MrMorgan

i live in hamburg. that looks like a pretty good list you've got there. if you have the chance, you should stay in one of the themed hotels at europa park. it's great, and very disney-like. otherwise, i don't have anything to suggest that would be close to where you've already planned to go. have fun!

thanks for your help. i'm so psyched! 10 more days to go...

hey, i was born in the states, but moved to germany 7 years ago. when i first got here, i spoke very little german, and although it was uncomfortable at times, it was never a big problem. i agree with elissa: learn a little bit of every language before you go to each country. i mean, like, learn at least how to say "i'm sorry, i don't speak...". always be polite when asking someone to speak english, and always say thanks, or danke, or grazi, or gracias, or merci, etc. most people learn english in school, but many have never used it, but don't let the language barrier scare you away from a european vacation.

good morning, LA. ok. to answer your questions. i'm totally up for an overnight trip, or a few nights over someplace. i just wanted to be sure to take advantage of his apartment whenever possible. i will have a railpass. i am somewhat of a credit whore, but the next couple of months/half a year of work are going to be really stressful and this is my last vacation before march, at the earliest... anyways. what i'm trying to say is i can't go crazy trying to travel around and get every credit possible because i can't go back to work when it's all over "feeling like i need a vacation". know what i mean? i need to relax and enjoy it a little, too. plus, it's going to be hard to get my friend, (who's not an enthusiast, but does like parks. in fact, now that i think of it, he's in my "best movie ever" contest video! he's the "other guy" in the denmark and germany sections)anyways... i could see him bailing on me if it's a hardcore enthusiast schedule and not more of an average tourist schedule. know what i mean? i don't know, maybe he'll end up getting really gung-ho about it once i'm there. i am a huge disney fan, (before i saw you guyszs trip report, i was originally planning on ONLY going to disney and fuji-q), and would love to do 3 days at the parks AND stay there, but there's no way my friend's gonna go for that, and i would feel like a loser staying and going to the parks alone when a good friend of mine lives less than an hour away. knowutumsayin? and even though it may be the happiest place in japan, it's definitely not the cheapest. i really want to make disney the "finale" of the trip, so i'm planning on saving two days at the end for that, but they'll have to be sunday and monday, (i arrive early on september 12th and leave early on the 20th), or if 3 days does work out, saturday sunday monday. but i don't know, is it stupid to go to disney on the weekend when it will undoubtedly be super crowded, just because it's the end of my trip? well, i'll stop rambling now. thanks a lot for your input and advice. it's great to hear from people who've been there and done that. i look forward to your reply/replies. morgan "also a vegetarian and worried about starving while i'm there cuz i don't like fish" o'brien

i agree with elissa; this is a top ten, if not top 5 coaster. it's so crazy! on first look, i thought it would bother me that it was only left turns, but it doesn't matter. it's so much fun. only thing that could make it better would be a tunnel, but it's great without.

yay! thanks. lonely japan question, be lonely no more!

my poor japan trip question, sitting here all alone while all the other questions get more attention from the alvey's. poor, lonely question.

i honestly have to say i thought avalanche was like 1% better than hades. more fun somehow, but just barely. the only thing avalanche is missing is a tunnel. was it cold when you made the video, or early in the morning? the reason i ask is because when i was in the dells, it was the middle of a heat wave. it had been 90 degrees every day for over a week, and i remember hades being much faster than it looks in the video. we flew over the top of the far turn around in the parking lot, but in the video it seems like you just barely creep over. then, the big hill inside the lift and especially the next hill after that which goes under the cue and next to the station were just out of control fast. i felt like it was SFMM goliath G forces on the second to last turn. maybe i was just overheated, but is it possible that a coaster can change so much do to weather conditions and stuff, or is the video just misleading somehow. either way, it's a GREAT ride.

i'm not german, but i play one on the stage and screen, (haha, but it's true), and i can translate it. i will use the word "bla" to replace the non interesting filler and just leave the meat: highschooler is building his own rollercoaster david mosmann used to dream about loops, turns, and helixes. he loves rollercoasters. not a big deal for the average 14 year old. but soon, he won't have to go to an amusement park to get his adrenalin rush: he's building his own coaster. bla bla bla he used to argue a lot with his parent's who complained he spent too much time playing "roller coaster designer" on the computer. so he said, "fine, then i'll build my own coaster. bla bla bla he used "roller coaster designer" to design it, and brought the plans to his dad, who's a carpenter. bla bla. his dad said, "you'll never finish this", but after 3 months, there's already a big part of the coaster standing in a field belonging to his aunt. when it's finished, it will be 100 meters long, 5 meters tall, and take a year to build. bla bla. the first drop with be 69 degrees steep, and it will have a top speed of 47kmh. bla bla bla. the coaster, which is made entirely of wood and screws, will work without electricity, using a weight on the end of a cable to pull the train, (which will weigh around 70kilos), to the top. soeren and german tom, how did i do?

i like excalibur at valleyfair. even though it's basically a surefire way to get a headache, it's was built when i was 15 and living in minnesota, so i followed every step of the construction. i was even invited to opening press day and meet ron toomer, which at 15 was a big deal. at least it was for me. it's so rough that it never has a line, even on busy days, but i think it's a cool coaster and it has lots of sentimental value for me.

you can definately smoke cigarettes in the park, however, i'm pretty sure anything else is only legal in downtown amsterdam. you'll probably be looked upon as a stupid tourist if you spark up in a family theme park outside of the city.

hey alveys. do you realise how many japan trips you've inspired? you should get a commission from the japanese board of tourism er somethin. anyhoo. i will be visiting a friend who lives in tokyo september 12-21st. i'm not on an unlimited budget, and i need to relax a little on this vacation, too. after reviewing your park planning guide and trip reports, i've decided the parks i'd most like to see are Disney/Sea Fuji-Q La Qua Nagashima Spaland Sea Paradise Yokohama Cosmoworld Tobu Zoo Aquastadium in Shinagwa i'd like to do 2 days of disney towards the end as sort of a "finale". although my friend lives there and is willing to accompany me on some of my coaster excursions, he hasn't been all that gung-ho about helping me make an itinerary and i can't find like a "guide to the locations of amusement parks in japan", so i can't get a grip on exactly where the parks are and how close they are to each other, etc. so, my questions are 1) what is the most logical order to visit these parks, and why? 2) is there something i'm missing, like "well, if you're going to .... then you might as well go to .... cuz it's on the way anyways." i know i can do Sea Paradise and Cosmoworld in one day because they're close, (right?), and La Qua is a half day thing anyways. also, my friend says the Aquastadium park is less than an hour from his apartment, so that one's not a problem. i guess i just need some help making sense out of where they all are and a logical plan for getting to all of them with a train pass and travelling back into tokyo to stay with him whenever possible. thanks for any suggestions! ps. hope you had fun in the dells. i was just there last week! i still think avalanche is debatebly the best coaster. hades is pretty awesome, though!

hey. just stumbled across your question, and thought i'd answer. i was in amsterdam last year and took a side trip to the then called 6flags holland. there's a train and a bus from the main station in amsterdam that takes you directly to the gate. everyone in holland speaks perfect english, so don't worry about that. just go to the tourist center in front of the station and they can print out an itinerary for you. you have to take a train outside of the city, then buy the ticket for the bus, which is also your ticket for the park. make sure you ask at the tourist center when the last bus coming BACK is, cuz you don't want to have to take a taxi from the park to the train station. hope this helps. oh, and as far as is it worth it? YES! goliath and robin hood are GRRRRRReat.

15 years ago when i was an ACE member, jimmy jam (of flyte time productions who produce almost all of janet jackson's albums, quite a bit of mariah carey's b-sides, and former member of 80's funk band "the time") was also a member. maybe he still is. his listed name was james harris III. i also remember watching an interview from around that same time period where ex-new kid on the block donnie wahlberg talked about how much he loves looping rollercoasters. one more for ya: lea salonga, the original kim in "ms. saigon" in london and NYC, and the voice of jasmin in "aladdin" is a coaster enthusiast, too.

wait, did i actually win someTHING? i didn't even think of that! is that posted someplace? do i have to like, send proof of age and that i don't work for the same company as robb in order to claim my prize?

i'm suprised that i scored as high as the marchenpark video! i thought they were way funnier than i was. i'm glad i entered the contest, and am already preparing "the best movie ever EVER" for next year thru-out my travels. that is, of course, the only reason i'm going to wisconsin to ride hades and to japan to ride all sorts of coasters... not because it's fun, but merely because i want to make a great video for next year. it's all about themeparkreview. teetle he he.

word up, and amen.

well, i finally voted. did anyone else have such a hard time? i found it so diffucult to pick the "best" 3. i could have easily voted for 10 videos. after the results are posted, i'll make another post with my top 3, and the other videos that were in my "possible winners" folder.

hell, i speak the language, and i still can't understand what he's on about. something about some woman in an elevator and some kind of american technology... maybe the guys who made the video can explain it to us. i really liked that video, too. had the right mix of ride footage and personal fun, if you ask me. the "fun" video had a great opening sequence with the map and everything, but i thought that one, as well as the "UK tour" video, was a little bit scattered in the sense that it had lots of clips from different parks all mixed together. it's like "wait, which coaster is at which park and in which country is that, anyways?" know what i mean? no throughline. the universal studios video was well done. what a great song. where the heck did you find a track like that??? it's too bad that the universal parks in fl. are so popular. it's almost like "oh great, some more universal footage..." the knott's video also gets special mention for the age of the editor. good job. i wish i was into making coaster videos when i was your age!

i know! evil robb is making us wait an extra day just so he can have some fun in florida. how selfish. does he ever stop to think about our needs???

ya, those last 5 videos are all very good. however, i have to say the bush gardens video definitely get's the "i wish i'd thought of that" award for using the classical music. gut gemacht, jungs. there's some great funny moments in all of them, though.

i don't know why, but i didn't find this funny. if he had started making posessed like noises and moaning "i can't breathe" like in that famous "grape stomp fall" video, then i might have laughed. i just can't help but feel the embarrassment right along with him.

wow, things are really looking up for the competition this year! those latest 5 videos are all great. i couldn't pick a fav out of any of them because they're all cool in their own special way. the intro to the floruba clip was original, although a little too long. i was like, "where's the video?". laughed a lot at the marchenpark clip and the wisconsin dells clip, (can't wait to make it back there in august!). i also don't understand why those kids can say texas sucks??? looks great to me. must have meant it sarcastic. morgan "being a good sport and complimenting the possible competitors" obrien

hey, is this the place in the north/south dakota? i think i remember seeing television reports about this being built when i was an early teenager growing up in minnesota, and i remember being so excited about it that i promised my little sister that i would take her on a road trip there as soon as i got my driver's license. now that it's being demolished, i guess that'll never happen... not to mention that i live in germany. morgan "childhood dreams are made to be shattered" obrien

rode robin hood last year and thought it was great. i loved the trains, too. they're more like "real" wooden coaster trains, (ptc/iad), than those wierd hybrid trains on intamin woodies like colossus at heide park. morgan "spontaneously starts planning another trip to holland" obrien