cfc

Aw, shucks, Ms. Elissa. I hope everyone enjoys this thread. I'll probably update it once a week.

Theme park touring wasn't on my radar screen until 2005, or thereabouts. Oh, sure, I'd visit Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Universal, Kings Dominion, and (of course) Busch Gardens Williamsburg from time to time--but nothing outside the United States. I wasn't a member of any coaster- or park-related groups or clubs, either. Then I came across the trip reports on Theme Park Review, thanks to Robb posting about them on another website, and was immediately intrigued. When Robb and Elissa advertised their first "public" tour of the United Kingdom, I thought, "Well, why not?" I'd done the "cultural" tour of Scotland, London, and Stratford on Avon with my brother the year before. Why not see what theme parks were like outside the USA? The 2006 TPR UK Trip was excellent, and I was hooked. I've since been around Europe, Japan, China, Australia, and even the US with TPR. The difficulty of travel today, thanks for COVID-19, has me waxing a bit nostalgic for the trips I'd taken before (with any luck, I'll be hitting the Asia Disney parks with TPR in December). Who would like to join me in a look back at TPR trips past? Here's what we'll be doing: I've decided to post two pictures from each park visited. These photos may be purely scenic--or completely goofy. They may represent "firsts" for me, or just something uniqe about the park in question. Or maybe they're just nice pictures. I'm making this up as I go. Let's set the Wayback Machine for the summer of 2006 and TPR's wanderings about the UK, Norway, and Sweden. I was intrigued to visit some places I'd actually heard about (such as Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach), places with which I was vaguely familiar (such as Liseberg), and places I'd never heard of (such as Lightwater Valley). OK, we're landing at Heathrow. Be careful getting your stuff out of the overhead compartment. Now where's that Hotel Hoppa shuttle? Our first stop wasn't technically part of the trip: Legoland Windsor. Robb and Elissa were going, and there was so much interest on the part of the rest of the group, it became the first TPR "pre-trip" park. This was the first Legoand I'd ever visited, and the only one that can boast a view of the actual Windsor Castle. My first-ever Miniland--one of a number to come. Next up was Chessington World of Adventures. Any ride featuring a vampire playing an organ is OK in my book. Chessington's Vampire was a lot of fun, even if trees did slap you in the face from time to time. Time for the first TPR "surprise" park of the trip: Coney Beach in Wales, home of the "DEATH RIDE"! This reminds me of one of the funniest conversations of the trip. The nice old Welshman asked me, "You the Americans that came in on the bus?" "Yes, we are." "Oh, how nice. Ye want any mushy peas with your chips?" "Er, no thank you. "Ah, afraid it'll give ye the wind, eh?" Speaking of parks in Wales, Oakwood was next. I was glad that I had the chance to ride Brer Rabbit's Burrow, which, unlike Splash Mountain, feature bunnies drinking beer, using the toilet, and gettin' it on. In your face, Disney! Oakwood's Speed was my first Eurofighter--liked it quite a bit back then. On to Alton Towers and Nemesis, the best coaster in the UK. The cool monster theming was a plus for this crazy, intense ride--a pit and a "river of blood"! it's still my favorite B&M inverted coaster. You can see a castle from Legoland, but Alton has its very own authentic castle. Behold my first Maurer Shone coaster: Drayton Manor's G-Force! It was not good. In fact, boy did it ever suck out loud! (The curved lift was a painful experience.) But Drayton had some fun stuff, too, such as the "so bad, it's good" Pirate Adventure. Of course, some of the animatronics needed TLC, such as this poor prostitute whose face has been ravaged by an STD (her nipple appears to be showing, too). Or maybe it's the Nature Boy, Ric Flair! Southport Playland's big attraction was their great, old-school fun house. It was also a good place to catch a nap around a nice campfire. Ah, Blackpool Pleasure Beach--emphasis on "pleasure" here. It's a shame that the wooden Wild Mouse is no more. For me, the dark rides stole the show at Blackpool. Lightwater Valley thought it could tell me how to behave. Ha! Take that! Kumali was a very first Vekoma SLC, and I kind of liked it. As for the ones that followed, well . . . Pleasurewood Hillls' Enigma was a fun old Schewarzkopf coaster. Their Tales of the Coast boat ride gets bonus points for being based on local folklore. This photo features two anusing attractions at Grand Yarmouth Pleasure Beach: the very old school Scenic Railway (my first coaster with a brakeman) and the cheesy Snails and Fairy Tales ride. I know this looks like someone threw up on a baked potato, but this curry chicken jacket was pretty good. The exquisite horror of Joyland's Spook Express. Dracula got me at Joyland, too. He likes to suck out blood and brains. Thorpe Park marked my first-ever ride on one of these crazy Inamin contraptions (Stealth). However, I preferred Thorpe's Nemesis: Inferno. Off to Norway! I love the front entrance to Tusenfryd and how it interacts with Speed Monster. Thunder Coaster was a pleasant surprise. Liseberg was the last park we visited--and my first chance to sign a roller coaster. Balder quickly became my favorite coaster then, and it's still in my top 10 today. That's all for now.

Aw, sorry to see this report come to an end. I'm glad you had such a great time in Japan!

I think Mako is OK, but nothing all that special.

^That would be my best guess. They were shooting for this spring.

I beg to differ on this point. When I rode during its first season, Drachen Fire left me with a throbbing headache, an upset stomach, and a huge bruise on either shoulder. It was simply wretched. They re-profiled it, which helped some--but it was too little, too late. It looked pretty, but felt foul. Yes, Drachen Fire has its fans. As you've probably guessed, I'm not among them.

Hey, they're just sterilizing the horse.

Nice photos, John. Hard to believe that all that left of Drachen Fire is the station, barn, and a few footers.

You can't go wrong with meat on a stick--or a Monte Cristo sammich.

Here's my top 25, if anyone's curious. 1. New Texas Giant (SFOT) 2. Expedition GeForce (Holiday Park) 3. El Toro (SFGrAd) 4. Untamed (Walibi Holland) 5. Twisted Timbers (KD) 6. Maverick (CP) 7. Steel Vengeance (CP) 8. Wildfire (Kolmården) 9. Balder (Liseberg) 10. Goliath (Walibi Holland) 11. Intimidator 305 (KD) 12. Phoenix (Knoebels) 13. Kawasemi (Tobu Zoo) 14. Piraten (Djurs Sommerland) 15. Fly Over Mediterranean (Happy Valley Chengdu) 16. Mega-Lite (Happy Valley Shanghai) 17. Lech Coaster (Legendia) 18. Twisted Colossus (SFMM) 19. Cheetah Hunt (BGTampa) 20, Lightning Run (KK) 21. Schwur des Kärnan (Hansa Park) 22. Skyrush (Hersheypark) 23. Phantom's Revenge (Kennywood) 24. Olympia Looping/Munich Looping (Traveling) 25. Goliath (SFGrAm) Truth be told, the Mega Lites are run about the same to me, so you could say they're tied for 13th place. Millennium Force is number 26, by the way. You can blame Lech Coaster for knocking it out of the top 25. My highest ranked Disney coaster is Big Grizzly Runaway Mine Cars, at number 34.

Whenever I see people lined up to ride an SLC, this comes to mind.

I was curious to see how the coasters at my home park, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, did in the poll: Steel Coasters Apollo's Chariot--#63 Griffon--#83 Alpengeist--#90 Verbolten--#146 Tempesto--#226 (as "Clone--Premier Rides Sky Rocket II") Loch Ness Monster--#262 I didn't bother looking for Grover's Alpine Express. Wooden Coaster InvadR--#72 Hmm--not too shabby for BGW's only wooden coaster. It is an enjoyable, zippy little GCI. These results aren't really surprising. BGW has a solid coaster lineup, and it'll be interesting to see how Pantheon fares in future polls.

Untamed is a great ride, and I have no issue with it being number 1. I prefer it and Twisted Timbers to Steel Vengeance. They're all great rides, but Vengeance is a bit too intense for my tastes, whereas Untamed and Timbers are just right.

Symbolica was very well done--great use of trackless ride technology and animatronics.

I imagine that it will eventually be . . . Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

I kind of like Mine Blower, even though it's rough in spots, but I prefer White Lightning at the other Orlando Fun Spot.

This one (just read the sign).

I find Epcot's Grand Fiesta Tour relaxing; of course, it helps to visit the Tequila Cave first and enjoy a nice margarita.

Great photos, as usual, Andy. While there have been a lot of changes at Bobbejaaland over the years, it's good that El Paso Special still exists (and was upgraded a bit).

Looks like a great addition to what is already the strongest coaster lineup in Florida.

Looks like a great exhibit--especially those old storybooks they used in the Disney animated classics.

Same here (what a shock)--the annual passholder preview is Saturday, Mar. 14.

Yep--pretty much a construction zone during that time. I was glad to see Star Wars replace all the wasted real estate that had been the Studio Tour, though, and Runaway Railway looks like an excellent replacement for the Great Movie Ride.