Europe 2016 - Robb & Elissa Traveling Around Riding Stuff

I can't believe how cool Toverland is! Definitely have to get over there some day and check it out. I love ropes courses and jungle gym stuff, anything that would never be allowed in the US, Bobkarts and a backwards log flume is the cherry on top. Having a good group of people always makes things more fun too. Thanks for posting!

Love all the photos so far!!!!

Toverland really is the park of surprises, I wasn't expecting much from my first visit back i 2013 but when I came there I had more fun then some bigger parks I visited.

 

And Robb I totaly understand you, while yes I like to meet you some day, if that required you to be around that kind of people I rather never meet you at all.

Have fun the rest of the trip.

The Catacombs in Paris were a huge surprise to us when we went a few years ago. It is probably as close to Skyrim as you'll get in real life. Very eerie and weirdly split into two sections - I think the first section was unfilled, and one of the builders years back even carved a model of the port town he called home all those years ago. The second, as you've seen from the photos, is where the bones were (and no, we most certainly didn't touch any).

 

Of course, for those interested, it is a LONG walk down - and, of course, back up again!

 

If you're in Paris it's definitely something to do, and we found it pretty easy to get to (hint - if you're staying at Disneyland Paris, you can pick up an RER/Metro ticket that gives you pretty good access to the trains. Can't recall if the train from Disneyland Paris goes to Paris, but you could go to Serris / Val d'Europe and go from there. Another hint - if you're flying into CDG, the CDG airport actually has a train station and you can catch a TGV that goes straight to Disneyland Paris in roughly 10 minutes)

Edited June 17, 2016 by djmcbell

Today we have arrived at @Efteling in the Netherlands! Follow along with us at this awesome park!

 

The park has opened up Baron 1898 early for us so we can come in and film!

 

Got some good rides in on Baron 1898 @Efteling! Should have some fun footage to post soon!

 

Flying Dutchman was up next. The station alone is a highlight of this ride!

 

Next we hit up "Bob" which is an old-school Intamin bobsled ride! Still loads of fun!

 

Efteling is another beautifully landscaped and well-themed park which we don't have in the USA.

 

Dreamflight is @Efteling's signature dark ride! It's themed to fairies and castles and trolls and things!

 

Vogel Rok... Space Mountain meets birds!

 

Um... Stroopwafels are OMFG amazing! Freshly cooked, sliced in half and all syruped up! YUM!

 

The construction for the new Symbolica dark ride coming in 2017

 

Taking a ride on "Fata Morgana" @Efteling Pirates-like boat ride based on 1001 Arabian Nights.

 

More of the awesome landscaping and theming you'll find @Efteling.

 

Yep. We are even riding the Vekoma!

 

In @Efteling's fairy tale land you can see some pretty awesome bizarre looking stuff!

 

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Love the nice relaxing boat ride @Efteling which gives you a nice break in the middle of the day!

 

Poffertjes > Funnel Cake! Especially since half of these have liquor in them! (Note the kids have the non-liquor!)

 

Raveleijn was all kinds of cool! I mean, we saw a HORSE ON FIRE!!! Awesome!

 

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First the show then an amazing dinner! Highly recommend Raveleijn!

 

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And after a great day @Efteling, we recommend staying at the Efteling Hotel! Had a great day at the park!

 

And once again, a clip of HORSE ON FIRE!!!

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Efteling is a park that I did want to go to this year, but money and time haven't really allowed it. It does look great (like a lot of parks on the continent do).

 

Also...

 

Vogel Rok... Space Mountain meets birds!

 

For some reason I read that as Space Mountain meets The Birds (as in the Alfred Hitchcock film / Daphne du Maurier book). Which would've been interesting.

Efteling looks like a wonderful park! I really need to visit this park some day. My company has a warehouse in Moerdijk which is not far away from Efteling, maybe I need to find a new excuse to go there and sneak in a visit to the park along the way...

Fresh made Stroopwaffels and Poffertjes!

 

Who needs rides.

The dinner! That dinner!

 

 

With a charming serving staff as well.

Efteling looks like a wonderful park! I really need to visit this park some day.

I personally think that Efteling is a park every theme park fan should get to in their life as it is one of the better themed and landscaped parks in the world with some fantastic attractions.

 

That being said, I will say that Efteling tops my list of parks that so many people absolutely love but I think doesn't quite live up to the hype that surrounds it. While I do feel that the park had some amazingly themed areas and rides, I also feel that many things fall short of my expectations and the hype.

 

It's a great park. It's a beautiful park. And I think it would be better if some of its über-fans didn't overhype it.

It is my favourite park I've visited, but yes, there can be a lot of overhype....odd when the park could speak for itself (as it did when I first visited only 3 years ago).

 

Great reports Robb.

Efteling looks like a wonderful park! I really need to visit this park some day.

I personally think that Efteling is a park every theme park fan should get to in their life as it is one of the better themed and landscaped parks in the world with some fantastic attractions.

 

That being said, I will say that Efteling tops my list of parks that so many people absolutely love but I think doesn't quite live up to the hype that surrounds it. While I do feel that the park had some amazingly themed areas and rides, I also feel that many things fall short of my expectations and the hype.

 

It's a great park. It's a beautiful park. And I think it would be better if some of its über-fans didn't overhype it.

 

I totally get this! I'm wouldnt call myself a efteling fan but I do love the park since I have been comming there since my early childhood.

 

However I do feel like the parks line-up is rather dissapointing. Many of the older rides are a total disney ripp off, but lack the level of quality theming to realy make it work. Also the lack of flat rides is especially noticable on any buisy day, as lines for the big rides are at least an hour on all of them.

 

The last couple of years they do seem to have stept up their game with aquanura, joris en de draak, de baron and now the New dark ride.

I've been loving the TR. One of my life's dreams to go to Europe one day and visit all these awesome places. Thanks for showing it to us Robb.

Slagharen Looping Star "farewell video!"

 

Making a stop today at Slagharen to say goodbye to their Schwarzkopf Looping Star roller coaster!

 

The Looping Star aka "Thunderloop" will be retired from the park the end of the 2016 season.

 

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Thought Slagharen was a really cute family park with a nice selection of rides.

 

Took lots of video of the Looping Star today! Should have some new videos posted soon!

 

Now THIS is a sign of quality! And we saw it quite a few places!

 

Just a few more of the family friendly attractions.

 

Checking out the water park. Looks like a lot of fun!

 

The Looping Star was the first upside down roller coaster for The Netherlands. It will be missed, but looking forward to what the park has planned for it's replacement!

 

I'm pretty sure this may be one of the coolest chair swings ride I've ever seen!

 

Had a nice day at Slagharen! We will be back at some point very soon!

Edited July 7, 2016 by robbalvey

I don't think I've ever seen a report from Slagharen before. Thanks for posting!

I don't think I've ever seen a report from Slagharen before.

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/search.php?keywords=slagharen&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Robb, was Slagharen always part of the plan or added after the Thunderloop announcement?

Robb, was Slagharen always part of the plan or added after the Thunderloop announcement?

I went there on our "free day" while other people went sightseeing.

Robb, was Slagharen always part of the plan or added after the Thunderloop announcement?

I went there on our "free day" while other people went sightseeing.

 

Nerd !

Robb, was Slagharen always part of the plan or added after the Thunderloop announcement?

I went there on our "free day" while other people went sightseeing.

 

I would have done the same thing, a classic Schwarzkopf coaster over sightseeing any day!

Robb, was Slagharen always part of the plan or added after the Thunderloop announcement?

I went there on our "free day" while other people went sightseeing.

 

I would have done the same thing, a classic Schwarzkopf coaster over sightseeing any day!

Other reasons were that the park was SUPER AWESOME at hosting me to come film the ride, and we also just wanted to document it before it went away.

Slagharen looks lovely

 

Hope to get there before they close the Schwarzkopf.

 

Maybe I missed something...but do we know the manufacturer of the new coaster, that will replace it ?

Maybe I missed something...but do we know the manufacturer of the new coaster, that will replace it ?

They told me that they have not announced anything yet.

Slagharen kinda reminds me of Lightwater Valley in terms of scale and style, at least in the review (never been there - heck, never heard of it until now). An unassuming little family park.

 

Plus it looks like it's got a rip-off of the old Raccoons cartoon from the 90's as mascots on the logo. Anything with them in has got to be good (start humming "You can run with us").

Today we are @WalibiHolland for some awesome Goliath + Lost Gravity fun!

 

Goliath is still one of the best roller coasters in the world. Airtime on this ride is NUTS!!!

 

That right there is the view of pure awesome!

 

You can just FEEL the crazy airtime in this photo! Sorry, but B&M hypers don't even come close to delivering airtime like this!

 

Goliath @WalibiHolland... Yes, still a world's top ten coaster after all these years!

 

The Goliath crew gets bonus points for letting Kristen run the coaster! This is the second coaster she's operated this trip! She's now over-qualified to work at Six Flags!

 

Next up we got to ride "outdoor Rock n Roller Coaster" aka Express.

 

Outdoor Rock N Roller coaster was running GREAT! @WalibiHolland has taken good care of this ride & its a lot of fun!

 

We made it over to @WalibiHolland's new Lost Gravity. OMG! What a great GREAT RIDE!!! We were all super impressed!

 

 

The first drop and the airtime hills on Lost Gravity are totally insane!

 

We totally LOVED Lost Gravity! Total surprise hit of the trip!

 

Oh, yeah... Lost Gravity also has FIRE!!! Which instantly makes it awesome!

 

This "Super Freeze" @CocaCola machine @WalibiHolland was amazing! Put your money in, open the cap, close the cap, turn the bottle upside down, and BAM! Instant frozen Coke!

 

Time to get our Boomerang credit! To be honest, Speed of Sound @WalibiHolland is a decent Boomerang!

 

Some of the Dutch snacks you can get @WalibiHolland were just fantastic! I wish we had stuff like this in the US!

 

Now THAT is a souvenir park shirt! lol

 

It was fun running into some Dutch TPR fans today!

 

This stuff right here... Warmed up... OMG! Soooo good!

 

And yes... Some of our group had to get their SLC credit...

 

Now here's some SLC views you don't normally get to see!

 

A slot Coke machine??? What is with these awesome weird @CocaCola machines they have @WalibiHolland???

 

We saw "cockroach man" @WalibiHolland today. Not sure why this guy was dressed like this, but here he is...

 

Yes, sometimes you are required to do physical labor getting around @WalibiHolland!

 

And once again @WalibiHolland is a nicely landscaped and themed park which we don't see as often in the USA.

 

We went back to get a few more kick-ass rides in on Goliath.

 

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That right there is roller coaster perfection! Not a single dull moment of track!

 

Yes, that IS a souvenir @WalibiHolland park-themed condom! Who wishes the US parks would sell fun stuff like this?

 

Cheers to @WalibiHolland! We had a GREAT day in the park! We drink to you guys!

Edited June 20, 2016 by robbalvey