Mike Austin

Haven't you basically answered your own question there? Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, with a seemingly vastly different culture to the USA/UK. Add this in with a couple of the best theme parks in the world (Disney), and a hell of a lot of other unique attractions which you can't do anywhere else in the world (Muscle Park..etc...), and then add an almost constant demand of new people wanting to have the TPR Japan experience as well as the return visitors who are already in love with the country, and you have your answer on why TPR keeps returning to Japan! Now, who wants to pay for me to do Tokyo and Southern Japan next year?

Everybody has their own rules about what counts, what doesn't, and how many a coaster counts as (Jeff Johnson, for examples, counts each seat on a coaster as a different credit, as every seat gives a different experience!). So, it's really up to you whether to count it or not. As for myself, I use the easy rule of if the ride's on RCDB (http://www.rcdb.com), I add it to my coaster credit list!

*Facepalm* ........... I've been sooo bored since coming home from this trip. However, I've just found out that if all goes to plan, I SHOULD have money to do a 2012 trip!

Mt. Olympus has sooo much potential, but it's all ruined by ridiculous operations and management (money-management?) decisions. If people didn't know, Mt Olympus only bought 1 train for each woodie, meaning queue times, especially for the very long Hades, can get to ridiculous lengths. Even worse, their coasters haven't even got transfer tracks, meaning an extra train can't be added anyway! What the hell's the point? How can you get a park with 4 potentially world class woodies and muck it all up so badly?

That's possibly the worst explanation of what The Crystal Maze is that I've ever read! I suggest looking at this to see what the show really was. It's well worth a watch as well- Easily one of my favourite gameshows ever! Those doughnuts look vile! I'm pretty sure Alton does some decentish doughnuts, as does Blackpool I think. I've always thought as Oakwood as quite a strange park to be honest. It's miles and miles away from anywhere, and it's hardly advertised at all outside it's local area despite having one of the better rides in the country in Megafobia. Ahh well. :confused:

Wait... Last year, people watched a porn movie in the hotel lobby with nobody seemingly giving 2 thoughts about it, yet this year someone is complaining about seeing a bra??? Actually, I guess it was gay porn being watched, so tdstorm had nothing to complain about! I do agree with though... If it were up to me, all women would be banned from TPR trips... The problem is, most of the women on these trips have bigger balls than the men!

More awesome reporting Chuck! I have to say though, I felt MAJORLY disappointed by Indiana Beach. The park was probably the biggest disappointment of the entire trip to be honest (and there really weren't that many this trip!). I think my problem with the place is that I was just expecting far too much. From all the past trip reports, especially reading how much fun the Mid-West trippers had at the park, I was expecting it to be one of the best, most atmospheric parks in the world, which the place really isn't. Maybe it was the combination of heat, humidity and rust-strewn water getting to me (I still can't believe people drank that water we got at lunch. Drinking water is not supposed to be brown!!!), but I found the charm of Indiana Beach hard to come by. Everything about the place just seemed dirty, most of the employees looked like they didn't want to be there (or weren't there, as in the case of ERT, at which I felt hugely sorry for Robb and Elissa with all the planning that goes into these trips!) , frankly, I really couldn't wait to leave the place once I got all the credits in. I remember Robb/Elissa saying on the bus how there's been a change of management and the park's suffered as a consequence, and I also heard a lot of people mention how the park comes much more alive in the evening. But for myself, in the time we were there, I just felt hugely let down by it all. Ahh well, thank god the rest of the trip was so awesome it made me quickly forget about this place!

I think Deborah Meaden has got it spot on... "I have seen a lot of prototypes that actually never end up as rides; because whilst the theory looks great, there is a problem in the actual application of them" This ride just looks far too big and expensive for it to be anywhere near feasible, and it doesn't look that great anyway!

I always thought Dr Who lived in a blue Police box, but there ya go! I can't believe you skipped out on seaside chip shops to go to WIMPY of all places. Madness!

With all this talk about the East Coast Bash and Intimidatour, I think people are forgetting how AWESOME the actual main Mid-America trip was... Seriously the nicest and best group of people I've ever had the pleasure to meet and go around with. Add this together with all the excellent special bonuses we got (Leslie Hall, Buca, Lambert's, Pizza Hut (despite my hatred of food not allowing me to fully enjoy these places ), tons of ERT, Q-Bots, Elissa bus Bingo, backstage tours, photo walkbacks...etc...etc...) and some real stand out coasters (I've put Powder Keg right into my top 5!) and we've got the best trip I've ever been on ever! It is easily by far my favourite trip I've ever been on, and I'ld like to thank Elissa, Robb and everyone else for making the trip so special! If I had enough money, I'ld sign up for every TPR trip, no question! Thanks once again, and I hope to see you all again soon. -Mike "Bohemian" Austin-

Awesome reporting yet again Chuck. That Lamberts meal was actually disgusting, and it was only saved by the hilarity of a man throwing rolls at people and the massive cups of drink we got! Also, is it odd that I thought Prowler was better in the day time than I thought it was at night? Ah well. Good stuff Chuck!

So, if this is true, they've fired 3 of the best GMs from 3 of the best Six Flags parks (in my opinion)? And this makes sense...how? Mad!

They had exactly the same show playing at Futuroscope a few years back, and I had exactly the same reaction to it! Terra Mitica should have a few more customers in a few weeks time, once all the British schools break up!

Another awesome trip report Jason! Mike's totally right about the Fish & Chips though. Neither pub nor poncie F&Cs are proper Fish & Chips! I see you didn't dare try the black pudding with your breakfast either.

Pilgrim's is a Shoot the Chutes, which have bigger 20+-man boats which create a huge splash in a much wider track, and only have one drop. Only one boat goes around the track at a time. Similar rides are Perilous Plunge at Knott's and Tidal Wave at Thorpe. Log Flumes, on the other hand, have much smaller 4/5-man boats, a much thinner, longer track, 2-3 drops and can have many boats going around at the same time. You also tend to stay a lot dryer on flumes than you do chutes. Shoot the Rapids is quite clearly a Flume, and not a Chute. Tedious subject over?

It's because Knoebel's was one of the few days when I had clothes that actually fit me (hooray for stupidly short shorts and beigely/pink-coloured shirts)... Oh, and the park was quite good as well.

If Kinzel were the new owner of Google... The new new and improved homepage! (Official entry)

By far and away my favourite and most watched TPR video. Love it!

Kings Dominion during the 2008 East Coast trip. What an absolutely abysmal and depressing day [for me] that day was. My least favourite park I've ever been to, on a day in my life I hope to never re-live. =\

Oh my God... Memories! Some not so good, but mostly awesome memories. This report has sooo put me in the modd for doing yet another trip! Someone had better drop out the Mid-America trip soon!

The effort put into this by me was immense. Official Entry

^ http://www.rcdb.com/8103.htm

Ergh, I hate doing the steel poll as I'm far too indecisive on what should go where. I'm confident on my top 2, my bottom 5, but nothing else. Here's my top 10, as bad as ever: 1. Favourite Woodie 2. Goliath, SFMM 3. Apollo's Chariot, BGE 4. Talon, Dorney 5. Alpengeist, BGE 6. Nitro, SFGAdv 7. Xcelerator, KBF 8. Kingda Ka, SFGAdv 9. Oblivion, AT 10. Steel Force, Dorney Bottom 5: 107. Favourite SLC 108. Favourite Gertsl. Spinner 109. Revolution, SFMM 110. G Force, Drayton 111. Vortex, CGA =/

Janice & Russell? (Elissa's parents)

Completed mine. 37 woodies isn't too bad, is it? =/ Top 5 are: Boulder Dash Phoenix Fav. Steel Terminator Lightning Racer Bottom 4: Hurler Rebel Yell Grizzly Roar (SFA) Everything in the middle is a bit awry though, and seems to be a bit random.