Juggler

Ah yes, not posted on here recently. So this evening it's Juggler's own. Smack lips and make an "Ahhhh" sound. Take glass in hand and sample the delights on offer. Allow head to settle. Approach barrel and angle glass for the perfect pour.

Not a chance. Maverick certainly looks different and for Cedar Point to put in something unique that doesn't try to break some kind of record is a good thing. All I can hope for now is a change in employment, an improvement in wages and then it's hello USA 2007!

It is a sad, sad day when the birthplace and Spiritual home of The BlueBuzzards Flying Scooter Display Team meets its end. To be honest it wasn't unexpected as the management at BPB had been running the place down for ages and apart from Traumatizer had not exactly invested great lumps of money in the place. So why are we surprised that there was a decline in visitors? For myself and other Scooter fans the really important thing will be the relocation (hopefully) of the Mistral, only Knoebels' Flyers rank higher in my book. Of course if they do move and are brought back to life then that'll be one park that gets an annual visit from us all in the Buzzards, if not more if it's close enough! (Note to any potential buyers The Buzzards will happily turn up and endorse the ride on it's opening ) The worrying thing is the fate of The Cyclone as that is one ride that I can't see travelling well if at all. King Solomans was relocated to Southport so we all know that CAN be moved but as for the rest of the rides I don't see much of a future (TraumaTizer is almost certainly on the move). To all the staff who are now frantically seeking new jobs I wish you all the very best.

Got back yesterday and WOW what a trip. We were chased all round Europe by the rain clouds and dodged them pretty well but the buggers always caught up with us at some point. Highlights included "New Year" at Walibi World and meeting the the Netherlands ThemePark crew, Hansa Park (A complete surprise to all of us), De Efteling was it's usual beautiful self and many more besides. Lowlights - RAIN, Expedition Geforce closed for maintenance (although we hadn't entered the park due to the rain!), not enough rides on Black Mamba I've got over 3GB of pictures to wade through plus the video clips so it might be a while before the photo TR goes up.

I must say that Zaphod Bebblebrox is looking much more desirable these days!

Yes it's the bi-annual dash round Europe now in it's 4th running and it's the biggest yet. Six of the Blue Buzzards will be setting off Saturday morning from Southampton (having already descended from various parts of the UK) and then blazing a trail across Europe taking in 12 parks in 15 days. Walibi Belgium Bobbejaanland De Efteling Walibi World Hansa Park Heide park Phantasialand Holiday Park Europa Park Walibi Lorraine Parc Asterix Bellewaerde Park As we're camping I doubt we'll find any unsecured Wireless access points but if we do updates will be fired up to the net at :- www.bluebuzzards.com/cc2006.htm Been looking forward to this holiday for ages and I can't wait! T-Shirt design

I'm taking it easy and doing loads of work so the beer is going down slowly but very nicely. Next up Wychwood's "Osprey" Perfect beer for a "BlueBuzzard"

Saturday afternoon, I'm busy getting ready for "Camping & Coasters 2006" with a nice fresh glass of :- Fall for a Big Blonde!!

#100 Magnum - Cedar Point #200 Phoenix - Knoebels #300 Speed: No Limits - Oakwood

Well I've run out of bottles (Only had the one) So I started on the Home Brew. Here we have a small sample of "Smoke On. GO!" (Can't drink too much it's been brewed for a birthday party.) BlueBuzzard Beer!!!

HMMMM.... Old Peculiar (and I'm not referring to the T-Shirt) After a long hard day at work Juggler gets a beer in!

Parc Asterix Phanatasialand De Efteling

Yeah, already well aware of the whole driving thing as I'm off round Europe in three weeks time doing 12 parks in 15 days and the best part of 2000 miles. It's the 4th such trip I've organised so I'm no stranger to this form of Theme Park Frenzy. However, there are always things to learn and each trip has furthered my planning skills. America is totally different in many respects so just getting hints, tips, thoughts etc is going to help me loads when it comes to putting wheels in motion. So keep them coming! Thanks.

This place has one of the best chunks of prime woodie real estate in the country but they seem to have forgotten the "Speculate to accumalate" rule. People ignore the place becuase there's nothing worth going there for so the park say no point in doing anything as no one comes. Catch 22! I've always thought that the lovely chunk of land up behind where the Missile was would be perfect for a terrain hugging woodie. When you consider the last woodie to be built in this country was Megafobia (Look what that did for Oakwood) it would be the perfect ride for American Adventure. Alton keep saying that they want to build one (I've always felt that the woodie at Alton was a ploy to make sure they put in what they really wanted to do from the start. Air, Oblivion etc.) but as yet it's never appeared. So imagine what a world class Terrain Woodie would do for AA? They'd have something that no other park in the area has, it'd be unique and immediately become a major selling point for the park. Enthusiasts start flocking to the place bringing in all their money and the park suddenly starts to increase turnover. It'll never happen but we can dream. Can't we?

Don't miss out on Phantasialand! Depending on which way round you go you can run down from Heide to Phantasialand to Holiday Park and then Europa (which is the way I'm going this year on my Camping & Coasters trip). Phantasialand is an absolute gem and should not be missed and you have the added attraction of Black Mamba as well now. Just for info we're visiting the following :- Walibi Belgium, Bobbejaanland, De Efteling, Walibi World, Hansa Park, Heide Park, Phantasialand, Holiday Park, Europa Park, Walibi Lorraine, Parc Asterix and Bellewaerde park. All of which will be completed in 15 days.

^^ Me to. I can create videos no problem but I'd like to compress them for all sorts of things. I'm using Cybelink Powerdirector at the moment but haven't figured out how to make the things small enough in size to use on the net.

The worst thing of all though was seeing the Mistral (Flying Scooters) in a worse state than they were a few months ago. After Knoebels this set is the next best set in the world and had they been running this year I'd have had a season pass just to go ride them! The TPR guys have been deprived of the most fantastic snappers in the business and it's truly a shame. Check this link to see what I mean http://bluebuzzards.com/video/displayteam.mpg (46mb so watch out) For those who haven't heard they've been decomissioned until someone can retrofit a backup braking system.

Hi all, I'm hoping to get across to the US for three weeks next year and I've already got my itinerary planned out. So the where is covered. However I was just wondering about what pitfalls I might encounter and if anyone could give me some general advice on the sorts of mistakes to avoid making. The general idea is to fly to New Jersey and then do an Anti-clockwise trip taking in Hershey, Knoebels, Kennywood, Cedar Point, PKI, Indiana Beach, Holiday World, Beach Bend, Dollywood, PCW, BGW, PKD, SFA, SFGadv. There's four of us hoping to make the trip and probably looking to head across towards the end of the parks operating seasons. We'll be hiring a vehicle and driving it ourselves and stay at recognised motel chains. So with all that in mind any advice, help, weblinks etc. would be very welcome. Thanks.

The Outlaw Adventureland 2001 4 times round non-stop and no brakes were applied You can't imagine how quickly that thing flashed through the brake run then went 90 left, rocketed through the staion, 90 left, over the little bunny hops 180 right and then half way up the lifthill before catching the lift chain.

Another one of the "I really should register because I keep watching those videos" club here. So hi all and I hope to enjoy my time at TPR. A couple things to get me off the mark, six weeks today I shall be at Walibi Belgium on the first day of my European Tour "Camping & Coasters 2006." There's six of us going and we're hitting twelve parks in 15 days (We decided to have a couple of sightseeing days as well.) I've already started work on my plans for next year and if all goes well a small group of us will be heading across the pond for a tour (haven't been over since 2001 and I'm suffering!! ) I'll get into the whole posting of links to my own pages once I've been around for a while! Have fun.