OldJJman

The trip was awesome, the scenery was beautiful. I took some shots that showed the beauty of what we saw, and some were just for fun. I'll add more if I can find them. I hope you like them. Klotti coaster at Klotten. Superman at Parque Warner Triton's Fury Yet another look. Another look at Colossus. Looking down on Terra Mitica and the city of Benidorm from Colossus. Magnus Colossus at Terra Mitica View from the balcony of our hotel room. Close-up of one of the pools. One of the many pools, with Benidorm in the background. The Westin Resort Hotel in Benidorm One last look at Barcelona Barcelona behind the monorail Barcelona from Tibidabo Barcelona from Tibidabo The scary plane at Tibidabo. Montaña Rusa at Tibidabo. The trees were plentiful in the Polynesian area of the park. (Not the best pic, I know.) Dragon Kahn in the twilight. More fun with Kahn. Some fun with Kahn. Dragon Kahn in her morning glory. Dragon Kahn from the brake run. From Dragon Kahn, you can see the snow capped mountains in the distance. More fun with Baco. Some fun with Baco. The vineyard and station of Furious Baco. At Isla Magica, Jaguar is hidden in the trees. Above Tornado at Parque Madrid, you can see the city.

^Thanks Joe!

Thanks for the continued updates Jason! Question: what's the realistic drive time from Houston Hobby Int'l airport to the boardwalk area? I, like a few others, may just jaunt out there some Saturday night after work and fly home Sunday evening. So we need some kind of realistic time frame to work with. Thanks, JJ

Day 10 Today, our group lost some faces, and gained some new ones, as the official part of the trip was over. Time for the add-on! We woke up early and headed to the Madrid airport for our flight to Dusseldorf, Germany. We were greeted by the add-on participants and loaded the bus for the scenic, adventuresome drive to Wild-und Freizeitpark Klotten. The park has a gorgeous setting and combines a zoo with a do-it-yourself rides and the INSANE Klotti coaster! Enjoy. Our hotel for the night. More pics soon. One last look from the parking lot. Rich acts like a local and gets a cold drink at the Hoff-bra. Another look. When blurry, Germany looks exactly like King's Island! Close up. This castle and villa could only be seen from the top of Klotti coaster. The grandkids take a ride. Love the first drop! The aforementioned INSANE airtime hills!! Klotti car. Shoot! Not quite yet. Looks like there was supposed to be a log ride of some sort here. We missed you! Hi Melanie! ... ducks from a shooting gallery?? Don't the airtime hills look like... From the deer area, Klotti's first drop looks cool! Jimmy (walking on the far left) was afraid of the killer deer. Hello Kitty! Some beautiful reindeer. Over in the zoo there were many animals, including raccoons. Wet and dry slides. The Hoffman Girl getting some serious airtime!! Christobell stroking his way through the air. The self-powered swinging ride. Just ask Jay and James! (That is definitely a smile on James face!!) Looks harmless enough. The odd, self-controlled, mini ferris wheel/zipper combo. How many dangerous rides (that you would never find in the USA) can you see in this picture? Model of the Klotti coaster and the non-existent water ride. Looks like a Klotti Potti. Yup. This is the place. It looks as if we made it. An awesome view from the parking lot! Nice parking job at the park. Uh... we need to make a U-turn! Um... Weren't we supposed to turn right? Dude, we're going the wrong way! Church, with dead people farm. As we leave, we pass more "modern" art. Almost all taxis were Mercedes. Add-on peeps (aka: the welcoming committee. New country credit for KT! New airport credit! We're watching you! Geert and Big mike patiently waiting for our plane.

I thought that Black Mamba had a great start to it. I stayed (like Jimmy) in the back 2 rows for 4 or 5 consecutive rides, and then headed for the front. I got in 3 front seat rides and 2 more on the outsides of row 2. First couple of inversions were nice, but after that it just petered out. In the back rows (where you really can't see much) it was like BBW at night - wandering aimlessly thru the village. Kind of pointless. On my first ride, I kept expecting that there would be a seriously intense inversion at the bottom there, but it never came. It's like they were so intent on making it visually appealing, that the actual ride part was forgotten. Because of that meandering around the last half or so of the ride, it's like being on a bus with no windows. Nothing to even look at (ala BBW at night). So the other drawback for me, was that it was basically ONLY a front seat ride. It's a middle of the road B&M, that looks really pretty. I'd take Nemesis, Montu, Fire, Ice etc.. (you get the idea) before BM. Actually I rank it about even with Raptor (which I NEVER understood why people think that it's so good!). But, I'm anxiously awaiting the ones in Japan and, especially Korea. I just hope that the one in Korea doesn't have the BM syndrome. Looks really good, but is kinda bland. JJ

Day 9 Parque Warner Madrid and the last "official" day of the Spain trip. I was completely blown away by the theming of this park, knowing that it once was owned by Six Flags. Why can't they do that in the US?? It was fairly warm on this day, but we still a great time. Especially since we got this "Superstar" wristband that was pretty much front of the line privilege on almost all rides. Superman was really good, Coaster Express wasn't as bad as expected (it was almost good!), Batman was awesome (the 7 row version rocks!). The water rides were very wet, and with us getting 9 people in a boat on the rapids, we spun like crazy!! Anyway, here's some pics. Thhhaaatttt'ss all for this update Ffffolksss!!! More pics from the add-on soon. Mel and the Hoffman Girl exchange credits. Thanks Big Mike. We even looked dorky doing it. The world's LAMEST 3-D show!! Nice looking carousel. Airplane thing-a-McBob. A water play area. A refreshment stand. ... 9 people in the boat!! They let us cram... Time for one insane rapids ride! It must be Tom y Jerry! It has ants! It has OJ. (It has a finger in the shot!) Time to look for the last credit. This ride was much better than what we had expected. A few of us rode 3 and 4 times. It wasn't that bad! It was a fun ride! Coaster Express! Again, does this really look like a Six Flags park? Hi Derek! Batman queue. A 7 row Batman!!! ... park? ... Six Flags ... ... a real ... ... to be ... ... this used ... ...believe that... (Bumper cars) Can you... They even had a viewing area between the two rides. The games area wasn't open yet. Heading back towards Batman. KT is surprised we survived!! ... and it's open!!! Spanish Deja Vu' (Stunt Fall) The Hoffman Girl loves Superman and his buns of steel. A good look at a good portion of the ride. Corkscrews ahead! Upside-down goodness! Loop-de-loop! Looking down on the interlocking corkscrews. ... and the dreaded Coaster Express. From the lift hill, you get a good look at Batman.... ... by having the exact same placards as the other Superman, in ENGLISH!!! AHA!! The cheapness of Six Flags shows through... Looks a lot like Spiderman at IOA. Superman! The was a (weak) Vekoma haunted swing that we passed along the way. Heading for ERT on Superman! The buildings along "main street" looked very reminiscent of MGM or USF. ... entrance plaza. Really nice and clean... Spanish Deja Vu' can smell your fear! Like Port Aventura, Parque Warner had their own train station. Big Mike? Someone's not to sure about Parque Warner Madrid.

Ground Hog Day

Maybe it's because you were comparing apples to oranges, and not apples to apples. Look at this thread with a poll: Fire vs. Ice It's comparing two very similar rides, (as is this thread with Winjas) yet it's now 5 pages long. Polls can be informative, and invoke good discussion, especially when a decision needs to be made on something. But, they can also be annoying, when they are ONLY opinions, and can invoke only argumentative discussion. I hope that helps. JJ

I know of several people who had been there before. I thank each and everyone of them for NOT divulging the tricks. It's just one of those things you hope to experience, and maybe someday you will. I felt it was so much better NOT knowing. Had I known, I might have already imagined what it was and not enjoyed it as much. I may have already figured out what it would feel like, and possibly be let down as my imagination would have made it so much more than it is, or could have been only looking for that part of the ride. The rides were the complete package. Both sides separate, unique and fun. They were fantastic. I'm not trying to be mean. I honestly think that people are better off not knowing. I sure was! JJ

Day 8 We start the day with breakfast someplace within our Westin resort city. We load our bags on the bus and we're off to Terra Mitica, a good 4 minute drive. We had ERT on the Huss frisbee (instead if Inferno. Intamin. Enough said.), Magnus Colossus (woody), and Tizona (SLC). We were also treated to a real fancy sit down lunch at the restaurant "Alucinakis". We stayed at the park until 4:30, as we had a 6 hour drive back to Madrid. I know that this may disappoint some (ok, none) of you, but I took no pics on the drive. I was too tired from the wild and crazy dinner/antics we had at the hotel the night before. No pics from that either. Some legends are better left untold! Anywho, please enjoy! Adios Terra Mitica, and goodbye Westin resort. More pics soon. The guard in the archway bade us farewell. As has been documented, the theming was very well done. (Big Mike pic) The entrance/exit plaza. See? Much better without the banners. The walk of fame. This was another restaurant. Walking back around to the front of the park. ...amongst other things. I did not know that the Egyptians invented bowling.... Still makes for a nice picture though. The geographical center of the park with the carousel and arcade. This will change next year when they close the Iberia section, and put Tizona on top of the hill next to Colossus. Robb has issues, albeit small ones. Meanwhile, Piers and the YHC are confused by the tablecloth and china setting yet again. And KT remains the center of attention. It was a nice ornate place. Time for lunch. ...is just disturbing. Something about Greek mythology... Ryan tries to do his best "Melanie" impression. Carl's just confused! Rich likes a little "necking" every now and then. It must be now. Larry indoctrinates a unicorn into the YHC. "If you can pull my braids like this, you can have me!" Just the right height for the Hoffman Girl. YHC members take over the bouncy Unicorn. First up: Big Mike. Piers looks thrilled that I ruined his picture. Mel goes for the hard credit, but it just comes up a bit short. "Yellow Hat Club" member, Rich, goes for the concrete boob credit instead. Kiddie coaster credit! This is supposed to be a replica of a real famous statue. Yet, it's wrong on so many levels! Jon, Hector and Kyle are about to grind up Lou. Dave is playing one-handed pocket polo. OK. SLC in motion. Happy now? KT is happy to be out of her stroller. (No caption needed, you perverts!) Mel and Rich are already senseless, and the ride hasn't started yet. See! It says: Tizona. (Whatever. It's another SLC!) The archway to ERT. Descent drop ride. It just stood there, with the chain running, taunting us. Missed Credit. In Spain, Inferno = INTAMINO = Intense Nice Thrilling Attraction Meaning It's Not Open. It wasn't anything to write home about either. Colossus wasn't as bad as we were led to believe. The rest of the park, and the rest of Benidorm. About half the park, Benidorm in the background, and the resort complex on the left. Lift hill shot. I'm surprised that they didn't require Jim to duct tape his tongue also! More ERT. Where else can I get my face and Elissa's A$$ in the same picture?? for 40 years across the wilderness... Trojan horse... arcade and gift shop... Walking past a restaurant, an arcade... The theming was so large, even Robb couldn't block it out! ...the first part of ERT. Nothing but theming. Right next to... This was a simulator of some sort. It was a really cool shoot-em-up dark ride, with real extensive theming. (Think, almost an Egyptian MIB) The Labyrinth of the Minotaur. Complete with the mile long hidden queue line! A little extra detail. Random Crocodile. ... the sports bar. It made it easier for the Britts to find. An up-charge walk-thru pyramid. Almost all the signs were in Spanish, except for... Robb and Elissa in a former life. Have to admit, it still looked impressive. All of the theming proved to be a little to much concrete for this really hot day. As impressive as the theming was in this park (It was really spectacular!), these dumb banners took away some of the appeal. My guess would be the entrance. Off we go! Ah, here we go! Such paltry conditions! It's down here somewhere. First order of business: find breakfast! It's real tough to wake up to this view, isn't it!

Thanks to everyone for the comments!! I'm only posting about 1/4 of the pics that I actually took. I'll be starting up a new thread of all the panoramic shots I took after I'm done with these. (That's 2,3,4 or 5 pics stitched together.) Hopefully that will be soon! JJ

You are an absolute fool if you truly believe that. On second thought, perhaps you should test your theory at Disneyland, and see where that gets you. In reality, don't even try that. That "action plan" you dream of does not exist. Perhaps keeping a better watch on your child would be the best "action plan" out there?

Day 7 Our final night has been spent at Port Aventura. We loaded our bags onto the bus and headed for ERT on Furious Baco. We stayed until 12:30 and then left on the 6.5 hour drive to Benidorm, and the hotel of our dreams. Short day, long drive, and Draky! Enjoy. After an exhausting day, a delirious Robb hugs a pillow for comfort. Next update: Terra Mitica The reverend "JimmyBo" preaches to the masses. Nice meeting hall. When it's completed...I'll never be able to afford to stay here again! This resort is really a small city!! And a heck of a view! Nice courtyard. Another one of the nice random pools. This place was a BIT out of our price range. Time to explore the grounds in search for food. Robb attending to his awesome host duties at the front desk. The entrance plaza. The backside of our Westin resort complex. Walking around downtown. The beach in Benidorm. It looks quite clean too! See? John doesn't think it's embarrassing!! Love the artwork! The prize awaits! Kidie falling star. Nothing like 45 adults (and KT) walking thru a children's park to get a credit! Time to head downtown! ..and a marble covered bathroom! With a walk-in closet.. VERY comfortable!! Nice hotel room! "Even out of focus, I am damn cute!" Tomorrow's delight! Entering the hotel complex. And there's Terra Mitica. That's Benidorm off in the distance. Off to Benidorm! They finally took a train off, and ERT began. Goodbye Port Aventura, I will return. Larry is overwhelmed with excitement. Looking out from the station. Random storyboards. ... was randomly thrown into this display in the queue line. The overhead and elevation schematic for Baco... Well, the door is working now. Big Mike. After the doors slammed into the back of the train, the techs in the booth discussed what to do. Baco trains, with the gawd-awful restraints. Love is in the air! I wonder if this contraption was meant to fly? It's all ours!! Hector, Lou and Jon patiently waiting for the bus to take us to ERT on Baco. Another beautiful day! Morning at the hotel "El Paso", the non-confusing hedge maze and the stage for nightly entertainment.

Day 6 Happy 4th of July!! OK. We're still at Port Aventura, and we have ERT on Dragon Kahn this morning! We'll leave the hotel at noon to drive to Barcelona (about 2 hours, so yes, more pics while driving) and Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo. (Tibadabo) The park with the most gorgeous view I have ever seen!! We'd stay until 6pm and catch the bus back to PA, where the park is open until midnight. Some others chose to take various trains down into Barcelona, and subsequently, back to PA. In retrospect, I probably should have done that as well, as the pics I've seen, from the "yellow hat club", are AMAZING!! Anyway, I hope you like these. One last look at Barcelona, and the monorail at Tibadabo. More pics soon. The general ticket booth. Evidently, this guy was supposed to try and scare us, (as he did others) but just smoked a cigarette as we passed by. A real bad attempt at animatronics! Strange wizard in the indoor portion of the monorail. Hi Melanie! Or both. Or fairly wealthy. I imagine some people are colorblind. The radio tower doesn't seem so big now. The sun was trying to break through. Time for a ride on the monorail. Flying carpet. Never found the entrance. Still, hell no! Elegantly themed, lame, topspin. The artwork on the chair swing looked pretty cool. kiddie balloon spinny thingy. Still, hell no! These little electric carts provided another way to get back to the top of the park. The poor man's version of a skyscraper. Random building near the park. (May have even been inside, I'm not completely sure.) Tchu Tchu Tren?? I'm confused. How'd we get down here so damn fast? The "yellow hat club" (sans hats) walking up the moving, funhouse stairs. Oh, the possibilities were endless!! Safety Sign for the powered (not a credit) coaster. Move bar up and down. Insert CD. Cut left hand off. The cool glass elevators! (With strange ops in them!) I mean, get real! The non-flying plane. Another, hell no! Taken from the coaster. Wow. A normal picture of Jim! Bucket-on-a-stick. Hell no! The monorail to nowhere. But, it has a great view!! There are 6 levels to this park. It's actually down a level. The home made galaxi. OK. A ferris wheel is bad enough, but on top of this hill, NOT! Thanks for the help!! We made it! My best friend's husband is a referee for NFL Europe games in the stadium down there! The Queen, the princess and their beyotch are bringing up the rear. Even with it being overcast, it was still a spectacular view! Still a way to go! Finally!! NOT! It was only a parking structure! The radio tower is shrinking. And boy, are we up there!! We needed inspiration, as we had to walk the rest of the way up! Passing the radio tower. Way above. We're starting to get above the city of Barcelona. If you look hard enough, you can see the "bucket-on-a-stick" and the ferris wheel. We had to get this roundabout credit! HUGE radio tower! Spaceship on top of building. See that radio tower WAY over there?? Let's build everything at once! It looks like we're going the right way. Purdy roundabout. Leaving PA and (wherever the hell we were)?? ... the absolute unknown! Complete with Chinese ponytail graduation cap and rice paper diploma, Lou makes the obligatory walk into... Happy 4th of July! Of course, in Great Britain, it means commencement exercises. Off to Bibidy-Bobidy-Boo. Elissa's breasts! ... you get random table, and... Know what happens when you ask Chris to take your picture? You not only get it out of focus... Time for some Baco pics. The wooden school train. Someone's not to happy. He'd rather be riding something slower. Like... Nice high-tech station covering. Try and figure out the layout of the mine train. Notice Furious Baco in the distance. A good look at Stampida. ...because the GP was filtering in. Time for another ride on Condor.... Even though it was 90 degrees, we could see snow on the mountains in the distance. In every direction it was beautiful! Love the landscape! With ERT over, it was time to wander the park again. For those of you that like fingers in your photos. Away we go! Good Morning!! First, some random detail pics of the station. There she is, in all her morning glory!! Nothing like driving 6.5 miles to get to a coaster less than a mile away!! After the morning "infomeeting" we waited for the bus to take us back to Dragon Kahn for ERT.

People! Look at the picture!! They're making a large employee parking structure!! Get a clue!! JJ

Day 5 - Port Aventura Today we had a full day at the park, with ERT scheduled on Baco. Unfortunately, the Intamin curse had arrived before we did, and the park swapped our ERT for 2 days later. So, we had ERT on Stampida. Of course, I have NO pics from that ERT, because I overslept and missed the bus. No great loss. Chris was a bit upset though. What's a TPR gathering without their designated "bitch"? The best part of the day was the "front of the line" fastpass type thing we were given. It was good on pretty much everything except Baco and the drop tower. A few of us used this to ride the rapids ride twice in 10 minutes (and thought about doing it a third time) just to see the pi$$ed off people inline. It was great! Not too many pics as I've already covered most of the park, but some things are worth showing over and over again. Enjoy. The Port Aventura train station as seen from our balcony. About a 1/2 mile walk. Day 6 later tonight. Everybody was already asleep. Since all of the food places shut down for the afternoon (The Spaniards take their siestas seriously!) Time for my own sieata back at the hotel. Though it gave a different view of Furious Baco. NOWHERE!!! To absolutely.... We're on our way... The boat! Station for the boat that goes nowhere. Nicely themed swinging ship. how to wring your child's neck while riding! CREDIT!! Our "sub" (sorry about the crappy pic) Sea Odyssey simulator. the 3 wet ones in front of the Polynesian stage. Water cannons are wonderful! The grandkids in the back row of the Tutuki Splash. Lame boat ride to nowhere. Think you've seen that before? NOT? (different angle!) Yeah. I paid for it too! Me, being the conscientious person that I am, tried to keep the Hoffman Girl's phone from getting wet. Unfortunately, I forgot which side it was on. We had a *slight* jam at the end of the ride. Rapids ride goodness! No lefties!! Talk about glorious!! BTW - Dragon Kahn>>>Kumba From up here too!! Hurakan Condor looks kinda tall from down here. For you fanboys and those playing "Elissa Bingo", here's her majesty skinning her hot dog. Random flower. Templo del Fuego was an EXCELLENT (albeit much shorter), version of Poseidon's Fury. No vortex either. It gave a neat perspective of Stampida and the city behind it (wherever the hell we were). Other than 2nd lift hill, it wasn't too bad of a ride. Ye old Arrow (Hi Jahan!) mine train, with 3 lift hills, though 1 is just to drop you into a set of brakes. WTF?? Notice how the power and ferocity of Tomahawk just shreds Chris's hair!! See all those people in pain on Stampida! Tomahawk had a cow hide ceiling. Chris's voice was shot, but he tried to do the Pterodactyl on Tomahawk. Random walk-by abandoned western buildings. We had NO IDEA why they were there! Chris wanted this picture to show how much weight he has lost since giving birth at Southport last year. Chilly Willy gets the Hoffman Girl credit! Mess with the Hoffman girl, and you'll end up in this nice box! Popeye, Bluto and Betty Boop. What's wrong with this picture?? The wonderful courtyard of our hotel.

Continued.... Then continued to dance for the passing crowd. Enough pics from this day. Next up: a full day at PA! Larry joined us for dinner at a nice restaurant in Mexico. The Mariachi's serenaded the table next to ours. Even on the Himilaya! Love all of the theming! Painful red train. Painful blue train. Stampida sign. The roundhouse and storage for the trains. Sexy!! Cool view of Dragon Kahn When's the funeral?? I want to see them torch this thing!! Surfboards in the polynesian wilderness. Toto. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. A side of Baco for Nicole. Back to the train to complete the trip "around" the park. (More like meandering at about 3mph!) John's laughing because it wasn't even his camera! We got to the station and the ride broke down with Larry on it. More theming with random pink pig. We saw these pigs all over the park. Does anyone know who sponsors them, or what they represent? This tile placard tells the story. I'm NOT that interested! Love the crash test dummies! I was with John and Rebecca on the train and we saw Baco running. So we got off the train and headed for the station. A look at the awesome rapids ride. A look into China. The hillside below China. Backside of the teacups. Everywhere you looked, the park was awesome! One of the 2 train stations in PA It was a fun, slapstick filled show. Odd, that the dialogue was in Spanish, but the songs were sung in English. Cheek shot. Taken inside of their version of the "Golden Horseshoe Review" Strange spinny, tilty cars on a tilted plate thingy. Apparently, shirts are optional. The really wet flume ride!! "I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK. I sleep all nigh..." never mind. Baby Bull Bumper Buggies. The awesome rapids ride. Unfortunately, the bridge was theming only and we couldn't walk across. Yup. Far West. Not lost yet. A look at the train bridge and some big coaster in the back of the park. Looking back at Baco, from the bridge to the Far West territory. I never understood the purpose of these signs. Who wants to take a photo of a camera on a sign? The theming is top notch!! It's that way throughout the park. First ride you come upon "Fur Taco" We had ERT the next morning, so I was in no hurry to get on. Besides, it was broken down at this point in time. ... the park. I'll be stitching these and many other sets of pictures later, once I finish this report. (It'll be awhile) First look upon entering... You pass the ticket takers into this. Don't go straight!! You'll end up in another hotel! Turn left! I guess we really are here! A beautiful tree lined walk. Time to walk up to the park. The yellow hats transform normal people into this. We unloaded the bus as Robb went in to get our room keys at this fabulous place! Your room key doubled as your park entry ticket, each one had your name printed on it.

Day 4 Due to the restrictions placed on the bus driver, we got to sleep in a bit today as 10:30am was our scheduled departure time. We made the most of it. There are pics of the hotel, the sights along the 3.5 hour drive, our arrival at the El Paso hotel and my first few hours at Port Aventura. We would be at this hotel for parts of 4 days and 3 nights. There are a lot of pics along the drive and it may be boring to you, but, it is MY trip report! On to the pics... Holiday Inn Express Some pecker made of wood told us we have arrived. Looks like an amusement park over there! Is that a coaster off in the distance?? Jay needed a neck pillow anyway. At the rest stop, they had a little bit of everything, including TOBACCO!! More cranes Prizes were provided by Parque Zaragoza. They gave us a huge bag stuffed with all kinds of souvenirs, including lighters, scarfs, 3 different kinds of hats, like the red one here. Thus began the "Yellow Hat Club" During our trip, Robb hosted a trivia game. He was so proud of us for not knowing too many answers!! Random bull on the hillside. We saw these all over Spain. Getting loaded for the ride to Port Aventura. Cell # 1327 (it was actually a nice hotel!)

Chuck, if Robb can catch your death on the ropes course, think of the marketing brilliance he'll have for the DVD!!!

Jimmy- Love the pics of Barcelona and the cathedral!! I should have went with you guys that day. Great pics. Let's see some more!! JJ

I never thought too highly of Thunderhead, and it, for me, never even came close to the hype. I did however, like Troy a little better than Renegade. My ranking of GCI's would be something like this: 1. Ozark Wildcat (Still my #3 woodie behind Voyage and Balder) 2. Troy 3. Renegade 4. Kentucky Rumbler 5. Thunderbird 6. Thunderhead Etc... Your mileage may vary.

Day 3 Parque Atracciones Madrid (again) and then a 4 hour bus ride to Parque Atracciones Zaragoza. Both parks were quite hospitable and had a great sense of charm. I know, who cares what I write. Enjoy the pictures. Not satisfied with like 20 shrimp, she also had a glass of glass. More pics soon. The Hoffman girl enjoys some white meat, err.. I mean asparagus. They didn't quite understand the TPR eating style. We adapted quite well. Cool looking rapids ride. Just odd. Odd looking, but it was a really cool ride! Ramses The outdoor version of "Adventure thru Innerspace" Cool people don't wear shades. Hey! Officer Rich!! How's the finger?? Nice 70's paint job. For those that can't remember, die. Robb can't figure out what's poking his tailbone! We'll pose for anything! A real "dark" ride. No lights. No nothing. Real strange. TPR being TPR. Robb was holding another infomeeting which I completely missed. If you know what the crests represent, emal Da.. screw it. Goody for you! There was a cool looking memorial across the street from the park. Next up: Zaragoza Dropping into the tree. Hi Derek! Tornado coming off of the first drop. Abismo thru the trees. A little sideways action. Tarantula with tarantula. Take 2 Abismo with water and don't call in the morning. The castle for the splashdown ride. The funky, Flintstones, Smurfs, Magic Mushroom, Gay Pride, Kiddie Ride. Except the cool train has no drive wheels. Cool station of the cool elevated train. Another serious picture ruined by a retard in the background! Carl's wingspan is greater than that of the train. (Sorry for the blurry pic!) As do Cool Rich and Mel. JamminJ and Dave demonstrate the proper riding position. Don: I look good on camera! Ben: Don looks good on camera! Geert: I see someone taking my picture with a camera! Tommi: akuygvkiuakiuaywghefa!! Jon is trying to break the coaster before we even get on! Turbulencia! Cool Rich approved! JamminJ can't handle the speed, while Dave is rocking hard. My mind wanders every time I see the name of this Kiddie coaster. Nice view of Abismo from Tarantula's lift hill. The Brits actually made it to the park on time today. Thinking it was a football game, try to do the wave. Miles: I LUV Tarantula!! Ron: GladToMeetYouWhere'sTheBathroomI'veGotToGoPee. Jimmybo directing the extras for his next big film. "I am BIG MIKE!! See me beefy muskles!" Robb playing daddy while Elissa rides. KT is confused.

I thought it was a dude too! JJ

Pics from Isla Magica, where the temperature topped off at 108 degrees!! No more pictures, please. So ends Day 2 KT had a great day, BUT..... Back at the train station, we had some time to explore the shops before we headed back to Madrid. We found a/c underneath the bar. The ladies rejoiced! Good parks always have carousels. (cough::Holiday World::cough) Elissa wasn't sure to make of Isla Magica's version of El Toro. Whee! Credit whores doing what we do best! Robb in the queue for the kiddie coaster. Another Elissa Bingo opportunity missed. Random archway. Robb, Chris, Jon, Rebecca, and Mary survive. Dave can't seem to pull his head out. About to be eaten by a creature of faded paint and concrete. Angry Robb statue. Up into the dark depths of whatever it is. It was for an Indiana Jones clone (kinda) themed to something like the Flintstones. No Dorritos syndrome. No one with a heart, which makes it TPR friendly. No cash registers. Gotta love their safety signs. They're kind of strange. This one says: No Gout. (Sorry Steve!) The new credit that wasn't. Herbie "The Lovebug" meets Battlestar Gallactica. It's sad when the water is greener than the plants supposedly reflecting off of it. Splashdown ride. YeeHaw. no thanks. Water too green. Entrance into the "bonus" helix. Oh effen joy! Actually, it was probably the only part of the ride that did not suck. You can just feel the pain. Or hear Robb yelling "Duck Me!" or something to that effect. Cool name. Cool logo. Lousy ride. More random themeing. Our ERT ended on the spinning, shoot-em-up, pirate dark ride. Pretty cool. Our ERT was indoors (thank God!) in a 4-D theater. One featured a cat going thru a haunted house. The other, forgettable. The 3-D was great. The 4-D, so-so. Random themeing outside a live show stadium. Pieces of the Berlin wall. Modern day Noah themeing. Hi Derek! (Also, one of the ONLY places in the park with a/c. Cool looking towers, but no way to get up in them.

My Day2 was officially "Day 1" of the TPR trip. We took the bus down to main train station in Madrid to catch the high speed "AVE" train to Seville. We had a bus waiting there to take us to Isla Magica. Enjoy. Isla Magica. More pics tonight. This is the cool bridge we crossed getting to..... One of many cool bridges we saw. Looks to be an amusement park nearby! On the bus, we passed an odd looking glass gym. The tracks from station level. Thousands of bugs sacrificed their lives, as the "TPR Express" must go thru!! Nothing like taking a serious picture in front of a great train. Mel wasn't about to let that happen. The end of the line. The station in Seville. Caught James smiling. Neener, neener, neener!! Robb get hungry. KT is mortified!! KT seems happy on her first high speed train ride. Until.... I can easily control my excitement. Elissa , on the other hand, can't wait for "bonus helix" Beautiful Spanish countryside. No matter where we went in Spain, there were always construction cranes to be found. (seriously) I like taking pics from moving trains. Deal with it. Robb walking the aisle making sure everyone made it. We almost filled up a whole car. Note: I almost caught James smiling. Meandering our way onto the train. Track 7, car 5. They knew that TPR was here, so the cleaning crews put a final coat of wax on the trains for good measure. Waiting for our track number to be posted. Not too bright, but fairly early. Look at all the pretty trains!!