With no plans for Saturday, the kids and I cleaned and organized their entire playroom. This was a long overdue project and we finished by 2pm. Isabella was running a fever and not feeling well all day and decided she did not want to go to Busch. I took her to my parents so she could get some more rest. As I was leaving my parents house, 2 of the neighborhood boys asked if the kids could play. I told them we were going to Busch Gardens and asked them if they wanted to join. I got their pass information from their parents and off we went. Yes, I was there by myself with 7 kids!!!
On the bridge leaving Ireland, we saw a lot of people gathering around the Wolf Haven. This is the first time we have seen the wolves out in a long time.
Le Catapult is the first ride we came to that was open and we all got on the last few open carts.
We stopped at Wilkommenhaus to use the remainder of our Mardi Gras festival food vouchers. We got 4 desserts to split. Ari and I were the last ones to finish our food and while we did, the boys went into Land of the Dragons to run around in their play area.
Ari and I took Taylor to The Land of the Dragons once we finished eating. We were going to get the boys but decided to let Taylor ride the open rides and the boys could run around a little more.
On our way to Germany, we passed a group of Jesters sneaking around.
Next up, the swings. All of the kids went on the swings as Taylor and I watched nearby.
Next up, Bumper Cars (Der Autobahn).
While the kids rode the Bumper Cars, I put Taylor on the Airplanes (Der Roto Baron). Taylor loves this ride but unfortunately isn’t strong enough to pull the lever back to make the plane go up.
Once everyone got off the Bumper Cars, we went to Verbolten. My 3 boys rode it while the other kids went on the Swings again. Arianna stayed with me. She was very nervous to try out Verbolten for the first time. She is not a fan of heights and roller coasters. With coaching from the ride attendant Eddie she finally decided she would try it out.
Eddie is truly the best employee I have ever encountered at Busch Gardens. He was very helpful and patient and knew exactly what to say to Arianna to get her to conquer her fear and ride the coaster. Eddie measured Arianna to make sure she was tall enough and she was. Once the boys got off the coaster, Eddie walked Arianna and I to the 3rd row and we waited until the people in front of us boarded and then we were next. Eddie stayed with us the entire time and had everyone in the queue line clap and encourage Arianna. It was our turn and she was very nervous but sat down. Eddie was right there with us. He got her settled in her seat and made sure her harness was tight enough. Once everyone’s harnesses were checked, we were off.
I held onto Arianna’s hand the entire time and explained the ride to her as we were riding. I let her know about the drop inside the tunnel. I wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. She got really nervous as we approached the big drop and squeezed my hand very tightly. I told her we were about to have our picture taken and she smiled for her picture.
She didn’t even looked scared or nervous in her picture since she was smiling. When we got back to the queue lines, Eddie was waiting for us and asked her how she liked the ride. She said she would ride it again but is still afraid of it but happy that she rode it. We get to the area where you can purchase pictures and Eddie waited with us until we got to see ours. He was so generous and was going to buy the picture for her but we have the Photo Key and can just put the photo right on our card. Without the help of Eddie, she would have never had the courage to ride. I asked Eddie if I could take a picture of him and Arianna and he happily obliged.
Thank you Eddie for making Arianna’s experience truly fantastic.
Ethan and Nick wanted to ride Verbolten again, the other boys wanted to ride the bumper cars again and I sent Arianna and Austin back on the swings.
Once we were all back together, we had about 15 minutes before the park closed. During the winter, the park closes at 6 on Saturdays and Sundays. We made our way to the entrance and the kids asked if we had time to ride the Carousel, which we did.
Once done, we make our way to the front of the park to get in the car to go home. When we got back to the car, Taylor was sound asleep. I don’t remember the last time she fell asleep in her stroller.
Nic of Time - Travel 