mash80

Myself and a few friends are planning a road trip in Summer 2012, taking in the best of the East Coast and Mid West. As most of us have never really visited the US outside of Florida, we are looking for some advice on places to stay during the trip and would be grateful for any help that some of the more travelled members/ locals would be able to give. Our initial plan is as follows.... Day 1 Arrive Day 2 Six Flags New England Day 3 Lake Compounce Day 4 Manhattan NY Day 5 Manhattan NY Day 6 Dorney Park Day 7 Knoebels Day 8 Kennywood Day 9 Kings Island Day 10 Kings Island Day 11 - Day 12 Holiday World Day 13 Cedar Point Day 14 Cedar Point Day 15 Cedar Point Day 16 Waldameer Day 17 Hersheypark Day 18 Six Flags Great Adventure Day 19 Six Flags Great Adventure Day 20 Home We are on somewhat of a tight budget, so are are looking for places which are 'cheap' whilst still being clean and friendly. Are there any chains that we should look at (I'm thinking US equivalents of Ibis/Etap), or does anyone have any recommendations for specific places near any of the parks. Any other general tips/ advice would be appreciated too. Thank you for your help!

I always watch both discs when I first get the dvd, though overall I'd say I watch the expedition disc a lot more. If there's a ride I'm particuarly interested in then I will watch it more often but rarely do I play the whole footage disc, where as with the expedition disc I will watch that from start to finish every time. I do really like how the dvds are now though, even if I watch the expedition part more. It's certainly nice to have the footage disc but I guess I see it as more of a bonus. The dark ride dvd wouldn't be something I'd be interested in personally, however I'm sure there's plenty who would be. Looking forward to volume 12.

Thankfully the ride is up and running today. If anyone is desperate to see more, Thorpe Nerd are doing live updates from the pass holders event, which can be found here; http://live.thorpenerd.com/ (WARNING - CONTAINS LOTS OF SPOILERS)

Here is an article from The Sentinel on the news. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Alton-Towers-gets-ahead-secret-weapon-6-rollercoaster/article-767412-detail/article.html This is great news! Can't wait for more details to get released and then finally getting to follow an AT construction project.

Hmmm, I get the same thing as you when trying it. The top 5 (the smallest cars) are all significantly cheaper to pay on return. Even more significant when you consider the exchange rate, as the pay on return price is in USD and the pre-pay price is in GBP, in fact for all those 5 cars it costs more than double at todays exchange rate. Seems very strange to me, can't think of many instances where you get such a discount for paying later. One thing I did notice was that it says; 'Pre-Pay Online rates include: Loss Damage Waiver, Tax, Liability Insurance Supplement, Vehicle Licensing Cost Recovery, Transaction Fee'. All the ones I have looked at in Europe have these included in the pay on return prices too. Maybe this is the reason? Could these double the price? I took a screenshot. These are without the sat nav.

I've been looking at renting a car from a few European locations recently, mainly Germany and Holland, and experienced the same price difference but opposite. ie. the pre-pay online was significantly cheaper than the pay on return price. Pretty sure it was Hertz I was looking at too. Just want to make sure you've got it the right way so you don't end up spending more by mistake. It could of course just be a regional difference.

This is an awesome thread Gerd, thanks for posting these great recipes. I will definitely be having a go at the strawberry cheesecake sometime in the near future, and will be sure to post a picture of the final (probably disastrous!) result.

Gonna guess that you flew from LAX to Paris CDG on Air France and then from there you got a KLM flight to Basel, Switzerland. Basel is within easy reach of Europa Park and from what I gather you have good relations with Mr Mack so maybe he has been kind enough to offer you early rides on Blue Fire, despite it is still nearly a month until it opens. Kind of random I know, was all I could think of that others hadn't suggested. Also have no clue on the significance of 23. This picture made me think of Switzerland (along with the nice mountain range shots). Swiss flag?

^^^Omg, you rode corky for 2 hours....sicko!! Love the photo thanks. ^^ Haha, TowersTimes is actually my second internet home although I haven't been a member long. I was considering joining the official meet you guys had and saw loads of you I recognized around the park but I'm far too shy I do intend to be more active on TTF though and get to know some of you during the off season, with a view to joining up on some of your meets next year! Great photos too thanks. ^Wow, only 6 rides? Were you sheltering from the weather all day?

I'm desperate to get on a trip next year but unfortunately my finances are pretty shocking at the moment. Really considering Deep South, as Dollywood and SFOG are both parks I'd love to visit and then I could maybe add a few days of my own on to the end of it, like you mentioned Dragon Kahn, and that would help me 'justify' the long flight. I thought about maybe hiring a car from Atlanta and making the 6 hour(?) drive to Orlando for a few days at Disney/ Universal and possibly a trip out to BGA too. Saying that I would love to visit Cedar Point too! Have some difficult decisions to make!!

Despite closing for the main season on 2nd Nov, Alton Towers opened their gates yesterday with a limited ride lineup so that people could say a final farewell to the iconic Corkscrew. The weather forecast was really bad for the day but still the enthusiasts turned out for one last head banging. Just as the gates opened at 10am, the heavens opened too, and it really chucked it down for a good hour. This didn't stop me going straight to Ug Land for a go on a very wet Corky and Rita. One thing to note, both of these coasters REALLY frickin hurt your face in torrential rain! Corky gave me a surprisingly smooth ride in the back seat, could be that the pain on my face detracted me from all the other pain as when i rode it later on in the dry in a middle seat it beat the crap out of me! Thankfully it cleared up again about 11am and stayed clear till just after I left at 1.30pm. The park wasn't busy at all and literally everything was a walk on in the 3.5 hours I was there, so it was an awesome day really. Also the fact that most of those that were there were fellow enthusiasts, meant that the atmosphere, despite the weather, was one of the best I've seen in the park (yay for no chavs). To commemorate corkscrew, the park were playing 80's music around the park. Whilst walking around I heard songs from Queen, Guns n Roses and Pink Floyd to name a few, it was really quite cool. On top of this they opened up an area behind the ride for special photo opportunities (damn me for having no camera!!) and there was a special 'Corkscrew Hall of Memories' located in in the Towers Suite. There was some good stuff in the Hall of Memories, mainly old brochures, park maps, photos and newspaper articles, as well as the chance to buy limited edition posters and T-shirts. You could also pick up a certificate after riding Corky, a scan of which you'll find below. Pros and cons: Pros -No crowds and great atmosphere. -Nemesis rocks in the back seat on a wet track! -Staff, from ride ops to shop assistants, were great. All were enthusiastic, friendly and seemed to be having fun. -Despite the lack of crowds all coasters were running at least 2 trains. -All in all a great day!! Cons -Skyride wasn't operating so there were some long walks around the park, my legs still feel like they are going to fall off now! -Air was having a few problems and closed down for a short while just after i rode it. -The weather, especially whilst riding, although at least Alton don't close any rides just for rain, only if there is a storm imminent. Thankfully I also left just before the second, even worse, downpour. Ride count: Nemesis x 9 (mostly back row awesomeness) Corkscrew x 2 Rita: QOS x 2 Oblivion x 3 Air x 1 Spinball Whizzer x 1 Not bad for only 3.5 hours on park and having to walk everywhere The other side of the flyer. A special flyer for the day in a retro style. The certificate you could get after riding Corky

^Was going to go see it last weekend but wasn't really prepared and in the end it was sold out at my local multiplex Been very busy since unfortunately but with a bit of luck may get around to seeing it this week. If I do I'll certainly let you know what I thought!

Haha, that Douglas Adams article was awesome, thanks for that! Personally I hate spiders and it would be one of the only things putting me off visiting Oz (aswell as box jellyfish), although I'd love to visit someday. It's not so much the really big ones that would put me off, more the really poisonous ones like the funnel web.

Being born in 1980 these were my 'kid' years but things that immediately come to mind are; He-man, Transformers, Dungeons and Dragons, Corkscrew at Alton Towers, Erasure, Queen, The Goonies, Spectrum ZX, Commodore 64, Atari 2600(!), Liverpool winning everything in football, Subbuteo, Maradonna's 'Hand of God'...etc...damn I really miss these times....(apart from Maradonna and Liverpool ) Mash "By the power of Grayskull" 80

28 now and the first coaster I really remember riding is Corkscrew at Alton Towers (Rust In Pieces) in 1988ish. Pretty sure I must have been on some wacky worms or other kiddie coasters before that on visits to the seaside etc but I have no real recollection of those.