Louise

^ LMAO at you knowing what computer I have, I don't know whether to be slightly frightened or not! I'm declining to comment on their presence (or lack thereof) in my house.

You wrote that on purpose right!?!? LOL!!!! This day was amazing. I love that park anyway and yeah, one of the most fun days of the trip. I apologise once again to all of you for making you wait 50 minutes for the world's crappiest simulator. In a non-air-conditioned queue. Oh, and regarding the birds... There are three!!!!!! Damn you!!! I told you all that was the best ride in the park... Were any of you disappointed? No? Didn't think so.

OMG, I didn't mean to drive the thread this far off track! I was kidding about posting the video, I don't even know if it would violate the site's T&C's (worst mod ever!), or if it's even legal to post! Though I did pay quite a lot for it! Besides that I have no freaking clue how to do so. LOL. You're safe, Steve, don't worry.

Hey Steve, do you think I should post our onride video from Bandit?

It's tomorrow now! It's not our fault that you guys are eight hours late...!

She's gonna bitchslap you with her medal!! Happy birthday Kristen, not that you can read this yet... I cannot freakin' believe she's two. Watching the Japan DVD brought back memories that feel like yesterday but I guess Kristen will forever more now be how I measure just how long a period there is between summers (or for the next 16 years at least)! Unbelievable how teeny she was on that trip.

So who gets the privilege of telling the story of what happened to Divv later that evening? I think it should be Steve as he was the only one to witness the beginning of it... or else Erik, as he was the victim... Some of us escaped to bed immediately after those photos were taken and missed all the, erm... expulsion of fluids. I would like to point out that I did not suggest they order Zombies. I believe my exact words were "do not under any circumstances order the Zombies". They did the exact opposite of what I told them, and it led to trouble. Listen to your sober friend, drunkards!

Great report so far Divv. I keep looking at things and thinking "hmm, I don't remember that!", before realising I didn't really start hanging out with you guys for another day or two. I so wish I'd witnessed Brad getting kicked. How did poor Ben end up separated from everybody like that on the rapids?? And more importantly, was he (as always) the most supersoaked person both on his boat and in the whole group?!

Just a quick response to say I'm just finishing page one of this thread and already there's all kinds of Lou Abuse!!!! I'm offended, you b*stards. And no Dave, I never did finish my trip report, but I'm proud to have got as far with it as I did!! Enjoying this so far Divv, even though all I've read up to yet is places I haven't been so boo to that! Looking forward to reliving this one, yet another great trip.

^^ Not that I'm eligible t to vote in the US, but if you were running, Scott, and PMW was prominent in your propoganda... I WOULD FIND A WAY.

Dave, this is amazing, I am extremely amused!! More, please!!!

See, I had no problems with the service last year, but to be fair, I didn't really go to the bar much, I mostly had drinks given to me (LOL, I have no idea why!!), or threw money at Robb and/or Hector and/or whoever else I was drinking with, and then they went to the bar!

Dragon Bar was also overhyped by a mini-europe participant... a.k.a. Lou. I would like to point out that if Dragon Bar had worked as it had LAST year, it would not have seemed as overhyped! Hell, even I hated it that first night this year, and yes, I was its biggest fan last year! As I said on the trip, I think the problem is that this year, there were so many of us, and so many other people, and the bar service was SO bad that night, that it just destroyed the atmosphere. Which is really what the bars are all about. Once the remaining group all stocked up on drinks in bulk and took the party outside, we had a fantastic night! But yeah, the service was shocking. I do need to be less enthusiastic about things though, as I know I was also one of the people who hyped up River Quest to Robb. Like Chuck and others though, most of that stuff was new to me, and it's also somewhat rare to get totally drenched on a rapids tide, which we all did in 2007 and several of us did this year, so I loved that. Interestingly though, until Robb brought it up, it had never really occurred to me that yeah, it's totally wrong to call it a Rapids ride as there really aren't any rapids at all... So I guess I'll stick with "Raft Ride" from now on! That hadn't entered my thoughts before! Phantasialand is still one of my favourite parks of all time. Not everything is "OMG AMAZING!!" (hell, I don't even particularly like Black Mamba...), but everything is consistently really effing good, the food is amazing, theming is beautiful, and they have some real stand-out attractions. I love it.

^ I was expressing my displeasure at having sat in the rain on the brake run for ten minutes waiting for the other train in the station to dispatch! Plus Hanno kept telling me off for always pulling the same cheesy smile in photographs, so I tried to give him a variety of expressions! Hanno, I've said it a hundred times before but I'll say it again, I ADORE your photos, even the ones where I look horrendous, because they're real. I think you take beautiful shots. Thank you so much for sharing them with us!!

Ben, I love you. That's all. Oh, and I too missed the dark ride, hell, I didn't know until just now that there was one!! I thought it was just playground/do-it-yourself stuff on that side and I wasn't really feeling up to that (I'm sick of seeing myself post that phrase already ) so I didn't wander over much!

^ It's A Small World should be way above Bandit... C'mon Steve, think of the video!! Did we pull those faces on Small World?! I think not!

This is NOT the same Zombie served at Phantasialand, which has different rums and different fruit juices. However, it is close enough, and still a lethal drink of destruction. Uncle Steve, as your niece, I was proud to be a bad influence. The most sober person must take responsibility for the actions of the others. Except Jes, who was sensible enough to take responsibility for himself and merely have a vodka. Smart guy.

^ Not that I'm Elissa, but yes, they did. I think we all did. I hadn't ridden EGF prior to last year but still said it was ridiculously trimmed, the first half of the ride was "a religious experience" (Hi Dave L!) but slamming into those trims... Blah. This year it was 20 times better, I loved it. As for the Colossus love, I totally totally get it, but don't feel the adoration for it that many others seem to. Don't get me wrong though, there was *nothing* wrong with the ride: really smooth, incredible airtime, fun layout, etc etc. I just didn't seem to feel the passion and enthusiasm that a lot of people did! I'd probably "rank" (I don't really rank, just group...) it equally with Troy, although they're very different rides I loved them equally. I want to go back to Heide Park someday when I'm not sick and see if I feel any differently about it. That was a particularly bad day, cough-wise, and I didn't take advantage of ERT AT ALL, though I did go back and have a great ride on Colossus late afternoon.

Coasters on the moon may only be ridden by our draconic halves, which was possibly the only thread ever created that was stupider than this one. Some great discussion in here though, I'm completely amazing by you guys' scientific minds!

OMG, that picture!! I'd forgotten you had your camera that night!! I was so sensible. LOL at petrol. Stupid Steve!!!! Erik, I love your relaxed attitude. I also find it amusing that no actual stories have been posted yet.

This park was a lot of fun. I liked the park itself, though thought it needed another couple of big attractions and a bit of TLC, but the park experience was one of my favourites of the trip. 1. Steve and I on Bandit. No more needs to be said. 2. Amazing lunch. 3. Crazy ERT in the morning leaving us with almost no major attractions left to do during the day! Major kudos to the park people and to Robb and Elissa! 4. Divv dying. 5. Erik being surprisingly zen... 6. Steve and I laughing at Divv. Repeatedly. And everybody else, to be fair! 7. One of my favourite drop towers EVER!! Robb had said that this one still scares the crap out of him for some reason and I totally agree. I adored it, even though it did cause me some pain... Not as much as the blokes though, probably. Hanno deciding to ride this with me as his first drop tower experience shall go down in history as one of my favourite trip memories, I was so thrilled! 8. Kiddie SLC actually being fun! And the mouse too! Also, Ice Age was a really nice fun little dark ride, and I loved the "Disko Coaster" experience. Really great day. On the group photo, it kinda looks like Melanie's leg is my arm....!!

Yay Divv AND Steve!! Their stories far eclipse anybody else's.

Great pictures as always Hanno!! I had no idea you captured my awesome moment of pain on Vol D'Icare. "I HAVE A HERNIATED VAGINA!!!!"

^ Exactly!! Speaking of which, it cropped up on the Europe trip how strange it is that so many coaster enthusiasts are afraid of heights! It's interesting to me. For the most part I know they're afraid of unrestrained heights (eg certain people who didn't do the Starflyer...) so coasters are fine, but it's still interesting to me.

^ I'm not even gonna bother! I took 70-something pictures over the first few days, then two different evenings I took two pictures each. I did take a hundred or so touristy shots in Paris after the trip, but... Yeah, no trip report. LOL. Love you too Bob!