AJMouse

^ and you choose FORWARDS. And then your planemates choose backwards. And then you're screwed.

Great report! How many pendulum rides would you say they've got there in total?

The Turbo bit was absolutely intense, but worth it. So awesome! And I loved how it didn't begin slow, but just starts you off with some crazy inversions, right from the station. Big WTF moment. Waiting in line, below that plane on a stick was actually more scary I think.

Oof. The morning at Hansa Park. Oof.

Hi Thad! edit. sorry, I mean, "great reports!"

Hehe. Great photos Hanno, I think you snapped one of me whilst I was saying ZOOM ZOOM before being launched *ZOOM ZOOM is actually the tagline of Speed Monster! Looking forward to the next batch!

:o You could turn this into a Photo TR: TPR 2014 SCANDI LSD Tour topic, Bill! Looking forward to your updates!

I just want this: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=961595#p961595 I'll give the "for mobile" a try, but I don't really enjoy the "microtransaction" games to be honest.

How many DVDs or Blu-Rays do you purchase each year? About 10 Blu-Rays, but I buy them as gifts for others. So I guess, the number would be zero for myself! How many digital downloads do you purchase each year? 30 How do you purchase digital downloads? (iTunes, Stream, etc) iTunes Do you download directly from iTunes to your device, or iTunes to your computer, and then transfer to your device? To my computer, and view on computer (connected to TV) Is a 1.5gb - 2 gb file "too big" for you to download to your device? I usually don't watch something on any of my device because I feel it would be a shame to watch something on a small screen if I can watch it full HD on a big screen. Exceptions would be long flights or long travel. After I'm done gaming. And in that case 1.5gb - 2gb files are not too big.

We're nearly done with the trip. I'm really happy we didn't miss out on the Dune Safari with a Hummer. Burj Khalifa, Sega Republic and Wild Wadi was great and amazing fun too. We kind of rained out on Aquaventure, but the park felt a lot smaller than we thought it would be, so we didn't really mind. Oh and the Helicopter flight was AWEsome. Today was Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, and Formula Rossa was awesome. They did have to do some maintenance, and we were happy to have our premium passes today (it was pretty busy). We had 3 rides on Formula Rossa, 2 of them in the front seat, which is worth the extra wait. We did one back seat, but agreed we liked front so much better (great face massage). We tried going on V12, and I'm not sure if it's just a slow ride, or they didn't have as many boats as they could have, but the premium pass line (while really short) took about an hour. Then we were right at the front, and someone in the ride decided to stand up and press the emergency stop, or something. So the ride closed down and wasn't opened for the rest of the day. We got compensated with 2 free sodas, which was nice, but we were kind of sad we lost an hour queuing for nothing - still, Rossa made up for all that. We didn't queue longer than 10 minutes each time. Great day! Tomorrow is YAS Waterworld, and I'm bringing my waterproof camera! Here's our onride face massage picture: Face Massage Rossa

We sure are! We're leaving next Thursday and purchased/planned just about all days. It's not far off the plan we had before. We're staying at the Number One Tower Suites. In short: We'll be visiting the Dubai Mall/Sega Republic on Friday, and we've got ticket to the Burj Khalifa "At the Top" at around 16:30 (couldn't get later tickets, but we should be able to catch the start of sunset if we stay a bit longer, sun sets at 18:31). Of course we'll be checking the fountains then too! On Saturday we have booked a helicopter tour over Dubai at around 1PM, and in the afternoon we're doing a Sand Safari with a Hummer because it's awesome. On Saturday morning we might be visiting Ski Dubai, a Souk or maybe some other sight seeing. Sunday is Aqua Venture, Monday is Wild Wadi and also the day we switch hotels to the Crowne Plaza on YAS Island. Both days we'll probably be done earlier Tuesday we'll visit Ferrari World, and Wednesday YAS Waterworld. We decided to go for the premium Yas Park Pass that gives us entry to both parks in Abu Dhabi. Thursday we fly back home in the afternoon! - Can't wait to go, one more week!

That's great news I actually put RCT on an iPad two years ago: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=57365 I hope they'll be making it a RCT or RCT2 style game. No "actual" 3D please. Please? Neh, I'll buy it anyway.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply Elissa! You're right, there's a lot of information there, but I figured, why not post everything I already tried planning/thought of - perhaps someone else finds it useful in the future. Japan is still on the short list, but somehow Dubai slipped in for us ^^ When I'm doing Japan I'm hoping it will some day be with you guys! I'll be meeting with my friend later this week when we're booking a hotel (or at least we thought we'd to that in the coming weeks). The Sheraton looks good, and it's good to know we should aim for that neighborhood. "EVERYTHING ELSE" for food sounds like a dream come true Good to hear the evening desert safari is pretty much the same, I don't think we will be able to fail on that one then. Getting some culture in would be a good idea too. If we plan the mosque in Abu Dhabi, we might be able to pull of 3 days there instead of 2, which gives us an extra chance to have a working Rossa, hehe. I wouldn't mind visiting a souk either, but like you say: if you've seen one, you've seen them all. And we've probably already seen one in Dubai by then. I'm surprised to hear about the Metro, but since cabs are indeed not too expensive, that shouldn't be a problem. Can you explain what you mean with a "marked" cab? I'm unfamiliar with the term - or does it just mean that he's registered or something? I'm going to check on a car service between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I think that could be an adventure on its own actually. Again, thanks so much!

Together with a good friend, I'm planning to go on a trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in March of 2013. We've already planned quite a lot, and we even booked our flights already. With "planned" I mean, I've looked around the TPR forums, checked TPR trip reports (I think I've checked them all), watched documentaries on Dubai and buildings they're creating, of course nosed around via Google a lot, and pretty much made a list of everything we would like to do. I realize this isn't a Coaster trip I'm planning (although at least 3 coasters are involved), but I value the advise of my fellow TPR members, and knowing for certain some of you have already been there, posting this here sounded like a great idea to get some more tips. We're going in March of 2013 which should give us a temperature of about 16 to 27 degrees Celcius. The To do List and day planning I've got a list of things we want to do (and included weblinks if you're interested to check out more). And below that I've got a planning. I'm looking to get some tips on our planning, if we've got any bad ideas there, or should switch around something for something else, etc. About us: We're not big shoppers, but walking around a huge shopping mall is still interesting. Dubai Mall being very interesting then of course. Getting up early: we can do it, but we don't mind sleeping in a bit We'll be using public transport and taxi's to get us places. Any tips on this are very welcome too! Food: We're definitely on the lookout to try out some American Fatty Food franchisers in Dubai Robb posted: We do like going out, and we're definitely looking for tips on that too. I know about the alcohol use, sharia-law etc., and that most places don't permit it, but any tips on having a fun night with a couple of beers would be great. We're not looking to get drunk, but having a beer with some other tourists would be fun. What we want to do in Dubai: Aquaventure (Atlantis, The Palm) Wild Wadi Dune Safari (Dune Bashing, the afternoon round with the BBQ etc.) Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo (Dubai Mall) Burj Khalifa "At the Top" experience (Dubai Mall) Dubai Mall (just a visit, a walk-around) Sega Republic (Dubai Mall) On the backup list: Ski Dubai (Mall of Emirates) - We're both don't really ski, so this is not a "must visit". Some boat trip through the harbor? A tour to a different city or town with a tour operator What we want to do in Abu Dhabi: Ferrari World Yas Waterworld ------------------------------------------------ Day to Day Planning ------------------------------------------------ Thursday: Arrival, Food, Something, Sleep We will be arriving on a Thursday around 18:00 on Dubai International Airport, DXB. After checking into the hotel, I think we will want to get some food (maybe explore a little), maybe drink a beer at the hotel's bar (if allowed). Unless there's something we can't miss doing on this particular evening... I don't think we're gonna do much. Friday: Dubai Mall, Sega, Burj Khalifa, Food and Fountains I've read stores are open longer in the evening on Friday, but I wasn't sure. I thought that we'd start of the week good right away by visiting the Dubai Mall and doing all Dubai Mall related activities. Burj Khalifa: We've then pre-purchased our tickets for the "At the Top" experience to save some money. Based on when we can visit the top, we'll build our day around it: Visit the Sega Republic (coaster time!) in the Mall, playing the machines there, visit the Aquarium (is this worth it?), and walk around the mall checking out those gold plated diamond infused iPhone 5's. We would like to see the big fountain show in front of the Khalifa while enjoying dinner somewhere. It would be cool to go for a couple of beers this evening. Saturday: Something and Sand Safari Sand Safari: Dune Bashing time! We get picked up at around 15:30 from the Hotel. We can do something before this time, but I'm not sure what yet. Any tips for something that doesn't take too much time? We've seen a couple of companies offering Sand Safaris, and they look very similar. Any tips on this are welcome! Sunday: Monorail to Aqua Venture on the Palm Go to Aqua Venture: The Palm by Mono..mono..mono...monorail. Have fun aquaventures. Should we visit the aquarium part here? Is it worth it? Monday: Wild Wadi and Hotel switch Get some waterparking going on again: Wild Wadi - (new Jumeirah Sceirah slide!) Hotel Switch: This day we would like to switch hotels to Abu Dhabi. I think. So after a fun day at Wild Wadi, we pick up our packed things from our hotel reception and move to Abu Dhabi, to check into our hotel there, in the evening. Tuesday: Ferrari World Ferrari World. Is it worth to get fasttrack tickets if you look at the month we're going? It's open from 11:00 to 20:00 which seems long enough. Does Formula Rossa run well? Is it closed often? We could switch this day with Wednesday, but I'd rather not go to waterparks 3 days in a row Wednesday: YAS Waterworld and Hotel switch YAS Waterworld *which should be open by March if I can believe all the latest news on this. Some great new slides, and a coaster that goes right through the waterpark. This should be great. Hotel Switch: In the evening, after YAS Waterworld: move back to a hotel in Dubai. Alternatively we could do something else in Abu Dhabi on Thursday and not move back to Dubai this day. But we're not sure what. Thursday: Something. And then fly back to Amsterdam. We fly back at 18:50 from DXB. We have to be at the airport some time earlier. This means we almost have a full day to do stuff! I thought we could maybe go to the Mall of Emirates that day and meet the pinguins - but we're open for suggestions here. ------------------------------------------------ The Hotel(s) We haven't booked a hotel yet, and we're looking for tips on that. This is where TPR's previous trip takers or trip planners (R&E?) can hopefully help out a little bit! I don't think we can afford the Burj Al Arab, but I don't want to be on the outskirts of everything. We've got a couple of hotels in our favorites now which we could book, but really, experience from you guys on this topic would be great. The Questions So.. in all the text above, I've asked some questions here and there. I'll try to summarize them below: Any tips on hotels in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi: decent quality, fairly prized, good location, maybe a swimmingpool for the one in Dubai, Free Wifi perhaps? We've got quite a few listed, but if you know any I should definitely look into, please post them. Visiting a bar: Any tips on fun places to hang out with other tourist and maybe enjoy a beer. Again, not looking to get drunk or violate any laws. Just looking for some socializing. Restaurants we shouldn't miss (this could be an American franchise!) Is the Aquarium in the Mall worth it, or is the big "wall of water" alone enough to check out? Dune Bashing Day: Anything we can do till it's 15:30 (pickup from hotel time). The Aquarium part in Aqua Venture: is it worth the extra money? Sand Safari: There are so many companies doing this (or at least that's what it feels like), any tips are welcome! Any activities we're not doing but we SHOULD do! (maybe one in Abu Dhabi so we don't have to move back to a hotel in Dubai for one night) Any activities we are doing, but definitely shouldn't do! Tips on Public Transport / Regular Transport: Should we get some all access cards for what we're doing? Take the cab? For Dubai I think most places can be visited with Metro (monorail for aqua venture). For Abu Dhabi I think we might have to take cabs. We're moving to Abu Dhabi at a certain moment for 2 days. We're also going back. I've seen that there is a bus that goes there which we could take. We haven't decided which transportation method we want to use for this, or which is cheapest/best. So any tips on this would be welcome. Should we get a fasttrack pass for Ferrari World? Does Formula Rossa run well? I'm not sure if I want to "pre-buy" tickets and maybe get them on the day there, just to see if it's actually open.. so that we can, in an emergency switch that day. Thank you!!! Feel free to share anything that I haven't asked, give us other tips, etc. We welcome everything. Thanks for sharing anything you can share, and thanks for reading!

I do hope the thread is not too old to reply to, but I just found this video posted on YouTube November 19 of Mieders Alpine Coaster. Apparently he's going downhill without brakes! *Want to try this myself!*

Check out this new addition to the landscape of Germany http://www.kuriositas.com/2011/11/crouching-tiger-and-turtle-roller.html What a fun and exciting add on to a future TPR Europe trip! Or eh maybe not. It'd be random though.

^^ One of my colleagues is an app developer for our company, he told me he had to reverse engineer the original RCT to port this to iPad. Or buy the source code (as it's not open sourced). It's not that easy I think. Any Chris Sawyer fanboys?

Hm http://www.parallels.com/eu/news/id,24141 sounds like a workaround could be possible. I actually do run RCT 3 on my Mac, but not through parallels, It's just available for Mac. Maybe with Parallels on iPad, and running RCT2 on Parallels on Windows on my Mac (wow) it's possible! But I'd really rather open the appstore and find it in the Top Profit Apps :/ Surely someone knows Chris Sawyer? Someone needs to wake this guy up

Well since you guys seem to know everything, maybe you can help me out here. I desperately want to play this on my iPad. And I've heard about Chris Sawyer having some legal issues and didn't want to work with the franchise anymore or something, but there has to be a way. There just HAS to be I did find this Facebook page, but it seems there's not a lot of people jumping on this band wagon: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Make-Rollercoaster-Tycoon-Available-for-IphoneIpad/129986520385872 Surely a Facebook page with 8 members should trigger someone into buying the rights and building the game? Oh wait. Of course not. Is there another way? Should I stop dreaming? Help! There. I fixed it.

I'm hoping Walibi will also pick up Q-Bots or fasttrack passes or something. I think they could make some money of of that, and it seems like most rides allow for slight modification of the queue. Got an e-mail from Walibi today to fill out a survey about Fright Nights. They were asking what I would pay if they'd only open from 6PM till 10PM instead of the whole day, so maybe they're planning something like that. Either way, I've entered a lot of comments regarding the type of people they allow in the park, the level of aggression I was feeling here and there (cutting the queue with my RIP pass (people actually starting to get angry because of that) instead of being able to just walk to a RIP entrance). Also, I've only seen like 4 or 5 guards that day. And we actually seen someone getting very aggressive towards one of the scare actors, the guy said "don't scare my girlfriend, what are you thinking" (dude you are at Fright Nights, what do you think would happen?) and started to push the chainsaw carrying clown. The Walibi guy that was there (not security) actually did nothing to help the clown out. A video was posted about some fight that happened the same day we were there, you can actually see one of the Walibi employees just walking past, not helping out or calling security: http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/1183861/89bcae6e/walibi_presenteert_mixed_martial_bitchfights.html I had a great day none the less. I just hope they can do something about the type of crowds they let in (probably not, maybe dresscode? Yeah right..), or perhaps get some more security out there (this should help).

It was great posing with my RIP ticket in front of those lines. People were really nice, and understanding with us cutting the line. (nope)

1. What are your initial thoughts? Sounds great. Priority placement is fun, and being able to go on exclusive trips sounds good to (I've been on only one trip and met up once or twice, that doesn't count for being able to go on exclusive trips). More options to choose from if it comes to trips (such as exclusive ones) is always better! 2. Can you think of anything else we could be offering? Printed news letter? Well... a PDF would be just fine if you choose to do the news letter that other people talked about. I'm very interested in any park perks I could get outside of trips, of course for parks in the neighborhood. Before I'd sign up I'd like to know some examples for this! 3. Is this something that interests you? Yeah! 4. Why would you NOT be interested in this? If the park perks offered internationally have none that I would enjoy that much it would not be very interested. If the amount of people who sign up clogs all trips, I'd rather not sign up (not saying I wouldn't). 5. Any additional feedback you can give us based on the information you see here. No that's about it! Remember that with each $40/$50 membership you would instantly be getting $15 of that back in TPR Store credit! -Cool.. I never bought anything from it but perhaps this would be the time

It was great meeting up with you guys, thanks for 2 great days And man do I love that red crap!

There we go Credit #300

^^ Thanks Erik! It's off to the races in Zandvoort for me now! (yay 4 o clock )