larrygator

I'm moist. I'm going to treat parks with just butterfly coasters and playgrounds as I would American FECs with just a kiddie coasters and not include them in the Park Index. However, if they are like Familienland with a larger coaster and/or multiple other rides I'll create a spot in the Park Index.

I really enjoyed my visit to Heide Park, especially Huss Land, sad to hear the Condor has been removed.

What's really odd is that neither my park map or the website list minimum heights for any rides. Although on the website when you click on the smaller coaster (Drachenjagd) the following appears "This is an ideal alternative for those too small - or afraid - to ride Fire Dragon."

Settling in to my hotel in Augsburg the previous night was key to me being able to cover two parks in one day. I caught a train at 8:16 from Augsburg to Gunzburg and then took a 10-15 ride on the clearly marked Shuttle bus for Legoland Deutschland. I could already tell at 8AM that is was going to be a very hot and humid day. I had never been to a Legoland park before July of 2009 and I have now visited all 4 of them. Although the parks are not duplicates of each other they are all very similar and deliver the same experience. Best enjoyed by pre-teens or in a larger group. This park has the longest and fastest of Legoland's "Dragon" coasters. The log flume type ride is also a reversing kind, so my strategy of staying dry by sitting in the back did not work well. Luckily, the higher temperatures dried me out farily quickly. My gameplan was to spend 2.5 hours in the park, and that 2.5 hours was sufficient time to ride everything at the park and take plenty of pictures. This is the train station at Gunzburg. While at the train station I grabbed a vanilla drink and a pretzel for breakfast and waited for the bus. The clearly marked Legoland bus was ready to leave right on time at 9:40. Victory is mine. 1st ride of the day is Project X Test Strecke Lego Vinsanity stills plays for the Raptors. Looks like the same 3D/4D movies as other Legoland parks. Always a popular Legoland ride on a hot day. A kid's playground A boobless Rockin' Tug. Even without boobs it sounds dirty. Make it an Intamin Mega-Lite. Not exactly a log flume But you can see one reversal area. Which occurs right before a dinosaur spits on your boat. NOTED! The Tret-o-Mobil (Sky Cycle) was a nice way to see the park from above. As was the Aussichtsturm I have no sleeves The kiddie coaster from above. You get a sense of how long Feuerdrache is from above, the dark ride section of the coaster is in the castle building on the right. Hi, Wes! Not a Wacky Worm! Not a credit! Not even for Jeff Johnson. I have not had to resort to Duct Tape yet. The sneakers only need to hold out for 4 more days. The Legoland Express bearing down on me. They call him Eagle Eye, don't f with him. FAIL! When jaundice sets in Another kid's playground area Even with a bad hangover, this is my favorite Legoland ride. I think I've seen these two trying to sneak into every Legoland park.

^thanks, they have been added

I guess I'll have to post my Wiener Prater update on a weekend to not drag down work productivity too much.

No, it's "Holly's Wilde Autofahrt", like it says on the photo

Also in person a computer bully can't hid anonymously behind his computer screen.

If anyone ever wants to understand how much work Robb and Elissa go through in organizing TPR Trips ask Robin Schroeder. On the morning after the trip about 20-25 people went on an unofficial Add-On trip to Walibi World. Robin worked tirelessly to pull this off and all he had to worry about was one day at a park. Multiply that by many days, ERT negotiations, backstage stuff, along with meals and hotels and you only begin to understand work of The Alveys. Of course Robb and Elissa, in an effort to provide even more value for trip participants, went above and beyond helping Robin organize a group meal at the park and coach service. On the other hand, 7 other trip participants headed in the opposite direction east to Duinrell. Although I had done all the transportation research it was great to have a Dutch speaker (Big Orange - Erik Penders) to make sure we made all our connections. Thank you Erik. This would be my first day without TPR and I had about 11 hours of train travel ahead of me as the day begin, in order to get to the heart of Bavaria that night. I could not pass up the opportunity to visit a new park and try another Eurofighter. Since it was the first day I would be using my Eurail Pass I only had to worry about bus fare between The Hague and Duinrell and park admission. Combined, I think that was about 25 Euros. This signs means we successfully made it from the hotel to the airport via the airport shuttle. Can anyone guess which direction the train will be arriving from? After some people debated endlessly how to save 30 euros cents on bus tickets we catch the bus for a 30 minute drive. Sorry about the horrible picture but a big THANKS to Erik for his reassurance that we were on the way to Duinrell and not the Anne Frank House. The park's mascot is a frog (Kikker in Dutch) so some ride names start with "Kikker" Like the Ferris Wheel The park has a huge playground area. and includes a fun house barrel. There is not a lot of theming at the park, but this ATM looks great. Both coasters had do it yourself Photo Booth. I think it was 2 Euro for the photo to be e-mailed to you. I'm a crazy frog, sorry Kikker, leading a bunch of losers through the woods. Yes, I was correct. 2 Euros for the photos. Charlie Chaplin, Madonna and disco in the same show. Sign me up! Oh wait, I have to catch those trains to Bavaria. Damn! Do not be fooled by the enclosed splash boat option. You will get wetter in the back of the enclosed boat than the open air boat. Lift hill of Falcon, which formerly went by the code name of Rick's Delight on rcdb for a couple of years. The other side of the lift hill. These supports help the coaster stay erect. They sort of form a V as in Viagra. Hi Eurofighter car, don't be shy like Piers. OMG, is Larry still posting coaster photos? One last one as Kikker is about to get all twisty. The Mad Mill tries to impersonate an AT-AT Walker. FYI - I'm not a Star Wars nerd and had to do a google search. Dual lift hills on the Alpine Slide, which is NOT a coaster! Before getting on this train to Frankfurt, Erik introduces me to train station cuisine. These machines rule! Every thing costs less than 2 Euro. I was about to get a Krokketten (since they appear to be like Spanish croquettas) and Erik suggests a SateKroketten for 1.4 Euros. I buy it hoping that the Sate means peanut sauce, and that is correct. Not being a savvy train traveler I sit in these seats. But the conductor directs me to the more luxurious 1st Class leather reclining seats that I am entitled to. I guess that's why my Eurail Pass says "1st Class", DOH! 4.5 hours later the train pulls into Frankfurt and I have 10 minutes to transfer trains and find those Smullers vending machines. I never find them, it must be just a Dutch thing. But I do find this advertisment. I think this rude guy sitting near me on the train was Australian. Next stop for we were Mannheim before transferring one final time for Augsburg. It was a lot of train travel, but that sets me up to visit 2 parks in one day.

^I was wondering the same thing about the Wildcat. thanks for the updates Robb.

I linked your PTR and a few photos to the Park Index. By chance if you have any pictures of any of the following from Dixie Landing please poet: Cajun Collison (Bumper Cars), Gasoline Alley, Giant Wheel, Gumbo YoYo, Grand Carousel, Manchac Railroad, Hot Shot thanks again

^oh I'm voting now, but I missed a couple of days since I didn't know about it.

Thanks Davon. Glad you appreciate it. Personally, I think I take crap pictures and end up deleting about 2/3 of them as unusable. The only reason the memorabilia one looks good and clear is that I scanned the items, it's not a picture I took. Although I am responsible for the art direction. I also try to focus on usual aspects that others might have missed and try to tell a good story. My coaster shots will never be as nice as those taken by people with much better cameras so I have to do things differently.

One last image from the TPR portion of the trip. Mementos from the trip

^I wish I had a picture of the woman sitting next to him not knowing what to think of him.

Bad News: We are visiting the last park of the European Tour. An awesome job of planning and negotiations by Robb and Elissa made for another incredible vacation. Good News: We are at an awesome park with ERT on a brand new dueling GCI woodie, our first wood coaster of the trip. Joris en de Draak is a typical GCI woodie, very solid throughout and a lot of fun with a dueling aspect. We stayed on site at the Efteling Hotel which is built to resemble a floating castle. Efteling is a beautiful and expansive park. Sometimes it is a 5-10 walk before you get to a cluster of rides. My apologies to anyone I didn't personally say good-bye to in the bar that night, I'm not a good-bye person. Hanno without a camera attached to his head, an unusual sight. The amazing Efteling Hotel. Noted Most people took one or two quick rides on Flying Dutchman before heading to Joris en de Draak ERT. Unlike our visit in 2008, all of the effects in the dark ride portion of the Flying Dutchman were working. On top of the magnificent queue and loading area, this greatly enhances the ride experience. It's the theming that counts This is the vending machine area in the queue. You can't have a dueling woodie without two lift hills. Ryan and Renee seemed to enjoy the last ride during ERT. Cameron is just being his typical grumpy self. Efteling's got boobs! The free agents are enjoying the Bobbahn. Site moderator gisco is appalled as all the young ones cut the line. They are not really cutting the line, as that is unacceptbale behavior that TPR does not condone.. What's that? Anth enjoying a water ride! I like fish! Cory needs a nap after eating too much at lunch, we convince to go on some mellow dark rides where he can continue napping. Lou makes some new friends. Not quite as funny as Elissa being molested by Orci or JimmyBo getting the same treatment as Isla Magica. A lot of buzz is in the air about Raveleijn, which is being built. A lot of us love Mad House, even though we don't understand the pre shows in foreign langauges, but at Villa Volta we get the back story. On Villa Volta, Cameron does the right thing, unlike his actions on Flying Dutchman. Russ also tries to levitate himself. The harmless looking carousel ran at Derby Racer type speeds. This is the entrance to Spookslot and it is not anywhere near as bad as Elissa will tell you. In this situation, it is perfectly acceptable to not listen to her opinion. To end out day at the park, our group took the train which offers unique views to some rides. Exclusive shot of Joris en de Draak's final brake run and lift hills. Last ride of the trip was reserved for Lou on the spinning cannibal cups. But I failed to take a good picture of thhat ride so hear is the mini himilaya ride. Bye everybody. Although the TPR portion of the tour has ended, I still have 6 more parks to bring you. My remaining itinerary on the train.

I think Robb or Bruno mentioned that those Gift Passes are only for special guests.

damn, I wish I had seen this sooner

^^No you didn't miss out on anything. NO ONE has any fun at all at the fair. You would have needed to enjoy either coasters, food, beer or kitschiness to enjoy the fair. NO FUN was had. ^We all know you are going to bail on the Octoberfest Trip to file papers or something. We arrived at the Phantasialand's Matambe Hotel late at night, even though the bars were closed that didn't stop some people from using their Euros to purchase beer from the hotel vending machines. I was more impressed with the rooms at the Matamba than at Phantasialand's Ling Bao. Phantasialand might not have the greatest coasters or highest quantity of rides but is extensively themed which many rides close to each other. Sometimes with the theming you don't even know how close you are to another attractions. I was a little worried with being bored as this was my third trip to Phantasialand but I still had a great day. Who wouldn't with WInjas. This was also the first time in my three trips to Phantasialand that I had a more extensive Quick Pass, I was able to use it after ERT when the queues filled up. I know many have seen it before but here's the Matamba entrance. From inside the Matamba courtyard. The sink in one of the Matamba's public restrooms, I thought this was awesome. I know it's pathetic to be excited about a sink. Robb thinks he is riling up the crowd for Winjas ERT (and don't tell him this) but we are already pumped. Winjas - still as much fun as I remember. Extremely re-rideable Wolke's Luftpost is one of the new rides. If you see Anth smiling... It must be a water ride. There used to be a monorail here. I played "bag lady" while other rode Talocan. The carousel was moved closer to the entrance to the park creating an open courtyard area for a new show. Dave Thomas - this picture is for you The new monorail also was not ready for us. There was a different dragon in each kingdom in the park. This is Drago. Kroka was in Africa, Wang was in China, Schneck was in Germany, Quetzal was in Mexico and Phenie represented the Fantasy kingdom. Lou is quite excited about Wang. The Wakobato splash battle is purposely designed to not get you wet. WTF? Mystery Castle had more scare actors than I recall seeing previously. We spent about 30 minutes inside the Mystery Castle building during a thunderstorm. Here are some of the scare actors. and here is the ride. Another scare actor. In additional to water rides, scare actors who give Anth candy also make him smile. GIMME SOME CANDY! So for the last 20 minutes in the park I caught DRAAK'IUM, the spectacle with the 6 Dragons that Phantasialand is promoting to year. Here one of the participants enters the battle. In the end, the battle between three dragons was not a battle at all, but a dance off and acrobatic prowess where all the dragon kingdoms learned that teamwork and cooperation wins out. Not even any fire, only streamer cannons. LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lou, I got your Wang right here.

I should have remembered that as I did order hanchen schnitzel for one meal during the trip.

^In that case you can certainly spend the majority of the day at Hershey and then head to Knoebels for 90 minutes. 90 minutes would give you enough time for a couple of rides on the woodies and maybe 2-3 other rides. However, be warned: 1 - You might not get on every coaster in at Hershey based on crowds. 2 - You will not get the full Knoebels experience in only 90 minutes.

Here goes Who's a dirty little whore? I am!

It was an interesting day, as sadness set in leaving Europa Park knowing the TPR Europe trip was past the halfway point. Around noon we left Europa Park to head to the Wurzburg Fair. In my opinion, this was the most awesome save in theme park coaster trip planning history. For those that don't know, this trip was cursed from the start. First there were problems with ringracer and Nurburgring had to be removed from the itinerary, then the unfortunate accident with EGF with Holiday Park and finally the last minute announcement that Cobra at Connyland would not be ready for us. With so many people looking forward to EGF, Robb & Elissa did an incredible job finding a suitable replacement in the one of a kind Olympia Looping from Schwarzkopf. It was a little uncomfortable at first but luckily Karl told me a little trick to greatly reduce the grip of the restraints (thanks Karl). I ended up riding for most of the ERT session even with the intensity and grey outs. But then the real fun started as we sat in the beer tent waiting for the beer tapping ceremony. The food and drink took a little while to arrive but that's to be expected when you arrive before the event is open. I was grateful that our tables in the shaded tent were available to keep us out of the sun's rays. The food and beer were awesome and then it was time to sample to rest of the fair. What are we here for? It's a real shame Joe isn't here to enjoy this. I'm Eric Johnson, dammit. That other guy is the "other Eric Johnson" Don't worry Joe, you're not missing anything. Never in America. I'm not talking about the open gate, I'm talking about Olympia Looping. "Loopy, Loopy, Loopy, Loopy, Loopy" or "Fruit Loops" - I can't decide on a caption so you get two for the price of one. On to the beer tent. Don't worry Joe, nothing you would like here either. Unless you answer to the name "buckethead", these pretzels are bigger than your head. My table in the beer tent and somehow Lou fails in her attempt to be a "Lou"mor. Where the chickens go to roast. My meal: Kaesespaetzle (German macaroni and cheese) and a big a$$ potato dumpling and a liter of beer. In traditional German Fair fashion the first tapped keg is free to the crowd, if the mayor chooses to give you a glass. Are you an American? Are you nice? For our last 90 minutes in Wurzburg Cameron, Renee and I decided to explore the rest of the fair. The Psychedelic Fun House was groovy man. We rode the very good Ghost Train - Geister Villa Renee and Cameron rode the Ferris Wheel but I passed. The Bubba Gump Breze stand sells all types of pretzels: Cheese Pretzel, Chicken and Cheese, Broccoli and Cheese, Broccoli and Mushroom, Salami and Tomato, Hawaii Style ... Salami Chicken and Pepperoni Pretzel, Salami Chicken and Mushroom, Salami Chicken Broccoli Tomato and Mushroom Cory and Dominique (I knew I had a picture of them somewhere) the quality free agent pick-ups from Gardaland play a Fascination type game where you race the clock versus playing against others. When you win, the machine starts spitting tokens at you. This guy was here for a bachelor party and to fund his honeymoon he was charging One Euro to take a picture with him to finance his honeymoon. We told him he should be paying Renee to take a picture with her and we haggled him down to 50 Euro cents The Flip Fly was the intense ride at the fair that had a lot of downtime, but a few trip participants exhibited patience and got to ride. I don't think anyone tried the "fish on a stick" We head out as night descended on the park. Hanno told me that if the Dutch beat Brazil he had a present for me, and gave me this hat which matched the little orange puppy a won at the fair. Seriously, Joe would have hated this place. Next stop is Phantasialand

Its not realistic to enjoy both parks in one day. In terms of which one you should do, it depends on your preferences. For example what are your favorite parks of all-time and why? Do you prefer wood coasters and traditional rides or large coasters? Are you traveling with family? In my opinion you can't go wrong with either park.

The classification of wood and steel coasters is defined by the composite of the track not the structure. Until someone develops track that is made of both steel and wood there is no such thing as a hybrid. Granted when technology allows for a plastic polymer track material in the future we have a whole new debate.