Nrthwnd

^^^^ The lack of paint, does make for an interesting shot, though.

Before the First TPR Tour Started - 2006 This was my first TPR tour, and the first public one that Robb and Elissa organized for any and all of us in the TPR community. It was to be mainly in England, with a quick dash over to Wales (and my #100 in Oakwood - Clown Coaster!), and an "add-on" which consisted of about 24 hours in Scandinavia visiting two great parks, riding great coasters, mad dashing around.... Awesome! But - before this tour started, I tacked on an extra week, so that I could stay and visit with old friends in Southend-on-Sea (home of RAGE in Adventure Island), and London. And in London, I got to see two West End musicals, one US import in previews week (Avenue Q) and the other, an original musical in it's second year of production, Mary Poppins. And I got the mug for that show, before the first TPR UK Tour was off and running. I have to add/rant, after I had seen that production of MP, they started fiddling around with the original logo and lettering, and now it's bright colours, in your face lettering. The Broadway production has that. But I have the mug which has all the original logo and lettering. Much preferred, IMhO. And this is also a belated THANK YOU to Walt (Disney), and Mrs.Travers (Pamela) and the Sherman Bros.for a wonderful movie experience, one I have enjoyed for decades, since my first viewing at age 10-11. And main logo, 2006. I like that it looks like it was done in chalk. And the House on Cherry Tree Lane. Here's Mary Poppins, all in cherry blossoms. Good old "Made In China"! And then there's that word.... CD Cover of the London Company. I like it so much more than what you see now, in the show's advertising.

Looks all nice, nestled in the trees... Then there's that "looking down" part of it. (o;

About that one photo and caption.... "visiting attractions"? Hmmm.

Actually, I thought it possible to put the date on the bottom part of the red track, coming towards the left bottom corner? Might that work for you. Date in the track itself?

Bon Bon Land is a little jewel of a park with rings and lockers... a plenty. Farting is fun! And so is vomit!

^ And That, is how you enjoy a good piece of OPERA, woo hoo! Excellent video. At the 2/3 pause, I was wondering how it would restart everything up. Knowing there were coaster shots to come. And - it did! And this would be an easy Best Documentary: Short Subject nomination in next year's Academy Awards! Truth! It tells a story, it creates suspense, the soundtrack is amazing, the pause is perfect, the editing is amazing.... works for me!

This still stands, for me. A few have come close, since this posting. But no matter. "Chicago" Rules! And I saw it 19 times in it's first run, on the big screen too. And the CD soundtrack still rocks too, Go Velma! Go Cell Block Tango!!!

Fuji-Q Highland Park - Thomas Land - 2013 Of everything that is said about, or complained about, Fuji-Q Park in Japan, it actually does have a few spots here and there in the park, that are really nice spots. One place is the little mini-Fuji in the park, with stairs to walk up to it, and get a pretty good view of the park, and of Mount Fuji too, when there aren't a lot of clouds over and covering it. Another place is the kid/family friendly Thomas Land section of the park. Based on the successful UK children's show about "trains with personalities", this little area in Fuji is a lovely, landscaped place with a neat dark ride about Thomas and all his friends, a coaster which is a pretty intense little one at that, and spots to just relax, eat, and enjoy the day. I got the Thomas cup from the eating place there in TL. It was with a dessert, as a "freebie" like they do in Tokyo Disney Resort. And it was one of The Few Things in Fuji-Q I could find, that had the logo of the park on it! Same thing went for a face cloth I picked up, there. The logo is there, but so is Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel on it . Oh well, better than no logo at all, yes? No? Here's the mug and face cloth... Starting on this side of the mini-mug... Lots of Thomas' friends featured on here. And some animals... And look! A Fuji-Q Logo, too! Below Fuji itself!!! And the handle part. There was nothing on the bottom of it. )o: And what ARE those two chickens for? The facecloth. With the logo in the lower right corner, see? Yeah, with Daniel and Kitty, too. Too much Hello Kitty can cause massive building ideas! It's somewhere in Japan, unfortunately not in Fuji-Q Higland Park, lol. Had to EDIT this one in (o; But is THIS what someone meant by "setting a park on fire"? Done!

Chris will appreciate that from you. Great TR! Thanks for sharing it all.

"Valentines Day" David Bowie

^ It's the year you should be Going to WalyGator Parc!

Efteling Park - 2010 Efteling park is one of my absolute favourite parks in Europe. The landscaping, the assortment of family and thrill rides, the garden areas.... it is one of the most lovely parks to just walk around in, and not even ride anything! A lot of the park is based on Hans Christian Andersen stories and has a great garden area walk-through with scenes from all the tales. The new coaster that was opening at the park during our visit, replacing a wooden coaster called Pegasus, a dueling racing wooden coaster called (translated) George & The Dragon. A great coaster with banners of the winning 'team' coming down in the station, as the winning train arrives. Very cool to experience that! The small cup was gotten from one of the eateries near the big lake in the park, that has tow boat rides going around and across it. The cup was a sort of "freebie" (I'll call it), where you buy something to drink, the cup is yours. Tokyo Disney Resort does this a lot, so it's nice to find something like this in another park. Sweet little cup. I liked the colours on it, too. The other side, with one of Efteling's....uh....gnomes on it? And an extra pic, showing Efteling's Famous Sh**ing Donkey! You put money in front, a coin gets 'launched' out the back, LOL.

This is a heck of a leap forward in time, but I didn't find one of those threads devoted to this specific park, etc. So.... (and I would appreciate it if this was combined with the actual thread, if there is one. I tried looking, I really did.) Ran across these photos on the web, through Screamscape. I am curious too, what's coming up, in WalyGator. I have this 'feeling' that, Anaconda-aside, things seem to be changing, for the better, for the park. Oui? No? Nice poster, but of....? I could guess. But I really am not sure. Could be one thing. Or another. Hmmm.

Could not help myself. I went looking for all that FOOD again! And - it still looks AWESOME!

Diet Coke

Saw Saving Mr. Banks this afternoon. Very wierd feeling some times, when you've known the movie Mary Poppins for so many years, and all the lines and songs with it, to see how things sort of 'happened' and referring to past and present, connect the dots to the eventual movie we know today. I thought both Hanks and Thompson were great, and Thompson as Travers (that's Mrs. Travers!) made me giggle through a lot of the scenes, at how (most of the time) she was just possessive and critical of everything everybody was doing for Mary Poppins. But of course, she came around. We enjoyed it, and even got a bit teary eyed near the end. And Disneyland in the 1960s was so cool to see! My first visit there was actually in 1963, so this was a great park flashback to watch.

^^ Call it a "Continuous Ongoing Project". Thanks for updating us, Larry.

Starbucks ~ Shenzhen, China The truth is, I have never been a fan of Starbucks. And I rarely, if ever, get coffee to take with me, etc. But during the TPR 2012 China Tour, I became addicted to their Mocha Frapiccinos. So at Knight Valley park in Shenzhen, they had this awesome terrain wooden coaster called Wood Coaster (really?). And after my group had dined at another Pizza Hut onsite (great pizzas AND restaurant seating and service!), I found a Starbucks a few feet away. But this time, I took a look around, and found this pair of small cups, with the city name and country on them. Now I have/had no idea that they did this at most (all?) SB franchises. Heck, I have no idea if our own local SB has them for Vancouver. But I liked them, and bought them. And didn't buy any other pairs, even if I saw them. (EDIT to add: And Bob/Gisco, are these the kinds of SB cups you have collected around the world? Or regular sized mugs? Just checking here.) Side by Side by Shenzhen! The back. I really like the continuing graphics around the cups. The Bottoms. Whew, Made in China! And I wanted to show this lovely dragon on the red cup. Happy New Year China! (Jan.31) Wooden Coaster at Knight Valley. A really great coaster. I loved it.

^ Did someone say Dragon? (O;

Soon to be a possible Broadway Musical......eventually.

^ (after voting) Um... Vegetarian? Indeed. The New Country of Vegetarian (Meat, chicken, fish banned from entering...)

La Feria Park, Mexico - 2013 On the TPR Mexico Tour back in March of last year, there weren't a lot of parks to visit, seeing we had only one week to see them all. But all the big parks were great in their own individual ways. La Feria was laid out in a few 'levels', and included three walking tunnels through their main wooden coaster, to get to other rides on the other side of it. And it was in one of these tunnels, a small gift stand had been set up, and these unique mugs were being sold. Unique, as in they came with their own stirring spoon! And small holes in it's handle to hold the spoon. Very cool idea. And of course, I got mine in red, my fave colour on earth, lol. But I didn't want to either lose or break the spoon. And knowing me, one or the other was bound to happen. So for now, it's "on display" at this time. Here's the mug and spoon. Back of the mug. Spoon is 'resting'. (o; The bottom information, which looks like it can be peeled off of the mug. Where it sits, with an Easter Palm weaving I picked up, along with a little wooden flute I got at Parque Bicentenario, on the way to Guadalajara. Marvin and me at La Feria. He was part of a few "packs of clowns" roaming the park. Sweet guy. I am hoping I run into him again, when TPR returns in....2015?

^ Great new commercial!

This is called..."going back to the old PR days". Before the www, companies like Disney had it easier with a lot more control over public information on a new attraction. I guess they're figuring out how to get back to that concept, and avoiding the leaks that may happen, one way or the other, with the net. Rumors will still persist, and not-quite-right info.will still be posted. But I think the released art work for Avatar is just right. I mean, it's another four years, hmm? Patience. And good for them, doing it this way.