jray21

That ride looks awesome! Can't wait for the POV!

^haha! No, it wasn't meant to be 'hidden camera.' I left the camera on by accident, but the audio was too funny not to include. Unfortunately, right before that when I thought I was recording was when you did a little dance, but I missed it

I would definitely be in for a SWC/Pizza Port run!

^I was thinking the same thing. I've been on the Disney Magic and Wonder, and thinking of the ride on an even bigger ship will definitely add a ton of fear factor to it.

Great Stuff! Thanks for the look back. Knowing it was Arrow makes me think pain, but it still would have been neat to have tried one out.

I enjoyed Mr. Freeze, so this looks like it will be a good ride. The turn at the top hat could be pretty cool as well.

Video is fixed!!

Here is a video of the Movieland Studios Day! WARNING - Strong Language at 7:38 to the end! Part 1 - Log ride somewhat POV Part 2 - 3:06 - Serial Killer Edward Part 3 - 3:44 - 5 Minute long octopus rat balls spinning ride with barely any spinning! Part 4 - 4:10 - "Intense" Magma 2 ride! See the incredibly huge water effects, and the Fireless Magma destroying the tram! Part 5 - 6:49 - An intense Toy Story 3 discussion with KidTums! Part 6 - 7:38 - TPR Bar Time with PIERS!!! One part is only audio, but still funny. WARNING - STRONG LANGUAGE. Stop here if you are offended by bad words!

That's awesome that you pretty much had the park to yourself. At first, I thought this was a defunct park that was just sitting there rotting away, I had no clue that it was actually open! I will definitely bring the Nightmare on Elm Street soundtrack when I head out there.

^^^Thanks! Unfortunately, I didn't get to experience the awesomeness that was U-571. Definitely next time though! I really did have an incredibly awesome time at all the italy parks, especially Movieland Studios! The operations were terrible, but that added to the fun because it wasn't just like crappy Six Flags or Cedar Fair operations, it was on it's own level. Kind of like the Sci-Fi movies! As for the school children, yes, they could all die. I thought the intinerary was awesome! We were able to recharge at the hotel by getting their earlier, and that was really nice. I wouldn't have changed a thing. You really are incredible at having the perfect trips!!! Maybe it was just your twin, or some good photoshopping, because shy Piers would have never acted like that.

Awesome report! I love the these types of parks. I can't wait to go back to that area again!

Next up is the incredible Movieland Studios! This is one of the most awesomely messed up parks I have ever been to. The rides/shows/attractions were so awesome and warped, and they did their absolute best to rip off as many trademarked an copyrighted materials as they could. We were very pressed for time, so we didn't get to experience a lot, but even the few things we experienced were beyond amazing. Where else can you have Peter Pan, Terminator, Mary Poppins, U-571, Tomb Raider, Flinstones Lilo, and the Dukes of Hazard all in one place! Like Terminator DDDDD! 5D's! You can't top that! And the cycle time for a top spin is a record that will not soon be beat (see below) ! The problem was that it was 'every single school within a hundred miles goes to Movieland day,' so it was extremely crowded. We thought they were all going to go to the waterpark, but they ended up at the theme park. At least they weren't rude, pushy, loud, and cutting in line though . After the park we were on our way to Europa Park! We drove through the incredibly beautiful Switzerland, and stopped at one of the most expensive and nicest truck stops I've ever been to. We went through the Seconds From Disaster tunnel of death, and then arrived at the hotel and had a crazy night! I had 5 Dumb Moves of the day, but that is what made the park so awesome! It was one of those messed up rides crappy operations I survived kind of days! Dumb Move of the Day #1 The "Tomb Raider" top spin had the worst operations I have ever seen. When we arrived, we were supposed to have ERT on the top spin, and Police Academy, but with Italy being the way they are, it ended up being open to everyone. But it wasn't too bad because when we got to Tomb Raider there were only about 30 people in front of us so we should be able to get on the first, or second at the very latest, ride and be off to Police Academy with plenty of time. Boy were we wrong. The operator, who was the slowest I don't give a crap operator I have ever seen, had the weirdest loading system. He would ask each person if they wanted to get wet or not, and then proceeded to just put everyone in the same place! It was like he was required to ask, but then just said screw you all, you all just go to the same place. It was really weird, he didn't even attempt to separate anyone after asking them, but just sent everyone onto the ride in the same order they were in line. The next thing he did was only allow about 15 people per ride! There were seats for approximately 38 people, but he would fill it less than half full. I thought he was doing it to 'balance' the ride out, I don't know what for, but he pretty much put everyone on one side! So while it was really odd, I thought well, it should only take a few minutes to go through 2-3 cycles. Oh how wrong we were. We timed this guy, and he took 15 MINUTES PER CYCLE!!!!!! We should have left, but of course we were too stupid and stayed, and we ended up waiting 45 minutes to ride a stupid top spin. The effects were nice, but not worth 45 minutes. Dumb move of the day #1. Dumb move of the day #2 was waiting for the kiddie powered Jeff Johnson credit. Again, it was supposed to be just TPR, but they were allowing a bunch of other kids to wait in line with us. We had had enough of the stupid kids, so we played rude American cops and physically held them back, and waited for the ride to open. And waited, and waited, and waited...... After almost another hour (waiting for the lower half of the park to open, then waiting in line), all of us 'whores' got our credit in. By this time, it had been almost 3 hours since the park opened! Dumb move of the day #3 was doing Terminator DDDDD. We got in line right when it opened, and were only about 20 feet back from the front of the line. It took about another hour to finally get into the show! The people in the back of the line, maybe 50 feet at the most, had probably a two hour wait! Now Terminator DDDDD was like a video game show. Imagine a smaller Terminator Universal show with each person getting getting a gun. As you killed the Terminators and other things (like a helicopter), you would get points and progress in the game. Depending on how good you do, you could get a really long show/game. We didn't know this at the time though. Had we known, we wouldn't have gone in with a crap load of stupid kids! Our show was literally like 3 minutes long! The kids sucked, and we were killed right away. And the ending was so odd. Here it is a 5D experience, but at the end a sign comes down and it says Game Over. So we all stood around for a few minutes waiting to be told what to do and where to go. No worker came out, no door opened, no lights came on. After a few minutes we found the exit door and left. About an hour wait for a 3 minute show. Dumb move of the day #4 was not going through the Haunted Maze. There was a bit of a line, and with the way things were being run, we knew there was no way we would have made it. Well, others took a chance, and they said the line actually moved pretty quick and it was cool walkthrough! CRAP! Dumb move of the day #5 was not going to the waterpark. We thought all the kids were going to the waterpark, so we didn't head over there. Nope, they were all at Tomb Raider and Terminator!!!!! But this is why TPR is so awesome. We were at what is one of the worst parsk ever, but because everyone is so much fun we had one of the best days of the trip! Next up is Movieland Studios! The kids in the picture to the right ruined our day (Read the too long story above) Not Hard Rock, the Rock and Roll Restaurant. They even stole the Cedar Fair style of naming things! Tinker Bell fully supports Movieland Studios and will greet every person as they come off the slide! Why pay for the rights when you can just use them! Warner Bros. style sign on a USH style entrance. No copyright infringement here! Movieland's motto is, "Why work hard when the work is already done!" Tomb Raider and Cars. Together at last. The TPR goodies Conga line! Movieland Studios decided to color the dinosaurs as they actually were. Lilo now works for the Flinstones. Davon and Eric were smart and rode the log ride instead of/before being kiddie credit whores. Yah for the Kristen approved ride! Credit whores! They should not call this whoring. Trust me, I should know I hope your mother doesn't see this. You should all be ashamed! Yes Bill, you should hide in shame. At least he's making the most of it! Now it's time for the TPR log ride takeover! Nice ride, but you didn't get wet enough. Most of the water evaporated before it landed on you. Next up was the Octopus Rat balls(?) spinner. I passed on this one and was sooooo glad I did. The ride went on for literally five minutes! This looks nothing like Disney's Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Drew, like many other TPR members, found his new love in frozen Cokes! He must have had, at the very least, twenty frozen Cokes during the trip! Tsunamis and kicking briefcases are ok, but no standing in line or stars on your chest. One of the last ones standing, but where's the hotel? Next up was the Magma 2 ride from hell! It started out as Kilimanjaro Safaris. Then mini-Catastrophe Canyon. They had the HUGE water effects. And the massively HUGE eyebrow singeing fireballs. This was the "I am going to die" shot. As we left the canyon they slammed the vehicle into full speed reverse down a steep grade into the water that almost sunk the entire vehicle. I wasn't taking a picture, this was me gripping so tight that it took this shot. We have whistle pops, while the Italians have guitar pizza! But it's not just any pizza, it's Dukes of Hazzard Pizza! Next up was Terminator 5D (see Dumb Move of the Day #3). I had no idea what the scores meant. Jack was also vacationing in Italy! Johnny-5 is alive. They also 'borrowed' Mary Poppins. Next up was the long drive to Germany with a sexy view of Piers! And we were entertained by Kristen the whole way! Kristen took some good pictures of us! A nice full view sexy Piers photo. 9 out of 10 people were completely dead. Some really nice scenery. Hi Cameron and Renee! Look what I just wiped from my butt! Joey, stop taking pictures. Only Amy can take pictures. Our border crossing into Switzerland. Definitely not like the US border crossings. Kristen takes a picture of Amy.... ...and Amy takes a picture of Kristen. This went back and forth for hours! FYI, we are going to be going through the Gotthard tunnel. This tunnel was made famous by the 2001 crash and fire that killed a ton of people, and was featured on Seconds From Disaster. Ok, go back to sleep and rest easy. The nice scenery before the tunnel of death. Medieval looking castle/church. The trucks of death had to wait to prevent another tunnel of death. I could totally live on this farm! The TPR Europe Tour Busses. Melissa turned off mid bite. We smacked her and she was fine. A nice shot at the worlds nicest truck stop, complete with table cloths! Just a little tiramisu, chocolate torte, flan, and a fruit cake for a small dessert. Someone hit Melissa again! After living in New York for so long, Renee didn't like the taste of clean water. Everyone enjoyed their relaxing lunch! One last picture of Ginny before the Tunnel of Death! Oh no, here we go! Piers is looking to see what to do if there is another crash and fire. It says we're screwed. If you look to your left, you will see the stain left by what was thought to be one victim. Upon closer inspection, it was found to be three victims fused together by the fire... Is this heaven? It looks like heaven. Are we dead? Nope, Rob(b) and most of TPR are stll here so this can't be heaven The tunnel was like a near death experience. We were in a long tunnel surrounded by death and the only way we could make it was to go towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Switzerland was absolutely beautiful. FYI, bring extra memory cards for your cameras so you don't have to complain like babies! Our awesome room at the Hotel Colosseo! The accommodations were incredible the whole trip! But.... a Europe Rant, notice there are no vents! There was no air conditioning even at the Deluxe hotels! This place looked as nice as the Hotel Mira Costa. And the drinking starts. I don't remember if the guy on the left was on our trip! Oh look at me, I've got a flower pot on my head. Do I look like Lady Gaga? Why Derek really came on this trip. Winding down after a long day! I hope your not an American! More drinking in Germany. Woah! What are you grabbing for! The half naked guy is behind you! Weekend at Bernie's! My glass is empty! I need another beer. Like everything else in this world, Robb tries to make love to the beer. Amy enjoys staying sober so she can make fun of, and laugh at, all the drunks! Awesome shot of Piers' fancy pose and Hanno's not so fancy pose! I can't get the F-ing smoke rings to work. I'm way too drunk. I need another Jager bomb. Piers. Concentrate of the Jager Bomb and stop staring at the package! My camera had a Piers goggles setting. Why am I f-ing laughing? I can't stop F-ing laughing! I'm F-ing Joey! Derek does a toast while Piers does his fancy Lady Gaga Joey impression. "Amy sit on the f-ing floor and stop laughing!" "....Why are we sitting on the f-ing floor!" I think I like this! Now if I could only get him into a pool and put a few drinks in him.... Piers loves long cylindrical objects. Good night TPR! See you f-ing tomorrow!

^ What a stupid game. *Shot

Amy and I tried to do the same thing last year, but it was my brothers wedding, so I wasn't able to pull it off. Anything would have been better than his wedding. I haven't ridden Loch Ness since 1988! I totally agree that the rattles and shakes are what it was all about. Demon, at CGA, was my first looping coaster and all the shaking and bashing was a huge part of the 'I Survived' reason you bragged to your friends about. It added a great level of fear because you thought you may actually die. But now that I'm getting 'older,' I can sure feel the bumps and shakes a little more than I want to!

^Haha! It went away in a couple of days. I know a few people got a rash, and some people got a little sick. I think the rash was a heat rash, and that's what I'm sticking to.

That made my evening!

Anyone try out the Kinect? I saw it at the Mall of America, and it did not recognize these two black girls. I wonder if they are going to have problems like that webcam face recognition problem. The Kinect would not recognize the girls at all, but right when the white worker stepped in it immediately recognized him. I would have taken video as proof, but these girls were pretty young so I didn't want to look like a pedophile. Other than that, I dont think I would like it because I'm too lazy to stand up the entire time

^ you forgot to mention the lasers and Dale Earnhardt statue in the tunnel, and the 3D movie effects that will now make you have to wear glasses on the ride.

^Yep, loop is still there.

^Ok, now I remember. I had originally thought the extra hour wuss out night was at Movieland. Thanks for reminding me! ^^That would have been funny though, and refreshing!

^Have fun! Make sure you post a report when you get back!

Good Luck! I never run more than 22 miles preparing for a marathon. Anything over that, and you really run a big risk of overuse injuries, and wearing out your body too much, especially for a first marathon. There are also too many variables that affect hitting the 'wall.' It could be over-training, not pacing right, or just one of those days. You should have no problem running the marathon after you've already ran 22 miles. Just remember to start out slow and pace yourself. Way too many people let their nerves and the excitement affect them and they end up running really fast at first, and really hit the wall early on. Also, with the marathon distances, it does help to carb load a little (not a eating free for all!). I burn 3000 + calories running, and if I only eat a little breakfast, and a few GU's, I will get very lightheaded and hit the wall pretty severely around 20-22. However, too much GU will give me a bad stomach. I usually alternate between either a GU or Powerade, and water, every 2-3 miles (Gel or Powerade, then water, Gel or Powerade, then water). I actually like AccelGel the best. I've used them all, and that sees to work best for me. Don't worry about your first marathon though! You've definitely got your training in good, so it will just be a matter of keeping fueled, keeping hydrated, and pacing yourself. Good Luck!!!

Wow, great photos! If you get the .org and .com sites, I've got the pickup truck!

^^Yes, they redid the whole area. The ride is pretty good. It has Japanese anime characters, but it is not as immersive as Spiderman. They also had a mini magic quest style attraction. The biggest loss was the morbid dark ride.

Fixed.