Busch Gardens.
Jul. 2nd, 2012 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_doyleSo, by popular demand -- some thoughts on Busch Gardens.
Due to time constraints, I was only at Busch gardens for four to five hours. The park was beautiful, but it was very spread out and the lines were huge, which strictly limited the number of things I could do.
To begin with, I was disappointed by the lack of Tilt-a-Whirls, but that's a strictly personal prejudice. I was saddened further when no-one attending the park with me had any idea what the Hell a Tilt-a-Whirl was. Whither civilization?
Anyway, though it was hot out, the trees and the novelty of the surroundings -- the well-done but cheesy theme where each section of the park was modeled after a different country -- made even walking and waiting amusing.
The first ride I went on was "Le Scoot," which is a log flume with two drops. Nothing fancy, but I love log flumes, so I had a lot of fun. After that, we went to the 3-D Ride Curse of the Darkastle, where a sleigh takes you through a werewolf-haunted gothic castle. It was a blast, delightfully cheesy but with a very Ravenloft ambience. My lack of depth perception meant the 3-D effects didn't work for me, which was actually nice, as I got the impression that ghosts swinging weapons or throwing knives at me and werewolves trying to bite my head off may have been more frightening if I had foud them a credible threat.
After that, we had lunch at the canadian smokehouse. Brisket, spare ribs, chicken, waffle fries, a biscuit, mozzarella sticks, and a drink. Well-cooked, they didn't skimp on portions, and the price was not hellacious. Would nom again. Afterwards, Megan and I briefly romped through the kids' playground at Dragon Country, which was amusing and made me wish for more playgrounds scaled for adults, especially with climbing platforms, rope bridges, and big slides. Alas, this playscape was clearly not meant for us -- the rope net bridge sunk almost a foot under our combined weight. I'm sure it was safe, but it was a trifle alarming.
Finally, Megan and I took a very brief boat tour of Pompeii. There was a lot of fire, things almost fell on us, and then of course there was a slide that felt very much like free fall and which, for some reason, I enjoyed. Good deal, although it was disappointingly short. For the length of the lines, I would really hope for longer rides.
Alas, we were almost through the line for the Roman Rapids ride when our time was up and we had to flee forthwith to the car to go spend time with family (which was also a lot of fun, but I was looking forward to the Rapids).
All in all, much better than my last theme park experience, in which I repeatedly went on a ferris wheel I hated because I had a huge crush on the girl who was running it that day.
ETA: Oh, plus we saw ponies! They had some gorgeous Clydesdales, including a baby foal. Having just seen Brave, it was all the nicer to be able to appreciate the details of all that shaggy equine adorableness the movie got right.
If Megan posts her reactions, I'll link to 'em so people can get a broader perspective than my ramblings.
Due to time constraints, I was only at Busch gardens for four to five hours. The park was beautiful, but it was very spread out and the lines were huge, which strictly limited the number of things I could do.
To begin with, I was disappointed by the lack of Tilt-a-Whirls, but that's a strictly personal prejudice. I was saddened further when no-one attending the park with me had any idea what the Hell a Tilt-a-Whirl was. Whither civilization?
Anyway, though it was hot out, the trees and the novelty of the surroundings -- the well-done but cheesy theme where each section of the park was modeled after a different country -- made even walking and waiting amusing.
The first ride I went on was "Le Scoot," which is a log flume with two drops. Nothing fancy, but I love log flumes, so I had a lot of fun. After that, we went to the 3-D Ride Curse of the Darkastle, where a sleigh takes you through a werewolf-haunted gothic castle. It was a blast, delightfully cheesy but with a very Ravenloft ambience. My lack of depth perception meant the 3-D effects didn't work for me, which was actually nice, as I got the impression that ghosts swinging weapons or throwing knives at me and werewolves trying to bite my head off may have been more frightening if I had foud them a credible threat.
After that, we had lunch at the canadian smokehouse. Brisket, spare ribs, chicken, waffle fries, a biscuit, mozzarella sticks, and a drink. Well-cooked, they didn't skimp on portions, and the price was not hellacious. Would nom again. Afterwards, Megan and I briefly romped through the kids' playground at Dragon Country, which was amusing and made me wish for more playgrounds scaled for adults, especially with climbing platforms, rope bridges, and big slides. Alas, this playscape was clearly not meant for us -- the rope net bridge sunk almost a foot under our combined weight. I'm sure it was safe, but it was a trifle alarming.
Finally, Megan and I took a very brief boat tour of Pompeii. There was a lot of fire, things almost fell on us, and then of course there was a slide that felt very much like free fall and which, for some reason, I enjoyed. Good deal, although it was disappointingly short. For the length of the lines, I would really hope for longer rides.
Alas, we were almost through the line for the Roman Rapids ride when our time was up and we had to flee forthwith to the car to go spend time with family (which was also a lot of fun, but I was looking forward to the Rapids).
All in all, much better than my last theme park experience, in which I repeatedly went on a ferris wheel I hated because I had a huge crush on the girl who was running it that day.
ETA: Oh, plus we saw ponies! They had some gorgeous Clydesdales, including a baby foal. Having just seen Brave, it was all the nicer to be able to appreciate the details of all that shaggy equine adorableness the movie got right.
If Megan posts her reactions, I'll link to 'em so people can get a broader perspective than my ramblings.
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