robinschroder

^ Ha ha - yes, I think I might leave Barry's 'cross-between a NES game and 70's porn' quote off my next gig flyer...

It's another high speed thrill ride from Vekoma!! Nice pictures, Bruno - the angle of the 5th picture down makes it look like it has a loop... although it's just a helix! Robin

How about: ...if you go away on a completely non-coaster-related trip and your flatmates ask you how the rollercoasters were when you get back! Robin

^ Agreed - you don't want to miss out on Alton Towers!! Virgin Trains or Midland Mainline do some good package deals for train travel either from Euston via Stoke on Trent or St Pancras via Derby (respectively) and include a coach ride to the park and back, as well as the entrance fee to the park. Thorpe Park is very easy - you can get to Staines station from Waterloo or Clapham Junction and then from there, you can either take an official Thorpe Park transfer bus, or various local buses can get you there (it's only a couple of miles away from the station). Chessington and Legoland Windsor should be similarly easy from Waterloo or Clapham Junction using South West Trains, although I've not done those personally. Hope that helps! Robin

That's exactly what I thought when I watched the video - "Why's it going so slow?!". Sometimes POVs can be deceiving but even so, it seemed like it was crawling in places... Maybe the lift's not up to full speed yet?

When I went to Cedar Point from here in the UK, I flew into Cleveland. I don't drive and hiring a car wasn't an option, so I took the Greyhound bus to the Sandusky Greyhound stop, from where I took a taxi to Cedar Point / Hotel Breakers. That was the only way I could work out of doing it - although there may be better ways! EDIT : I've just remembered why I didn't take the train to Sandusky - it was because the train only arrives (and departs) in the small hours of the morning / middle of the night. That's why I used the Greyhound bus - as it was possible to make the journey during the day.

Nice photos! Too bad Rush (S&S Screaming Swing) is down for this special early season. I'm heading there on a day off on Friday, keeping my fingers crossed for some more Spring-like weather!

I guess you didn't have the Elbobus's GPS to help you get there! Nice one, Hanno! Robin

There's another update at www.themepark21.com/t-express/ - Looks like it's well on the way to being finished! And they've got a train standing on the MCBR now too.

I'd rate it 'just OK' even though it's made by Intamin (!). With the exception of the bunny hill after the loop it really is just inversion after inversion (although the ride area is reasonably nicely landscaped). There have always been problems with vibrations / roughness which don't really help things. The 4 heartline rolls in a row are taken fairly slowly and personally just make me a bit dizzy, although the 5th and final heartline is fun for its disorientation factor (being taken in the opposite direction) - that was a Wardley-ism wasn't it? Coupled with the breakdowns / long wait times (even on quiet days - I never could work that out) whenever I'm there I tend to skip it, I'm afraid. Sorry! Robin

Hello, There's another recent update at www.themepark21.com/t-express/. Those hills are looking so steep!!! Robin

These were made by Paul Garner as part of Chris Morris' BBC Radio 1 show in the mid-90s. He also used to bother people in hotel lobbies and taxi drivers with Chris Morris instructing him over a mobile phone.

My thoughts exactly - Thunderlooper was great! Those were the days - a ride on Nemesis, then a ride on Thunderlooper, back to Nemesis, and so on... - hours and hours of fun!! Glad to see that it's safe and well!

^ You've pretty much described an Intamin Ball Coaster e.g. this one Robin

Looks like you had a fun day playing James Bond in Moonraker!

When you say "No annoying commentary", I'm assuming you're referring to commentaries on other (non-TPR) commercially available DVDs, as there've never been any annoying commentaries on any of the TPR releases! If anything, since there's no music, we'll be able to hear your excellent on-ride commentaries better! "Wheeeeeee!" Robin

Hi Hanno! Wow, those were some really great pictures of Troy! Were you using a tripod? I really enjoyed Troy on the mini-Europe trip - just non-stop out-of-control-ness! All the best, Robin

Big Mike, It was an honour to have ridden with you on some of the coasters that helped you on your way to the BIG 500 during the Mini-Europe trip! Congratulations! Robin

Ha ha - nice to see the pictures of me looking shocked! I really thought that guy had been hurt, the way they carried him off stage... Once again, the great pictures just keep coming, Hanno! Great stuff!!

Part 7a Now, whilst they're of less interest, some of the pictures of my overnight stay in Köln and journey back are yet to be developed. I'll post those eventually, but in the mean time here are a few random shots from my gradual journey back. Thanks for the nice comments so far! Gleich!!! More to follow in a week or so... depending on when I finish the film! Kein Trink Wasser - poignant given that I spent much of my journey enjoying Orbital's fantastic Live at Glastonbury CD! Such a great tune. Ha ha - yes, the first thing I did after checking into my hotel in Köln was visit their modern art museum - a bit like a theme park but with pictures and installations rather than rides!

Part 6 Toverland Wow - Troy was such a fun and also beautiful ride (hence the nice photos)! And here's an amazing sunburst Troy effect! Thanks, magic camera, magic film and magic lab - you're ace! I leave you with two of the finest photos I've ever taken (in my opinion, anyway!) - first here's Bruno photographing Troy. Station fly-through! ...and then with another! Troy from the queue line shot on one type of film... Thomas with the ride to himself during ERT! Another high-speed thrill ride from Weh-koma! Fun, if not a little painful (I'm a wimp, though!). Troy's escape route! ... and again! ... and again ... The horse...

Part 5 Phantasialand Winjas rocked, but not quite as much as River Quest!!! Ha ha - that ride was soooo cooool! Yet I didn't manage to get any pictures of it, so why not look at other trip reports through sweet wrappers to get the desired effect? As for Black Mamba, the waterfall climb was fun... Finally, I have no idea what this picture is of. I think maybe it's of the queue line to Mystery Castle. Not sure, though!!! Some sort of mad dance executed by Hanno and Bruno!!! Bruno and Hanno - hi guys!! Ha ha - I was Bruno's official photographer for the trip! Good job it was mostly on his camera, as this came out a bit odd! This coaster is so tricky to photograph not only because of the already-documented "Oh - I thought it went along that bit in the other direction" effect and also due to the nets. Whhheeeeeeeeeeee!!! (A little dark - that's 'cause the pictures are so contrasty. Ah, well.) Black Mamba's lift hill... through a plant!!! Black Mamba time! Ha ha - Epcot! More water! More fire! Cool effects! Talocan - I've gotta 'fess up and admit to not riding this - I guess I was a bit too 'coastered out' by this point. Many people said it was their highlight of Phantasialand, though. Slightly blurry Winjas and Bruno! Yay Winjas!!!

Part 4 Holiday Park! Yay! Whilst Expedition GeForce was maybe not quite as intense as last time I rode it a couple of years ago, it was still absolutely amazing!!! The atmosphere during ERT was really great too - lots of fun! Factimation: The different colour shift in some of the pictures is a result of using a different type of film for some of the shots. Goodbye Expedition GeForce! Station POV!!! Red sky at night... (One of my favourite shots) And again! A happy train! Hello from Expedition GeForce! OK - time for some serious ERT fun!!! Bruno shooting video whilst taking photos! I later added my camera in the chain, as seen in Morgan's ace video. It's a high-speed thrill ride from Weh-koma! Ha ha - Weh-koma time! Not for me, though. This was my first ever proper coaster way back when, but even so, no pain for me, thanks! Crazy dark ride - it doesn't matter that you can't really see what's going on here - it makes about as much sense! Next up... the starflyer! It's such a shame the lab jpeg'd these scans so much as on my print version, the transition in the sky is perfectly smooth and looks beautiful! Such an amazing first drop! The much documented Pipi Station! Oh, and Expedition GeForce! When we arrived, we all headed straight for Expedition GeForce!

Part 3 Tripsdrill And we conclude with Bruno up a ladder! Ultra-cool tree-based drop ride! Hello! Hello from the lifthill! Best ride ops... ever!!! Robb and KT!

Part 2 Wild und Freizeit Park, Klotten! And finally, Klotti Coaster thru the trees!! Helix of death! It's the Klotti Coaster!! (Heiße Fahrt) ...and here comes Robb! There goes Rich... First off, the crazy boat jump ride! Here's James zooming past! The view from the park's entrance.