . . continued Day 11: Parc Astérix (part III, the conclusion): we made our way around to the section with the "slow moving" rides. . .my favorites, and perfect to help settle things after Goudurix. we passed under the "skyview" as not everyone wanted to ride that, so saved that for after. Instead we headed to to the slow moving boat ride: with the silly looking dragon on our ship: full of people ready to be entertained by the Astérix characters (of whom I knew almost nothing about). lots of scenes, and animatronics. . on a fairly long ride. it even had a short dark ride / cave section I'm guessing he's a bad guy? it was pretty cute. I think this is the name of the area we were in, as I can make out the sign says 2 attractions. so that's probably the boat ride we just got off of, and the Aire traveler that I was headed to. but also over here was this absolutely adorable kiddie flume ride (we rode the adult one that looked like a Shoot the Chutes - but must have had phone put away, as I have NO pictures of our ride on it. but I recall it. no other flume here tho.. just this kiddie one). Adults sadly not allowed to ride. I think Jere and I were the only ones that like these kind of slow moving "elevated railway" type rides. . so we rode, and I'd guess the rest of the group headed over to reride Zeus, or Oziris again. hmmm. . is Le Grand Splatch the Shoot the Chutes type ride? it must be. . .I know we rode it. maybe I DID get a pic of the sign, but from the elevated track ride. Jere and Bert enjoying the view (and breeze) passing over some of the scenes from the boat ride we just got off of. AIRTIME HILL coming up!!!! ooooo.. we're coming back into the station, just as a parade is passing by? what timing. not sure whom I have to thank for this pic. . probably Jon? Hiya Obelix ! we rode in your butt earlier! the cast members VERY much stayed in character.. I loved it. heave! no. . I didn't buy them. but yes, I really wanted to! after the parade, and the slower rides that let the Aspirin have time to counteract Goudurix. . it was time to head back to Pegasus for another ride. I seriously loved this ride. and had to pan down for the full pic, as this guy seemed to be really proud of the big blue banana he had won. Having met back up with a few of the gang at Pegasus, we headed next door to squeeze our butts into the tiny teacup rafts of "La Riviere d'Elis" whee!! these type of rides, also seemed fairly popular at the European parks. Not ALL of them had them, but most had some version of it. I enjoyed them, even if it really is just slowly spinning among flowers in most cases. it was almost time for park close. . so we headed back to Tonnerre 2 Zeus for evening rides. man. . he looks kinda scary with the sun behind him. . . spooky! they had the soda machines here where you buy it, and tilt the bottle upside down and the soda freezes into a Slurpee consistency. thanks to Elissa for having change I could use to get this. the pic doesn't do it justice, but I know Elissa has a TPR video where they demonstrate how it works. it's very cool. I don't seem to have any pics of us getting back onto Tonnerre 2 Zeus for our evening rides. . .but I know we rode it a number of times after official park close. and have the pics others took (so below are from the ride photo (we each got a free photo), Elissa, or from AJ/Brad/Andy this one is a still from Robb's rider cam when I got to ride in the front during the evening ERT (you can see in the next picture how the camera is mounted for this amazing pic) after a fantastic day at Parc Astérix, we all posed for a pic in front of Zeus (thanks Robb!!), and then it was time to head back to the bus snapping a couple of pics as we made our way back to the hotel parking lot. . the bar back down on the ground. and owls. it had been an amazing trip..and I hated that it was over. but it wasn't really over for many of us. although the bus was headed back to the Airport to drop off those who had flights tonight or tomorrow. . it was then continuing on to Disneyland Paris. . where many of us were staying an additional 2-3 days before heading back home. I was one of those staying (along with my trip roomie James). . so we were headed to the Paris version of Wilderness Lodge for check in once the bus stopped at the airport. it had been a long, long, day.. . but once we checked in at the Disney hotel and discovered that our multiday passes included check in day as an admission (and the park was open past 11pm (and it was only ~8:20 by the time we were checked in) ? you bet we went to Disney for a couple of hours. But that's the next update. for now, thanks for reading along! bert

. . . continued: Day 11: Parc Astérix (part II): Astérix himself was doing walk-around meet and greet, but had quite the line at the moment, so settled for a pic near him. . and we continued on the coaster my group headed to next was "Pegase Express". . . a Gerstlauer multilple wheel launched coaster with a number of surprises up it's sleeve (which I won't spoil here, as the first time I rode it, it completely surprised me!). it's a long coaster, so you can't really see the layout from inside the park. theming is to a Greek Gods transportation station.. . the ride is so long, it was operating, I think 4 trains at the same time. this is an interesting pic. . hmmm. . where does the track go??? (as I said.. surprises up it's sleeve) from the exit ramp, you can see some of the layout - and how it interacts with the parks river rapids ride. and yes. .that is ALL the queue line for this coaster! thank goodness for skip the line passes wheee! The group I spent most of the day at Parc Astérix hanging out with. I think this pic is courtesy of AJ or possibly Andy? fun "travel" theming all thruout the ride queue, even to the exit. we started to make our way towards the area of the park where lunch was going to be, as it was getting close to that time. what was over here that we could ride while waiting? A pretty decent Madhouse (tho heard that they weren't doing the Pre-show since Covid, so probably why it wasn't as good as I had heard the raves about it. it was fun, but not really a standout among the Madhouses I'd gotten to ride on this trip). since in the area where we were shortly meeting for lunch, our cycle happened to include a bunch more of the TPR folks on the trip. we all rode as a big happy family. . . giant Astérix facing the front entrance to the park. . . but what was this? finally. . a full size Carousel. and a heavily themed one at that. . to Astérix & Obelix. with rocking carriages, galloping horses. . and a giant Obelix. OH MY SWEET LORD. you can ride inside Obelix' butt. He's holding himself open for you! the rest of the carousel is gorgeous as well. . .loved this "swinging" chair option. . but (t) when it was our turn? I bee-lined it for the Obelix butt option! I almost pissed myself with glee. . not only do you ride in his butt? but it SPINS like a teacup. Yup. we crammed all 5 of us in the butt so we could get it spinning chill bert, in da butt. . . we spent the whole ride spinning and laughing like loons. and posed for a pic the ride op. graciously took for me. but (t) we needed the "proctology" pic too - SHOW ME THE FINGER! (tho Andrew didn't want to play along). thanks to Andy for taking the pic for me sufficiently dizzy, but still having a little time before lunch meetup, we did a quick lap around the area and I wandered to the edge of the lagoon to snap a pic of the mobile bar in operation (seen here at the top of the tower it lifts up to) Who lives in a pineapple under the sea??? apparently a healthy eating option restaurant. (not what I was planning on eating today tho) I don't really remember what was in this heavily themed section here. . was it a dark ride? i know we walked thru it a couple of times. . and I have pics from inside where there is theming and shops. did we ride something here? quickly enough it was time for meetup, so we hightailed it back to the Circus restaurant area. here we are listening to the servers/hosts explaining how everything works. it's a buffet, but it's pretty spread out, and you order drinks (alcoholic or otherwise) before going to get food. Round one. . . mostly cold stuff. YUMMY escargot. hey, when in France. . . round 2, the hot stuff. (luckily I'd had a VERY light breakfast and really was pretty hungry by this point. . as if you couldn't tell) Round 3: desert. that bowl of chocolate is from the chocolate fountain they had in the circus tent buffet. nothing was super sweet.. but my favorite thing was the custard pastry at the bottom. After lunch, those who wanted to join the backstage tour for Toutatis had a little bit of time until we met up over by the Bobsleds. the Bobsleds, Trace Du Hourra, are a Mack bobsled. which is super interesting in that it's unpainted/rust color. I asked about that during the tour, and was told they leave it rust color to represent the color of the earth, as you are following the trail the cavemen took. so it's actually theming that it's unpainted. I found that rather interesting. it was one of only two "coasters" we hadn't yet been on today. . . oh, and they accepted the Skip the lines. So we hopped on for a ride. the meetup for the tour was right around the corner from it. . so perfect timing. we headed over that way. . and after we were issued safety vests and (I think) signed the waiver, the park reps lead the group of us backstage, and onto the Toutatis construction site. Twisty!!! from back here you can see the main entrance Astérix high up on his perch. that's important, because the direction from the park is that the spike aspect of the coaster can NOT be higher than Astérix sits. . he has to be the highest point in the park. so how did they get around that and keep the height of the spike? they dug a deep hole, and put the spike down into it, so keeps the height, but starts underground basically. . . sooooo twisty!! and the bobsled nearby really is gonna interact with it fantastically. . . if was able to get these kind of shots while walking around the construction site? it's gonna be amazing from the queue line, and while on the actual ride when it's open. from the layout? I think this will be my favorite part of the ride, if I'm ever able to get back and ride it. work being done on the queue-line. Looking at pics of it now, it's incredible how this turned into what is currently there for the queue! they told us at least 1, and possibly two, flat rides would be joining the coaster in this new section of the park. you can see here how the spike is coming up from "underground" (ie: in a trench) to keep the height. yes, we were able to get REALLY close to the coaster. really close I'd never seen this before and found this so interesting as well. this is how they check "clearance". . they run this do-hicky down the track and make sure it doesn't hit any trees or blockages. and pic courtesy of our tour guide (or maybe Elissa since I don't see her in the pic). . but the group of us who went back stage to check out Toutatis. HUGE thank you to Parc Astérix, and to Robb & Elissa for this incredible opportunity. it really was so amazing. after our tour, we all split back up to make the most of the rest of our day, prior to meet up at park close for more Tonnarre 2 Zeus riding the gang I was hanging out with headed back to Oziris for another ride. and then took a ride on that inflatable raft ride that I talked about when we walked by the entrance this morning in part 1. we saw from nearby that Gourdurix had opened back up. . . so despite my brain screaming "NOOOOO". . we went over that way and took 1 ride on it. why just one? oh. . awful. just awful. very glad I had Aspirin with me. . janky and shaky, and bangs the hell out of you. literally the ONLY good thing I can say about it? because I rode this today? much later that night, when James and I got on Indiana Jones over at Disneyland Paris, that ride didn't seem to bad. Because it wasn't even close to the worst thing we'd ridden all day. So it made Indiana Jones adventure seem like a better coaster. it has that going for it. LOL. . but yeah. 1-and-done. and look. . NOBODY in that front car looks "happy" to have ridden. after that ride on Goudurix, I really needed a hug. Luckily, Astérix was out and about again, and with no line, he was perfectly happy to give me a hug! we even took a group shot. and I think I have individual pics of each of us with Astérix. . so if you were with me and I didn't share the pic, hit me up, and I'll check to see if I have one I can send of you. ABSOLUTELY zero recollection of what this is. perhaps that dark ride in the castle? if I didn't imagine that? lots of props out and about to pose with too.. so of course I was in heaven. . to be concluded. .

Day 11: Parc Astérix (part I): we got up and ate breakfast, and then got ready to head down to the bus for 8am departure for Parc Astérix. I realized I hadn't taken any pics of the IBIS Airport hotel on the 1st night (or at least thought I didn't. . I didn't bother to go back and check). . so snapped some quick pics before we left the room. James ready to go for the day, and showing off the beds in the room. small, but functional shower tho it was like an airplane bathroom. I guess appropriate for an Airport hotel our view - facing away from the runways, but we had a view of the train station (not that it mattered today, as we were taking a bus to the park) a shortish drive, and we were pulling into the empty lot for Parc Astérix. we were getting there a bit before opening, as Robb had arranged for us to meet up with the Park reps at the onsite hotel, and we were going to be doing some pre-opening rides on the newly refurbished "Tonnerre 2 Zeus" - the park's massive wooden coaster. A lengthy years long refurb that altered the layout, added more airtime hills, and reversed the final car of the train so the seats face backwards! speaking of Tonnerre 2 Zeus. . here it is coming into view, as we go around the back of the park to the hotel. and here we are at the entrance to the Parks Hotel/Resort. the theming is really heavy here - which was an indicator to me of how heavily themed the park itself was going to be (and let me say here. . it did NOT disappoint. Disney Level (or more in some places) level of theming in this park). this is the interior courtyard of the hotel! (yeah) while we were waiting for the park reps to meet us. . some of the Astérix characters (the King and Queen?) came out to meet hotel guests. (and us, since we were there. . . so did I get in line for a picture?). duh! of COURSE I did. and I felt so thin too! (thanks to Andy for taking this for me) Eventually our guides arrived, and we headed into the park via the hotel entrance - which comes in right under Goudurix - an absolutely gorgous, and infamously awful, Vekoma. it SURE is pretty tho, looks are completely deceiving we were running a bit behind schedule, so the park was already getting ready to open to guests in the next 30 minutes, and several rides started testing, including Goudurix, so was able to get some nice pics with the train. this is a fairly new attraction, I believe. . it's a lifting sky-bar. you sit under the hat at a circular bar, and it lifts up to the top. I didn't do this, but some of the group did partake and said it was fun, with a great view. and before we knew it, we were in front of Tonnerre 2 Zeus, with it's famous queue-line . . that you enter between the legs of Zeus hmmm. . but it didn't seem to be running yet? we patiently waited, and judging from these pics, either others from the Hotel entrance had come in shortly after us, or the park had opened and people were starting to make their way over to T2Z. (I think it's this 2nd one). while the park was trying to get the coaster going, I continued to snap pics. remember I noted the queue famously goes thru Zeus' legs? yeah. . they put panties on him. Pink panties with yellow duckies! BWAAA-HAAAA-HAAAAAA I honestly can not recall if we were able to get the morning ride in on Tonnerre 2 Zeus, as I think they were having maintenance issues. But I really DO think we weren't able to get the morning planned rides, and as a "we're so sorry" the park reps decided to lead the TPR group to several of the other coasters, to let us cut in and get rides as the park had just opened to the public. Our guide bypassed Goudurix (which had stopped testing strangely, so maybe it too wasn't ready to open yet), and brought us further back into the park. but again look how beautiful it is: along the way, I noted the fantastic theming all over the place. this is Thor's throne. I love me a throne, so of course stopped for a pic. This is the face one makes when the entire throne starts vibrating your butt. . . and then starts pouring out smoke. . . LOL awww.. a little baby carousel, that no way would my fat ass fit on. but snapped a pic as we went by. wowza. . so many nicely themed areas! another carousel. . this one more normal sized, but still rather small (I can't recall if this one ever operated the day we were there. . I'm guessing no, as I don't have any pics riding it) this giant themed structure is a restaurant. the buffet where we would be eating lunch later in the day, actually. and this seemed to be a show/ride experience that appeared to have been shut down, but since it fit in with the Bazzar theme of the area, they just left it up. or maybe it was just off season (tho middle of Summer, as we were there in late June) look back at the restaurant from the other side. Oxygenarium was an inflatable raft ride. . it reminded me very much of the Penguin's Blizzard Falls ride that Astroworld used to have. (you sit in a giant blow up raft, and it's a water ride, but no one gets wet really). I rode this later in the day, and it was . . ok. looks like it would be way more exciting than it was. . but I mean, look how exciting it appears from the queue line! we were headed over here to the Egyptian area. . . as the Park Reps were gonna give us a ride on Oziris - the parks Suspended B&M. think Montu, but with heavy Egyptian theming thruout the area. the park reps brought us thru the exit line, and we took advantage of the "never in America" fluffy fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo (ie: locker) system. yup. you just dump your stuff into a luggage cart at the load station, then they just wheel the cart into the exit queue so anyone can grab anything they want out of the carts sitting there filled with stuff. (I mean.. not even an operator on that side watching the bags) I guess Europeans are just more willing to follow basic human decency and not steal each others crap? regardless. . I thought it was interesting that's how they handle it. the ride itself is great tho. . intense in all the "right" spots, and was fun. tho again, it really reminded me of Montu. the area looks fantastic. While still in the Egypt section, after our ride on Oziris, we were walked over to take a ride on SOS Numerobis - a Zierer family coaster. whee! it's another one of those with the really long trains.. .I think 18 rows? the park had been open for a little bit, but before we were cut loose in the park, the Reps wanted to take us over to one more ride. So we left Egypt and followed him. this looked like a fun Shoot the Chutes ride so stopped and took some pics of the splash down. (when riding it later, we realized it's not JUST a shoot the chutes. . . it's a full on boat ride thru a hidden area up top in the foliage, with a really great last drop). passing under more theming! loved this park. and we passed by a TON of rides, that I would come back to later, with a group of folks and we'd ride. we'd made a giant loop of the park. . so got a nice view across the central lake area of where we'd come in behind Goudurix. if this show was running during our visit, I don't recall it. this is the sign for the park's Flying Carpet ride - Cheval De Troie (I don't recall riding it, so maybe wasn't operating?) our final ride with the VIP treatment from the Park Reps as "Vol D'lcare" which is a bobsleigh type coaster, that appeared to be themed to the story of Icarus. it was a fun little coaster, and it was April's 300th! I'm guessing I have to thank Elissa for this pic. Look how happy I am! (or maybe I'm just happy that Myself and Andrew got our own seats, and Ian/Daved & Jere/James had to share rows in the car behind us :p) while waiting for the rest of the group to cycle thru, snapped some pics of the "monster" ride next to Vol D'lcare. Again, really nicely themed. We all gathered at the entrance, Elissa told us when / where to meet for lunch, and we were surprised by an option to do a behind the scenes tour of the new coaster (just about to open I believe, but under construction when we were there), the newest Intamin, "Toutatis" Anyone that was interested was welcome to join the tour after lunch - and TPR was the first "outside" group of folks that would be able to see the coaster up close. thru Robb's magic, we got a bonus from the park of some evening rides on Tonnerre 2 Zeus, as well as several skip passes each to ride it during the day - to help make up for the late start to the morning. and with that, we were let loose in the park. . heading over towards Tonnerre 2 Zeus to see it's status, we were greeted by this line - yeah. . remember the ENTRANCE to the queue is under the Zeus statue. we certainly didn't want to be "ugly Americans" and use skip passes - certainly not as a group at the same time - so we decided we'd ride some other things first. and tho we KNEW it was awful. . . it was a first time park for me (and others) and I really wanted to ride ALL the coasters. so we headed over to Gourdurix. only to find it closed for technical issues! the park op was a great sport so posed for a picture for me that I could share with the rest of the TPR group on the trip: and our reaction to discovering it was closed, after we had made a good faith effort to ride it Since we were over on this side of the park, and we all really wanted to ride it. . we headed back over to Tonnerre 2 Zeus and saw the line, while really long still, was no longer spilling out under the queue entrance. So went ahead and got in line using our skip passes bringing us right up to the station. originally we had gotten only 1 pass each that allowed for a back car ride (an upcharge for the reverse queue, I believe). . but the operators told us the skip passes would allow us to sit anywhere, including the back row (so I did end up getting a couple of back row rides). here's how the train looks in the station, from the wait for back row. . with back car flipped backwards after our rides, we noticed behind us were more TPR folks, including Robb & Elissa. (that Robb is filming, tells me my memory isn't so bad.. we must not have gotten to ride in the morning, otherwise he would have filmed at that time. (and that guy on the left with the camera? - that's the park rep group that has the camera on him. . so yes, he absolutely had permission to film on this coaster, people) the line never really got any shorter than this thruout the day. . but thanks to the skip passes, we got a number of rides in rather quickly before going elsewhere in the park to ride lots of other things. Front row was great too. here's Ryan & Jere enjoying it. Andrew and Ian in the back row. Myself and Jon in the back. I DID really like the ride facing backwards. it was fun, and not knowing where you are going was great. But I honestly did prefer it facing forwards. In the forwards position, you *really* feel the 90 degree turns, and the drop into the tunnel. Something you don't really notice when facing backwards - probably because you're hanging on for dear life, and laughing the whole way. one final ride for the moment. . . this time waiting for Front row. From the station queue: Whee! Ian and I on our front row ride. (unfortunately, when riding backwards, the camera can't get a pic. . LOL). you can see how much we loved this coaster. Great job by the park. . from what I understand? the coaster had gotten a bit rough. this refurb was really great! and they even left one of the old trains, on an old section of the original track (remember the refurb changed the ride layout a bit. . so this section of old track, with the old train, is just sitting there in the middle of the coaster! it's freaky when you pass it!). pic from a still from Robb's video but that's only the 2nd greatest thing about this coaster. the 1st greatest thing? yes, you can actually buy a pair of Zeus' pink panties with the duckies on it at the photo / gift shop. to be continued. . .

and we have an opening date (finally) (saw this in a tweet from American Coaster Enthusiasts & the park)

oh yes. . SUPER simple. went to Membership Services, and showed her my pass, and asked how much it would be to upgrade to the all park pass. she looked it up. . told me $60, I paid, and then she scanned it and it updated both on the card reader, and in the SF app. all in all took about 4 minutes? but for only $60 more? yeah, absolutely worth it, as now I can visit SFOT, and SFOG this year (since I go to both cities each year). and she confirmed Parking is included.

I believe something *major* broke on it shortly after it reopened after that long refurb. I know that the park folks were VERY upset. . .but as it was the only one of it's kind still in operation? have to assume the cost of fixing what broke was way too prohibitive, so they just had to announce it's being removed, even after such an effort was made to refurb it. really sad

SFFT as well. I upgraded my Platinum Pass (which I paid $54 for during a sale late last year) to Diamond for only $60 on Saturday when was in the park. so in total, my Diamond pass was $114.

^ I JUST rode that less than 3 weeks ago. here's what it looks like with fresh paint, outside, and without the disgusting staircase

Seeing chatter that Xcalibur is SBNO and is going to be removed? didn't they just spend YEARS refurbishing this? hmmmm. . taking with a grain of salt unless officially announced.

I asked about this at Winterfest. . and the park rep I was speaking to did not know if SF had a version that could operate year round (when I told him that Pulsar can operate without the splash to keep it going year round). he agreed that it would be great to have it running year round and said he'd ask that question when he got back to Dallas. not sure what the end answer was tho. and yes, Pulsar barely got the riders wet. . it just misted us every time I rode.

Other than the Lemur sweatshirt, the only other swag I got at Bellewaerde was this magnet. yes, I have a Lemur problem...

Day 10: Bellewaerde ! we were up and checked out of the hotel and on the bus by 7:30 (but not before having breakfast). I was in Belgium, so about damn time I had some waffles: it was very overcast, and was supposed to be a bit rainy and chilly. . .but we were headed to Bellewaerde today. . a kind of funky park, that I thought reminded me very much of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Animals, and very "green" pathways, with many of the rides hard to see as they are buried among the trees. starting out not too badly tho. . just slightly overcast, but still clear on the bus ride there: oooo. . this park be kinky!!! apparently there's a waterpark here too. . . tho I can't recall ever seeing the slides. (as noted, a lot of stuff is hidden by greenery) I believe we came in the back gate (we exited later from the front gate). . .but we came in back here, because we were going to get some ERT before the park opened, and Robb was going to film on the parks funky indoor/outdoor/dark ride coaster, "Huracan" - which is close to this entrance. we were greeted by a Boomerang on the left (yay?), but on the right? yeah, that's what I was most excited about - another brand new ride for me, a Topple Tower! I was so excited to see this. I've never been on one, and it was one of my 'must do' at this park - once it opened. oh look, they have an "El Toro" here too but we were headed to Huracan 1st. I really loved this coaster. .it had a fantastic theming thruout, and a really fun dark-ride section with lots of lasers and lights, that hid very well what was just a pretty basic layout (for the inside portion of the coaster). It's a great family coaster with pops of fun on the outdoors section. speaking of theming. . . I mean, look how amazing this station is! I got to sit in the front row with Robb during one of his filming sessions (pic courtesy of Elissa) after riding this a few times, our park guide gathered us up for the trek to the other side of the park for our next ride (we came in by the Mexico Section, and we were next going to ride things (Wakala & Dawson Duel) over in the Canada Section. . so you can see the route we took on the park map below) along the way, he pointed out things of interest - including this ladybug coaster that had a countdown clock on it. what was going on? this classic coaster was going to be closing forever shortly after our visit. He urged us to take a ride on it, for historic purposes, if we got the chance today, as this was a beloved coaster that had been in the park for decades. noted! I snapped pics of ride signs as we passed.. tho often it was hard to get a pic of the actual rides, because of all the greenery. River Splash - the parks flume ride I mean, look how beautiful and green this park is! and lots of animals to look at as you walk the pathways in the park. LEMURS! so cute!!! as I keep saying. . just lovely. tho I don't recall actually riding this teacups ride here. or this Carousel (I know!!!). I may have ridden it and just don't recall, but I don't have a pic on it, so I think I might have just not come back to it, as it was a smaller children's Carousel (not that that ever really stops me). Took a pic of this as we walked by tho lots of flowers and topiary thruout the park too, even in the more "open" areas I believe this is a meet and greet location for the park's mascots. . tho I didn't see any out today. Probably just because it was overcast and did get colder and start to drizzle shortly after park open. we are passing by the main front gate now, and this is the entrance to the gift shop. as we looped around to the Canada section, there was a photo op for the soon to be closed Ladybug coaster. so did I stop to take a pic? I mean. . . of course! Bengal Rapid River - the entrance to the park's River Rapids ride. didn't ride this today, as you'll see in later pics, this sucker got people SOAKED. (and I was already moist enough from the drizzle later) and they aren't kidding with the "rapids" part of the name one of the few pics of Dawson Duel - the first "Mountain Coaster" I'd ever ridden. but wait, you ask. . I don't see any "mountains" at Bellewaerde. and you'd be correct. They built massive towers to support the mountain coaster and hid them in the forest around the park. So the result is a pretty amazing racing Mountain coaster - with a super long climb via ramps/steps to get up to the start. but you truly can't see most of it, or get a good pic, because it's so well hidden. but we walked under it for now, as we were headed to Wakala . . a pretty unique shuttle type launch coaster, with a spike over the big lake near the park. again, some really cool theming here. as it has thruout the whole park. the group coming back from the first ride, surprised by that unexpected "spike" over the lake, and then backwards before switching over to come back into the station. look at those smiles. . we all loved it. pic by Robb or Elissa after a couple of rides on Wakala, we headed across the walkway to Dawson Duel & checked all our bags/cameras/etc, it didn't really matter, as it's so hard to get a decent pic of it - but wow, highly recommended, as the views while climbing up to the start are spectacular and worth the climb up. and of course, had to climb up twice - I mean, it's a dueling mountain coaster - you've GOT to ride both sides Luckily Robb shared a pic on his instagram (which I borrowed to use here), of the empty "carts" making the lift back up to the top so we could load in for the rides. (I wish they let you ride up in them tho. . LOL) from the top of the Dawson Duel tower, we had a clear view of the parking lot, and tho it was mostly empty as the park was just about to open, we did see several school buses full of kids pull into the lot and park by the front gate. after Dawson Duel, we were let loose in the park to enjoy until it was time to head out ~4pm (as we were headed back to Paris after) since we were right over here, some of us decided to hang out and wait for Screaming Eagle, the drop tower to open. there was a shoot the chutes over here too.. tho I can't recall if it opened. I THINK it did, but had no desire to ride it. nice theming tho. it took them a seemingly long time to get this open, as there was one operator, and he was having trouble getting the balance correct between the riders on each side, and it kept throwing a red light. so there were a number of "get on, get restraints on, check them, then everyone off". . . cycle the ride. . and do it again. eventually, tho we got a green light, and we went (against my better judgement, since it was so hard to get the "green light". . but I got on). i have to say, probably the most underwhelming ride I was on in Europe. A drop tower with zero forces? no airtime on the drop down, and no G's going up. it was so weird how forceless this was. I think most of us felt silly we had waited for it to stop operating. passing by, I think we may have hopped back on Wakala for another ride. Managed to not get the trains (sorry), but a some good pics showing how well the ride is integrated in the trees. thru the trees!! this walkway seemed to go out to a dock that appeared to be either a swimming hole, or possibly a paddle boats ride. . . but didn't see anything here, other than the long bridge, and what appeared to be a Tom Sawyer Island-like attraction with cabins to explore over there. we didn't explore it any further than looking at it tho, as I was determined to get on that Topple Tower, so we headed back over towards where we started. we popped into the Lion exhibit - again, really well done. you can climb into the "crashed" vehicle, to get a slightly better view of the animals. and going this way, finally got a good view of the river rapids ride, and made me decide hell no to riding: yeah. .the animatronic elephants made SURE everyone in the rafts got soaked! I believe the Tiger exhibit. . . there's one laying up there on the perch on the left. Some very nice design work in this park. even the food stands are nicely themed to the area they are in (not open, but still nice) ooooo..another madhouse. I believe this one was themed to Houdini ? (it looks like it based on the statues and locks on the outside) and the inside show room before the ride. still headed back to Mexico for the topple tower credit for me. . . . thru the trees! but we were passing thru the Wild West area. . and the Ladybug coaster. I honestly had not planned to ride it. . . . tho everyone else in the group I was with wanted to, so I joined along. glad I did too. . it's another one of those that looks like a kiddie coaster, but is a fun family coaster, that moved pretty fast and pulled some forces. and as you can see. . it had started to drizzle, a bit heavy. this is my kind of ride too.. where's the entrance??? ah. here it is. . . if I'm recalling? that snake was animatronic, and spit water out at people coming into the entrance. . the first group of kids from the buses we'd really bumped into today. . . but they filled the whole boat before us, so we got the next one. lots of animals to look at on the Jungle Cruise. . . oh crap..really? we're gonna get wet on this too???? yep. . . sheesh. . LOL it's a.. . . um. . . hell, I can't remember what these are called. it's a giant rat thing. . . (but without a monkey riding it) and if we weren't already moist and cold, it started to drizzle harder. . . great. .more spitting snakes. . and some "slightly problematic in 2022" Natives. . . but the chief was toking! the pic I have of the smoke POURING out of that window came out blurry. . but funny as hell. and . . .yeah. . MORE water on the boat. a fun, and great family ride. . but anyone in an outside seat is gonna get a little wet. the rain had paused by the time we finally got back over to Mexico. so I went right away to the topple tower, El Volador, even tho I had been getting warned it was going to underwhelm. I mean, it LOOKS amazing. . . was it "thrilling" ? no but did I really like it? heck yes! it was a fun, mid level ride, and when it does the full tilt thing, I really liked the feeling of being about to slip out of the restraints. is it my favorite flat? not at all, but I will ride one if I'm in a park that has it. I enjoyed it that much and was able to get some pics of Huracan's outdoor section from the exit - which meant had to go ride that again after. I kinda wanted to ride this. . but really can't recall if we did? I don't' think we did? but maybe? everyone else wanted to ride the Boomerang. called "Boomerang" here. I took my favorite seat on it - the bench out front - and took pics of them riding. and this singing phallic thing with a unique speaker opening. . . hmmmmm. it made odd noises, so I wanted to get a pic with it . . LOL it had been a fairly light day, so even tho it had gotten a little chilly, we took a spin on the flume ride - and we each got our own log . . whee! I don't recall much of this flume, but I didn't hate it (or would recall I didn't like it). . I guess? we'd waited long enough to eat. . and it had started drizzling again, so we headed up towards the front of the park to the big restaurant to eat a late lunch. I THINK this was a breaded fish and fries? I seem to remember it was fish, and I found it odd there was a brown sauce with fish. I do remember the cake was good. Not very sweet, which I liked. this tho? this just looked gross. . so yeah, didn't try this. while eating lunch, with most of the TPR group in there at the same time, there was discussion on if we should stay until we had planned to at 4, or if we wanted to leave early to get to Paris earlier. I THINK it was at this park? the overall voting was that since it was so chilly and overcast, and since most everyone had ridden everything they wanted, that we'd leave at 2pm instead of 4. (I could be mistaken, but I think that was here). the only thing I still wanted to ride was the train, as it went thru the Lion & Tigers exhibit . . and we knew it had been swamped with kids earlier, and likely still would be busy. So after eating, we headed over to the train. tho there were still a bunch of school kids, we got super lucky and they all crammed into the other train cars, and the TPR folks ended up in a mostly empty car at the back of the train - which let us move from side to side to take pics. so it worked out really well. . . . you get really close to the tigers and lions! Smart cats. . they know to stay just far enough away from the tracks . . .but they are watching. . . oh yes. .they watch the cars full of food slowly go by I'm not sure what everyone else broke off to do after the train. (I think they may have gone back to ride Wakala again?) but I wanted to do some shopping, so headed up to the front entrance to hit the main gift shop. such a pretty park. .a shame it was a little nasty today. but I really enjoyed it. so pretty. cold and wet, yet still some folks were riding the rapids! as you can see from the wait times sign, the weather REALLY kept the crowds away. and as the School Kids had left around 1:30, the park was really very deserted . . I mean. .this is the main entrance area. . a few folks here and there on some rides. LOVED these strollers. If I were small enough, I would love to be pushed around in a Kangaroo all day in the gift shop, they were selling some "questionable in 2022" souvenirs for the kiddos. . . tho I don't have any issue with it. Maybe that's just a thing (the Cultural appropriation stuff) in the USA and not so much in Europe? I was so tempted to buy this . . .LOL but (t) I didn't. (yes, I have a dirty mind) but I did end up getting a Lemur sweatshirt.. which is so cute, and comfortable. I put it on right away. ah. .here, out front of the main entrance, is one of the Park Mascots you can pose with: and then it was back on the bus, and starting the ~4 hour drive back to Paris. look how cute that Sweatshirt is! even tho it was a bit too chilly and drizzly for my preference? I still had a fantastic time at Bellewaerde, and really recommend this park. if you get a chance to visit? it's well worth a stop for the rides, the animals, and the atmosphere. we rested on the bus, and I texted back and forth with Nick a bit (who was up as the nurses kept waking him up) and he told me that he was doing much better and would talk to me that evening on the phone. so I settled in after a full and fun day, and just enjoyed the ride as we headed back to Paris airport and our hotel for the evening.

^ yup. . in our swing thru Penn. years ago, Hershey's WHIP ranked absolutely bottom of the barrel (I recall Dorney has one, and even THAT one was better). the best thing I can say about Hersheypark's whip, was the operator was really cool the time I went there in 2018 (she was kinda goth, and posed for a pic for me when I asked)

the Alpine Sleighs were one of the original rides at the park and was a dark ride / powered coaster type ride. I loved the hell out of it. . but it got shut down in, I think, 1984. they turned the inside of the structure into part of the Children's Adventure area - with foam bags, and ropes courses and crap for several years, and then part of it was incorporated into Batman's Queue when it opened, so you passed thru the mountain on the way to Gotham City. there's no POV of it that I can find, but several parts of it can be seen in various videos on youtube (search for Alpine Sleigh Ride Astroworld)

how they look on the wall, framed

So I did a thing yesterday at SeaWorld San Antonio - after going for Mardi Gras and having way too many Hurricanes (and excellent food) as I said on the FB group, they *probably* shouldn't let drunk adults name their own Build A Bear. I present to you: Hornyhead Sharp they threw in the little backpack/carrier (the arms poke thru!!) and yes, my happy ass took him on the Carousel too

didn't want to start a new thread for these, so instead resurrecting an older trip report someone posted But I just got these incredible posters last weekend (2'x3') and picked up frames for them today. VERY pleased with how great they look.

he might have used the term "Re-profiling". . not sure. but remember, WW was the 1st of it's kind - a prototype. . so RMC/SFFT have said they want to use what has been learned since to bring WW: Golden Lasso up to match the ride experience of Jersey Devil & MM's Wonder Woman coaster.

At Winterfest today, Jeffery *did* announce that they will be shutting Wonder Woman down "in the back half of this year" for retracking, and new trains installations. so it WILL be down, but not until later in the year. Bugs Whitewater is currently down for Refurb, but should be back up in the next month or so.

SFFT 2006 - pic from the top of the Scream drop tower, via disposable camera. caught Der Twister (the old Top Spin) cycling in this one: and me

^ you look like you're judging. . which is why I loved it! (tho can totally edit it to cut ya'll out if you want me to)

I worried about Nick the drive back to the hotel, and during the relax period in the room. . . but when folks wanted to go grab food (remember, our meal this afternoon at the park was. . um. . underwhelming) I was up for it. I also wanted to go to the Left on the beach, as we hadn't found the Carousel the night before when going Right, so it should have been on the Left. I was worried, but nothing I could do, so tried to enjoy the boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean in De Panne, Beligum. we were out earlier than had been the night before, so it was a bit brighter, and there were more folks out and about, as we hit the boardwalk and made a left. looking back towards where we had come from. . really beautiful, and I think it was close to 8pm at this point? this both scared and amused me. . .LOL and what was that up ahead at the end of the boardwalk? Found it!!! and it was closed - boooooo. . . . tho, honestly, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it as I as so worried about Nick. and besides, we had just spent the full day at Plopsaland, and I had ridden the Carousel there twice. . so I'd had my fill and could live with it. did I take pics of it anyways? you bet. . . at this end of the Boardwalk, there was another big sculpture installation. \ and this AMAZING - *never in America* sand sculpture of an attacking Octopus. why "never in America" ? well. . . it's made of Metal. yes. . metal. Sharp edges and all. and the kiddos were climbing all over it. it looked so incredible. . and so many tripping hazards everywhere. Great place to snag a foot and fall headfirst into another metal part. yup. . "never in America" Even metal birds sculpted hanging out on some of the Tentacles. . It was while I was out on the beach (sand in my shoes and everywhere, but was worth it for the pics) that Nick texted me he was up and could I talk. so I stepped off to the side and I called him and we talked. he told me that his right lung had collapsed (not his left lung again, which is what had happened on his Birthday in March) and that they had been able to get it reinflated, and were monitoring him. And that tho it sounded very concerning, I shouldn't worry, as he was where he needed to be, and they were fixing the issue - although he was still against having the surgery that the specialist had recommended (but then agreed with us that since Nick tends to have after affects from Surgery that we should not do it unless absolutely necessary. . and this didn't seem necessary, yet). so no reason to rush home, or try to change my flight back a week later. . . but I should continue enjoying my trip. I yelled at him when he told me that he had driven himself to the Hospital after he woke up from the nap and he still was having difficulty breathing. I was so angry that he chanced driving himself, instead of calling 911 or reaching out to any of our friends who knew I was gone and would have helped. the stubborn ass actually apologized for that, and said he was sorry for scaring me. and then he had to rest, as the Nurse had come into the room. So I told him I'd talk to him later, before bed, and I was glad he was where he needed to be. Still worried, but feeling much better after talking to him, we continued on for our walk in De Panne, to try and find some food place. . last shot of the closed Carousel, before heading up to the main street in search of food. but I got a smile pic to send to Nick after we hung up. as said, really is quite lovely here. we passed a laundry mat that seemed very busy. with TPR folks doing laundry. Hi guys! More impressive art sculptures as we got back to the main street for the town someone recalled that Ian had told us he had Gyros / Greek food the night before in a place near the hotel. . so we texted him and he pointed out where to go. it was a LOT of food, and it was really good. Tho there was absolutely no English spoken, and the menu appeared to be in Dutch - which left us all at a bit of a disadvantage. luckily there were a lot of pictures, and a large family already seated that was eating. . . so was able to see what they were eating, and find a similar picture that matched it and then order by pointing. as noted, it was all really good. No idea what I got, think it was a mix of Lamb and Chicken strips on a full plate with Fries, pita, hummus and several other things. I think my mind was still very flustered, as I somehow didn't manage to take a pic of the food (really odd for me) on the way back to the hotel to crash after that super filling meal, we bumped into Robb, Elissa and Kristen on the street. i filled Elissa in on what was going on with Nick (as I had told her on the bus that he has been admitted to the hospital). . and that he seemed good and not worried when I talked to him. so at least although I was worried, the day ended on a really good note. and hey, we also got a full moon in De Panne, thanks to the window washer - who was squeegeeing *all the way to the ground* on the windows behind Elissa while we were chatting. it was a little distracting. . so of COURSE i pointed it out - and took a picture enjoy the full moon over Beligum! and with that, we said our goodnights, and headed back to the hotel room to crash. tomorrow was another big day - up, checked out, and on bus by &;30 am, for a day at Bellewaerde to be continued. . . .