Nrthwnd

Hate to make you less po'd at us Brian, but the fact is, we only saw these sweet girls three times at TDS. #1 - In the queue, on same ride vehicle, and at on-ride pic booth of Indy/Crystal Skull. #2 - In the queue, on the same ride, and after the ride of Scooter's Scuttles - and that's when we ran into you, lol. and #3 - And I swear to Goofy, we ran into them only one more time, in the middle of the bridge (awww) connecting Cape Cod with the American Waterfront. Said our goodbyes as best we could understand, of each other. Then as we headed to the front gate, and they headed to the back of the park - it started to POUR. Buckets. But "for the record...": Here's my little souvenir of..... my gals. Six charming lovely young women. And me. GRIN.

Monday, September 10, 2007 Hamanako Pal Pal park, Japan I found my true in flat rides. So much so, I rode it four times in a row! As did several of us there at the time, lol. A two-seater Paratrooper-Enterprise-like thing. One that can have the seats LOCKED in place (see top of the wheel in the pic below?) at the BWWWA-HA-HAaaaa merciless desire of the ride op??? The real deal in this amazing flat, is that when your chair was unlocked you could possibly swing your seats around into a 360' loop! Or more, as or Au$$ie A$$hole rep Rich proved on every ride he took, with or without a buddy passenger! (Ask Lou 'bout that one, lolol.) Never thought I'd want to ride something like this again - and again - and again! Mmm, man does my home park need this flat. Yummers.

^ Same went for Terminator 2: 3D, for me. The hostess was a hoot, and she was just falling over herself overacting and sending up a pretty lame part for the attraction. Definitely had the preshow audience in stitches and I still didn't understand what was really going on, but it didn't really matter. It felt very funny and I laughed along, just because. Same went for the Jungle Cruise guide we had on our boat, at TDL. Over the top in movements and actions, which made up for lack of understanding the language, lol. They were all great.

^ They took several takes of the Corkscrew running, and then made up whatever layout they chose to fulfill their needs for the movie. With those shots. It's a really simple layout, and not much else. It doesn't run the way it did in the movie. Man, that would be way more exciting, hmm? Dangerous too, LOL!

^ Thanks Brian. Remember, Peter has been on the S.Korea trip so he may not want to post anything (including "Our Girls") until he returns home this weekend. Then again - it's his choice whether to publish the pix or not, hmm? You may have to bribe him somehow, heh heh. $$$ thru PayPal always helps, I know. And I'm STILL waiting for BIG MIKE to post his poolside pix of the TPR Beau-tays during the TPR Spain Tour . Actually, I think several hundred fanboys are waiting for those pix too, lolol. More Top Ten picks (incl.The Best Park Ever, IMhO) on Monday!

Back in May, after returning home from another great visit to Disney Paris I decided to go for a Sat.afternoon first visit this season, to my home park Playland. Since it was only a 40 min. or so walk to the place (I walk there, then take the bus back to home) I decided I might as well use my season pass and check out the place. And after that visit - well, I went once more and didn't return for the rest of the summer. Then, the Japan Tour happened, and now I have two weekends left to oooo and awe (ick) over our "parking lot theme park" that looks like it's in constant readiness to pick up and move to the next county, lol. Overcast skies that day too. Enjoy my park. One final look across the front of the park. Been just over an hour or so. Yeah, that's enough time to spend here. Till next season, and Coaster's 50th Anny! (o: The Mouse. Fairly wild. Simple layout. I like Blackpool's Mousie muuuch better. Our Corkscrew. Yeah, it's the one featured in Final Destination: 3. Yummy Vekoma pain and rust. Moving to the other end of the park, we find a thoroughly neglected, under patronized Hell's Gate. With no working water effects whatsoever. Let's see. They got a "new exciting attraction" called WONDER WHEEL here. Bigger than a normal ferris wheel! Woo. And this was our new ride for this season... The Only Reason this crappy asphalt park continues to survive. And our great woodenCoaster will be celebrating 50 years, next year! Note closed shop and games? And it's 1 pm all-friggin' ready! This is how the park "greets" you when you enter the main gate. Um... yeah. Season Pass processing center there in front. My glorious black and white Season Pass! Pretty simple, huh? On the way to the park - random house shot. WHY would anyone paint ONLY part of a house dark blue???

^ Totally agree with that. You couldn't pay me enough to even sip that.... stuff, lol.

^ Looks like you've got a very sweet setup, whichever way the job offer goes. Good luck on that.

Having been to DLPR three times now, I can assuredly suggest that your #100 coaster be: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Based on fastpasses taken alone, it beats even Peter Pan and Space Mountain (Buzz Lightyear too!) in running out of the things, by just after noon hour! They love it over in Paris. Not to mention it's on an island, you start and end the ride "under dee rivah" (no more spoilers) and it just commands attention from every angle you see it. I love it. Better than Rock'n Roller and definitely more than Indy/Temple of Peril. And Space Mountain 2 is starting to already show age in it's celestial journey, heh heh. Crush's Coaster wasn't open yet, so I haven't ridden that one. But still... Put your #100 on Big Thunder. You won't regret it.

Yes. Back. Ouch. Did you take any pills today?

Yeah, but you had to do it before leaving the station, or it locked in on whatever choice (of five) was lit up. I then suffered through a Bon Jovi number from that happening but the ride and it's nice little POPsss of air made up for my musical mistake, lol.

Hollywood Dream at Universal Osaka. Just a couple of weeks ago!

Yes, I'm pretty sure most of us did ride BTTF, and although it was great to ride it after these so many years, there was a black mis-shaped spot of "something or other" on and near the bottom of the omni screen that the film is projected on... Drove me nuts just noticing it every time our focus was pulled to that area of the screen. I should have mentioned it to the ride ops, and knowing the Japanese now, it would have probably been gone by the time we rode it again later on, heh heh.

^ I'll take your word for it, since I know absolutely nada on hockey and the NHL, lol. Was a nice guy to chat with, and and wife was great too. Daughters were nice happy children, too. A pretty good Canadian family to bump into, near the end of my tour. ~ ~ ~ Well, considering him and his family live in one of the top suites in the hotel for several months of the year, I'm sure it's practically an apartment-style level of living, hmm? So he must be paid pretty good to play in their leagues over in Tokyo/Japan. IMhO

^ It was actually pretty easy, once I forced myself into this situation of "no bigger a bag than..." Took only so many t-shirts, bought a few along the way; stayed in shorts (of three pairs) since the weather was so warm and humid even in the evenings; socks and underwear were taken and thrown away accordingly, which allowed for easier souvenir packing... and my own pair of Blundtstones shoes, with a pair of foam rubber clogs ('Holey Soles' - Canadian version of Crocs) for hotel and short-distance wearing... But - between you and me? I am definitely going for a larger bag for the TPR Euro-Tour next year! I mean, I did pull this other tour off, and even amassed a fairly huge quantity of souvenirs and $tuff (see my Top Ten List of the Japan Tour, in the boards). But when I finally got over to Tokyo, (mostly) everybody else's bag(s) was obviously bigger than mine by a couple of cubic feet or more, LOLOL! So - just a teensy bit bigger next year in the luggage, heh heh.

I was going to go out tonight. But decided not to. Not quite ready to socialize after the HUGE Japan Tour I've just been through. Soon, soon.

Probably not. Having it remain 'mysterious' makes it all the more...um... collectible? Actually, I was thinking of having it analyzed somewhere, somehow. I just found out, the liquid freezes in the freezer! New things ya larn evey day at TPR, heh heh.

Thought I would dust this thread off, re-vamp the topic title (just a touch) and bring up a new and unique "souvenir" of the TPR Japan Tour'07 I would like to share with you. Photos to follow. But here's the set-up... The morning we left for Fuji-Q Highlands (sigh) we had a nice day of easy travel ahead of us, 'cause Elissa and Robb had made plans for a coach bus to take us Up to Dee Mountain, etc. etc. And the park. But more importantly... Eeejanika (or whatevah the &^$#@ it's called) a/k/a/ Japanese 'X' coaster Anyway - since there's less than the thirty of us tourers (several of the group had already done their own F-Q tour and didn't want to repeat.), we all get double seats on the coach to spread out, enjoy the scenery... and the hour+ or so of backed-up traffic, that extends our travel time to the park..."just a touch," heh heh. In my seat, I look at the net bag in front of me, where you put a magazine, bottles, etc. for easier acess... and there is this little bag with pretty blue printing/logos all over it. And, something inside of the bag. A small bottle/vial, half-full with a bluish liquid. The lettering on the bag says, in english, "Just for you!" And then underneath that opening line: "I hope you have a wonderful time on this special day..." Bag had a twist tie around it, easy to open. So, I did. Looked at it, took out the bottle, decided to sniff it not-too-closely..... and OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGS**t The most rank odorous sssssmell invaded my nose and immediately told me to tightly reclose the lid and don't open it again! That done, I then proceeded to "try it out" on a few on the coach as we returned back to the hotel for the night.... Same reaction as I had - OMFingG what-the (&%^#$ is that?#!?? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease don't open that again, blah blah blah... And so, I naturally kept it with me, double wrapped it in bubble pack and made sure it wasn't on my carry on bags, lolol. And now it is in a safe place, safe from harming others, safe from smelling up the place (we still don't know how to describe it's uh... "aromatic fragrance?") and possibly safe from an impending disaster that could've been worse. Pix will show our "saftey and storage procedure" for such an unexplained substance, LOL! And that is my newest WTF Souvenir from a tour - especially a tour with TPR, heh heh Anybody else got some"thing" to share and have a good story to go with it? And finally, the containment unit is....closed. (Actually this thing is in our freezer, "until further notice" LOL.) Bigger shot of the containment unit for storing the said "unexplained item". The item in question, being prepped for advance and safe storage.

Amen. Oops. I mean - Arrrrrrrrrrrrh.

Kirin Draft, in Tokyo just before leaving last Monday.

Um - okay Mike - I guess I screamed pretty loudly too on that X. But mainly, screaming out curses and nasty stuff at Fuji-Q management was soooooooo easy, mmm'k? Good to see your FanGirls pic turned out okay, too.

^ Yes, I agree. Euuuuuuw. Well, here's the one of me and "our girls" taken outside the Indy on-ride photo pickup booth. Not that clear just yet. But - soon, soon. Just a wee glance at the beau-tay that surrounded me. Ca-ching!

OMG, that meal you had looks Gi-normous! And how was the Waterworld show, in comparison to USH? I missed it, probably for the truncated 'Wicked' show in Oz I saw. Which was sweet and nice (and under 45 mins), but definitely NOT the good witch-bad witch version on Broadway, lol. Or the Hollywood Dream, BTTF, Jaws, ET, Jurassic Park, or SPIDERMAN rides! Spidey was my very first and it just rocked, all four times I went on it! And that wacky LIVE over-the-top "hostess" at Terminator 2: 3-D! Total Japanese script, but she was great, very funny to watch, and a Big Highlight of the shows I saw. The best of all possible Universal and IOA parks in this one park, and it was RDA all the way.

Well, since it is very early in my morning here (I think I am still going thru a jet lag or "lack-of-time space continuum" going on)... might as well post the next three Top Ten's now, as well as a few more souvenir shots and FINALLY a few on-ride pix including our first enjoyable encounter with a group (6) of thoroughly sweet, thoroughly engaging and definitely ... um ... "not too hard on the eyes?" young women. But first --- #7 New and WTF Coasters, Rides and...wait for it... Souvenirs! Some coasters were better ridden only once and enough was enough (read: the HUGE and really rough ~IMhO~ Jupiter at Kijimi Park). Others, like Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spaland, were definitely ones to repeat, "just a few more times," heh heh. A few woodies, several meandering steelies and a few that just were unique and kool (Mitsui Greenland's racing Stand-Up and Sitdown; Yomuiriland's interchanging Stand-up AND sit down on one track... and Splash Bandit! ~yum~). Rides ran the gamut from cheesy broken down old dark rides, to a definite WTF paratrooper-like flipping *&^%# flat at Hamanako Pal Pal (our Aussie A$$hole Rich I think got the record for number of 360' flip-overs with or w/o a ride buddy, lol); flumes that were lame (same park) and ones that kicked (and wet) butt like Shoot The Chutes (where I got my red poncho) at Spaland and the drencher at Mitsuit G.... and Splash Bandit, heh heh. Too many to go thru here. Also, ferris wheels a BIG things at a lot of the parks; a couple had gi-normous digital clocks on both sides of their center; Nagashima Spaland even had air conditioners on each and every car on the wheel!; also, most did continual turning but one cycle was usually under 20 min. which made having to choose to ride or not a lot easier to decide. Souvenir buying didn't really hit it's stride with me until A) I found out the OMG (in our favor) exchange rate (see TT#9 above) after buying some stuff at Universal Osaka and B) I found allllllll of the lovely things and 'stuff' at the Tokyo Disney Resort parks. Then, there was no stopping me, as you are already seeing. And I was still to fit it all into my small, but humble, collection of checked bags (!) andf carry-on (2). #6 Our 'Base Camps of Operation' - The Hotels of the Japan Tour First up - The Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Cons - what cons? Pros - Our start and finish hotel in the tour w/9 nights total there. The awesome swimming pool/sauna/jacuzzi setup that even with having to wear their hotel t-shirt on to cover up my tatoos (funny and quaintly Japanese reasons), was an excellent way to relax after a hearty meal of: See TT#5 The Hikata Miyako Hotel Cons - not enough time/nights to really enjoy more of this hotel, like the Shinagawa. But other than that - what cons again??? Pros - This was the hotel we hit on the day Japanese train service got pretty messed up. Something like over 200,000 were literally stranded over night at some train stations. But we plowed thru the evening, and finally reached our second hotel happy to be alive, not Typhooned-over and ready for bed. It was serviceable and very nice - but nothing compared to Hotel #3 when we hit that one, lol. The Cypress Sofitel Hotel Cons - Are you kidding me?? Not a con in the world, except once again, only four nights to enjoy it all. And there was plenty to enjoy at this lovely hotel. Pros - Let me see here. Where to start, where to begin. Hmmm... Spacious room with separated sitting area, AND separated bathroom/tub-shower from vanity basin. So two roomies could do their own toilette thing and not have to wait for the other, depending. An English morning paper slipped under our door every morning. Reading about Pavarotti's passing, but Reading Happy that Typhoon was missing us, just barely! Two free bottles of mineral water every day we were there! Not the entire mini-bar mind, but still a nice thing to give us. Lounging KIMONOS that made staying put in the room, all that more luxurious. Not cheap ones (over 5200 Yen I remember, each), but great to know the hotel was taking care of it's guests in all ways. (EDIT: I totally forgot about the Sofitel's great little breakfast buffet, we did get to have during our stay there! Western and Japanese-style with refills in beverages and food a-plenty. But then, TT#5 kind of overshadowed it, once we started to going to that one, lol.) #5 The Breakfast Buffet at the Luxe Point Dining Room, Prince Shiagawa Hotel This buffet had long lines even before it opened at 0630 every morning. And worth getting up that early for, too. Sumptuous spread in "Western and Japaness Style" food service, plenty of beverages, and just an amazing layout to meander thru and enjoy - which I got to do near the end of the tour. Followed by a swim (see above). Also, having different couples and other travellers aat nearby tables to chat with (as best we could, soemtimes) while savoring one's morning coffee and your eggs and layonnaise potatoes, heh heh. Definitely The Breakfast Find of the tour. The should add "De" to the Luxe sign and make it even more aptly named, LOL. ~ ~ ~ Now as to the posted stuff and pix here, no real need for explaining except for that last one on the Indy Jones & Crystal Skull ride at TDS (ride the ride, see the movie soon, lol!). My then touring buds (Peter/Loefet from Sweden and Mike/miniviews from Hawaii) found ourself with these six pretty school chums in the line, on the ride vehicle for our first time on Indy, and even hanging around each other for our (me and Mike's) on-rode photo to be ready... They definitely took a shining to us three, and my buds were definitely feeling that (ahem) Fangirl Fever the girls were "emoting". So much so that by the third time we saw them, just as we were leaving the park, we promised ourself to give them our TPR nicknames and the TPT site URL on paper, if we ran into them again at Tokyo Disneyland. But alas, they were never seen again - and it POURED as we left the park. A sweet sweet bonus memory it was, for all three of us - even me who felt like the "gay grandfather" (sheesh) who still appreciated beauty and happiness in all who had it. And these six definitely had "it". And we have the group photos to prove it, too! Later - and in three days, three more Top Tens... On Indy with our FANGIRLS! Mike, me and Peter in back. Third row, and front row, two on the left was "our girls". Better photo coming up.... later, guys. Two onride photos, the 1st taken at Parc Espana (w-Marc/thrillerman1 and Adam/abgould) ; the second at LagunAsia with Peter/Loefet, Gus/gus and 'cool' Rich/sfne2005 on the Pirates Blast. Arrrrrrrrh. (o: Note only FIVE ROLLS of in-camera film used for the tour! Not bad, huh? And onride pix there too, which are coming up below. There's our (love) Rail Pass, a ring thingie to throw, souvenir Broadway program of Wicked (!)... lotsa stuff.

^ Ah well. At least some of us have already ridden the attraction, based on the movie! But wait - the movie's not done yet! Hee hee.... We got that news from Elissa (yes?) on our coach shuttle back to the Narita airport, Monday afternoon before I went ta-home and "others went elsewhere" (I hate you all). We'll hope the film lives up to the attraction it's based on, heh heh!