robinschroder

I'm most certainly a friend of Big Mike! And Mike, your latest run of branded merchandise is amazing!

Hee EB! Your picture of Vliegende Hollander is fantastic! Groetjes, Robin

Dank je wel! Bad luck with Goliath - do you remember you, EB, Jordan and I got stuck out on Goliath's lift hill last year? And Xpress nearly denied a lot of us a credit that day too! Tot de volgende keer! Groetjes, Robin

Ha ha - great TR! Congratulations Dave and Amy! The photo of Steve using his glasses as a spoon is priceless

Very bad news here for Firefox - 2 minutes 50 seconds to load right down to the Zs, updating line-by-line. However, on Internet Explorer on the same machine, the page loads all in one go in 23 seconds. On my iPod touch (using the same internet connection), the page loads all in one go in 25 seconds. I promise I'm on broadband, not on a dial-up modem!

Today Gardaland sent out another e-mail to people on the Raptor mailing list. I'll summarise what Google Translate says: It explains that the course of the ride will be littered with obstacles such as the lookout tower that we've already seen a picture of, a tree which has been split in half, a bridge, fog and pillars. There will be wetlands, forests (with many felled trees) and rocks. The train is a ruthless predator - a winged Raptor that was woken from hibernation during the construction of the ride. It now wants revenge on humans and will abduct anyone who tries to tame it, dragging them on an extreme flight through devastated lands! The underground station is themed to an industrial government research laboratory. The ride opens on 1st April 2011, although there is an ongoing online competition (as has been mentioned here already) to be amongst the first 23 riders on a special preview on 31st March 2011. [Edited to correct preview date]

I guess I must have skipped that part by accident (maybe due to exhaustion by this point), although I did everything else the park had to offer - including the little show where you go into a very odd house where the laws of physics don't apply and a helper guy shows you some weird tricks! (That was at Phantasialand, right?)

I'm very much a fan of Winjas, River Quest and Mystery Castle. And, as is mandatory with all large German theme parks, they have a deformed mouse as a mascot! I had no idea that new area existed, though!

Ah - tremendous! A triumph! This surely has to make the front page!! How wonderful for these infamous pictures to be posted on TPR!

Great Würzburg pictures! I still find it hard to believe how such a huge coaster as Olympia Looping is transportable! Very much looking forward to the next instalment...

Great pictures of a great park! Europa Park is so well thought-out - the kind of place that you can have a great time without even riding very much... and, of course, an even better time when you do!

Here's the latest construction update video courtesy of Parksmania.it and our good friend Bruno!

Ah - the good old iSpeed vs Katun debate! Even though I expected myself to feel the other way around, I actually would say Katun wins... although iSpeed is very very close behind! Great that they have both! iSpeed is like Blue Fire on very very powerful steroids - I loved all of those "I can't believe it just did that at such (h)i(gh) speed!" moments! Dank u wel!

I really like the pre-lift bit on Nemesis Inferno too! As a park, I guess it can suffer a bit by comparison to its UK 'sister' Alton Towers (with its unique location, layout, and a certain magic in the air), but Thorpe Park definitely do have some good rides!

I count myself very lucky - even if those pictures never surface, you did actually show a few of us sat next to you that night on the bus!

When I travelled back from Schiphol to London by train, I also went up onto the viewing area; it must surely be one of the last remaining airport viewing areas left - most are closed for security reasons! Counting down to the hotly anticipated 'Are you an American? Are you nice?' photos...! Dank u wel!

How well Expedition GeForce was running once they overhauled the train, got rid of the first trim, and opened back up to the public! The best it has ever run in all my years of visiting Holiday Park!!

Although GeForce being out of action was disappointing during the summer months, it's now running better than ever before following its complete overhaul and especially without that first set of trims! Worth every bit of downtime although, of course, it would have been far better for all involved if this could have been done without the accident happening first... Let's hope RingRacer doesn't have to appear on yet another year's list of disappointments in 2011! Here's to a great 2011!

Whilst not Madrid, it certainly looks like you made the best of things in London. A funny coincidence bumping into you at Victoria on Sunday on my way in to work, Divv! And good to see Anth for a short while later that day too! Winter Wonderland definitely has a nice German fair atmosphere!

Great to see your report so far, EB! This must mean that you've fixed or replaced your computer!

You invented the "beer"/accent thing on the night we met at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Milan! Steve was also a witness! Good to meet you, and looking forward to the rest of your report.

^ That's a great video - thanks for posting! I always enjoy Galileo; looks like it was a really interesting special programme.

^ Oh no, poor Holly!

Here's a video from our good friend Bruno!

^ Oh no! Sounds like you're having the same problem I did from the last trip report...