robinschroder

Hey Divv! Great TR so far! Although I was at Fårup for less than an hour (!) it seemed like a great park. And Lynet really was excellent! I really have trouble picking my favourites from Blue Fire, Speed Monster and Lynet - although if I had to, they'd probably run in that order of preference. Looking forward to the rest of the report!

Robb & Elissa Ride Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park 2 min 2 sec · 2/22/2008 - This one was a personal favourite of mine, and much of it was exclusive to YouTube (although bits of it did appear on the DVD). Shot on the mini-Europe trip 2007, this was a backwards-facing POV of Robb and Elissa and the rest of us riding Ge Force as seen from EGF's helmet camera.

Although it's maybe not so helpful, I'd probably vote a little from column 'yes' and a little from column 'no'... Yes : To be honest, I'll gladly buy any of the upcoming TPR DVDs as not only are they always of a truly excellent standard (and great value), but it also feels like a great way to support this great site and all of your hard work at the same time! If a Japan Raw DVD was to come out, I would buy it! No : I'm a huge fan of the Coaster Expedition series DVDs, mainly because of the great mix of the TPR craziness as well as the top quality ride footage! That's not to say that I'm not a fan of the Raw discs, but if a Japan-only Raw DVD would potentially take the place of a Coaster Expedition series DVD, I'd (selfishly) also vote 'no' just to instead get another Coaster Expedition that might otherwise not be released... Hope you see what I mean! Please add 1 to each column when you do the totals!

^^ The article attributes blame for the July and September explosions to errors in the ride's control software. It's interesting that the byline of the article reads 'No more experiments'. No more experiments until the spring, at least!

Interesting stuff - sounds like I caught Silver Star at the right time! Anyone any ideas about those (possible) EGF trim mods?

Here are a few observations, rather than a full photo report, from my recent trip to Germany this September. Ring Racer @ Nürburgring I was hoping that I may get to ride this whilst in Germany. But as documented elsewhere, it has now exploded twice - the second explosion being much more serious. Holiday Park, Expedition GeForce GeForce was running well (with 2 trains in action as it was a busy park day), although maybe not quite at 100% insanity levels. Unless my memory is playing tricks on me (and it could be... although I have been fortunate enough to ride GeForce on 4 occasions over the last 5 years), the trains have been modified since last year to include metal boxes around the restraint 'toe clips' to reduce the footspace - like the trains on Piraten, for example. Plus, curiously, (and again, my memory really may be playing tricks) we could have sworn that the trim breaks looked different to last year (the same for some on the break run)... But I have no conclusive proof of that either way! I did take a picture on my mobile phone (which takes terrible pictures!) but that doesn't really clear things up - check it out below. Does anyone else know anything about this? Am I going crazy?! We were convinced they looked shorter and made up of several 'chunks' rather than the long strips I remembered - but it was difficult to tell if they felt any different. Europa Park Blue Fire I loved Blue Fire! The trains are *great*!! They pretty much make the ride - it's so much fun to take those inversions with just a lap-bar - especially that crazy upside-down airtime moment on the inline twist. The ride is so smooth - but it's not all that intense; just really, really fun. I think I rate it marginally above Speed Monster (which I loved!), which I rank slightly above Lynet (which I also loved!). As for the reports of it being better than GeForce - I'm personally not convinced about that! But it is a great ride! Nice work, Mr Mack!! Silver Star This was my first B&M hyper! Finally! I had low expectations because people are often quite down on this ride (mostly due to the trims), so I was shocked how good it was!! I enjoyed this even more than Blue Fire! Admittedly, I only ever rode the very back row, but there was plenty of good airtime just after the crest of every hill, all the way down each drop! The first trim never seemed to make much difference, the second one did - but then the speed was regained pretty quickly, and the MCBR didn't really take much speed out either. I can really see how any other row than the very back may not necessarily ride quite as well as a result of the trims, though. Whilst potentially sacrilegious, I think I'd go so far as to say I enjoyed my rides on Silver Star almost as much as enjoyed GeForce as it was running the previous day...! A poor quality photo taken from a bad angle of the second trim - conclusive proof... Sorry!

Well, Ring Racer exploded again on Thursday! And not just a little explosion - one large enough to blow windows at the press centre, not to mention the ride's drive mechanism. Nobody was injured. It was all over the local news in Germany whilst I was in the region, and also here: An article here in German with a couple of pictures I wonder if it will ever actually take the 'world's fastest' record before the F1 coaster at the Ferrari Experience opens in 2010!

Bad news - I emailed to ask whether Ring Racer is likely to be open when I'm nearby... In short... it won't be. They are expecting it to open some time around the end of September.

I'll be incredibly lucky if it opens on 5th... I'll be very disappointed if it opens on 7th instead! Fingers crossed...!

An excellent preview, Big Mike! And an excellent year for the Roadshow so far!

The German train company is called Deutsche Bahn - "German rail". Check out www.bahn.de - at the top you can switch from 'deutsch' on the drop-down menu centre-top, to english. If you put in your departure point and put Europa Park as your destination, it will show you details of train through to Rust and then a bus from Rust to the park. If you want to book the journey online in advance, you may have to book from your departure point to Rust since the bus is dealt with by the local transport network. Have a look anyway. It's very easy to get around Germany by public transport and most of it can be found (if not even booked) on bahn.de. Robin Edit : P.S. It will take more like 3 hours from Stuttgart to Europa Park, and if you book in advance the price could be lower than 50 Euro. (Look for Sparpreis 25 / Sparpreis 50 = Savings fare 25 / Savings fare 50)

Big Mike, I counted 5 duckies! And... locked in:

Here's what was said on the BBC as Tom's already mentioned: From here Edit : Also, the Formula 1 website have a picture of this first run with Schumacher on-board @ www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2009/814/general/sunday.html

Big Mike, I'm going with 2, but I know I'll regret it!! And... locked!

Hanno - the picture of Big Mike getting way too much airtime is classic!

Such a great feature on the camera! I'm very impressed! The idea of getting the technology to work with you collaboratively in creative media has always been very appealing to me! Looking forward to seeing more. Out of curiosity, does the camera take a photo literally every time it thinks it spots a smile? Or are there more restrictions placed? I'm guessing that it generates a very large number of pictures!

Thanks James, Chuck, Mark, Bruno and Steve! A Thorpe run in August sounds good, Steve!

Time to temporarily rescue this thread from the depths of page 2! On the final day of this mini-trip, we took a day trip over to Denmark in order to head to Djurs Sommerland and check out Piraten! I'll start by saying that we'd been *totally* spoiled by Balder by that point in the trip! I mean where can you go after a day like we all had at Liseberg...?! When we arrived at Djurs it was fairly cloudy and cool, and our first ride on Piraten had a little bit of a lack of airtime unfortunately - and it did seem to have some rattle going on at the back for such a new ride. We decided to let it warm up some more, so went around the rest of the park and had some lunch. In the mean time the weather had really picked up, the clouds were gone and it was getting really hot out again. So we returned to Piraten and it was definitely running better - and the airtime was there this time (although the fairly heavy stapling-in didn't help!). We rode it a couple more times, but by then the insane positive G's on that first turn (I kept greying out just before cresting the first airtime hill and I think Peter found the same!) coupled with the rattle left us both thinking we didn't want to marathon Piraten too much. It was pretty good, I guess - but I'm not sure it was necessarily a top 5 coaster for me, even though it was clear that it had the potential to run even better (had we waited longer or had the weather been more consistently hot etc.)... In a way it almost felt like all of the elements were just slightly too close together - a bit like on Kanonen. It's almost like you need the pacing that comes with the size of a normal-scale hyper, maybe? I don't know, really. I know that the mega-lites have been really popular with a lot of people, and it's great that lots of parks seem to be getting these (it still beats a lot of UK coasters hands-down!) - maybe it was just that Balder had been too good directly beforehand... hard to say! I'm usually really into my Intamin rides! When we'd entered the park they'd handed us a leaflet about all the fun things to see and do in Denmark and we realised that it wasn't necessarily too far out of our way back to the ferry port to try and make a quick stop at Fårup Sommerland if we were to leave Djurs right away... but time would be tight! Perhaps partially spurred-on by the '7 parks in one day' segment Robb had shown a couple of days ago, we decided to chance it on a TPR-style credit run! So we went for it and headed back north! We arrived at Fårup about 20-25 minutes prior to closing and headed straight for Lynet... which was really great!!! I think we both enjoyed Lynet a lot more than Piraten! And I'd go so far as to put it only slightly behind Speed Monster - a really fun ride! Because Flagermusen was nearby we got that credit and then literally raced over to Falken... only to be denied that credit because they had closed for the day. But it wasn't too disappointing because those were all bonus credits anyway, and we'd really been very impressed with Lynet! And we had, of course, riden Piraten earlier on which was the main aim of that little excursion to Denmark. So all in all it was totally worth it, although in a funny way the best part of it was the surprise and last-minute trip up to Fårup! Here are the final pictures! Thanks for reading / looking, and thanks once again to Robb and Elissa! Great to hang out with everyone on the Scandi trip, and glad we were able to make this trip, Peter! Robin And to round it all off, here's another mashed up double-exposure from Gothenburg! Thanks for reading!! Snacky-snack snack snack snack snack! ånd just becåuse it's å greåt letter, here's ånother "å" Goodbye älvsborgsbron! Take it to the bridge! Hey we're back at the Alvey's borg bridge! Resistance is futile! Gotta love those red cranes! Lots more wind turbines - we need many more of these in the UK, please! Swedish land ahoy! Hoping not to need Sean! This ferry was great - lots of space up on deck! Analogue forever!!! The sun thinks about starting to set (although it won't fully until close to 11pm!) Peter on the phone (!) We're on the move! Seagull! Frederikshavn port And we're back at the Ferry! ...with somewhat rapidly changing weather! Time to journey back over to the Ferry terminal... Some sort of bizarre Falken mash-up Yay Lynet!!! Peter in mid-credit-run! I can't help but smile at these topple-towers - although they're definitely more fun to watch than to ride! Sorry, no photos of Thors Hammer or Karlo's Taxi! Thors Hammer was on a par with G'sengte Sau I thought. And then lots of airtime hills all the way back to the station! Some serious greying-out at about this point, for me anyway! The first drop! Peter staples himself in to the test seat in preparation for our rides! And here is Piraten - with what looks like the same test seat theming as at Expedition GeForce! Here I am in Piratland at Djurs Sommerland - a very nicely themed area! Hoping not to have to make use of this! Here I am up on deck! älvsborgsbron sunrise Passing under the älvsborgsbron bridge - almost Alveys-borgsbron! We began with an early morning ferry ride from Gothenburg to Frederikshavn

Actually, I'd say you'd be better off going to Staines station (from which there's a shuttle bus - '950' - directly outside the front to the park). There are several trains an hour from London Waterloo (the train also passes through Clapham Junction which may help you depending on where you are staying in London). Just get a return ticket to Staines at Waterloo station (or you could possibly book online here and then you pay the bus driver for your shuttle bus ticket - which costs something like £3 or £3.50 (?) for a return - can't quite recall the price. Details on travel : here. If you book online the ticket price drops to £28... Those really are the prices! UK-style! You're absolutely right that once you pay for entry, all the rides are included.

Always great to see your photos, Hanno! Was good to see you again this year! Robin

Hey Chuck - it was great to meet you! Really enjoying your TR so far! Robin

^ Thanks Peter, Mark and Bill - it was great to meet you all and hopefully see you all again at some point soon! It's Liseberg time! What a great day!! I think Liseberg has to be my absolute favourite park now - and not just because of Balder (although that would be reason enough!) - so many fantastic rides, a great setting, and an amazing atmosphere! As for Balder (especially in the late afternoon / evening)... !!! Here are the pictures - and next up (and finally) pictures from our day-trip down to Denmark. Enjoy! And finally Steve and Jes conclude my pictures from Liseberg! Ryan and Peter - and we see you Tom! Hey Ivan and Mark! Riding the coffee cups! A little bit of boat-stacking at Kållerado! Gotta love those å's. New for 2009 - Hanghai. There's Mark, Peter and Jes! Somewhere in that spinning blur I can make out Tom, Steve, Olov, Mark, Peter and Jes! ...and Höjdskräcken! As with Uppswinget, being located on the top of the hill really makes a big difference! Especially on Höjdskräcken, the Turbo Drop! Uppskjutet (Space Shot)... ...a little better. This double-exposure didn't really work out so well... Uppswinget's location adds so much to the ride - as soon as you start to swing you find yourself quite a way off the ground! Kanonen is a fun ride (and I love the logo!) but it has pretty tough competition right next door (in the form of Balder, no less)! Kanonen sunburst silhouette This ride opened in 1987 yet is still so smooth and so relentlessly fast throughout - Lisebergbanan rocks!!! Such a great ride at opening time... even better once it has warmed up during the day! Oohhhhhhhhh!! The group come to a sudden halt on Lisebergbanan. Another limited edition angle! 70 degrees! Balder from a limited edition angle! The tunnels may be for noise prevention, but I thought they really added to the ride! (Serious ejector) Airtime!!! Hey - it's Big Mike doing a bit of maintenance on Balder! The picture everyone has - looking down on Balder from Liseberg Tower So many great rides - Lisebergbanan, Uppswinget, Uppskjutet and Höjdskräcken all look down over the park. Is this the best coaster in the world...? Probably yes!!! Welcome to Liseberg!

First up was Tusenfryd (/ Tausend Spaß / Thousands of fun)! What a great park! Speed Monster was ace!! As was Spin Spider, the park's brand new Zamperla Giant Discovery. And whilst Thundercoaster certainly had 'character' (i.e. a little bumpy here and there) it by no means spoiled the ride - it was actually very re-rideable and really good too! It was so great to hang out with everyone - those of you I already knew, and those I met for the first time too! Many thanks to Robb and Elissa, you guys rock... to the max! On with the photos... (Liseberg to come next) And that concludes this photo TR from Tusenfryd - sorry for the lack of Thundercoaster photos; that was a great ride too! Speed Monster's insides Back to Speed Monster There's nothing quite like upside-down airtime looking out over the valley in front of the park...! Spin Spider!!!! I LOVED this ride!! Easily the 2nd best ride in the park (the first being Speed Monster)! Teeny-weeny, the world's smallest coaster! The best bit was the look of almost pity we got from the (most accommodating) ride-op as we were leaving! Whilst you get wet riding the ride, you'd struggle to get quite as soaked as Anthony did here after the ride... looking forward to seeing those pictures! Supersplash time! A long queue, but a fun ride! Loopen - only one sharp jolt where I was sat! Welcome back riders... how was your ride?! Actually brilliant, thanks for asking! I really loved Speed Monster - a truly great ride! What an amazing backdrop... Tusenfryd is a really pretty park! Speed Monster silhouette Laaaauuuunnnccccchhhhhhhhh! It's the Norwegian Loop! And we see you, Big Mike!

Take the Flygbussarna bus would be my advice (from either Gothenburg City or Landvetter - Gothenburg has two airports). The Korsvägen stop is right next to Liseberg, for example - although you'll probably want to find a stop close to your hotel... Liseberg is kind-of part of Gothenburg city centre (which is just one of the many reasons why it's so amazing!) so you may either be walking distance away depending on where your hotel is, or there is actually a Liseberg bus / tram stop too if you're further out. Ride Balder later in the day for the most amazing coaster experience ever!!! Not sure what to recommend you see in the city... apart from Balder!!! Edit : p.s. You'll, I'm sure, find your own favourite seat on Balder - but my advice would be to avoid the wheel seats (i.e. 3rd row in each car) for a smoother ride and to avoid getting progressively stapled in. My favourite was the 2nd/middle row of the back car, but it's personal preference at the end of the day...! It's great regardless of where you sit, really! Plus even first thing in the morning it was running well... it's just that by the evening it was INSANE!

So what was it like...?