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Next Stop: Acropark Roana, which I found on www.parksmania.it. It was a standard adventure Tree-Go type park, and this starts off with a video of Cheryl on the super zip line. But the ride to get there was pretty damn thrilling! I looked at the route on Google, and what I saw is below the video: superzip.MPG Let's watch Cheryl do her thing! Next installment: Mirabilandia! I got twisted around on the super-long zip line. It was huge: over a parking lot and a lake! Whee! Oh man, Cheryl dropped her camera! Can we rest now?!!? Cheryl and I both managed to pull muscles getting to the top of that thing. Getting to the more difficult high level course was really hard! Cheryl negotiates tricky obstacle. We went to an excellent park of this kind right near Lake George, NY called Adirondack Extreme. We bought gloves there and were glad we had brought them to Italy because they didn't have them and they make a big difference! You can see I wore my TPR hoodie! Cheryl enjoys the Italian alpine air! The zip line to nowhere! This place was great. They didn't charge us after the first course! Here's a typical obstacle. You have to climb across the logs, but they swing around a lot, so it's tough. You're always clipped in to a safety line, so it's perfectly safe to lose it and fall. You've probably seen one of these parks, but if you haven't, it's a network of cables and platforms and obstacles set up in a forest. You bascially have to get from tree to tree. Sometimes it's tricky, like just a slack line to cross, sometimes easy, like a zip line. What a relief to be done with that drive. Finally we arrive at Acropark Roana, pay the 30 Euros for the first course and get harnessed up. Motorcyclists in full leather are flying by at top speed up and down the mountain. It was crazy! We actually saw several places where flowers and gravestones had been placed at the sites of accidents! I know, it doesn't look that bad, but there are 10 of these hairpin turns, and the dropoffs are quite steep and high. Plus... Then we see signs like this... Let's just say that mountain driving is not my strong point.

We missed the pirate dark ride.

I didn't realize that the Vekoma steelies had new trains. Both or just one? Both actually rode fairly smoothly. I don't remember feeling any pain, but I didn't repeat ride. Wait, now that I think about it, there were flying coaster-ish stretchy restraints on the sit-down, which were much more comfortable. As for the shoot-the-chutes, I don't remember being indoors. Maybe there was one short tunnel, but unthemed. I was just getting into the massive outdoor stuff, which was just beautiful. Also, there were two lifthills and two drops...it was a long ride! -Martin

We flew to Bologna from Amsterdam and rented a car. First stop: Gardaland in Castelnuovo di Garda in Veneto. Enjoy the pix! Arrivederci! Next stop, Acropark in Roana! Themed out the wazoo. If there had been animatronics, it could have been Disney. Suspiciously coasterlike. That Neptune figure was like 60 feet tall, and you go right under his loincloth! I thought this was awesome. Now the Shoot-the-Chutes ride was themed to the lost continent of Atlantis, and this was really elaborate theming. Mammut next to Intamin Flying Island. Fun ride, well-themed, a bit tame. Oh, but bonus points for the 3 lift hills. Three lift hills gets me every time. Mammut was last year's new coaster, a family coaster themed to a hunt for the wooly mammoth built by Vekoma. Gardaland sits next to Lake Garda. Prezzemolo was pretty friendly! Gelato! Great dining experience! We loved the log flume through the forest. Nice. Magic Mountain is a park in California, and also a Vekoma double-loop double corkscrew sit-down steelie in Italy. I thought it would fly through the course, but it's braked and the speeds are moderate. Family-friendly. None in the U.S. yet but maybe some potential because of the small footprint. Sequoia Adventure is an S&S Screaming Squirrel. Next was Sequoia Adventure and Magic Mountain. As I said, tip-top landscaping at this place. We love going up to guys in suits at amusement parks and getting our picture taken with them! It's like managment-character meet-and-greet! I'm not a big Vekoma fan, but this was pretty good in the front seat. First credit: Blue Tornado, a 1998 Vekoma SLC. This did actually generate a few fantasies for me and Cheryl! It's a good idea to spring for the Express Passes! This will go in my collection of drooling heads at amusement parks. This park gets some charm awards. It's beautifully landscaped. Yes, I have pre-printed tickets! This guy is named Prezzemolo! Merlin owns Sea Life too. That's the Gardaland Hotel. I really wanted to stay there but it was like 330 euro/night! Here's the Fiat we rented. The speed limit in Italy is about 81 mph on the highway! Here's another! Cool shops in the Bologna airport.

Numero 200: Last July 4th weekend at Alabama Adventure on Rampage. I'm shooting for #300 either at Walibi World Goliath, Toverland Troy, or the longshot, Expedition GEForce at Holiday Park.

We were at WDW on Thanksgiving and spent this past Easter Sunday at Mirabilandia in Italy.

I agree that Gilroy Gardens could be a nice fit for Efteling, but I have some questions: 1) Does the city of Gilroy want to offload it? I know they swooped in as saviour to Bonfante Gardens and they've invested a great deal and will buy out the remaining bondholders in 2010 (according to Wikipedia). They've themed the place to nature and horticulture and they highlight the area's ag focus. Do they want a fairy-tale re-theme? 2) I think the big opportunities for Efteling are the parks that are known to be on the block. There will be some downward pressure on park prices while several are up for sale. Does Efteling want to start barking up other trees? Or has the City of Gilroy stated some intention to sell? Would Efteling be interested if it can't buy the land? Currently the park holds a long-term lease on the land. 3) For its first foray into North America, would a European co. pick a West Coast location? Merlin has Madame Tussaud's and Legoland in the U.S. Did they start on the West Coast or East? Thanks for the insight people. ML

Great trip report! But some of the photos don't make sense without captions. Food Court? What can food do that warrants a trial, inside an amusement park no less!??! Medusa is barely recognizable with the new paint job. Bizarro indeed. Too bad you couldn't get picks of the valleys on Nitro and ET. Thanks for the TR. -Martin

We hit Phantasialand in January and Disneyland Paris in March. We're heading to Gardaland, Acropark, and Mirabilandia next weekend.

Considering the ever-present smoking all over the park by many guests at DLRP, it's surprising that there haven't been even more fires.

Great video Robb! This was one of my favorite rides in Korea. I thought it was powered but now I'm not so sure. Cannot wait for Volume 12!!!

Has there been any news of European parks up for sale? Of the larger park companies in Europe, I only know Parques Reunidos, Merlin, and Compagnie des Alpes and haven't heard anything about consolidation. Are there marginal (financially) or independently-owned European parks that would fit well with Efteling? How did Parques Reunidos break into the U.S. market? I see they have more parks in North America now than they do in Europe. For what it's worth, the Dutch are generally comfortable with far-flung locations and English is widely spoken by most business people. From a language point of view, the only places that make more sense than the U.S. for expansion are Flanders (Dutch-speaking Belgium) or the UK. Maybe Germany. But again, this is a buyer's market and Valleyfair or Worlds of Fun could probably be picked up for a song. I agree that Busch Williamsburg could probably be pulled off with the animals. Wasn't there a rumour that Disney was interested in some or all Busch parks? Now they're just laying off people, at least according to the latest Inside the Magic podcast. Cheers, Martin

There was a story in one of the financial newspapers here this week that Efteling, the popular Dutch fairy-tale themed amusement park, is seeking to expand to a second park outside of the Netherlands. I'm translating from Dutch so excuse the errors and my interpretation. "We are discreetly looking around" said Board Chairman Bart de Boer. "There are opportunities in this market." The new park would also have the fairy-tale theming. "We're good at that and we have few competitors in that area". There are no plans for an additional park in the Netherlands. The possibility of expansion has already been on management's agenda for some time. "Our market position is stronger if we're not dependent on a single park. Traffic jams in the Netherlands have taken a toll and limit the number of visitors to our park." De Boer sees opportunities. "There are a number of foreign parks up for sale. These have been financed by high levels of debt and the shareholders are looking for buyers during this recession." Efteing is in a good financial position to take over another park, according to the article, which says that the Dutch park could finance more than 70% of a purchase itself. The Efteling Naturepark Foundation, the sole owner of the park since the 1950's, supports the expansion plans. The expansion will not come at the cost of the Dutch park. "We're not going to allow our gem to become sullied." This year Efteling is investing EUR 52 million in a new vacation-park, Efteling Bosrijk. The firm is staking tens of millions in additional expansion projects. Here's a link to the article in Dutch: www.fd.nl/artikel/11319936/efteling-onderzoekt-bouw-tweede-park That's more or less what the article says. There's no mention of what country the expansion is aimed at, but as far as I know, it's the U.S. that has the parks up for sale. The Busch parks are for sale, Cedar Fair has named the parks it wants to off-load, and if Six Flags does file for Chapter 11, they'll probably have some properties on the market. If you were Efteling, which park would you buy? I would try to buy Busch Gardens Williamsburg, but I don't think Efteling has the animal expertise required, or they would have to ditch the wildlife stuff. And I think InBev wants to sell the parks in one shot to one buyer. That may not be possible, so they might have to break up the empire. People's thoughts? -Martin

Todah rabbah! Very cool report. Where is the other park? Also in Tel Aviv? -M

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but I think Steel Eel at SWSA is underrated. We rode it in the rain in March '08 and the thing was an air machine. It's still in my Top 10, over 100 coasters later. I guess that park just doesn't get the hordes of enthusiasts. My advice is to sign up for the Texas trip ASAP if there's still room. Also, what about Skyliner at Lakemont? I didn't know anything about it and it totally took me by surprise. I would have ridden a few more times if we weren't trying to do Idlewild, Del Grosso's, Lakemont, and Waldameer in one day. Which we did. -Martin Last Park: Walt Disney Studios Park, Marne la Vallée, Ile-de-France France Next Park: Gardaland, Castelnuovo del Garda, Veneto Italy

It's cool Robb, we were in Orlando for Thanksgiving! -Martin

I understand that we might've hit the place on an off day. There were other factors that might've tainted my perceptions: it was very crowded, very chilly for most of the day, and I was catching a cold. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind. If they put in a big new unique attraction or another credit, we'll give it another shot.

Our flight got in too late on Friday night to catch the last TGV train to the resort, and by comparison the bus took about 45 minutes or so. It can take longer if there's traffic. Late on a Friday, we were okay.

Okay, after criss-crossing the U.S. in 2008 and joining TPR on the S. Korea and Tokyo legs of the Asia Tour, we've moved across the pond and have started to hit the parks over here. Our first park was a great experience: a winter day at Phantasialand in Bruhl, Germany. It was brilliant. Here was our 2nd European credit run. Last weekend Cheryl and I hopped on an Air France flight from Amsterdam and headed to Disneyland Resort Paris. Brilliant? Not so much. We had four major problems with the parks and many minor problems. It all added up to a very un-Disney experience. In fact, the experience was not really a Disney experience at all but for the rides and infrastructure. It was like Disney had built the park but had let some other company operate it. The four big issues: 1. Garbage. You've never seen a Disney park with so much garbage and crap sitting around. 2. Smoking. Yeah, I know it's France, but, the park policies are clear that smoking is only permitted in designated areas. Nonetheless, this policy is universally ignored by guests and rarely enforced by cast members. 3. Ops. It was crowded so the queues were on the long side, but you've never seen more empty seats on rides. Operators were just totally unfocused. And you've never seen fast pass machines break down with more frequency. 4. No magic. No friendliness from cast members. A couple of the pin-trading guys were nice, but others seemed distracted, distant, rude, and gruff. FYI, don't try to go in the fast pass line if the time window on your ticket has passed. It's your fault, regardless of what you've been told, regardless of your experience at other Disney parks. This happened more than once with different rides and different cast members. We did really enjoy a few rides: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was one of the best ever because of the extra tunnels that go to and from the island. Pirates was cool. Crush's Coaster was a lot of fun. And Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was definitely the wildest finale we'd ever experienced. More ups and downs and for a longer period of time than we'd ever had on a ToT before, and with tons of airtime. On to the photos... Okay, sorry for the negativity. Just wanted to share. Here's Cheryl in front of the TGV. If you're going to Disney, the TGV is the fastest means to and from the airport. It rocks. See you soon; we'll be at Gardaland and Mirabilandia in 2 weeks! This view did not change during the entirety of our meal. No shortage of garbage. In addition to the countless cigarette butts everywhere, we encountered less than tidy dining areas. Crush's Coaster queue...amazing attention to detail...not. Amazing theming at Buzz Lightyear. Hole in the ceiling at Buzz Lightyear. Sorry, not a great shot. I seem to have lost the photo, but the full-size audio-animatronic Buzz in the queue area was completely out of commission and just standing with his head lolling to the side. We saw decline like we'd never seen in other Disney parks. Maybe we weren't paying attention in Anaheim, Orlando, and Tokyo. But here it was, just the same. There was even smoking with kids at night! I took the photo and stared off like I was shooting something behind them, and the mother turned to see what it was. Little did her smoky brain know... Kid in right hand, cigarette in the left. In the queue. As you can see, this wasn't a few isolated incidents, it was rampant. In the queue. With the kids. These guys are smoking around their kids. Note cigarette. Okay, I've just got to vent and show you the negative stuff. We can start with smoking. Walking around. In the queues. With kids. It bothered us. Just a little evidence of Frenchiness. Found the Crush's Coaster sign photo! This was a pretty fun ride. But I got a little deja vu because of all the indoor coasters (Space, Aerosmith, this) We'd never seen the Lights Motors Action show before at any of the other Disney parks so we gave it a try...Cheryl fell asleep! Spinning, wobbling animatronic model of a Crush Coaster Car. This queue was interminable, about 90 minutes. We saw line jumpers in action, but only one guy said anything to them, with no consequences. I have to say Okay Tower, but Orlando still wins. France's contribution to the stable of Disney rodents. I think we waited a good hour for this one. Let me give public thanks to the people in front of us and behind us who didn't light up (at my request) during the entire queue. Pre-show with Aerosmith was about 10 seconds long. No Ileana Douglas, unfortunately. Second day belongs to the Studios. Here's the new name for DM. Thanks to TPR for pointing out the Discovery Mountain leftovers! Some hot parade action. This is for Dave Lawrence! There was no queue when we came back to ride late at night and we actually walked past the building entrance because there was no cast member present. As you can see, I'm not a great photographer of rides, just a good photographer of signs. I loved this landscaping and terracing against the castle. Pirates! We liked this ride and thought it was one of the best in the park. Interesting to see it sans-Captain Jack. They have a Blue Lagoon restaurant in place of the Blue Bayou. Nice drooling skull! Must mean we're near... Rougher than Raging Sprits in Japan. Constant fast pass machine breakdowns had the cast members just handing out tickets, enabling us to collect quite a few in a short period. But like I said, cast members gave us a hard time about using them after the window had closed. And they weren't very nice about it. Like I said, pretty crowded today. No Magic Kingdom here, it's Disneyland Park. This seems a little heavy-handed for an amusement park. Bright sun, but quite chilly in the mid-low 50's. We stayed at the Radisson SAS. Unfortunately the cheapest Disney hotel was over EUR300! Yay! Cheryl waiting for the bus at Paris CDG. Schiphol Airport outside of Amsterdam.

I am so jealous. I can't believe that I moved to Europe and I can't go on this trip. *sigh* Well, I am going to Disneyland Paris this weekend.

Ditto. Best, Martin

Awesome news about Rampage at Alabama Adventure. That coaster was my #200 and it's a ton of fun. Way to go Robb!

Awesome update. We did something like 40 parks last year and the Tokyo Disney resort was simply the most amazing. Except for Quassy.

I like "light on his feet". I think that's from the 1930's. Anyway, straight but not narrow here.

Nice report! We're hoping to get there in the next few months!