OldJJman

Not a bad year so far: Disneyland KBF USH Belmont Park Castle Park Scandia Fun Center Valleyfair! Comotown MOA Mt. Olympus Knucklehead's Safari Land Kiddieland Go Bananas Haunted trails Cedar Point Parque Attracciones Madrid Isla Magica Parque Attracciones Zaragoza Port Aventura Tibadabo Festilandia Terra Mitica Parque Warner Madrid Klotten Tripsdrill Phantasialand Toverland Haniyashiki Aqua Stadium LaQua Yomiuriland Space World Uminonakamichi Harmonyland Rakutenchi Kijima Mitsui Greenland Central Park (Japan) Tivoli (Japan USJ Expoland Parque Espana Nagashima Spaland Nagoya Zoo Tokyo Disney Seas Tokyo Disneyland Lagunasia Hamanako Pal Pal Joypolis Cosmoworld Sea Paradise FujiQ Highlands Toshimaen Lotte World Tongdo Fantasia Gyeongju World Woobang Towerland Kumdoriland Everland Seoul Land Marine World (Seoul) Children's Grand Park And maybe before the end of the year: Kemah Boardwalk MK AK Epcot MGM IOA USF SWF BGA It's been a good year, thanks to R&E! JJ Crap! I forgot! Holiday Park

Blow it out your Pop-Tart lady! I only rode it twice, both times after it had been modified with the Arrow addition. Only counted it as ONE. (I hate explaining this crap!) However, had I ridden it when it was completely indoors, I probably would have counted it as two. (ala Steel Phantom/Phantom's Revenge) Deal with it!

I concur. Being at the top of the mall was kind of creepy, and dropping so close to the escalators was awesome!

James, I hate you! I got turned down, even for $20!! I hate you. JJ (obviously a credit whore)

It was ok. Most of us thought it was somewhere around average. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, but certainly nothing to write home about. Strangely enough, 4 days at Disney wasn't quite enough for　some people. Both parks were fantastic. The DLR resort would absolutely have an emergency on their hands if they had (seriously) half the amount of people that were there at only 8 in the morning. (Parks open at 9) Did Fuji-Q today. The title SFMM of Japan (sorry Jahan) is aptly earned. Euthanasia stinks. AFAIK, X was never that bad! JJ

To the CD guys: Thank you! These would be cool to collect, and I will be doing so! JJ

I remember loving the Bobsled a few years ago. A good fun ride, as was Whirlwind. I couldn't get on Bear Trax either. Thanks for the pics! JJ

very nice drawings! Perhaps you could become the official TPR sketch artist!! Great stuff! JJ

^LMAO!! (I kinda knew that was coming!) JJ

Well, you know, a COOL Rich would be going on the Japan trip. Oh wait! There is one!!! JJ

Time to finish this up. We stayed at the Ling Bao hotel at Phantasialand for 2 nights. The Dragon bar was awesome! Unfortunately, it was closed the 2nd night we were there. A big thanks goes out to Morgan who translated a menu for us, so we had food delivered to us in the LiRiver bar down in the lobby. Phantasialand was a beautiful park with really good attention to detail in their theming. Black Mamba was ok, as was the "Michael Jackson Thrill Ride", but the ride that made it for me was Winjas. OK, I've typed to much. Time for pictures. Thanks to Elissa, Robb and everyone on the trip. I had a great time. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Instead of doing updates, this is what Robb does when people complain!! Time to start heading home. Well, somebody's still awake after looking at all my pictures. Funniest moment of the trip!! A member of the GP who was a fan of TPR, saw Elissa and asked for her autograph!! It did have some really good foot choppers during the last part of the ride that just meandered it's way back to the station. Just floating thru the grass. Different angle. Nice vertical loop. Lou, Hector and James during ERT But they had NO regards for the Indian burial ground. The theming around Black Mamba was quite exquisite. The Hoffman girl giggled when she saw that the hermaphrodite had an "outie". I loved this dude's costume! Looks like we be deep in Africa A close up for those interested. Rapids ride. Temple of the Nighthawk. Enough said. A lot of us decided to eat in the Mexican restaurant. Even the TOTALLY strange dark ride was TPR approved. The monorail was actually kind of cool. The Hoffman girl finished her snack and was looking for a place to put her stick. But WHY are there so many children here??? and fairly long too! It was actually pretty good. Look! A children's ride! (aka: Colorado Adventure, The Michael Jackson Thrill Ride) and a little bit of fire. With water effects... It's just a big giant Topspin... The backside of their newest ride Talocan. I really liked this carousel! Beautiful Archway A walk down mainstreet (like the originality there?) A look down mainstreet. Unmolested fountains. Next to the park entrance. Gold Epcot ball, but where's the wand? Into the scary Blue Dragon's mouth. From the 1001 Arabian Nights ride (Think Akbar meets Peter Pan type dark ride) you could see the spinny boat ride, some kiddie rides and our hotel. Lou, Hector, Ed and ???, ready to take a spin! Choose Thy Fate! What Phantasialand was all about! The building Winjas was in. See? The hotel Ling Bao, a 4 star hotel.

Best KI PTR I have ever seen!!!

Big Mike. "I pity da fool!" JJ

Day 12 Toverland, amusement park in a box. We actually spent the night at Hotel Ling Bao at Phantasialand. We had ERT in the morning there and headed out at 1pm for Toverland. For this PTR, I'll only do the Toverland pics. Toverland was another unexpected surprise! The rides were fun, the hospitality was incredible, and Troy, pretty damn good! Enjoy the pics! Thanks for reading. Next up: The final part, Phantasialand. Time to head back to Phantasialand. Thank you Toverland! We had a great time! As get out of here gifts, Toverland gave us souvenir stars and Troy wood. (Reportedly from the fallen structure, I believe.) TPR peeps during ERT. First drop goodness. Coming into the station fly-by. Carl's trying to prove he has a many teeth as the Hoffman girl. Piers and Jim find the restraints to be more than exciting! Nice twisty stuff! Troy. Sorry Joey. USC still, um well, you know. BLOWS! The real reason we came! Big Mike tackling the obstacle course. Bobkart, the powered Alpine slide, was not worth the 45 minute wait. The flume actually got you wetter on the indoor portion. Though getting good pictures was kind of difficult. Booster Bike was a lot of fun. A couple of years ago, Toverland decided to think of putting a coaster outside the box. Playing with our dessert! The Hoffman girl tries to do a cartwheel in the barrel in the deadly funhouse. (I actually did it! Jim has the video proof!) Yoda says "Ride me, and I'll get you wet!" This was an indoor/outdoor flume. Amusement park in a box. Larry was trying damn hard to get everyone sick! Jim sees something suspicious, while Larry tries to morph. It was actually a decent ride. Me, with James wearing the shirt from his new #1 coaster. Boomerang pretty much covered over half of the first building. As you can see, Boomerang is NOT a Boomerang. Robb and the PR lady, up in the exclusive, 2nd floor VIP dining area. They knew we were coming, and they still welcomed us! ... Amusement park in a box. (Actually, 2 huge warehouses) Here it is, Toverland... I don't know if this was a regular bus or just for the parking lot, but I liked the way it looked.

Generally. Them and park owners.

It's half way between Super Wirbel (Vekoma death machine) and the water ski stadium. Thanks for the comments. JJ

After Tripsdrill, we headed to Holiday Park, and EGF!! It was a great drive, and a wonderful time at the park! I'll save the EGF pics for last. Enjoy! Thank you for visiting Holiday Park. Toverland coming soon. Expedition GeForce Elissa's favorite sign! Elissa's 2nd favorite sign. Dragon with gingivitis. .. paper mache' boobs! She needs a new paint job. The infamous... I wouldn't do that if I were you! One of the dark ride wenches, and her "suitors". Been there. Done that. Hurt my head. EVIL, Star Flyer. evil, Evil, Happy Birthday to me! We're here! Love these little towns! Crossing the Koln river. (Note to self: Don't take pics out of the rear window of the bus.) This place looked interesting. It gave you that warm, glowing feeling! Everything looked great! Wonderful scenery.

Nice TR JimmyBo!! Love the panoramic pics!! You done did good! But don't tease about the Big Mike pics. If you're gonna mention it, you'd better have it! JJ

Time to work on finishing this TR. This is the first half of Day 11 at Tripsdrill park. A really beautiful park, with tons of things to find and explore. This park was a real gem! Evidently, the owner of the park, basically owns the whole valley and vineyards that the park was located in. Really well maintained, meticulous gardens, and some really, really cool rides! On to the pics. Hope you like them. Say goodbye to Tripsdrill. We will be back! Probably for a full day if rumors hold true. Next up: later in the day at Holiday Park and EGF!!! Wow! I actually took a good picture of a flower. The Hoffman girl wants to know what I did with her tube top! Jimmybo and the remaining "Yellow Hat Club" give it a go. Robb getting his pov, ???, and Hector-screaming like a little girl. Jay, Ben and James check out their amount of wetness. Not all that wet. Because we had to leave for Holiday Park, the Tripsdrill people walked us up the exit ramp for the bathtub flume ride! Sliced beef with gravy, and macaroni 'n cheese. Yummy!! Tripsdrill put on a great spread for us! Time for food! The whirlpool of the rapids ride. WTF is a "Baby-Wickel" and why does the sign have the figure lying on it's side??? Thru the trees! Kinda corny. Kinda cool. 11:45 and time for the wedding procession. The Tripsdrill version of the Tiki room. Every time you went up this ladder, a different character popped out. Including this one with the bouncy breasts! Holding the camera over the edge, you could see most of the characters. It got WEIRD! It's kind of disturbing. The strangest well in the world! Pull the rope and a child pops up! If you got too close, the serpent would spit water on you! Adam and Eve?? Strange fountain. More gardens. I really like the wrought iron fences. Even though I'm lost, this sign does me no good. Inside the windmill was a really tight, fast slide. KT gets the Lou credit. (As does Robb. Again.) The waterwheel of death that almost collected the lives of several TPR members. ...from hell!! It was seriously, an awesome ride!! ...bitchin' tree drop ride... TPR gang on the... Very friendly! Tripsdrill had some friendly goats. See? Real grapes!! Spinny tub ride through the vineyard. You can pay to shoot an egg out a chicken's butt, into any one of a number of open mouths. ...with no boats! Spinny boat ride... Does James have a new #1?? TPR members getting their credit. The flowers weren't quite awake yet. KT doesn't appear to be as excited as dad. Rich leads others up the lift hill. KT tries her hand at operating the ride. I mean, how hard would it be to pick these guys off? Jimmybo, of paparazzi fame, gets his video. Ready. Aim. Fire. Look familiar? See? There is a ride among all this foliage. Hector's not too sure what Carl's so excited over. Not too sure about the ride-op though. Love the trains on G'sengte Sau! (Sorry for the blurry pic.) Elissa and KT decide to join us afterall. This place was seriously beautiful. Coaster on one side, bathtub ride on the other. We'll hit Rasender Tausendfubler later. (Big Mike sighting) You can pay to make frogs spit at mosquitoes. The monorail ride. Which way do we go Wilbur, which way do we go?? This is actually a large animated clock. More pics later. A lot of the dioramas were almost educational, teaching the art of wine making. Heading back to ERT. The first bit of theming to greet us. Well, we made it! This is the 2nd time we passed this church. The driver wouldn't trust the map. Only his GPS. (sigh) A fire station. On the way to the park...

I can't speak for the others, but as far as GCI's go, I liked Troy slightly better than Kentucky Rumbler. But, IMO, Ozark Wildcat blows them both away, and Thunderhead is a distant 4th. JJ

^Cool!!

Gosh, I really wish I would have got to go! That looks like so much fun! I really need to get on one of these trips someday! How come so few pics on this update?? How come there's no Big Mike pics?? How does that Carl guy even fit into the bus?? Where are the Lou pics??

Here's one last pic of EGF (I really didn't like this one). The camera I use is a Sony DSC-T30 I had to zip the pics into 2 files. There are 18 pics in each. All of them are in their created sizes, so edit them as you wish. File A = 42.3mb File B = 49.8mb Thanks for the kind words. JJ B.zip A.zip

Take up smoking quickly!! It might kick up that asthma!! Take care. My thoughts and prayers go with you. Good luck Chris, and thank you. JJ

I don't use a tripod, just my camera, and the "stitching" program is found within "MS Digital Image Suite 2006" It does take a bit of practice to overlap the pictures using (or finding) hard lines as reference points. Generally, that's what the program looks for first. The hardest part is keeping the exposure level constant. When the digital camera is on an automatic exposure level setting, the different angles will have varying amounts of light hitting the object, so you need to use your settings to make, and/or keep them constant. That makes the biggest difference. I wasn't going to post these, but you get the idea especially when you see the second EGF picture below. As far as zipping the files, the files are between 1.7 and 4.8mb each. Should I just resize them to, say, 1280x800 (or thereabouts) for those that want them as wallpapers? Let me know, as I really don't have a clue. Oh yeah, what pics should I include, just the coasters? All of them? Anywho, enjoy these last 6 pics. JJ Phantasialand's entrance plaza. The Peter Pan Akbar of the Sahara ride at Phantasialand. Troy (I think it could have been a great shot if we had been able to be there at a different time of day. I'm not really sure. Oh well) Troy A lot more of the exposure problem. EGF from the lift hill, with a little exposure problem.