Merry Christmas Town!

 Merry Christmas! One more batch of pictures we took when we visited for Thanksgiving. We were there for Thanksgiving, but the park was set up for Xmas. So posting these pictures for Xmas is not strange at all. 

We left off while we were leaving the Festhaus show. Outside was this giant tree which looks like Glow-y Spider-Man thwip'd all over it. 

While walking past the old DarKastle building, we see the ad for the new thing called... DarKoaster! Not sure what to think about the term "Straddle Coaster" That sounds um... comfortable?

How is there a giant scene of gingerbread cookie people, and NO place selling actual gingerbread cookies right next to it? At least it doesn't smell like gingerbread cookies.

Hey anybody see my two kids around here? Their names are Hansel and Gretel. The witch in this house said she has no idea what I'm talking about.

Well, you can do some math to figure out when I took this picture. Right then I had plenty of time to finish buying presents! 

Crossing the bridge back to New France, I saw this massive screen on only one side of the bridge. That's certainly new. I would have totally remembered a giant wooden screen on this bridge before.

Trappers Smokehouse for supper. Does anybody say "supper"? haha. This is closer to the tag on the shelf, but still not quite right.

It's silly that they have these tags. At least put the pudding next to the pudding tag, and not this obviously not-pudding strawberries.

They did not have all-chicken platters, they were only doing sample plates. So there's ribs and brisket along with a smaller portion of the delicious chicken. I mean, it was all good, but I would have liked all chicken.

Odd to see a book like this in the gift shop. Who is it about? I mean it mentions a band, but Who is it?

An unexpected painful but somehow also-comforting glimpse of a pro laser machine in a gift shop to remind my friend he no longer has a job.

Lasered wooden plaques. This looks like coordinates on this plaque. Anybody know the longitude and latitude of your house?(!?)

Plushie Griffon! Needs to be about 20% cuter.

We saw this show last year, but it's cool to see it again. Get it? "Cool"? Oh, did I mention this was the ice skating show?

That ice skating rink was magically pumping out cold-ness in the area. This place was noticeably colder than the rest of the park. The show was just as good, but almost exactly like it was last year.

So... I was trying to get pictures different than the ones I took last year at Busch Gardens Christmastown, but here I am on the train again.

Yay. Lights. After having done nothing but watch shows all day, this technically counts as "a ride" even though I did not ride any coasters today, I can't say "no rides".

Word on the street is, they will soon demolish the aging Loch Ness Monster coaster. But, they'd be insane to not build a new coaster in it's shadow, so I don't think we have to worry that it will really go away. 

Also rumored to be on the chopping block, is the maintenance-heavy Escape From Pompeii. This building looks like it's already in Heaven. Or... Mount Olympus? What did Italy believe at the time?

Weeeeee! I can't think of anything fun to say here. Just sit back and enjoy the lights. So, I guess this is what the ride feels like. 

You might not even realize there are few classic multi-colored-lighted trees in the park until you see some, and then you're like; hey all the trees are usually only one color.

When did we enter the sci-fi movie? These large color-shifting globes look other-worldly.

The train announcer said this was "The Official Busch Gardens Christmas Tree". So... Only presents under this one tree on Xmas? Good to know, so you can avoid all the other trees that morning. That would have been a mess.

I still think the "finale" bit should be a little more.... more. I mean, it's simple, but maybe a little something around it?

I asked the train conductor what this meant, and they said it was a real train line name. 

I don't know why I wanted another picture of the Le Mans Raceway car. It was nice seeing it, even thought the ride is long gone. Feels like visiting an old friend. Is that weird?

The Archangel Michael stabbing a demon statue was replaced by this ice skater. This has blades, too! 

If you're not used to a ton of walking, by the time it's closed, you might not realize how exhausted you are. The walk out of the park can seem like a struggle.

It's the wagon we like because of the evil witch that was teasing us one time. It was peeking out the window and when we tried to get its picture, it hid for a while. She's probably still in there.

Giant turkey legs! Found at the cart in Ireland. We have a friend who wanted to go just for a giant turkey leg, but we weren't sure they had them here. Well... now we know they do!

We wanted a hot chocolate. The cup was from last year, our friends carried them around all day in the backpacks they brought. So it's cheaper to get a refill. So... thanks for saving us a couple of bucks! Carrying it around all day was so worth it!

We relaxed for a few minutes sipping on the hot chocolate, listening to the live music band playing on the street in Ireland. Does this count as another "show"? I think it does!

On the way out we see the blue tree we took the picture of, in the daylight. See? Much better at night, just like we thought.

Bye, Santa! I know you'll be alright, I mean, you've been doing the Santa thing for a long time, so keep up the good work, and I hope you had a fun night!