Divv3k

Really sad to hear this. My thoughts go out to the family.

Yeah, I can see how a game finishing without any scoring could seem a bit dull when you're used to sports where points and goals are scored every few minutes. I think in some ways it's probably good for the rest of the world that the sport isn't that big in the US, because if it was then the US would more than likely be the best at it! I can't wait for Argentina - Nigeria tomorrow, hopefully Messi plays as well as he has at club level lately. There's huge expectations on him to be player of the tournament.

^ See, I'm not bothered at all that both games finished a draw. I actually liked it because it makes that group even more exciting for the remaining games. That said, I agree that the France - Uruguay game was a total snoozefest, but I was gripped by the South Africa - Mexico game and thought it was fair result in the end. And what an amazing first goal in the tournament! I do feel that football/soccer will never ever take off in the US. I think maybe it's just that US viewers are just not used to games always finishing with a winner. I guess it works both ways, I remember when I first started trying to understand American sports and was shocked to find that there are very few opportunities for games to finish level. I find that passion for sport usually comes from a young age and if you're not brought up with a sport as a kid then you're probably not gonna become a big fan of that sport in the future. It's probably the same reason the NFL Europe failed and none of the other major American sports are big elsewhere. Despite all this, it's at least encouraging that the USA have the biggest number of visiting supporters in South Africa! They've also got another fan in me tomorrow!

I'm now getting majorly excited for the World Cup! It really is the biggest sporting event on the planet and even though Scotland haven't been at a World Cup since 1998 I still just love having games to watch every day for a month! This is the first major championships that England have taken part in since I moved here. The amount of hype is ridiculous, but it's fun to watch! It'll be even more fun when it all comes crashing down! Though I don't think that'll be in the group stage as England have a ridiculously easy group. That said, I'm still hoping that the USA pull off a miracle on Saturday! Regardless of how it goes I can't wait to kick off four weeks of football and beer every night!

Connor, thanks for posting the TR! It's always nice to see new TPR members posting trip reports! You sent me a message asking for my thoughts on your TR and asked for where I think you might be able to improve. So I'll see if I can give you some pointers for your future TRs. Note that I don't think that there is any one hard and fast correct way of doing a trip report, this is just what works for me when I do mine. There are people out there who far better TRs than me who employ very different techniques. But hopefully this will help you out. If you haven't already checked it out you should read Robb's recent thread on doing a good TR. It was a similar thread that Robb posted a few years ago which really taught me how to do a TR. The other best advice I can give you on doing good trip reports is to read other trip reports! Honestly, the more you read the better you will get at it. There are LOADS of amazing TRs in the Trip Report Archive and new ones are getting posted to the front page on a daily basis. My personal rule is to read as many TRs as appear on the site. And even if I can't read them all due to time I always make sure I check out something that goes on the front page. The more you read the more you realise what makes a good report and also what makes a bad report. So onto your report. First of all, I like the fact that you started by mentioning that Thirteen was closed all day but didn't moan and whine about it. I've seen too many TRs where people just set a bad tone for the whole TR by bitching about how their whole day was ruined because the new ride was broken. So thanks for just mentioning Thirteen and pointing out the reason why there's no photos of it in the report. I imagine you must have been pretty disappointed to find out that the ride was down on your visit. What I would say about your opening paragraph, is that it's all one long sentence which makes it quite hard to read. In the future try writing a couple of paragraphs of a couple of sentences each telling us about your day. This section can be as long or as short as you want it to be. A lot of people like skipping the text section because they think no one reads it but I ALWAYS read the text section at the start. It gives some good context for the TR and gives us an idea of what to expect from the report. Just watch the grammar throughout the report. Your spelling and punctuation is a reflection on you and you should be wanting to come across as good as possible in order to get people to want to read your report. Onto the photos - I'll be honest: while there's some good ones in there, there are a few bad ones too, which I wouldn't have included. I'll go through your photos and give you my thoughts. * Starting with a photo of the new Corkscrew entrance is a good move in my view. It's a nice opening image (I think I did something similar in my TR this year!) * The next three photos of the entrance, Towers and water I probably wouldn't have posted right next to each other. By the time I got to the photo of the water I was really looking for a photo of a ride or at least something a bit different. It was maybe a bit too similar to the two preceding photos. I'm not saying don't use them all in the TR, but you could have maybe used the photo of the water later in the TR with the same caption and it would have had a better effect. Remember, you don't have to post the photos in the order you took them. Ultimately, you are telling a story and you want it to be structured in the way that tells that story the best. * The second photo of the Sonic statue is unnecessary, it's just showing us what we've seen in the previous photo except that you aren't in it! I'm all for people photos in trip reports, so when faced with a choice of a photo without someone on the trip in it or without I'll almost always go for the one with the person in it. The fact that it's you makes it better in this case as it lets us see you at the park and lets us put a face to the person telling the story. So try not to be too repetitive with your photos. * Your photo of Spinball's horseshoe doesn't have a train in it. That's a cardinal TR sin in my view. Your photos of coasters should always have a train with riders in it (unless it's a construction photo, or is showing off something really specific about the track). * The photo captioned "Some of Sonic Spinball's layout" doesn't really show us much of Spinball's layout at all. It's more a photo of a crowd of people milling around with a little bit of Spinball in the background. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be a photo of. I would only include a photo like this if I noticed somehting really funny going on and had a good caption for it. * The photo captioned "My mum took this one" I wouldn't have included. It's just a photo of the supports that really isn't of any value. It looks leek you might just be including it because it was on the memory card at the end of the day. Please remember that you don't have to post every photo taken. Good photo selection is key to a good TR. On my last trip to Alton I took about 150 photos and included about 50 of them in the TR. Some times I'll use even less than that ratio. Just don't fall into the trap of posting every photo you have to pad your TR out. The reader will get fed up really quickly if they are looking at bad photos (and might not look at future TRs that you post!) * Your photo of Spinabll from a distance is a good one. It shows a lot more of Spinball's layout than the one two photos up! * I probably wouldn't have posted a photo of the Mine Train sign unless I had a photo of the ride itself to follow it up with. (Unless Larry needed the sign for the Park Index!) You're setting up an expectation by posting the sign photo and then you're not living up to that expectation by skipping over to another ride. * The photo captioned "I also got this cool shot of Nemesis" would have been cooler if the train was in focus and there wasn't something obstructing top left corner of the photo. The advice I'd give is take more photos of rides! It can be touch photographing a train that moves at 50mph and getting it in focus. The more you take the more chances you have of getting a really cool one! * The photo captioned "Nemesis has such a twisted layout" isn't really a photo showing Nemesis' layout but instead, it's a photo of a tree. I wouldn't have used this photo personally, but if you really wanted to then you should acknowledge the fact that the tree is the main focus of the shot. (i.e. "Nemesis through the trees!") * Again, you posted another photo of the track without a train. * The Sky Ride photo is nice and it shows off the newly painted carriages quite well! * Again, you posted a photo of a ride sign without a photo of the ride itself. * Of course, finishing with a photo of yourself is a good move in my book! I would maybe just finish with a "Hope you enjoyed the report!" or a "Thanks for reading!" just to bring a bit of closure to the report. So all in all I think you've got some good stuff in there. There are a few things that you could work on for your next report but for a first report at fourteen years old you did well. You captioned every photo which is important, in my view. Next time I would advise that you take a lot more photos and then when you get home go through them all a couple of times and select the ones that tell your story the best. If you find that you are posting every photo that you are taking then you are probably doing something wrong. I hope this advice helps, I know it's not always easy to read where you've went wrong but you wanted a bit of honesty from me, right? If you take this advice and the advice of others on the site you will find that your TRs will only get better! I hope you've found this useful and I look forward to your next TR! (Hopefully involving your thoughts on Thirteen!)

^ All I know is that there's a new coaster opening at a place called Landmark Park in Inverness: http://www.landmarkpark.co.uk/ If you want to go do a construction update at any point please feel free! Thanks for the comments everyone. I knew the Ikea update was too important not to post!

Okay, so things got in the way and I didn't find the time to post this update and I was just gonna leave it. But then I realised that there are Ikea photos involved and well, it'd be a crime not to post them on TPR! So without any further ado here's a random tour of the other stuff we didn't in Scotland on this weekend! This pretty is place is Craig Tara. Home of caravans, freezing cold wind and... Peena Puu's "special" Scottish cousin! And the real reason we drove all the way to the edge of Scotland's west coast? The Wacky Worm! Well except for this no fun pair who were only here for the Scrummy Yummies. I needed this to say that I've got every credit in Scotland. Well until the new one opens at Loudoun and the random thing in Inverness opens in the summer! Back in Glasgow and there's only one place to go for a Brit Crew dinner! TPDave tried his Katsu Curry meat free this time. I don't understand either. Number 94. This thing is Godly! Random group photo in Wagamama! Let's do this again soon! Across the road from Wagamama is the awesome, awesome pub called Frankenstein. Why's it called this? Maybe it's got something to do with the animatronic Frankenstein that comes out of the ceiling!!! Scottish Steve loves it! Andrew demonstrates what would happen if Steve didn't keep the rug nice and trim. Have you signed up for Club TPR yet? You better have! Hmm, we've never seen this place before. Let's check it out! OMG, so THIS is where Scott's been all this time! Only a brief visit to Reflex this time. We had more important places to visit tonight! We've magically transported into The Garage - the number one nightclub in Glasgow! Exactly the place that the Brit Crew needs to be! Apologies for the photo not being very clear but I'm pretty sure that this is Shark Attack 3 that the Garage were showing on their screens! Can anyone confirm?! Scott had never seen the rug in person before. A viewing of the rug is now mandatory for anyone who has not seen it before. TPDave borrowed my camera and this is the photo I was left with. This photo was the result of one very TPPissed off Scottish lass! Hugh Jackman heard about the rug and just had to see it for himself. TPMania is a-running wild! Oh yeah, that Caughey on the right, making his first TPR appearance since 2007! I'm guessing it'll be just as long til we see him on here again! We can only hope. Hold on to that feeling! Never one to miss out on a local delicacy TPDave tries out Glasgow's famous Pizza Crunch! Essentially, it's deep fried pizza. I do not believe this has anything to do with Scotland being the heart-disease capital of the world. Pretty drunk at 3am on a random street. Usual Brit Crew standards are being upheld in Glasgow. TPHappy to help! Bye TPDave, hope you enjoyed your flying visit! (Although you missed the best part!) Okay it's not Stockholm, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it is! Scottish Steve's ready to measure out the space time continuum to get himself onto the Europe trip that much faster! Ikea has some perfect diversions for TPDave if he starts annoying you! Oh wait... Now there's a rug that challenges Steve! Yes, yes it is funny to pretend it's Steve's bed! Just like a normal day in Canada for Andrew. Right? We like fish, we like fish! Get your Heron City memorial pillows right here! I think Steve's trying to make a joke here. TPSteve re-enacts “the evening before an assignment is due”. I’m sure I left the Ark of the Covenant around here somewhere… And now for the real reason for this detour to Ikea! Andrew says a miniature "Hi Erik". Pretty successful Ikea visit if you ask me! Is there such a thing as an unsuccessful Ikea visit though? Back to more touristy stuff and a look at the River Clyde. Can't you tell that they're smazed? When the rain and clouds stay away Glasgow's actually quite a nice place! And now we jump over to Scotland's capital for Scottish Steve's favourite thing in Scotland! Can't you tell he's just thrilled to be here? Can you imagine just how much Scottish Steve LOVED getting asked to take part in a demonstration?! You can't tkae photos inside the Dungeon so you'll just have to take my word for it that Scottish Steve was amazingly hilarious throughout! Oh and Fleshmarket Close is a real street in Edinburgh! For some reason unbeknownst to Andrew or I, Steve actually survived the Dungeon experience and has said that he can't wait to try out the London version later this year! Anyway, thus concludes this random wrap up of Scottish Brit Crew fun. It was a great weekend and it was fun to welcome the guys to my hometown. Let's do it again sometime! Thanks for reading!

M&D's: Scotland's Theme Park The next day took us to the other amusement park in the Glasgow area - M&D's. If you read any of my TRs in the past you might know that I'm not a huge fan of this place. However, there are five credits here and well, every enthusiast really wants to ride the worst coaster in the world. Right? So we really didn't spend very long at the park. It was raining and apart from the five coasters there's nothing much worth riding. But still some good Brit Crew antics ensued and we had plenty of other fun stuff in store for the weekend! Here's the photos... Yay, we’re at M&D’s! It’s Scotland’s “Theme” Park! Don’t these guys just look delighted to be here?! Scottish Steve’s still recovering from the previous night’s drinking shenanigans! Can everyone see Anth??? And now for the reason that every coaster enthusiast needs to visit Scotland! The most boisterous ride on the planet - Tornado! Sign of quality. TPDave can’t wait to try out what was voted the WORST coaster in the world in the 2009 steel poll! Holiday Park can keep Expedition GeForce's first drop. Yup, this ride features vertical loop penetration. It’s very dirty and mean. This ranks below such classics as Gouderix, “Favourite Chance Toboggan” and “Favourite Zamperla Volare”. Andrew has a new number one! The tour of Pinfari amazingness continues with the ride op powered Wacky Worm. TPShame. Sign of quality. Speaking of quality… How about a Pinfari invert? Unfortunately the wet track means that the front row of the green train has to stay empty. Full trains means that the coaster may make it round the track and M&D's can't have that! Plus, there has to be a line waiting to ride at all times! Although there are no such issues for the yellow train for some reason! The coaster is actually not too bad, by far the best in the park. Although it really looked like it was coming close to valleying today (which I was really hoping for while these guys were riding). Today, it’s Daisy who gets to say “Hi Erik!” As if you haven’t dirtied yourself enough by looking at photos of Pinfari coasters today. Here’s another one! M&D’s have went all out in getting their coasters looking in tip-top shape for the start of the 2010 season! Yes, yes. I know that Scottish money looks different to English money. Get over it guys! Delicious AND refreshing! Scottish Steve in line for dodgems. This is we what we like to see! STEEEEEVVVVEEEE!!!! Mmmm… Chicken Chunks! Sadly, the Fudges couldn’t be with us this weekend but you’d hardly know it with this park branded selection of delicious hand made fudge! Oh my God, we’re all gonna die!!! SyFy needs to make a movie about this dude! I get incredibly freaked out every time I look at this thing! I know I rag on this place quite a bit but we still made the most of it. I just wish the place was a bit more like Loudoun Castle and a lot less like a ghetto carnival. TPDave loved it though. He’s just sad he never got to try the Chicken Chunks. Random Scottish touristy stuff, drinking fun, Wagamama and IKEA(!) update coming up next!

A few of us Brit Crew maniacs just don't like letting a holiday weekend pass by without getting together for some parks and alcohol. This was certainly the case for Easter this year when Scottish Steve and myself played host to a few TPR members who had never experienced the delights of Tennent's Lager, deep fried pizza or custom Pinfari loopers of death... UPDATES LOUDOUN CASTLE (below) M&D'S: SCOTLAND'S THEME PARK BAR PHOTOS, IKEA and MORE!!! Our first park was the place that is hands down the best park in Scotland, Loudoun Castle. Now that's not saying much considering the other parks in Scotland but still, it's a nice place and if they could just add a few more kick ass attractions it would be a really good park. It does have a really nice setting and some fun rides. The best one being the Schwarzkopf looper that came from Dreamland in Margate (and Camelot before that!). Loudoun Castle really does seem to have a thing for plucking half-decent rides from other parks around the UK and that's no bad thing in my view! So we had a great day here, the only downer for a few of the guys was that one of the coasters (the wild mouse) is now gone and it's replacement (another blast from UK-park-past!) is not in place just yet. Here's the photos... Welcome to Loudoun Castle, the BEST theme park in Scotland! Okay, that’s not saying much, but still, it’s quite a nice place. The big attraction here is the twisty Scwarzkopf goodness that is Twist’N’Shout! If you’ve been on Scorpion at Busch Gardens Tampa than you’ll know exactly what it’s like - Pretty good! If you visited Camelot about ten years ago then you might just have rode this as Tower of Terror! Everyone see Anth in the red Grona Lund hoodie? Good. Anth asked me to make sure that no one misses him in any photos today. The highlight of the day for the three Loudoun Castle virgins – the Wacky Worm!!! Such a TPWhore. What the hell is going on with Andrew’s right thumb?! If rides themed to barrels is your thing then Loudoun Castle may well be for you! See what I mean? FAT BOAT!!! Coming to SyFy in 2011: Giant Shark vs Scottish Steve. I can’t wait! If you prefer spinny to twisty then you can go crazy here! Anth’s special... So special. If Southern Steve were a cartoon would he look like this? TPDave says TPYes! There's plenty of crazy flat rides at Loudodun castle. This one just isn't twisty enough for Divv. Hmmm… I could have sworn there used to be a Wild Mouse here… Not anymore! If you didn’t get your Rat credit then you’re too late! It looks like this could be the “4 Man Bob” ride that was at Alton Towers in the late 80s. It's finally being constructed at Loudoun Castle! Andrew can’t get enough tea after his visit to Scotland. Don’t forget to offer him some! And now for the cute-animal/not-so-cute-TPR-member portion of the TR. Are you aMOOsed?! I sure am! Beware of TPDave and his TPDonkey Army! Looks like we’re out of the farm now, right? Wrong! That’s some awesome theming on a standard S&S tower! This one came from Pleasureland Southport! What Would Wendy Say? TPDave just wants to know what happened to Shergar... Save a horse, ride a Scotsman. TPDave spent pretty much his entire weekend getting ferried around like this. Oh to be a part of the TPFamily… Don’t forget to pick up your souvenir tractor photo! This is The Plough. It used to be at Lightwater Valley. Yes, I think pretty much every park in England is represented in some form at Loudoun Castle!!! (PS Can everyone see Anth?) Sorry Anth, no Peppa Pig for you this time. But there is something on that will blow your mind! THE DIVE SHOW!!! These guys just can’t contain their DIVE SHOW excitement! Hey hey hey!!! Just incase you forgot why this place is called Loudoun Castle… My my, Steve. You do that awfully well! Whilst Loudoun Castle is a small park that can be completely done in a few hours, it really is a nice place to spend a few hours. Plus any park that constructs two Schwarzkopf coasters gets a big thumbs up from me! If you’re ever nearby you should check it out! More Scottish park antics to come…

After chatting with TPDave and Andrew in the pub tonight I realised that I made a massive oversight in not including a particular photo when I originally posted this TR. I'm hoping that by posting this photo now I'm going someway towards attaining forgiveness for depriving you all of this pictorial amazingness... I wholeheartedly apologise for depriving the entire TPR universe of this photo until now. I hope you can all find it in your hearts to one day forgive me.

Thanks again for the nice comments guys! Okay, so it wouldn't be a proper Brit Crew TR without bar photos so here you go... (We also checked out a kiddie coaster in Stourport too!) Okay, lets just get the formalities out the way. Hi Erik. Ooh, Sir Campsalot – what are the tickets for? Could it be this ever so awesome Wacky Worm? Indeed it is. Yes, we travelled out to this totally random park for the Wacky Worm and then left. Treasure Island Stourport has been conquered! Now to more important matters like feeding TPDave. Welcome to the Fudgecliffe Arms, where for a limited time only you will be served by none other than Safari Park Mike! Be afraid in the Fudgecliffe Arms tonight, BE VERY AFRAID! OMG, it’s Noel Edmonds himself! (And much camper than usual!) Tonight, Mike Fudge is your banker! And what does banker rhyme with? That’s right – tanker! Does Russ have the £1000 prize in envelope number 2? Who needs hot girls and briefcases when you have the divine beauty of TPDave and Brad? Get back to your tanking, Safari Park Mike! This is Steve’s "thank the lord no one is scaring the beejebus out of me" face! TPAbuse is fun! Everybody should do it! Just like this! Things that happen when you give the camera to TPDave... What’s with the thumb gestures? Did someone hurt their thumb? I sure didn’t hear anything. Anth will no longer be doing any TPR trips due to placing all his trip funds into the Fudgecliffe puggy. Okay, it’s getting late and I’m drunk, the bars closed and you can see that Mike’s starting to get angry. We better get out of here. Thanks for an awesome night Fudges, even if I didn’t win £1000. It still liked it. But do you know what I like most? I LIKE THE WAY YOU MOOOO-OOOOVVVVVVEEEEE!!!!

Nice TR, Brad. I'm glad someone was able to get there for an opening day report! The Lego Alton and Blackpool look amazing! Didn't expect to see them in there at all! I take it Fire Academy isn't quite the same as the version in the big Legoland?

^ Nice to see some more photos! Thanks for the nice comments everyone! I don't really think the ride is being themed to that old game per se. It's more just been themed to Sonic the Hedgehog who is still a very current character. The name and theme "Sonic Spinball" works well whether you've ever heard of the game or not in my view.

Well the new coaster season is officially upon us, which tends to mean that at least one park in the UK is opening some new coaster. Which means the Brit Crew get another excuse to go get drunk and visit a theme park the next day! (Check out the BAR PHOTOS, too!) This year it's Alton Towers, who have just unveiled the much talked about and hyped Thirteen! A ride thats been in the making since the Corkscrew was removed in 2008. From the looks of things, the combination of raging fanboys and the Alton Towers PR machine has led to some hugely differing expectations for what the ride would offer. For me, when I saw the planning application a year ago I figured "it'll be like Mine Train Ulven at Bakken". Good for me, as I love that mine train and well it would be WAY better than Corkscrew! Well after riding it I have to say that it exceeded my expectations! Not only is it like Mine Train Ulven but it's also got a bit of Expedition Everest in there, too! Plus, this "world's first" element, which is basically a section of track that shakes and drops about twenty foot is really cool! If you've rode Winjas then you'll have an idea of how it feels. But really there's something to be said for being on a piece of rollercoaster track that does something that it shouldn't! So from me it gets a huge thumbs up. It's a fantastic family ride that complements the bigger thrill machines in the park really well. My only complaint is that it's extrememly difficult to get photos fo the coaster after the lifthill! The rest of the park is looking great. Rita has been dirtied up as she's now "succumbed to the Dark Forest" and looks a lot better for it. The Sonic Spinball retheme of Spinball Whizzer is really cool for what it is (and will probably lead to me spending a fortune on Virtual Console games in the coming weeks as my Mega Drive nostalgia has been sparked!). I hope we see more Sonic Spinballs show up in other parks! Even better for us was the crowds - or lack thereof! With it being the opening weekend for the new ride we really feared that it would be rammed and we'd be lucky to get on Thirteen once. After we queued 40 minutes for Thirteen in the morning we hardly queued for anything all day! We even got in a second ride on Thirteen before we left. I think with all the great coasters and space that Alton has it really can control crowds better than a park like Thorpe Park ever could. Okay, enough of my prattling on. Here's the photos... They say DON’T GO ALONE… It’s okay Steve, the Brit Crew are with you! Look at this purple sexiness that now awaits you at the park entrance! It’s a Vekoma that you can’t ride! My favourite kind! I’m only kidding, Erik! Did you know it’s Alton Towers Resort’s 30th Birthday this year? They’ve pulled in the big guns to celebrate it too. OMG, it’s Mr Squirrel Nutty himself! My day has been made!!! Random group photo of today’s Steve-scarers (and Steve!) The prehistoric Ug Land is no more! The Dark Forest is taking over… And I don’t think Steve likes it one bit! Yup, we’re here for Thirteen! One of the most hyped and talked about coasters in recent memory… Keep your eye on the van. Scottish Steve has been working himself up for the Thirteen experience since Scarefest. He really doesn’t do well with scary and sudden frights! Whilst carrying out routine excavation at Alton Towers apparently a load of wraiths got on the loose and Thirteen was born… In 1994 wasn't a massive alien monster discovered after these routine excavations? They really need to stop doing those, bad things keep happening! So after about 40 minutes of waiting we’re finally getting into the station. Looking good so far. STATION! So far it's all looking pretty good! The Dark Forest really is taking over! Okay, moment of truth time… I loved Thirteen! It’s like a cross between the mine train at Bakken and Expedition Everest. So for me – really good, especially the “special” element! A monumentally geeky moment for Anth as he’s just nabbed credit number 213! Did Scottish Steve survive? You betcha! Random Thirteen tat that you can buy. Oh dear. What’s happened to poor Rita? The old queen is succumbing to the Dark Forest! Even her trains have been all rustied up. It’s nice to have Rita themed to actually fit in with the rest of its area! Before the Thirteen queue existed you couldn’t really get Rita shots from this angle! A geeky opportunity has to be taken! Dave's sad that he can't buy queen gear in the Rita shop anymore. Wait, wait, wait! Forget about Thirteen! Not to be outdone by Blackpool, Alton Towers have added a fountain of their own for 2010! Are the old classic Towers fountains still running well? You betcha! Silhouettey Oblivion photo quota – filled! Random group photo! There’s some major X-Citement going on here! The tastiest pancakes ever, Dave? You betcha! Hey, look who else has moved into the Towers this year! Time for all us twenty-somethings to get very nostalgic! Sonic Spinball was an amazing Mega Drive game! Why did no one think to theme a spinning coaster to it before now??? Okay, so it’s just Spinball Whizzer with some new paint. But hey, that means Jeff Johnson gets a new credit when he next comes to the UK! Is the sound of Sonic grabbing a ring the most satisfying sound known to man? You betcha! Anth and Robin are big fans of the Sonic do-over! Time for some more typical Brit Crew shenanigans… ABUSE MIKE! Note for anyone who wants to eat at Alton Towers – go to Pizza & Pasta Buffet! £6.60 (with an annual pass) for unlimited food and drink! Amazing value for any theme park! Rapids rides in March? You betcha! TPRegret. Scottish Steve’s all “mine’s bigger”. This was last time any of us ever saw Steve. We’ll miss you buddy. This photo is scarier than anything I saw in the Dark Forest. Fact. Mike firmly believes that the Runaway Mine Train is better than Nemesis. Yup, mine train… I have contractual obligations to fulfil. C’mon Steve. You survived Thirteen, you can do Duel… Alton Towers were really hoping Matt Damon would visit this year. Look at how extra pink they made the river! Is Nemesis still the best coaster in the UK? You betcha! And Air is still, well, Air. Do not wave-diss this man! Brad can’t visit Alton Towers without hitting up his absolute favourite aquarium – Sharkrape Beef! Russ makes someone happy? You betcha! One last look at the Brit Crew Class of Thirteen. We really do love slimy scaly tentacles wrapping around us. Or maybe that's just me. Was it a great day at Alton Towers? Did Thirteen live up to our expectations? Was Mike the butt of 97% of all our jokes? YOU BETCHA!!! Thanks for reading!

Okay, okay. I'll give you what you want, Shawn! Believe it or not there's more to Blackpool than just the Pleasure Beach! Granted it's all just as tacky but it's GREAT for a night out! Check out the photos... Who would believe it? Mike’s in Blackpool and he has a BATHROOM!!! This be Coral Island! Blackpool’s answer to Vegas! You'll see that Blackpool isn't quite on the same scale. Andrew gets carded for the first time since being in the UK. Mike had been proclaiming that the best part of Coral Island would be the super kick ass Ghost Train! Looks like it might be a bit intense for Andrew! Scottish Steve, it’s as if Coral Island wanted to make a ride just for you and no one else! I think this is the very moment when Mike realised that the Coral Island Ghost Train didn’t quite live up to his memory of it. Anth failed at the Stacker, so you’re not alone Steve. I was sad as I really wanted to try out the Sega Glasses that were on offer! Now for the best attraction at Coral Island – Deal or No Deal! Mike’s down to only 2 boxes and the maximum prize is still up for grabs… It’s so, so intense. Will Mike take the deal? No! Mike lost! LOL! That’s a whole lot of Guitar Hero! Anth’s looking at Mike when he says “Mine’s bigger”. Look at all the amazing non-tacky prizes Mike could have won! I really want my own CatBot! If only Mike had taken the deal!!! We finished our evening in Blackpool by checking out a familiar location – LEX 80’s BAR! Although our sore arms really did hamper our enjoyment of the evening. Well no, actually we just pretended we had sore arms to mock the other Fudge! We call this series of photos “Anth’s drunken progression” Just give him a call! Anth’s drunkenness has now given him the ability to make his hands and Mike’s head glow a nice orangey colour. Four beers later and this is pretty much how Anth’s world looks! If anyone can tell me who this 80s icon is supposed to be I’d be eternally grateful! Seriously! One shoe. Brad’s only got one shoe. I’m sensing some Journey here! Hold onto that feeling, Mike! Andrew looks about ready to take the midnight train goin' anywhere. SEAMLESS! Here it is. This is how Anth is able to score all those hotties. Such a smooth operator! Just don’t tell Wendy! I’m in awe. I just don’t know how he does it! There’s another two notches on the McMullen bedpost. (Just don’t tell Wendy!) Not quite a giggle loop. Not quite symmetrical either. Brad ain’t happy. Yes we’re in the 80s! And yes, Andrew’s hair was extra red back then! Anth caps off another fantastic night with some memorable credits! Can it really get more 80s than this?! Reflex is awesome, check it out for all your easy-listening 80s needs. On the way back to the hotel Andrew took advantage of the fact that he could still walk unaided and ate some of the most minging food this side of McTuckys! But that’s not the most exciting part of the night. No, the most exciting part of the weekend was when we got to visit the most famous landmark in all of Blackpool! No, not the Tower. Not the Pepsi Max Big One either! Not even that Ghost train on the South Pier that Scottish Steve was too scared to even look at… It’s Dave Fudge’s first ever lamppost love! What a whore that one’s turned out to be! We all got a bit of the action from the original lamppost! What a way to end a spectacular night, right? Thanks for reading!

I'm looking forward to hearing the views on the park from the people on the UK trip this year. Especially those who haven't been in a few years, I'm not sure how drastic the changes will feel. From what I can tell the sign has been gone since last summer so it's not looking good. Still I'm holding out hope that they bring it back one day! I'm not sure on the official story but the word is that maintenance costs and health & safety concerns are the reason it's closed. And yeah, the blood filled fountain got replaced with big Hotel Colosseo style one last year. That whole part of the between the entrance and the Wild Mouse feels totally different now. There's Coral Island and Reflex photos to come! Thanks for the comments everyone!

This past weekend a few of the Brit Crew got together in Blackpool for some drinking and theme park related fun. This was our second year in a row visiting in February, so I think this trip gets promoted in status to our "annual Blackpool trip"! After you've read this, don't miss the CORAL ISLAND and REFLEX PHOTOS! All in all, we had a good day. Officially, the only ride down was Bling. But that's because Trauma Towers, Noah's Ark and Space Invader are no longer amongst the official ride list the park keeps. It's quite sad that it looks like some of the best things in the park may never return but the park have done a good job in making what is operating look nice. The park was also really quiet. A good thing for us, but hopefully as the season gets started properly it gets a bit busier. Blackpool needs to have a good year. Now with Alton Towers opening Thirteen this year the park knows that they can't just sit around doing nothing. As a matter of fact, they've actually unveiled their Thirteen rivalling new-for-2010 attraction! What is it, you ask? Read on... Welcome to Blackpool! Word has it that there be some rollycoasters here! Last year the Casino at the front of the park was converted into the ticket office. It gives the place a classy feel. Don’t worry, that feeling doesn’t last long! The bad news is that Noah’s Ark is closed this year. The entrance and stairs have even been removed. The good news is that the attraction has been “incorporated into the park’s entrance”! Good work Pleasure Beach! NEW FOR 2010 – THE WATER SCULPTURE GARDEN!!! Check out the AWE on Mike’s face! Ain’t it just gorgeous? I just love fountains. Blackpool needs more fountains. Also new for 2010 is the outdoor urinal for men. It is conviently located within the Water Sculpture Garden If you visited the park in 2009 this bad boy of a fountain would have just blown you away! It loses points in 2010 for its lack of sculptures. Anth always has to wander through the fountain when he gets to the Pleasure Beach so that he can wash off the smell of Wendy from the previous night. Trauma Towers is still closed this season, sadly. Though there is a water fountain type element in the ride so I remain hopeful that it will reopen one day! The Big One still looks impressive even if it’s a bit “meh” to ride! I’ll need to check out that Frontierland place someday! Andrew missed this credit in 2008 so naturally it was the first place that he demanded we go to! Most people love the Wild Mouse for the super crazy rides it gives. Me, I love it for the fountain! Fountainous rides are Fudge approved! The Wild Mouse is one of craziest rides in the country! It beats you up but you can’t help but laugh! Ah Steeplechase, how I have missed you! It’s looking all nice, shiny and painted! Hopefully this means the ride isn’t going anywhere soon! I wasn’t fat enough to win my race this year. One day I will be! I’m glad that Blackpool realises that Irn-Bru is above Pepsi Max. I don’t care what anyone says Revolution seem to sprout another flight of stairs every year! The park also needs to add a slide for the journey back down! As part of the whole Water Sculpture Garden project the old Superbowl dodgems got taken away. To make up for this, the old Whip building has been converted into Dodgems! It’s a pretty small area but the new cars really are quite powerful! Apparently Robbie Williams designed the logos and the car artwork. Just one more reason for Chrissie to visit Blackpool! Don’t forget your Dodgems souvenir T-Shirt from the gift shop! There's loads going on here... Mini-Revolution is fairly exciting. Weird panda dude is a wee bit more exciting. But nothing compare to WATER FOUNTAIN BARRELS! No one say anything about this to Wendy or Anth is in BIG trouble! Avalanche is cool. I don’t care what anyone says, the Tango Ice Blast will always be the PlayStation to me. It will also always be the world’s largest frog hopper to me. Many people love Blackpool for the coasters but for me it’s all about the weird, classic dark rides! Jeff Johnson’s jolly British cousin says hello! Dark-ride-Brad freaks me out. Really, he does. You have to look hard for them but there ARE boobs to be found in some of the Blackpool dark rides! The Big Dipper is still there but the exit has been given a massive overhaul for 2010… It now features a WATER FOUNTAIN SCULPTURE!!! Come into my world! COME INTO MY WORLD! Peena Puu’s British nephew lives and reigns free in Magic Mountain! Yay, more Blackpool Pleasure Boobs! Everyone says hello to Mr. McMullen, Anth’s father. Now say hello to the Greenhill twins. Anth thought it would be funny to sit on the hippo’s tooth. It was at the precise moment that I took this photo the hippo’s tooth began to vibrate! Seriously! With the Circus Clown coaster now gone, the Zipper Dipper is the only place to get your kiddie credit whore on in Blackpool. The ride op asked us if we were with a rollercoaster club as we took over the entire train. What gave it away? This was the new-for-1974 Dharma fountain. Space Invader II is still closed due to the lack of any water related elements. We now venture into the Chinese Puzzle Maze. Featuring such obstacles as… DRAGON FOUNTAINS! GROUND FOUNTAINS! This is where Anth stays on the weekends when Wendy is annoyed with him. Mike believes that’s one quality fountain. I think Anth might be aroused by this one! Whilst I'm briefly on the subject of water and fountains - Infusion still looks pretty. That’s all I really have to say about that! Now for a ride that features nothing water related at all! Here Mike demonstrates the best investment one can make in the whole of Blackpool with a shiny golden nugget! I think this may have been our most successful Valhalla ride yet! Sure a few of the effects didn’t work and it’s like a big open aired warehouse at one point, but we all kept pretty damned dry! We finish our riding at the Pleasure Beach with a whirl on its best coaster (in my view at least), Grand National! Mike then figured it would be a great idea to lock himself in for the rest of the day. He may still be there now. Okay, okay. I know you’re only reading this for the Water Fountain Sculptures so here’s some more! Marvel in admiration at the REFLECTION FOUNTAIN SHOT! This is the new Blackpool money shot – coasters and Water Sculpture Fountains! Fanboys - commence jizzing. One last gripe: The park has gotten rid of the sign with today’s date that used to sit over these benches. It’s a real shame I think. I have group photos from these benches with the date in them from 1990, 1993, 1996, 2008 and 2009. It would have been nice to add a 2010 version. Oh well. But still, I don't want to end on a sad note, because we had a great group and a fantastic day! Anyway, I still love the Pleasure Beach. Even if it does seem that there is less and less rides open every year. The park does look very nice and we had a real fun day out! Thanks for reading!

Thanks everyone! I agree TP, we should do more carnivals this year. Maybe we should indulge Robb's nostalgia further and actually go to the Goose Fair!

Continuing the process of making sure Andrew gets as many credits as possible during his stint in the UK, a few of us spent our February 14th at the Leeds Valentine's Fair. In all honesty I was expecting some ghetto carnival with maybe one credit but no, this was a pretty big effort with loads packed in! Three coasters, a bazillion fun houses, two ghost trains and more things that spin than you can throw snow putty at there really is something for almost anyone at this! I actually think the carnival was better than both the recent NEC Funworld and Irn-Bru Carnival! Take a look... Welcome to Leeds! Every February this is the home to the appropriately titled Leeds Valentine’s Fair! The view from the car park promises some excitement. (Yes, that is a Toboggan!) The DAZZLING entrance arch really helps set the tone for what you are about to experience! Yay, this fair has credits! Why else do you think I’d travel to some random carnival? Stupid spinning mice and their making me ride with their credit giving status. Brad and Andrew are my riding buddies today. They are both evil for sitting in such a way that achieved maximum spin. And man, did it spin! From the top of the mouse you can get a good view of the rest of the fair. Quite a decent size! Yay, another credit!!! Cha-fricking-ching!!! Never have I witnessed so many fun houses in one location. Here’s the first of many. Powered coaster #1. No thanks! These guys are on their own for Equinox! There’s gotta be some serious junk squishage going on here! There's clearly all kinds of evilness going on here. Not Divv-friendly in any way, shape or form. Equinox was, as expected, one of many non-Divv-friendly attractions! Yet another fun house! Here’s one more! I think I counted about six in total!!! So there’s T2-3D at Universal and Terminator Salvation at SFMM but did you know there was ride based on the third movie in the series? You know the one where Halle Berry played Storm. Hi Anth! Another big dose of “No thanks!” to powered coaster #2! And now for something you wish you could say NO to but just can’t! My only ever Toboggan experience was at Little Amerrika back on the Midwest trip. It’s funny how a few years blur your memories of the pain! For Brad, this was his first Toboggan encounter! There’s no real way you can prepare yourself for such an experience! Yeah, my head’s arched to one side and still hitting the ceiling! It’s not often where I prefer the spinning portion of the ride but the spinning part of the Toboggan wins hands down! When you hear the lovely sound of a neck snapping there’s a good chance that the car is in exactly this position! What do you call this? TriBrad? BradPod? Fool? It’s not a proper carnival if it doesn’t have a BOUNCY BOUNCY! I love the picture of Santa on the Coke can to get you in the Valentine’s spirit! Oh wow, they somehow managed to get the PlayStation ride over from Blackpool! This Ghost Train was awesome! Scottish Steve would have loved it! Even Brad & Andrew were a bit freaked out by this one! This guy is just DYING to meet you Steve! We continue the tour of Scottish Steve’s must-do attractions with the MAZE OF TERROR!!! It's not a haunted walkthrough. Honest, Steve! I love random carnivals. Simples! Sadly there were no flying kicks unleashed upon Brad on this occasion. Swing, swing, swing. Andrew attained his full honorary Brit status after surving the horror experience that is “The Carnie Bog!” Fun fairs at night are just awesome to visit. Even though there’s so much stuff I don’t ride at these things I love checking them out. We finish our visit with a quick spin through Fun House #6. Brad’s taking these home initiate his weight loss for Expedition GeForce 2010 project! I can’t pull this photo off anywhere near as good as Scottish Steve I’m afraid. I apologise for that. Brad thought it would be funny to fake falling over in the fun house then he actually did! LMAO! Another look at the coolness that is the Leeds Valentine’s Fair at night! Super Fun Happy Time! OMG, Brad's gonna destroy me! Word has it that this Palmist gives GREAT hand jobs! All in all this fair smashed any expectations I had! It was really good! Even for a guy like me who doesn’t do spinning stuff I still did loads! I think the Leeds Valentine’s Fair may become an annual Brit Crew event in the future! Thanks for reading.

^ I think the gardens thing was a rumour that started before anything official was announced. It is indeed going between the ticket desks and the monorail station. Here's an excerpt from the planning application: That's the ticket desks on the left and the monorail station on the right.

From what I've read the coaster will be rebuilt on top of the arcade that they're building in its spot. There was pieces of the coaster scattered all over the park, no track that I could see though, but I guess it's somewhere close.

^ Happy to help out TPR in any way I can, Larry! In fact I took a load more flat ride and ride sign photos that I'll upload through the park index this week.

With Andrew only in the UK for six months we didn''t want to wast any time in getting him to some parks. Luckily for us Adventure Island in Southend is open all year round and we just managed to squeeze in a visit on the last day of January! The park itself is quite small but they really do pack a lot of stuff into that space. I kind of describe the place as a cross between Blackpool and BonBon-Land. Weird I know, but that's really the vibe I get witht the sea-side location and all the wacky theming! The big ride at Adventure Island is Rage, the Eurofighter which was really running good on our visit. It's at least as good as, if not better than Saw in my view. The park also updated their dark ride recently and really have done a good job of making it spooky and fun, in a way that Scottish Steve would just love! Here's the photos... Whilst it’s a small park Adventure Island really squeezes a lot in and has some really good stuff. They also prove that parks can be open just fine at this time of the year, let’s hope more parks take notice of this! Thanks for reading! Scottish Steve! I can’t believe you’ve been here all day and never said hi! Andrew’s been desperate for a long, long time to say “Hi Erik!” Did we just walk through a transdimensional portal into BonBon-Land? Southern Steve, here’s another EXCLUSIVE, just for you! Too much Fudge! Is there such a thing? Where’s Brad when Andrew needs him? Oh. I could swear these rides have more arms than that… Ben and Andrew were stupid enough to ride The Claw AND give me their wallets whilst they rode. You'd think they'd have learned by now! There’s no need to get homesick, Andrew! It’s just like you never left! Rumba Zamba: I have no idea what it means but I guess relates to spinning on a big disk somehow! Andrew just loves sliding down some wood. Not only do you get all the fun of the slide but you also get a free door mat out of it! YAY! Super Wooden Happy Slide! You see? It's just like anyone you’d encounter on your regular stroll through a western town. Do not let this kiddie looking ride deceive you. It spins like a washing machine! It looks like Adventure Island managed to procure some surplus Alton Towers Scarefest themeing for the gold mine from hell. A gold mine themed to hell? You better believe it! That’s just plain freaky! Stand straight, Andrew! Anything that features spanking of pussy cats works for me! The Crooked House is a very “interesting” attraction. Fret not Larry – I still got you a photo of the ride sign! Ah. I guess Andrew will be missing this credit today. I could have sworn there where a coaster here the last time I visited! How many ferris wheels can you ride in Toronto in January? Adventure Island’s ferris wheel isn’t that big, despite what the sign may have you believe! Get your joygasm on, tyre-powered-lift-hill enthusiasts! I checked the park index for missing ride signs before my visit, make sure you do too! This guy is destined to become Scottish Steve’s best friend in the whole world one day! When I last visited in 2007 the dark ride was totally different. The new Over The Hill version is really cool! Thumbs up to credits in the UK! In January!!! More crocodiles need to wear jumpers and hats. It smuses me greatly. Reach out and pet it! You know you want to! I kind of liken it to Daemonen at Tivoli Gardens, in that it’s a really tiny version of its model but is still great fun! Rage is definitely the premier ride at Adventure Island and the real reason you want to visit! Oh yeah, Ben joined us too! Ready for some Eurofighter fun, guys? Of course the real purpose of this visit was to take as many photos of ride signs as possible for Larry! If you needed any proof that more parks should open all year round then just check out Adventure Island! Andrew’s barely been in the UK for a week but he's not wasting any time in getting some credits!

I meant to post this a few weeks ago but work and other "real life" stuff got in the way. Better late then never, right? So Steve and I went to the Irn-Bru Carnival on January 2nd. I was interested to see how it was looking this year. Especially since the same company were trying to run a second carnival in Birmingham at the same time. Mostly the place looked pretty good! We went in the evening which meant there were a lot of people there but this just gave the place a great atmosphere. A stark comparison to the lifelessness of NEC Funworld. The only real downer was that the spinning coaster that's been there for a few years got replaced with a Dragon Wagon meaning there's not even a semi-decent sized coaster in the place. But still, it was really looking good this year and they packed a hell of a lot of rides in! Here's some photos... Well the ride selection wasn’t just as good as last year but I still loved the Irn-Bru Carnival! It’s just got a great and fun atmosphere. I’m sure Steve and I will be back next year. Hope you enjoyed! NONE!!! LOL!!! By the time we finished riding everything we wanted to we had a load of “Carnival vouchers” between us. So we decided to pool them to give Steve as many chances as possible at winning something at the ring toss. He got 32 rings. You know how many prizes Steve won? Steve advises that you don't want to go down this slide bare-arsed. This Helter Skelter is a favourite of Steve’s. Mostly because he can see everything that goes on around him. The fun house has a spectacular grande finale – water pouring down a sheet of glass! You better be sitting on your bum, Steve! In other words: Mike Fudge is not allowed on this slide. Watch out for the lemon springs, Steve! They’ll eat your soul! Yes Steve, you’re the king of the carnival but you’re still an eejit. Ropes hanging from the ceiling. Gotta love the Scottish definition of “FUN!” Steve loves climbing through yellow punching bags. Why? Because yellow is the colour of LEMONS! Steve fell on his arse on this. Yes he did. Beware the WONKIE floors! LOL! Now, the most random experience of the carnival – Scottish Steve’s Fun House Tour! I think everyone in Scotland came to the Carnival this evening! That is, except Scott and Chrissie 'cause they FAIL! Sorry Steve, no bouncy bouncy for us this time! There were random rides of death as far as the eye could see! Is it wrong that I was secretly sad that this is the same Wacky Worm as last year? Steve, it's not Drop Tower: Live! Don't look so scared! Ah, the travelling drop tower! The best ride in the Irn-Bru Carnival for me! Still, Steve and I made the most of it! Just your bog standard Dragon Wagon I’m afraid! Talk about trading down. This year the cool violent spinning coaster got replaced with Dragener. But just what is Dragener? 1 hour line? Not even I want to wait that long for a Ghost Train! I’ll just have to scare him the old fashioned way! Woohoo – Ghost Train! Let’s see if I can convince Steve to ride? And #2. Yeah, I’m a load of fun to visit a carnival with! Ask Steve! Flat ride of death that Divv will avoid #1. Yeah, it was quite busy but there was a real cool carnival atmosphere. I actually was happy to have to wait in a line or two just because the place felt “alive”. OMG, there are PEOPLE here! How many neds can you spot? Sorry Oooh, look at the pretty lights! How can we NOT have a phenomenal time?!

Chuck, Number 93 is this special they're currently doing called "Wagamama Kedgeree". It had rice, smoked haddock, onions, curry sauce and other deliciousness mixed together! I actually thought "Lou tumour" when I took that group photo, Larry! Totally forgot about it when I captioned it htough so thanks for noticing and bringing it to our attention! I definitely think we picked the right location for this particular weekend. Though I'm sure SteveC will be happy to show us round some strip clubs in the future!