Nrthwnd

~ TPR LEGOLand Fire Brigade Race! ~ A lot of the group met up at this attraction, to find out who was really "The Best of The Bunch," lol. Or - who had the most energy, strength, stamina, etc.etc.etc. I went to the other side of the "track", as shown by Jake's photo with me in it (thanks Jake!), and took my video from there. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_5018_2os8[/coastertube] Fun to watch, great to record, never gonna do it, myself. Here's the photo Jake took, of the race, with me there in back, doing my video-ing bit.

Awesome. We should do that on Fright Nights on Coaster at Playland.

^ Oops. Sorry, I didn't look and realize the earlier posts were back in...February. Thanks for pointing me to it.

Joker - Six Flags Mexico With one of The best Queue FUNhouse Walkthrus, in memory!

~ LEGOLand Day Ends all too soon ~ The rest of our time at LEGOLand, I got to tour through something I hadn't the chance to do, back in 2009. Their ATLANTIS attraction. It's basically an aquarium, but with that "LEGO touch" lol. And I improved my score at The Temple shooting ride; celebrated Birthdays that day (!); took a revisit to the LEGO "PIrates of The..." Slightly different than the Disney version, yo ho ho. All in all, it was a really great day there, and I'm so glad we got to go back. With The Sunshine. And good sized crowds, the awesome ERT, that (again) great buffet lunch we had.... great day. The Temple - a great shooting dark ride for the whole family. But my first score did not impress even me - Team 29 - 11100. Cary won that round. The next time, I seemed to improve quite a bit - Team 19 - and I beat Ben! I was satisfied with that. (o; It's called ATLANTIS, but it's still like the SEALIFE aquarium franchise. And like I said - with the LEGO Touch, lol. This photo turned out a bit too dark for my liking. So I fooled around with the exposure a bit, and... ...and? Not too shabby. Definitely more colourful, heh. An all-LEGO sea rover! The things they created actually all looked very cool. Here's James about to drown himself, in a safety water chamber.....about to fill up. More water and plants, less LEGO here. Out of Atlantis, back to Ghost House - The Ride, and found this just behind it. And then I looked the other way, and saw THIS! Much more impressive IMhO. The Pirates Life Ride starts outside, here. Hi guys! I promise, you won't get wet on this one! Inside. Photos not great, but the colours stand out, hmm? I almost expected this to be an animatronic, with her top falling down and... well, yeah. And this started to make me think The Simpsons were taking over! Such lovely yellow skin they all have.... I think this guy was trying to wash all that 'yellow' off his bod. Good luck on that! Birthday Buttons!!! James and Steve got theirs. Happy B-lated B-Day Guys!

small aches and pains today...

Really? I would love to know how you like it more. Just curious of me. Looking forward to your report. And I haven't been to this new park, so your comparison counts much more than mine, lol. And I was also thinking of Ocean Park, Hong Kong. I have been there. On a very hot humid day.

...and with all my computer geekiness (none), I still can't put a video after the photos I post! So here's the video of Spongey and The Gang on LEGOLand's Raft Ride - The Drop... [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_5009_tavp[/coastertube]

^^^ & ^Thanks Marcel and Benny, and ^^ Yeah, you would have loved the tour, Chris. But they'll probably do another Scandi tour in a few years or so. Start saving now! Here's some photos taken from above, in the LEGOLand Observation Tower. Followed by another Raft Ride Drop video, this one with Steve/Spongey and the gang in the raft... And thanks to Joe Cool for sharing that INSANE Ice Pilots thing, on every Scale 5 we could pick, and those crazy intense turns and flips... and I made it, HA! At 61! And you - you looked just as exhausted as i did, Joe. But it was fun. LEGOLand's Observation Tower. There was a special outdoor display on STAR WARS models and stuff. This was a great example of how locks work with cargo ships. Great to watch the cycle. Looking across the Mini Lands. That's Ghost House - The Ride in back. And white building behind it? Pretty sure the ICE PILOTS Adventure Attraction - which is a re-do of the original Bob The Builder ride, using Kuka (Fran and Ollie?) arms with insane cycles to pick from, not to mention flips and turns my body can still take, HA! Ask Joe Cool.... A mini rail passes over the kids' Driver Training attraction. And - what's that, way over there?... It's where LEGO bricks are made! Of course the word "LEGO" is fit in wherever they can put it, lol. Yep. Typical Western town. In Denmark. One the few mocha frappuccinos I had on this tour. Compared to "every other day" in the 2012 China Tour. Everybody using their "FastPass" card for the raft ride. Along the way - there's this. "It's the...." (o; Great ride with an elevator lift, too! And the Splash Battle was busy and wet. It's Cary and Joe against the Mainlanders! (o;

Five years ago, I had the misfortune of riding this, without really seeing what the ride cycle was. Silly me. And I don't care about spoilers. The damn thing slows down and you "think" that's it and you're out. Nope. Speeds up again and really throws you over for a few. At my then current age - I couldn't do a repeat. So on a return visit to Linnanmaki park in Helsinki (thanks TPR), I taped it this time. Just after it's slowed down.... [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_6055_mohr[/coastertube]

...and last night, we went and saw Theatre In The Park's other production of SHREK:The Musical. I was wondering about this one, having overdosed myself on the Sutton Foster DVD taping of an actual Broadway performance. And with all of that in the back of my head,we watched it. And it wasn't too bad. I think the closer more intimate moments were hard to emote, judging from how far the audience is to begin with. AND outside, as well. Noise distractions +. But it was a good production, although I think I enjoyed Legally Blonde better. LB could be brassy and in your face, which translated so far away to us audience members. I also always check out the company's Archives Tents which has posters and some show souvenirs on display. This year, they had one of the original posters for 1969's CAROUSEL, which re-opened the park's summer shows, from then on. And I was in the Chorus, so that counted! (Photos of stage area taken during intermission. I don't sneak pix of show itself. I just don't.) Here's the CAROUSEL poster (circa.1969), and me! View from the front cafe, during Intermission at the show. The Malkin Bowl (what it's called) is in a really lovely setting, in Stanley Park. And after so many years... still bringing them in, lol! A bit of a zoom to see the stage itself. This was end of Act 1. Soon to change to Act 2 - and A Morning Girl!

More from LEGOLand ~ It's all about the bricks, right? After our ride in the Ghost House, we were free to roam and ride around the park before we met up for lunch. I decided to spend more time around the actual LEGO buildings and scenes that were spread around a massive amount of land in the park. It was just calm and soothing to be walking along the pathways, stopping for a look see at some LEGO 'animation', and being constantly amazed at so many and much that was built using that little plastic brick. Lunch was at the park's main buffet, which provided us a good variety of hot foods, salads and sides. But I think the main hit of the lunch was the all-you-can-eat Sundae Bar! Once everybody found where it was, the line went on for some time, lol. But it was good and worth lining up for. After lunch, I went back to strolling through all the set ups and scenes. Even found a display that was a temporary one, all designed to the STAR WARS world! Very cool. An overview of all that is the World of LEGO. So much to take in! Some really amazing displays. A little skyride at the back, there. An amusement park beside it, too! Sadly, no coaster there. Colours were really vibrant in a lot of the settings. Time for lunch! Pretty well explains it all for you. The group, en masse in our eating area. Some times, work does not stop for lunch. Playing with our food, are we? The All-you-can-eat Sundae Bar queue. After lunch, back outside to take in some more beautiful LEGO work. I totally forgot what the name of this was. But it looked grand. And when trouble occurs, they call in the Friendly Giant in Waders to help out! Let's see Godzilla try this! The worker was re-setting a ship in one of the scenes. And just before I went on the Observe Tower, I got a shot of the park's Driving Training attraction for the little ones. Don't they all look neat and tidy, and ready to drive?

Waitress Song First Aid Kit

^ Yes, I think the times meant soft-boiled (4min) and harder-boiled (8min) eggs, lol. I do remember at another breakfast buffet, the two eggs were marked 4 and 7. So that was different to note. I usually took the longer boiled eggs anyway. I remember there was one hotel who did a Continental for us, as there wasn't enough time to add a hot table. We had a very VERY early departure, that morning. So that was one time... Most times though, we got a pretty full breakfast buffet to choose from. And a few of them were more OMG (the overnight cruise) than others, but that was juuust fine with us.

"Show Business - it's the one business where you don't have to like who you're working with." ~ Chicago ~

Probably not The Biggest Letdown Coaster I have ridden in these past several years, but it was definitely one of The First Ones that disappointed me, and several others... MAMMUT at Tripsdrill Park. I believe the hype for it, went beyond "family type coaster" and alluded to being one for the "Real Thrillseeker..." Meh. It was okay, no big things like air time, etc. And like a lot of coasters I have seen through the years, sadly, some times they decide to open the coaster, with none of the themeing and/or landscaping that is in the art concepts. And it stops there. Fluch von Novgorod in Hansa Park, is a Big Exception to this, as they did make good on getting everything finished, while the coaster was still open for the seasons. As far as I have seen, Mammut hasn't added much to it's surroundings, since TPR's visit in 2008.

Can't agree with you more on that, about (most) Europe hotels and brekfast buffets... Un - believeable! I also enjoyed the little touches here and there, at different buffets. Enjoying all the food that's shown - and eaten, lol. This is how I got to appreciate breakfast eggs, in Europe. This was in Finland, on the TPR 2014 Scandi Tour.

White Cyclone - Nagashima Spaland, Japan Even the small part from the station to the lift hill, is not a smooth one. so - many - rough - helixes

Expedition:Everest at Animal Kingdom. The original forward-reverse coaster for Disney. I still enjoy POVs of it, especially now with more of the landscaping filling in lush as expected. Awesome. Need to get to it, eventually.

And then he has his "fun times"... So sweet, at Farup Sommerland.

"Everything is AWESOME! - Everything is Cool when You're Part of A Team.." Or words to that effect, heh. We finally got back to one of the 2009 parks that had the unfortunate luck to be totally rained on. We went and visited, we got all the coaster credits, but just not the same... Till this visit. BecauseLEGOLand, Billund was in SUNSHINE SUNSHINE SUNSHINE! It was awesome to actually see everything without having one's head lowered due to the rain pelting down on them. All the colours of the park were in full bloom (actual and thematical), and it turned into a really great day there. I loved it! The new attractions for us to visit and enjoy, were a new coaster with that ("no spoilers") surprise in it. And a new dark house attraction aimed at younger guests was open for us to enjoy. The coaster was great! I had totally forgot about the 'surprise' until we headed into the mountain. And I thought it was much better done, than another such coaster I know. Great exit from the mountain and I ended up riding it quite a few times. Till I started to get ill... and at this point in my report... ~~~~~~~~~~~~ V Public Apology to everybody I kept waiting at the Polar X-Polar coaster, so that we could ALL head up to Ghost House - The Ride for first entry. I got suddenly sick, and had to find a bathroom very fast, before it all came out, over the walkway. I found one, well away from the coaster, and stayed there for a good (I thought) ten minutes, then just went to the Ghost House\. Totally forgot the "everybody go to..." You all saw me, I saw you, and I just decided it wasn't worth trying to explain to ALL of you there. So, sorry to you guys. Hope the wait didn't take too long. Hugs. me ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^ The Ghost House was great too, although I kept wondering, with some of the 'scenes' that were in it, what age group this was actually going for? I realized that to pull something like this off, for kids, takes a good amount of imagination. Very tricky. I did enjoy it all, but wondered at a few things, in and outside the place. The Ride was fun! Great enjoyment from 'floating', lol. Even got the on-ride photo! Here's some of the photos of the day.... BUT FIRST, something that totally distracted me, as the group was being welcomed and brought up to date with the park, by one of the owners/operators of it. I think. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MVI_4957_p3jc[/coastertube] Now, here's some photos from the day's visit... Schedule for today... LL's Main Gate Waiting... and taking photos.... and waiting... (o; A map of the place. An awesome height chart! One of the better ones I have seen done. This is who welcomed us to the park...before I started getting ....distracted..... Even LEGO pelicans love LEGO donuts! (too much?) Look! Look! A LEGO balloon with LEGO people on it! (And with this, I am DONE with LEGO mentions...) Up ahead, the cold cold North. And a coaster! One of the first teams sent out to check the mountain out. Sadly - they came back, unharmed. Mountain Ejectiles! Happy ones, too! Cary seems to have lost his way through the Exit Maze. And the Minions are going "under cover" now, I see. "Splash Battle: Unsplashed" Big Sign for a Big House. In 3 languages too, which was nice of them to do. The founder of The Gold - and He Who Got Haunted.... And then, you see THIS with the landscaping. eep Lovely landscaping on one side of The Haunt House.... And although sadly, the house itself didn't look like it was built by you-know-what, there was plenty inside to keep every BODY happy, Bwah Ah ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. (I tried.)

Wow hoo another Scandi Tour report! Great to see you posting yours, Gary. When we visited Farup Sommerland - you had to have a rest.

Man, your memory on everything that happened is wonderful, Thad! At my age, just remembering which park we were in, could sometimes be a challenge, lol! (Soooo many "Sommerlands"...) But - great report on everything so far. The photos of Copenhagen, when you finally got back to the hotel, were especially nice to see. And now I know what really got into Steve that night, before....."the following morning".

^ Just curious, but do you use any condiments (ketchup, steak sauce) on your breakfast plate, at all? No matter how excellent the omelette/eggs and/or hash may be, I usually hit it with a drop or two. Excellent take on the Vegas Buffet. I definitely would like to try it out once, myself.

~ Last hours in Hansa Park - Heading back to Denmark! Hansa has a new coaster being built, so there was a VIP tour for a lot of us around the site, with info. and specs about it's length, height, look, and overall experience. Then, it looked like just a flat piece of land, but things will get exciting once it goes vertical. Then there was more riding on flats and coasters, and soon we were all back on the busses, and heading back into Denmark, for some more Danish parks. Including...LEGOLand! The sign shows a future coaster in store for Hansa. Where it will go. Lots of dirt to dig up, and push around. On this flat we have... Matt and Lauren! And Caeser, their body guard. Cary tried the dry slide. I did not. I tried it before. Very bumpy. And like the juveniles we were, we rode the "safari ride." Keep your hands on the wheel, Cary! I tried an artsy shot of the above shot. Nice sulpture atop the middle of... ...This flat ride. Which had a very - long - cycle. I didn't know bark could come in so many colours! The other end of it. Just before we leave the park - Cary finds his German Pretzel! And it was good. Bye bye and Thanks Hansa for a great visit! Nap time, on the way back to Denmark. Longest line at the rest stop - the Men's Room. Yes it's probably a week, but I liked how it stood out from the rest. Back on the bus, crossing a bridge. Hmmm. This reminds me of something, but I can't quite put my finger on it. (o; After checking in to our hotel, dinner. At the local Burger King. A popular choice for some of the group. Then the next morning, pack up and head to LEGOLand!