Louise

I got to pop Richard's Ghost Train cherry at Southport. (How the hell a theme park enthusiast gets to the age of 24 without ever riding a ghost train is beyond me...) My reaction on King Solomon's Mines was similar to yours Eric, and seriously, I don't think any of me other than my hands were touching the car during most of the ride, Jeff probably saved my life a couple of times! Evil, scary, painful, but hilariously fun. Kinda like the Wheel, come to think of it...

When we were wandering around the park after ERT I actually sought out the Pepper Steak place, but then two things happened: One, we didn't have an awful lot of currency between us (mostly my fault, I admit. Okay, totally my fault. ), and two, we got distracted by all the other awesomeness the park had to offer and completely forgot. Just gives me yet another reason to go back!

The first time I rode, I got soaked to the skin apart from one big dry patch, which I was sat on... Somehow I got convinced to ride a second time which eliminated that dry patch. I think we all owe Jody a huge thanks for not riding and sitting there with 40 pairs of shoes and socks. Did they not have ketchup where you had lunch, or was it just bad ketchup?! Great pictures so far Nicole, and thanks very much for putting the damn song back into my head again. Still not as bad as the Small World theme though...

Happy Birthday Ryan! I'm about 6 hours early for where you are, but it's gone midnight here, so we can just claim you're still on UK time. Hope you have a great day, you were a pain in the arse at times, but you were also a hell of a lot of fun and it was good to meet you. In honour of you turning 16, I just wanted to say....! Have a good one.

It's quite a well known quote from some historian or poet or other, one of my favourite quotes. Dan Brown sure as hell didn't write it, but you might be right about it being used in the book somewhere, yeah.

Yeah, if you knew the definition, you might possibly not say that to me... At least not in public... I'm scared!

Is NOBODY actually reading a word of this thread, it makes it pretty obvious...! The trip finished over a week ago, everybody is home now. We were at Thorpe on the 18th, and yeah, the general consensus on Stealth was pretty good, it was probably my favourite of the Intamin launch coasters on the trip, even if they didn't call it Humdinger in the end.

^ We had a thread for that once... I called it the "who is a geek and who isn't" thread. I was a geek.

I love these things, even though my tiny brain can't comprehend exactly how that program works. Two Robbs.... *frightened* Where's my favourite one?

^ You were cooler than the ice bar, shut up.

I'm so pleased you said that, I really wasn't sure... I know we saw you and Nicole coming out of there and you said to be sure to get headphones, but when we got in there and we offered we thought it might be funny to watch it in Norwegian... It was, but a little confusing in parts! I knew that they were travelling SOMEWHERE.... Great TR Derek!

That's cool Taylor, I'm sure it's different for different people. There are guys I went to school with who after graduation suddenly realised they were gay having never had the thought cross their mind before. On the other hand, my best friend knew at the age of 6 that he was attracted to men. To each their own.

LMAO!! As hilarious an image as that is, for the ninetieth time, not once did I have a hangover! :: I was pretty much half-asleep walking to the bus every day though, although I was only late once, due to my watch being slightly off from changing it on the plane. Replace the name "Barry" with "Jeff".... (Only kidding old man.)

I love the anticipation of Wes arriving in a thread like this one.

^ Put it in the UK forum. And also, on future trips, I'll be starting a Sad And Pathetic People Sat Mostly In Middle Of The Bus Or Wherever The Hell Is Free By The Time I Get Out Of Bed Club.

^ I'm confused... You think homosexuality is a choice? Interesting to hear that coming from a gay man. If that's what you believe, that's alright, but possibly the dreams and thoughts that you had might have simply been down to conditioning: At that age, it seems like all boys marry all girls and have babies, and life is that simple, as that's the stereotype society most often reinforces to children.

^ Easy now, this thread's doing good so far...

^^^^ Yeah, see that's the thing, I'd love to go on the Japan trip just because I know how much fun it will be because of the way Robb and Elissa do things, and the fact that the people will probably be awesome. But there's really no point in paying that kind of money (as inexpensive as the Alveys make things, Japan will still be pricey) unless I'm really hyped up about the parks... We'll see, I might change my mind if I win the lotto. Casino next week maybe! We need to start a "What I learned on the UK Trip thread" Casey...

This is a first, I have never before quoted myself, but I feel the need to do so at the moment. I know one person understands why...

Well, Spain plus Italy is an absolutely given, I'm 100% in for that one. Midwest might be a very strong possibility, depending on the cost. Japan is a funny one for me, it's a country I've always wanted to visit, and I know in some ways it's worth it for just how screwed up the place is, but there aren't really any coasters or parks, other than Disney, that I'd be that excited to visit, so I'm thinking maybe waiting a couple of years and then heading over there on my own. Wouldn't be as much fun as travelling with the TPR lunatics but... We'll see. Three trips in a year on a student budget might be a little much.

Legally, you need to be 18 to travel with TPR, unless your parents are willing to sign over guardianship to Robb and Elissa (well, that's how it was on this first trip, but this was the guinea pig trip, future trips may be different), but it's highly unlikely that they'll do another UK trip for several years now, until enough new coasters and new members make it worthwhile.

I think people (people in general, I am NOT pointing at anybody in particular) need to remember that God did not fax the bible from heaven, it is a book written by man. I know that many of these camps are religiously-motivated, but I think the issue here has more to do with the ethics of the camps, rather than who is right/wrong/has whatever beliefs. As Julie said, this whole thread has been kind of interesting, and I'm off to Wikipedia now!

^ Uh-oh... You were missed, see how much we were thinking about you, with all the references?! Next year.

^ Awww, I'm flattered that I didn't get included in that!

Most likely we were on our way to some lockers, rather than actually near them.... Either that or we were doing dark rides/water rides because it was the hottest part of the day and we weren't allowed at any other time....