The Official TPR Spain & Mini-Europe Trip 2007 Thread

I'M A VERY PROUD MEMBER OF ACE!

 

IF YOU GUYS DON'T MIND, KEEP YOUR DAMMMMMMMMMM COMMENTS TO YOURSELVES.

 

ACERS ARE WAY BETTER THAN YOU, GUYS AT THEMEPARK REVEIW!

 

STAY AWAY FROM OUR EVENTS, IF YOU KNOW WHATS GOOD FOR YOU.

 

This is hilarious. An ACE troll who types in all caps?! No way. You sure are living up to the club's stellar reputation there, buddy! I hear there's an ACE event in bantron.

 

Let me phrase it in a way you can understand...

 

STAY AWAY FROM OUR FORUMS, IF YOU KNOW WHATS GOOD FOR YOU.

Bantron? Awww...a quick review of that guy's posting history yields some hilarious results.

HELLO COASTER FANS,

 

THIS IS DAN SHEFFER AND I AM NUT ABOUT ABOUT ROLLER COASTER AND PARKS.

 

I AM 32 YRS OLD AN DI LIVE IN FULLERTON, CA.

 

I LOVE BOWLING CAMPEING MEETING NEW PEOPLE AND COOKING AND ESPECIALLY LIVE.

I THINK THE PARK WITH THE BEST FOOD IS:

 

FAMOUSDAVES AT CEDAR POINT IN OHIO

HOW DARE U SAY IN PICTURE 7 AND FOR U TOO CALL US LOSER'S LIKE THAT.AT LEAST WE GAVE IT OUR BEST SHOT.

 

 

BESIDE'S!WE GOT BACK FROM OUR BREAK AND SOME OF US WEREN'T CALLED YET.

IT 'S NOT THAT EASY GOING BACKWARD'S THAT MANY TIME'S

I'm pretty confident that my 10-year-old brother can write better than this guy, who is apparently 35. This leads me to believe that he is a little bit, uhhh "special".

I'm pretty sure the time alotted was enough for his group to hit the major rides and look around, considering they still had other places to visit. I know for this midwest tour in another 1 1/2 weeks, I bought some better walking shoes and a travel pillow because I know we're gonna be running. I looked at the schedule and said "Damn I'm gonna need to stretch in the morning" I have to buy some breakfast bars to eat too!

 

I'm gonna have fun, but I'm gonna be tired when I get back to Miami!

Yeah, I've often felt the same way coming back from just the trips that I go on myself.

While fully exploring parks is cool, I think doing more parks and getting more credits always wins. On a recent trip we did all of Kings Dominion's coasters, except the kiddie with the height restriction, in 4 hours. Later on in that same trip we did Knoebels in just 2 hours. That was a real bummer because Knoebels is such an awesome park. However, doing this allowed us to hit Hersheypark in the same day, which gave us 13 credits instead of 3 for the day.

I know exactly what you mean Ginzo, Last August I went down to Myrtle Beach for the day to get to the Pavilion before it was closed down. I also went to the Grand Prix and Family Kingdom in the same day. While I am glad I went to the Grand Prix for the Crazy Mouse Credit since it was closed down as well, I think I would have rather spent more time at the Pavilion than Family Kingdom since the Pavilion overall was nicer than FK. Although I did get the extra credit on Swamp Fox the same day.

I also thought it would be fun to see if it was possible to do all the coasters in Six Flags America, Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Europe in one day. While Possible it may not be feasable, but hey, could still be fun! 25 coasters in one day would be pretty fun to me!

For most people Toverland is a half day park, and that's what we gave them. I agree that *I* would have wanted some more time, but everyone got on all the rides they wanted, got all the credits, and had food and ERT.

Quality goes over quantity.

I thought our time at Toverland was fine. I did everything I wanted to (apart from the course, which I could have done if I had shoes).

Thanks for the photos of this fun park. I didn't realize who was in the front row as we were a few rides back when that occurred, so when Dave told me who it was later I laughed my ass off. LOL @ ACE

I don't have near the amount of experiences dealing with ACE committee members as R&E, but I can honestly say that the few times I have encountered them, they have been nothing but pompous a$$es (and that's putting it lightly). I understand that there are many respectable ACE members out there (many of whom are friends), but their governing body leaves a lot to be desired.

I'll never forget the time I spoke with a certain chapter's representative at SFOG's Goliath media day (hint hint), and was literally ignored and walked away from midsentence. Honestly, my wife and I were left talking to the air in front of us as he left without even an apology to attend to something insignificant off in the distance. Great representation! Join ACE....we'll ignore you, send outdated newsletters, travel the world on your membership fees, and dream of our own museum. Where do I sign up?

Sorry for the rant. I just couldn't help myself after hearing of this story. I haven't laughed that hard in ages!

Oh yeah, Troy looks awesome.

I nominate this picture as the first to hang in the TPR museum (which would still get built before ACE's).

I understand that there are many respectable ACE members out there (many of whom are friends), but their governing body leaves a lot to be desired.

That's really it EXACTLY. I mean, most people who are your random ACE members in it to go to park events and meet up with friends are just fine. Many TPR members are in ACE too, but they don't display the same condescending attitude that many of the ACE "Executive Committee" do.

Had Elissa and I never volunteered our time, never wrote articles for the publications, never produced their IAAPA videos, never filmed convention special events, and other volunteer work which we recieved zero thanks for, we'd probably still be ACE members today.

But the fact that they treated us like complete crap after everything we had done for them made us go our own separate way and do our own thing.

FYI - None of the other clubs, ECC and RCCGB which immediately come to mind, carry this same attitude, so why the governing members of ACE feel the need to act is if they are above everyone is beyond me.

--Robb "Here at TPR we don't take ourselves as seriously and we have a lot of fun!" Alvey

Phantasialand photos coming soon.....

Really soon, I swear....

Not too much longer now...

Aww, I knew it had to happen eventually....the last of the "mini" updates! We will do FULL updates (4 or 5 pages of photos for each park) very soon!

Our last park was Phantasialand (which we actually visited over 2 days, but for the sake of this update just pretend it was all the same day, ok?)

Elissa and I had been to this park before, and it's a really nice resort. The park is fun and the hotel is GREAT!

New to us was "Black Mamba", which we really liked, but I have to be honest it was a little disappointing. The themed area was AMAZING, but the ride itself just lacked the *punch* that it would appear to have.

Oh, well, there is always Winjas! I still think Winjas is one of the "coolest" coasters ever build. It's weird in that same way that Europa's "EuroMir" is weird. While on the surface it might look like a well themed spinning coaster, but it does these "weird" things that can only be described by riding it. It does things that NO other coaster does! We didn't tell anyone about the surprises and I'm glad we didn't because it really took some people off guard!

Then there was Talocan, the new top spin that opened this year. While it's kind of enclosed, it's really only half "in a box" while the other side is insane fire and water effects. More more intense than any of the US "themed top spins" I've seen.

And the program was AWESOME! We flipped like 7 times!!!

Anyway, enough rambling on.....

Now to dream about all those updates we have to do from MidWest and Japan!

Thanks everyone for reading!!! We hope you enjoyed these mini-updates!

Time to head home....awwww.... boooo!!!!

Robb, Quaddy, and Lou's hat share a moment.

"You must be this tall to ride the Hector!"

Lou shows her love for GCI .....um.... wood.

Bruno raises the roof Italian style!

Photo by Hanno

The *REAL* action happened at the bar that night, back at the hotel!

Photo by Hanno.

There's the Wal-Mart stuffed animal "King Kong" and the bath tub toy boat with plastic action figure on top! Seriously...this ride was FREAKING GREAT!!!!

Here we are on the "Hollywood Tour" the most awesomely bad dark ride EVER!!!!

"The Terrorist Cookie" (Yeah, there's a story here....)

Lots of kick ass fire and water effects AND a really awesome program! (We flipped 7 or 8 times!)

Photo by Hector

Talocan is the new "partially enclosed" Top Spin.

There we go! That's more like it!

Lou demonstrates one of Michael's favorite activities. Hmm...wait...no....this isn't right.....

Time for the Michael Jackson ride!!!

Photo by Jeff

"I love the theming!!!"

The theming *IS* awesome! But the ride itself isn't all that intense.

Hector, Elissa, Chris, and Dan. Why does Chris always look so dazed and confused in these photos?

This ride is neck and neck with Nemesis in terms of awesome theming!

Photo by Jeff

We headed over to Black Mamba...

Robb! NO!!! DO NOT EAT THE BABY! Go get a turkey leg instead!!!

Photo by Louise

And did we mention it's all themed up awesome too?

Photo by Hanno

It spins, has good drops, and does "messed up stuff!"

Winjas is "Panther Approved!!!"

You "choose your fate" just like Dueling Dragons! (Most people in our group prefered "Fear" better because of a REALLY messed up trick it does that we're not going to tell you about!)

Winja's is a "duel tracked" spinning coaster (I don't think it races or duels or anything sexy like that)....

James is all wristbanded up and ready to ride!

Our ERT started out on Winjas, which I personally still think is the best ride in the park! I love it!!!

We arrived at Phantasialand and checked into "Hotel Ling Bao" which is an awesome resort!

Photo by Hector

That picture of you chowing down on Kristen's arm is the best KT photo yet--she really looks horrified!

I so want to check the worst dark ride ever!

FREAKING TERRORIST COOKIE! I got hasseled on my way home from Madrid too.

Deep throating churros, Arguments over Scissors and sword fighting, AMAZING hotels, and the time of my life. An amazing end to end amazing trip.

Thank you Robb, Elissa, and everyone else on the trip, SOOO much for everything and for letting me have the time of my life. It's something I won't soon forget!

You "choose your fate" just like Dueling Dragons! (Most people in our group prefered "Fear" better because of a REALLY messed up trick it does that we're not going to tell you about!)

Great update Robb! So how is BM not so intense? Not forceful or something? No "out of the box" surprises? But even though this is the last update of this trip there are still 2 or 3 more to look forward to!!

As if I wasn't already completely sold on the Mainland Europe Trip 2008. This just further convinces me. I want to send my deposit, like a month ago.

Ugh... I'm SO jealous! Phantasialand looks AMAZING!

If u think Talocan had an awesome programm, take a look at this:

This is awesome. 39 spins without a break to rest your stomach.

Phantasialand looks awesome! That's kind of disappointing to hear about Black Mamba, but it really LOOKS amazing.

I really enjoyed these mini-updates! Thanks for keeping us all up to date on what has been going on!

It might be the vodka I've consumed tonight, but that update seriously just brought a tiny tear to my eye! The last couple of days of the trip are always so bittersweet, you know how much fun you're gonna have and try and make the most of it, but it's sad knowing it's all coming to an end and you have to say goodbye to people.

I really want to echo Hector's thoughts in thanking Robb and Elissa for another amazing trip, and giving equal thanks to all the AWESOME people I hung out with both in Spain and in Germany/the Netherlands, it was great to meet you all/see you all again, and I had so much fun.

Thanks for the mini updates Robb, looking forward to seeing the big ones!

Great update robb, too bad I couldn't join this one.

Then there was Talocan, the new top spin that opened this year. While it's kind of enclosed, it's really only half "in a box" while the other side is insane fire and water effects. More more intense than any of the US "themed top spins" I've seen.

 

And the program was AWESOME! We flipped like 7 times!!!

Only 7 times? You should go to some of the german fairs! With a proper operator you'll go minimum 20-30 times

 

Thanks for the mini updates Robb, looking forward to seeing the big ones!

Must . . . resist . . . obvious . . . straight . . . line . . .

 

Thanks for the mini updates Robb, looking forward to seeing the big ones!

 

Must . . . resist . . . obvious . . . straight . . . line . . .

Here Chuck,

I'll do it for you....

This looked like a really fun trip. I want to go on one of these sooo badly in the future.

Thanks again for the updates. They made me wish I were there.

If u think Talocan had an awesome programm, take a look at this:

 

 

I felt dizzy just watching that 39 spins in a row

Thanks Robb for all the updates. It looks like everyone had a great time. The Mainland Europe trip for next year definitely looks even more appealing than it already did.