RaptorBoyASU

Wish I was there.......... So how's all the train hopping going? Anyone miss a connection yet?

Congrats dude. I remember watching you marathon it a few years ago when we ran into each other in the park. I think you were only at like 200 something at that time though. We missed each other by a day, I was there on Sunday. It was crazy busy, and Raptor was down the first half of the day (with a giant crane at the top of the lift). I got my ride though, and it was running better than ever, super fast throughout. Ops were slow as hell though. Short line would be on weekdays in the evenings usually. The ride generally has a 15 minute or less wait after 7.

Good PTR.........I waited for Nemo once, and I won't ride again until the line starts getting under an hour. We've been doing the same thing you did when we get there at opening. Head to Fantasyland and then Splash Mountain/Haunted Mansion area and you can do 1 hour of walk-ons. One tip for future PTRs. Lose some of the abbreviations unless it's a major ride. I go there every other week and still had trouble figuring out what "MAoWtP" was until I saw the picture.

Great photos, I love all the Madrid ones, and the peoples faces on Abismo are great!

^Now my question is did you know of "Tom of Finland" before someone mentioned it in this thread, or not until then?

^I meant Lou there.......not you

I can't wait til you put your toes in the Pacific Eventually you'll come to the west coast of the USA and experience what cold water really is.

Day 6: Baco, Buses, Beaches, and Benidorm Day 6 begins like the last few, with a breakfast buffet and ERT. Today's featured coaster? FURIOUS BACO, aka Furiously Masturbating Bacon, aka Serious Debacle. Have I mentioned this coaster hurt me? LOL We love having rides all to ourselves, even if they hurt. So like I said before. This ride has a great quirky pre-show, a stellar launch, a cool zero-g roll, and a great looking station. And I would like the rest if it didn't try to shake you like a can of paint. The monkey laughs at us trying out the "experiment" (reference to pre-show) I took 2 rides, near the front. One in an inside seat, and one in an outside seat. My recommendation, sit on the inside. After ERT, we headed back into the park to get a few more rides on our favorites. Have I mentioned the theming in this park was great. We got a few more rides on Hurakan Condor, and while we had the time, we hit Templo del Fuego for one last show. It really is a great show. A pre-show very reminiscent of Poseidon's Fury at IOA, and a show closer to Backdraft, except with a lot more fire, and themed around a cursed Mexican temple. Some pictures of the show. Everything's calm The fire begins Watch out Mr. Actor Man Fire starts coming through the stairs even Then the ceiling starts on fire too Ahhh! Skeletons And the big finale I tried to get one more ride on the splashdown boat (Tituki Wave?), but the line was too long. On to the bus, and our drive down the coast to Benidorm. I won a bag-o-crap during trivia. W00t! The drive was very pretty since we could see the coast for a good chunk of it. We stopped at a truck stop for dinner, and the food was pretty good. I had Valencia style paella, and it was very tasty. And a beer, since it was cheaper than soda (this was true almost everywhere) Then we arrived at our hotel, or I should say resort.... It's a golf resort for a new Jack Nicklaus course that hadn't opened yet. It was gorgeous. Pretty And here's how close we were to tomorrow's park The view from our room Let's take a tour of our "room"... The balcony Our room The walk-in closet The bathroom The shower And a hand-washing station Ok, enough of the hotel, on to Benidorm, and bonus park......Festilandia. It was basically a children's park, with one "credit", DRAKEY It's James approved Heading on down to the beach The Med, another major body of water credit The boardwalk area in Benidorm Why's it so damn cloudy? I was the only one brave enough to go for a swim...it wasn't that cold Some others go and get their feet wet What do Lou and Hector find so funny? Oh yah, the fact that Jon is wearing a Manhunt t-shirt We next went off to explore the sex shop in the middle of town, and then for a drink at a British Pub. I mean, you have to make a true day out. We also decided it was time to search for food. We eventually settled on a little cafe that had great pizza and rotisserie chicken. What Deka got though, was not as tasty (fish were whole, guts and all) So after dinner, we ran across the street just in time to catch the bus back. The panthers (well the rest of them) had decided to stay out, and quite the night of bar-hopping in Benidorm. The stories they told the next day were great. We headed back to the hotel, made some phone calls, and then headed towards the pool. Did I mention how awesome the pool was? Oh, and that's the "small pool", I took a few of the larger pool in the morning. After some pool time, I was completely exhausted, and hit the bed without a single drink imbibed. I guess everyone's liver needs a break Next: Day 7: Terra Mitica, and all the great civilizations

^^Yah, not tall bridges, and you don't even really notice it's a bridge in the few spots that it goes over water. I enjoy the drive up Cedar Point Rd, especially in the morning, so if you're not in a rush, its a nice drive that passes by some neat houses.

^^Yah, I just forgot to get a picture of it.

We only got one beer back there Joey, I got an IPA, but I don't remember which brewery. We drank the cheap stuff most of the night.

^Yay for being the first to catch that.......and yah, different Tommy

^CanalFest? or the Erie Co Fair? I don't mind dark rides, I don't like scary dark rides. (and technically I hate pitch darkness on any ride)

The other half had been bugging me that he really wanted to hit the OC fair this year, so we took advantage of a free Saturday evening and headed south to see what it was all about. Traffic was absolutely awful starting about a mile from the exit. After sitting for 10 minutes without moving we decided to see if we could find a different route. The next exit (Fairview) wasn't being used at all, and we were parking in no time at all. We ended up parking at the HS, which was a bit of a walk, but it was free parking, so I decided not to complain. Jeff making the trek to the gate Once up there, we were greeted by 4 LONG lines. Luckily things were moving well, and we were through in less than 20 minutes time. Still waiting The first order of business? Get a beer! Ok, now what? Go see all the animals. I was actually quite impressed by the number of animal exhibitors they had at the fair. We tried to get over to see the pig races, but the line was WAY too long. Instead we just walked through all the barns. Lots of sheep, pigs, goats, chickens, rabbits, and steers. They also had a petting zoo with some not so common barnyard animals, such as Shetland ponies. Ok, there are rides and food waiting for me, why am I still wandering through the barns. We made our way to the main midway, had a look of what was offered, and then put some money on a ride card. I really liked the way they had this set up. You got a card with a bar code that you could charge with money. No carrying around tickets, and the card could be refilled whenever. What to first? The BOUNCY-BOUNCY of course. This one wasn't as good as the one in Zaragoza, but still was fun. THe individual seats, and tamer bounces just lacked that out of control feeling that made the Zaragoza one so amazing. Before riding anything else, we decided to make the first food stop of the night. I had fried sweet potatoes, and Jeff had fried fish and zuchinni. We also grabbed another beer, and took a walk through the "Festival of Products". Lots of infomercial crap being sold. Really, not the cool stuff I was hoping for, but it's a fair, what can you expect? On to more rides. We rode the Crazy Coaster (which barely spun at all) Skipped the Kamikaze Skipped the Zipper But did go in the house of mirrors And the cliff-hanger We also hit the tilt-a-whirl, and the KMG Fireball (which was running a short-but-great program). We skipped the rides that make me sick (Round-Up, gravitron, zipper), or terrify Jeff (drop-tower, and anything else that went up high) The drop tower looked really good though, but by the time we got to it, I was out of tickets, and didnt' feel like shelling out another $5. Lou or anyone that hung out with me on the Spain Trip knows I also avoided this one...... At some point during the rides, I also grabbed a gyro to eat. And after we were done riding, it was time for more beer as well as fried snickers and fried oreos. (I passed on the fried coke). It was a fun night out, though it would be quite expensive to go for the rides alone unless you went for a promotional night. We spent $20 each for only a handful of rides. We also walked a ton! So much that Jeff really needed a foot massage by the end of the night But fried food and beer made up for any negatives of the night.

Day 5: Kahn, Tibidabo, and Bar-tha-lona Okay, I got really far behind with these..... So today was another day staying at Port Aventura, and we began the morning with the usual breakfast buffet followed by ERT on Dragon Kahn. So what can I say about Dragon Kahn that I haven't already said. It's mean! Seriously a great coaster from start to finish. Lots of elements, fast turns, and the 2nd half is relentless. The wind was strong this morning, so we had to fill the train each time or they couldn't dispatch. That meant marathoning whether you wanted to or not. And with the lack of sleep some were experiencing, it was almost too much. I rode on every train dispatched, but it was only with convincing on the last one. (why did I stay so late at the bar?) The ride was running good, though not quite as fast as the night before. As soon as ERT was over we headed straight to Hurakan Condor. Have I mentioned that I loved this ride. I got two rides with almost no wait because the majority of the park population hadn't made it back this far yet. The first was on the tilting seated side (not as good as tilting-floorless), and the second was on one of the good sides I think we rode something else on the way out of the park, but I have no idea what it was, however we did find Chilly Willy. On to Tibidabo...... So Tibidabo is a smallish park that sits on the top of a mountain overlooking Barcelona. Let me just say that the bus ride was TERRIFYING! Big bus on narrow winding roads at fairly quick speeds. I refused to look out the windows until we got to the top. I hate mountain roads unless I'm driving. Once to the top though, you're greeted by this impressive looking church And this even more impressive view..... You also can't miss the "bucket" ride as you enter the park Yah, I'm not a huge fan of heights (as much as I love coasters) so there was no way I was going on the buckets. You basically stand up in a little caged bucket, and then it slowly lifts you to the top (like a ferris wheel). Oh except the bucket sways when it start/stops at the top. NO THANK YOU! It was one of the old rides in the park (i think circa 1930) Many others went on though. But I will go on this.....ghetto galaxi It was a fun little coaster, it looked like an in-house type of thing. I couldn't believe the clearances on the sides to some of the buildings. Like inches from your left side. Trying to find our way down to the lower levels (the park is on the side of the mountain, so there were 6 levels to it), we came across a museum of a bunch of old kinematic models. They had old arcade-type ones (like the fortune teller, and lots of early animatronics), as well as some models of rides of the park. Working model of the coaster Working ferris wheel and plane ride Working "bucket ride" And even the overall model of the park had working swings, pirate ship, and carousel. We spent 15 minutes or so in there, and then found our way to the entrance of the "plane ride". Basically, it was a plane attached to a crane that spun out over the side of the mountain. *Photo courtesy of Robb* It really looked like a real plane inside, and even used a propeller to move. The view out the right side really made it feel like you were flying This is Oriol, he was working the plane ride, and is a fellow Theme Park Review Member. He was really nice, and seemed quite excited to see our group there. On to the rest of the park. They had a really good powered mine train coaster with crazy speed and turns (including the crazy long and super dark tunnel). There was a pretty good funhouse, a top-spin, log-flume, mountain-side transit ride, and lots more. I only got a couple of pics. Drop tower/swinging ride (Don and James are on that one) The pirate ship. Wow don't those TPRers looks so excited (Hector, Lou, Jon, Dave, and Ed in 3rd row from back) On to lunch. We had meal tickets for a food stand in the park for 3pm (3:30? I don't remember). Well we all get there, and it's a small hotdog stand, and the park management didn't seem to inform them that we'd be there. So it was quite a cluster fuck for them to get enough hot dogs, fries, and drinks ready to feed all of us. But they managed to do a good job, and we all had food within 15-20 minutes or so. Mmmm......hot dogs. *Photo courtesy of Robb* After eating, a group of us decided to head on into the city. We took the funicular down the side of the mountain (thank god I didn't have to do the bus ride down). Once down, we transferred to a trolley to take us to the metro station, where we transferred yet again to get to the city center. New metro credit Once to the train station we'd be leaving from that night, we bought our return tickets (it was a good test of my limited Spanish knowledge). Knowing what time the last train out was, we headed for the Gaudi cathedral. Barcelona had a neat feel, though not as historic feeling as Madrid. It did have a lot of architecturally unique buildings though. Larry played tour guide throughout the day, leading us around the streets to find the cathedral and pointing out other sights of interest along the way. (He was reading it from the book Mel & Rich brought...lol) Oooh, we're getting close. And here it is.....Sagrada Familia by Gaudi This cathedral has been in the process of being built for the last 150 years, and still has a ways to go. The way we approached and sides were impressive. But nowhere as impressive as the detailing on the other side. Some closeups of some of that detail Seriously amazing stuff. It would have been neat to do the tour, but we were short on time, and it was rather expensive. So instead, we took a stroll around Bar-tha-lona. Yes, the Spanish lisp was very obvious here. From the way they said the city name to "Gra-thi-ath" for thank you. Much more evident than in Madrid. Kristie spotted a Starbucks along the way, and was jonesing hard, so we stopped in (and I partook of a coffee as well as their facilities). Mmm........coffee Another Gaudi building And some businessmen talking in front of it. We wandered around for another hour or so. Enjoying Larry's tour guide commentary, stopping for some fresh baked baguettes, and even wandering around a mall. (BTW, Spanish tabloids are full of nudity) But my favorite site, a guy riding an ATV through the center of the city. Standing around....killing time with BIG MIKE (is this enough pics yet) No??? How bout now? Well, time was running out, so we headed back to the train station to find our platform. It was HOT down here Luckily the train was nicely air conditioned. Quickly we were off along the coast back to Port Aventura Once back, Jon, myself, and Tommy (from Finland), headed into the park to find some dinner. We walked through most of the Western section on the search for ribs and chicken. Turns out the place closed at 5pm (WTF?). So we had to settle for a burger and fries/onion rings. If I had known that, I would have stopped at the one up front, and not walked an extra mile. We went back to the hotel, and sat out on the patio bar yet again. We'd be leaving the resort in the morning, so it was the last night to enjoy the place. The pool was absolutely enormous, and I somehow never managed to get in it. Oh well. Next: Day 6: Baco, Buses, Beaches, and Benidorm

Such amazing analysis in here.........

I haven't been home lately......so it's if I have time at lunch. UGh, I feel so behind now.

I feel scrunchiless too

Blasphemy......I'm revoking your gay card. Hmmm.....actually I think everything else makes up for it.

So I have an update I'll post later today. I had to upgrade my photobucket account to pro though, it's amazing how much bandwidth this TR has sucked up (I was going to do that anyways)

Good choice. Even the coaster companies do prototyping. A good example

Dude, it's called prototyping. Prove that your car and track concept work early on in the project, before designing anything else. You're going at this really backwards. I don't think this will ever happen, unless you take the guys advice and see how things will really work before progressing any further. -Kyle "Prototyping is an important part of engineering" Miller

Disneyland Disney's California Adventure Knott's SFMM Pacific Park Parque de Atracciones Madrid Isla Magica Parque de Atracciones Zaragoza Port Aventura Tibidabo Terra Mitica Warner Brothers Madrid Hitting later this year: Cedar Point WDW Magic Kingdom WDW Epcot WDW Disney-MGM STudios WDW Animal Kingdom Disneyquest Legoland Dollywood (maybe)

^Was it kinder eggs?

W00t for bar-tha-lona. Mmmm....cheap loaves of bread.