captain

All I can say about Wild Wadi is that it is one of the most interesting water parks in the world - it`s really up with the Disney Parks. I`m really looking forward for Dubai`s themeparks to come, because they`ll build what they want and they can spend so money on it that it has to be amazing! I`ll add a photo of my 2004 trip, where you can see another overview... Another photo of the amazing Wild Wadi Park

It`s really simple crossing the border, because there are no borders anymore (just the ones to eastern europe). No one will ask you for passports, but it`s always good to carry them with you. It`s like in the U.S. to get from one state to another.

Hi, you can do Drievliet in one hour, but that`s just for the coaster count issue. We`ve stayed their for about 3 hours, and we really enjoyed this little family park, but of course it`s no competition to any bigger park. It always depends on what you make out of your day at a park. If you just wanna do one park on one day you can combine Drievliet with a lot of sightseeing possibilities. For example we chose the lovely north sea coast town of Zaandvoort to soak some sun, sand & water (about 45 min away) for the afternoon. Or do some great Amsterdam shopping. Greetinx Andy

Best attraction: Templo del Fuego - Port Aventura, Spain Best Show Fire - Fantasmic (MGM) It`s gettin hot in here....

Hi Chris, your plan is really a "credit whoring" plan Okay, Day 1 and Day 2 are absolutely okay.The 6th of june is in some parts of germany a holiday so it`s possible that Walibi World gets more crowded than on an usual weekday. On day 3: For Drievliet you only need one hour because this park is really small, and for Efteling you`ll need a couple of more hours, because the parklandscaping makes Efteling a very big walking park. For Bobbejaanland (this is not the park with the "farts", what you mean is BonBonland in denmark) you need about 3 hours. Walibi Belgium really depends on the crowds, last time we needed a full day! In general be aware of the heavy traffic in and around the bigger cities in the netherlands/belgium (esp. Amsterdam and Brussels). Sometimes you`ll need 2 to 3 hours for 50 miles! You can check out our site: http://www.coasterfriends.de/TripEuroTour2005.htm - we visited most of the parks last august/september. After reading our TR`s please leave a comment in our guestbook, because our other members are really lucky than Andy

What a great TR so far! Thank You so much for sharing your photos and impressions. In 54 days I`m flying to Japan and I can`t wait I`m now into my last planning stages and your TR`s help a lot to see what`s hot and what`s not. Andy

Hi Chris, it`s always very hard to find the airline that fit your personal interests. It depends if you like seat comfort, entertainment, food, nice service and so on. Personally I´m flying really often and I had a lot of bad experiences with air france (very unfriendly, big delays). Lufthansa is our german no. 1 carrier with good trained stuff and clean airplanes BUT no real good entertainment onboard and very expensive. I really like personal video screens. In germany we`ve a big magazin for travellers called REISE-PREISE. Every year they`re asking their customers with lot of travel experience to vote the best airlines. This is the actual list, category: Overall Rating: Rang Airline (Fernstrecke Economy) Note 1 Singapore Airlines 1,35 2 Malaysia Airlines 1,52 3 Emirates 1,53 4 Sri Lankan Airlines 1,55 5 Thai Airways 1,82 Cathay Pacific 1,82 6 Air New Zealand 1,86 7 China Airlines 1,87 South African Airways 1,87 8 Lauda Air 1,92 Qantas 1,92 9 SAS 2,08 10 Austrian Airlines 2,11 11 Air Seychelles 2,16 12 British Airways 2,18 13 Qatar Airways 2,19 Air Mauritius 2,19 14 United Airlines 2,20 15 Swiss 2,22 16 Royal Brunei Airlines 2,25 17 Finnair 2,27 18 KLM 2,29 19 Deutsche Lufthansa 2,41 20 American Airlines 2,42 21 Air Canada 2,49 22 LTU 2,51 Gulf Air 2,51 23 Condor 2,54 24 Martinair 2,56 25 Air China 2,59 26 Varig 2,63 27 Turkish Airlines 2,66 28 Air France 2,68 Delta Air Lines 2,68 29 Alitalia 2,71 30 Egypt Air 2,79 31 US Airways 2,89 32 TAP Air 3,15 33 Iberia 3,19 There are 8 more categories, but I think overall ranking is the most interesting. For all german speaking people, this is the direct link: http://www.reise-preise.de/airline-test/index3.html By the way normally I try to fly with Emirates (best price with most comfort) but in April I`m flying with BA to Japan (good entertainment, good prices but seating is really bad and sometimes not the nicest stuff). Greetinx Andy

Hi Dave, I don`t know your budget, so it`s difficult to give some tips. If you`ve the chance (and money) to stay at one of Europa-Parks own Hotels it is absolutely worth the money. It`s like a holiday on its own, but it`s really expensive and you`ve to book rooms very early. Phantasialand and Parc Asterix has their own hotels, quite worth the money if you don`t want to drive to much, but I wouldn`t stay again to save some money. For the parks in belgium and the netherlands I would choose one hotel/area in the middle of all the parks and would use it as base (so you don`t loose to much time on check-in and -outs). Last time we did a belgium/netherland trip we used to stay at one of the center-parcs resorts, nice price and well equipped - and also a way to relax a bit. Near the Heide Park is nothing spectacular to see - maybe you stay in Hamburg for some further sightseeing. Andy

My vote for Disney`s Indy at Anaheim`s Disneyland. Lovely settled in the jungle, amazing q and of course a brilliant themed ride. "waiting for Indy IV - 2007/2008?" - Andy

As I read some pages before you`re saying that it`s not to expensive to take a taxi outside Tokyo. Can you approx. estimate what it will cost from Kurioso station to the park and how much time it will take? I`m so glad to have you guys! :lmaolmao:

Thanks for the quick answers Elissa and Chris. 1 hour from Kurioso station with the bus - man that`s a long journey. So I think I`ll have to cut down a bit of my Nikko visit. Chris do you know the Bus Number and some kind of timetable (is this bus a Nasu Highland shuttle or an official bus and how often does it go?) And by the way, is there any offical site where I can see their opening times? Thanks again Andy

Hi, first of all a big thanks to the Alvey`s for sharing their impressions with us. Brilliant! Because someone also ask about travelling to Nasu Highland: Can anyone please post which is the nearest JR Station to Nasu? And do anyone know if the park is open in April and how long do I need to do all the attractions at Nasu (because I`m thinking to do Nikko`s temples in the morning and Nasu in the afternoon). I`m really thankful for any tips. Thanks a lot Andy

Hi Dave, so there are a lot of options to do. First: Do you take a rental car or do it with trains/plans? I hope you choose to drive. Second: Do you wanna hit only mainland european parks or also UK parks? If you`re concentrating on mainland parks, some of the must hits in a kind of travel direction: Europa Park, Holiday Park, Phantasialand, Bobbejaanland, Walibi Belgium, De Efteling, Walibi World, Heide Park. If you`re coming from Paris, you can also visit Park Asterix. Personally I would skip the Swedish parks, because they`re really off the track. You can add some smaller parks on this tour like the Movie Park, not far from Phantasialand or the Hansa Park, not far from the Heide Park. Even the danish parks are not too far from Hamburg. And you can add some cultural stuff like nice cities (Amsterdam, Hamburg). That`s my opinion what you should choose. But hey, it`s up to your favour. Feel free to ask if your need further details. Andy

Hi Guys, what a great journey so far. Your TR is absolutely amazing. So tomorrow you`re visiting Nasu? Please comeback with a good describtion, because I`m hitting this park in april and I didn`t found to much info. And have a good celebration for tomorrows big party. I wish you all the best for 2006! Greetinx from the real ass cold Munich (at the moment we`ve 5 degrees fahrenheit day temperature, or -15 celcius; in the night it`s even colder). Andy

Hi, my count is 196, because it`s so damn hard here in europe to get many counts like you guys sitting in US states where you can easy travel to over 100 coasters in one week. But next year I`m doing my japanese coaster trip and as soon as possible the famous US parks I missed so far (f.ex. Cedar, Knoebels, some Six Flags in the east, PKD, PKI...).

Hi, no problem at all. A map with mistakes is better than no map

Sorry, but this map isn`t really helpful at all because there are so many mistakes: Phantasialand near Stuttgart? Movie Park Italy near Mirabilandia and far away from Gardaland? What about some other great Parks like Efteling? Sometimes England and Spain are also a part of europe!

who manufactured the Eurostar? RCDB doesn't have anything on it. That`s a difficult question. The owner Oscar Bruch wanted to have this first mobile inverted coaster. He opened his own construction office to design this coaster. Werner Stengel`s office joined Bruch to help him. The coaster was partly manufactured by Intamin and Giavanola. Part of the stations are from Mack and Gerstlauer. I`m not 100 % sure with all the facts but you see this is a easy answer! @DerekRx just let me know soon enough when you`ll visit the Oktoberfest. Maybe I`ll can help you out with getting some great places in the beer halls, because that`s no easy job for visitors.

sorry this last Good-Bye picture extended the allowed 30 pictures a Good Bye from the Oktoberfest

I thought that some of you guys are interested to see some photos from our munich Oktoberfest. I visit this worldwide biggest fair about ten times every year since I was a baby and after nearly 30 years I made my first photos just for this forum. I can`t wright a TR because it just so normal for us. If you`ve never heard about the Oktoberfest just some facts: It`s used to be a celebration for the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen in 1810. First it was just a horse race, afterwards it become a bigger and bigger fair. Now every year there are more than 6 million visitors in two weeks (it begins mid september until the first weekend in oktober). It`s held on a place in the middle of munich called the Theresienwiese (the shorter name for "Oktoberfest" is "Wiesn", how we call it). There are fourteen big tents (most of them can seat over 10.000 people) and a lot of smaller tents. On peak weekenddays there are more than 500.000 (!) visitors at the same time on the Oktoberfest, that`s really crowded. A lot of typical fair rides are there to amuse every child and adult. Classic coasters like the Olympia Looping or Eurostar are also their. Nearly everyone in munich loves this celebration. Some just like the atmosphere outside the big beer tents, others only like the beer tents (like most of the american visitors). It depends on what you prefer, but this fair is one of a kind in the world and you`ve to admit it once in your lifetime. A lot of cities established their own Oktoberfest, but they can`t compete with this special atmosphere. But don`t be dissatisfied if you`ll dont like it, because it`s really special. If you`ve more questions about the Wiesn I really like to answer them for you. All photos were taken on a weekday, about 1 pm where it`s less crowded and really relaxed. inside the Hippodrom one of the most expensive tents on the Wiesn: the Hippodrom an indoor coaster called Star World a 7 million dollar water flume ride a shot from the inverted coaster EuroStar you can buy so many souvenirs, even lot of small bears... a Wild Mouse from Mack one of the younger slides... one of the smaller places to enjoy some drinks and food Fire and Ice: a small powered coaster Herzl up in the air... the famous Olympia Looping, designed by Werner Stengel My wife Andrea is greeting the Themepark Review forum you can see the towers of the Paulaner tent and the tower of the Löwenbräu tent the Schützenfesthalle tent in younger days there`s only one brewery left who uses this old wooden barrels horses who brought the beer barrels from the breweries to the big party another tent: the famous Löwenbräu tent, with the lion infront one of the hundred boxes where you can buy Herzl inside the Hofbräuhaus tent, in the morning. It`s looks soooo calm. In the evening thousands of Aussies, Kiwis and Americans get drunken and pull of there shirts, skirts and trousers to show what mother nature has done to them... American`s, Australian`s and New Zealand`s favourite tent: the famous Hofbräuhaus (no one in munich likes to go to this tent because everyone here`s drunken!) inside the Ochsenbraterei tent. I nthe evening everyone is standing (but americans don`t stand on the tables just stand!) another tent: the Ochsenbraterei. You can eat fresh prepared oxen meats every day. They`ll need nearly 100 oxen for the 14 days some of the bigger tents. Here`s one munich`s favourite: the Hackerzelt another themed ride, also a ghost house - all with live actors! one of the themed rides...here a ghost house a real big giant wheel, one of Oktoberfest`s landmarks the Bavaria statue greets you on the top of the Oktoberfest

Hi Mark, yes you`re right. Walibi World is just an amusement park or thrill park for the younger ones and not a theme park. But for "just" an amusement park there`s not enough thrill to be on top. Some parks of the six flags chain or even cedar point are more an amusement park - but they`ve what I`ll miss at Walibi: more thrill or/and unique coasters. But I`ll think Walibi World (better the Starparks Group) don`t know exactly which way they`ll want to go in the future. More theming or more unique thrill attractions. If it`s up to me I like both: Good charming themes and of course thrilling coasters.

Sorry guys, I`m answering just this short reply in german. Hallo MrMorgan, wahrscheinlich gerade zurück vom ECC trip? Ich werde gerne auf Dein Angebot zurückkommen und Dich mal persönlich kontaktieren. Wird nur ein paar Wochen dauern. Habe bisher das Gerüst schon ganz gut gestrickt und werde mich im Dezember, wenn wir definitiv wissen wann wir fahren, bei Dir melden - wenn ich dann noch darf. ich werde nämlich sicherlich noch viele kleine Detailfragen haben. Schonmal vielen Dank und sichere alle Infos in Deinem Kopf!

Hi, visited Walibi World three weeks ago for my second time but I`ve to say that I don`t like it too much. Goliath rules, Robin Hood is really nice and the new Splash Battle is very wet but the park has absolutely no theming, no charme. The other coasters are just average, the rapid and the flume are really boring. The only good change is that the Walibi characters are really nice. Stuff is sometimes nice, but more likely unfriendly. And most of all like the other Star Parks: the park is not clean. Sorry to say that Walibi World is just a average park in europe.

Now I`m coming to an end of this TR. I hope you liked all the pictures and TR`s. If you want to say good or bad things about this TR - any critic is good for development. IF you`ll liked it you can also leave your comments in our guestbook (use www.coasterfriends.com), because lot of our coasterfriends members are to lazy to read everything in this topic So thanks for your patience Andy Part7: Movie Park, Germany The former Warner Bros. Movie World is in its first season under new name and has renamed and rethemed most of their attractions. The park has still his old probems: massive teenagers and idiots are strolling around in groups and making it hard to keep the park in good shape. But the park is adding new problems to his old problems: A real, real lack of Service. Any evidences? The park opens at 10 am, but many of the attractions open whenever they want without any signs. A lot of the buildings (food courts, snack shops, merchandise shops etc.) stay closed the whole day. The stuff is very unfriendly and without any enthusiasm. Five coasters are at the Movie Park and all are absolut average: Bandit (rough and middlelong Woodie), Cop Car Chase (quiet boring themed Intamin Looping Coaster), FX (Vekoma`s typical average Inverted), Mad Manor (a Mack Moue) and Rocket Rider Rollercoaster (Kiddie Vekoma). The new Ice Age Adventure ("it`s a small world" kind of water ride) is really boring, no interesting music or theming. Every attraction seems to be a bit worser than the last years. Overall this park leave`s us real sad, because it used to be an nice one but now it`s more likely a park without any flair, any love for details and any goals. We`ll really hope that one day starparks will sell this park to another group that maybe will focus on Movie Parks problems and will invest in some alternative plans to keep the spirit up again. at the end of our tour: Belli and Scrat said good-bye... you`re right: Scrat from ice Age you know this guy? Mainstreet Mystery River - real nice and long rapid ride - but you don`t get wet, that`s a pitty for this ride Vekoma`s 270 m Kiddie Rocket Rider Rollercoaster Mack`s Mad Manor Wild Mouse lot of people are strolling through the streets Vekoma`s FX - the next average Inverted the typical picture - 80 % of all shops / merch stations were closed entrance Movie Park

Okay, before I began with the second last part: Drivliet I`ll want to say sorry for some mistakes in my TR`s. As a german guy I`m not a native speaking american person, and so I choose some wrong words. Writing those TR`s in the night is not helping either. So sorry for that Part6: Drievliet After One Day without any park visit, we decided to do a little sidetrip to visit Drievliet, one hour away from Amsterdam, in Den Haag (by the way the capital of the netherlands). This park was built on flat small land, which is so small that you can walk from one end to another in about ten minutes. But this park offered some nice attractions, well worth to spend 2-3 hours. The credit guys can collect 4 points. All 4 coaster are from german factories: two Maurer Söhne rides (Twistrix - a spinning kiddie coaster and Extreme - a grown up spinning machine, really nice) and two Mack rides (the powered 2005 Dynamite Express and the Kopermijn mouse). One additional log flume and some flat rides completed the park attractions. So overall a nice park to invest two hours, but it`s not really worth to do a own trip to this park. After getting some amusement we decided to visit the near north sea beaches and choose those lovely city of Zandvoort. Well worth a visit if you`ve enough time to relax on the beach and get some good seafood. after Drievliet we relaxed on the north sea beach of Zandvoort Maurer Söhne`s Xtreme - nice spinning coaster - it´s fun! A Park`s Overview the Andi`s having fun mirror,mirror on the wall... some water flume (without even getting wet) Maurer Söhne`s Kopermijn Train - normal mouse like everywhere entrance way Drievliet`s strange entrance