RaptorBoyASU

Added the start of my PTR to the forum.

DAY 0: Arriving, Lost Luggage, Parque de Attraciones Madrid, and Old Madrid So I had been planning to go on this trip since before it was announced. I'd always wanted to go to Spain (ran out of time on my European adventure), and wanted to do a TPR trip since I saw how awesome it was last year. I booked the trip as soon as it was announced and sat in anticipation for the next 9 months. I knew the people would be amazing, as I knew a good number of those going already (from online, only a handful in person), but I didn't really know what to expect from the parks. Most of the parks on the trip didn't look all that exciting from looking at pictures online, but I knew that I'd have a great time no matter what, and boy were my expectations surpassed. The parks were amazing, the people were even better, and in all honesty, I've never had so much fun on a vacation (yet alone a coaster trip). So on to the trip report, well Day 0 at least (before the official trip began: arrival day). My trip started with my alarm clock going off at 4:45am on Thursday morning. Ugh, I hate early flights. I grabbed some Burger King on the way to the gate for my 7:30am flight, and then called my Mom to let her know I was on my way. Another kid from the trip, Ben aka BeatleBen, found me shortly before we boarded. We ended up sitting right across the aisle from each other. The first leg of the trip was to Miami, and from there I would be meeting up with Jon, aka moose8556, for the Miami to Madrid section (we had arranged to sit next to each other on the flight already) Ben and I arrived in Miami at 10 til 4, which gave us just over an hour to get to our next flight. When we pulled up, we had no gate. The gate we were supposed to occupy had a plane with mechanical issues at it. The captain announced that the plane should be backing out in 5 minutes, and they were working on getting another gate in the meantime. 10 minutes go by, still nothing. The captain then tells us that there aren't any gates open, so we'll have to wait. 30 minutes go by, still waiting. By now I'm starting to stress out because the flight to Spain was supposed to be boarding already. We finally got to the gate 45 minutes after landing, meaning I had less than 15 minutes to get to my next flight by the time I got off the plane. There were two other women near us on the same flight, so we all banded together and RAN! First off, we got in at Terminal C, and had to get to Terminal G. Ok, no problem, we'd just run. Then I discovered that we had to leave the secure area to get there. Security lines and just over 10 minutes to go. Well the signs in the airport said Terminal G was about 15 minutes, away, we made it in 5. CRAP! Security line. I went up to the agent, in amazing race style, and explained that our flight was supposed to be leaving in 5 minutes. She pushed us to the front of the line, and 5 minutes later (including a bag check, since I had a bottle of water from LAX in my carry-on) we were all through and running through Miami International, Ben without shoes, and me holding my pants up because I didn't have time to put on my belt. We got to the gate about 3 minutes after departure time, and the way the gate was situated we couldn't tell if the plane was still there. I went up to the gate entrance, and the Iberia employee just pointed me to the counter. F*@#$, we were too late. So I went up to the counter, and they did some typing, and more typing, and then handed me a boarding pass. Turns out that they can't use the AA boarding pass, thus why I had to go to the counter. So we managed to get on the plane (10 minutes after departure time), and I see a smiling Jon sitting in the seat next to mine just waiting. Turns out they didn't board until 10 minutes before departure time, and we weren't all that far behind everyone else. He had been to the gate since before we arrived, so he wasn't sweating or shaking like I was. Nothing to do now but settle in for the 8.5 hour flight to Madrid. It was the first I had met Jon in person, only having talked on AIM and the coaster boards. He was fairly close to how I expected, except far less serious. I like when people turn out to be as awesome in person as they are online. We chatted through most of the flight, about coasters, about people we were excited to see/meet on the trip, about the sig others, and general shooting the shit. The food was pretty good (dinner and breakfast), and I didn't really pay much attention to the in-flight entertainment (I did read a bit of Harry Potter though). I didn't sleep, which was no surprise since I never can on airplanes. We arrived in Madrid 30 minutes late at 8am. The airport is an amazing structure. We were in Terminal 4S, and it wasn't until we headed out on the hotel shuttle that we discovered how huge the place really was. Terminal 4S, upper level An exhausted Jon We made a quick pass through customs, took the train to terminal 4, and made the long walk to baggage claim. I figured that my bag wouldn't be there, since we were so close to making the flight. But Jon was there in plenty of time, so we waited around the baggage carousel. And waited, and waited. It takes an hour to 1.5 hours to get bags at Madrid. Slowly they started turning up. We waited for 1.5 hours, and still no bag for Jon. So we all headed to the luggage counter. They had Ben and I's id number on their list of bags that were still in Miami. They told me that it would be on the next morning's flight, and they'd deliver it to our hotel. Luckily we were at that hotel for two nights. They couldn't find Jon's number on their list, but still told him it was in Miami and he'd have it the next night. He wasn't so sure about that. So we found the hotel shuttle, and took off for Novotel, Campo de Naciones. It was a very short drive from the airport. Lou was standing outside, waiting on our arrival, and had a bag of Viennese truffles waiting for me. SHE IS THE AWESOME. I LOVE LOU! (she was my roommate for the trip, and was another that was even more awesome in person) I didn't have anything for her, but I guess it was a good repayment for carrying her stuff in my backpack at the parks all week She had arrived in Spain early, and had already been around the city and the area around the hotel. We dropped off the carry-ons, and headed out to find some lunch, a phone card, and some deodorant/toothpaste since ours was with our lost luggage (though to be fair, they knew where mine was). I had my first experience with speaking Spanish while asking around the gigantic store (like seriously, bigger than walmart) on where to find a phone card for international calls. We finally found the counter, but the lady there was explaining things much too quickly. Luckily Deka, wandered up and spoke fluent Spanish. With a phone card in hand to call home, and a sandwich from a nearby cafe, we were now ready for the trip to begin. Well, after a visit to the hotel pool. OMG, the pool was freezing, but we had like an hour to pass before we could check into our rooms, so we took a dip anyways. At 3pm, all of those that had arrived (many more were supposed to be there already but had flight issues worse than mine) met to head out to Parque de Attraciones Madrid. We were going there again in 2 days, but Robb thought we'd need the extra time there today to get in all the rides. He was right and I was glad I went. Riding the metro to the park. Change at Nuevos Ministerios Lou and I waiting for Robb to get return Metro tickets Walking to the park And more THERE IT IS Once inside, on to the first "credit" of the trip. ABISMO! I was expecting bad things from this ride, hearing how painful G-Force in the UK is, but it was a great ride. I don't like hanging upside down at the start of the ride, but the coaster was intense, and had a great airtime hill. A good surprise. It's a great addition to the park, and a lot of fun. Just brace yourself as you come to a stop on the vertical section, or the lap bar will kill your hip bones. This is Robb's picture, but it's so awesome we all need to see it again The exit conveniently led to Tarantula, a spinning mouse coaster, that had plenty of spinning, and a couple great surprise elements (like a diving turn into a tunnel). Your level of spinning will vary, but we found it did great with an unbalanced weight load from one side to the other. LOL, Jon looks awful in this pic, so I think you should all see it Right next door, they had a unique suspended shooting dark ride. You had to shoot spiders and crystals. It was neat, even if the scoring didn't work so well, I think about 1/5 of the guns didn't register. It also made Lou shriek when one of the spiders jumped out, so bonus points for that. One more adult sized coaster left. Tornado. An Intamin inverted coaster. But wait, what's this in line. And so came the phrase......"I LOVE SPAIN". I have plenty of stalker shots like this from the trip, but I'm not sure I should post them here The coaster was good, not amazing, but good. It's fun, it has decent elements, just no "WOW" moments. It was more fun to see the over-supported loop. I sat Condor out since they make me feel ill. The other highlight of this park was its interesting flat rides. Such as the zeppelin monorail And their Small World knock off (Jungle Cruise knock off, coming on day 2) Count the stereotypes America I guess is symbolized by cheeseburgers and coke And cheerleaders LOL, at least we're not the Netherlands, who are represented by retarded looking farmers Weeee......fun It was interesting, the boat wasn't free floating, but instead attached to a cable in the water that pulled the boat along. Most of the boat-style dark rides in Spain used this ride mechanism. More zeppelins, with the closed Tree of Life type thing in the back The rest of the group tries to get the kiddie coaster credits DENIED Here they are though, a Holidog clone And a Zamperla suspended kiddie coaster The park was really beautiful throughout, even the kids area After another ride on Tarantula, Jon and I decided to head out to Madrid since it was the only full free evening we'd have there. Walking out of the park to the metro station. After getting off at Metro stop Opera We walked from there, past the Palacio Real, Catedral de la Almudena, Plaza de la Villa, and on to Plaza Mayor. Palacio Real Catedral de la Almudena Plaza de la Villa Random street in Madrid And finally, Plaza Mayor Jon and I found a table at one of the restaurants in the Plaza, enjoyed a pitcher of Sangria, and some Spanish cuisine (calamari and boiled ham for me, calamari and croquettes for Jon). After dinner, we wandered around the city (semi-buzzed) for about 40 minutes trying to find a metro stop (we must have passed like 2 without noticing them). We took the 40 min ride back to the hotel, had one drink with those at the bar and then I turned in for the night. First day of the trip down (one hella long 35 hour day). And an early morning coming up. This is when I discovered the trip was not going to involve much sleep. Oh well, more time to have fun. That was rather long, but it was the longest day of the trip. The rest will probably be much shorter. I'm hoping I can do 1 day of the trip each day, so that I don't put this off forever. Next: Day 1, Bullet Train, 105 degree heat, and the rise of the Pink Panthers

Or just use my stealthy camera techniques. Digital camera, look like I'm just holding it to my side. Sounds turned off.

Honestly the language barrier wasn't that big of a deal, though there were a few times that knowing a little came in handy (buying a phone card, getting tickets for the train, etc). No one refused to speak English (like in France), but they were much happier to help when you asked in Spanish and then they'd switch to English to help you out -Kyle "solo un poquito de Espanol" Miller

^Maybe because the itinerary for the add-on is a lot busier and he doesn't have time? You can wait a few more days, I'm sure of it.

^I have a pin I bought in the Madrid airport that I need to take a picture of for you

I can't find the post now to quote, but whoever said they can't wait for a wingwalker to open in the US, and wished Maverick had been a wingwalker. YES YOU CAN, and NO YOU DON'T. It HURT like hell. The ride itself was good and had good airtime. Too bad I was in too much pain to enjoy it. I rode 4 times (2 inside 2 outside), and of those, only 1 was tolerable. If it had been smooth, it might have been a top 25 ride for me. But since I came off with a screaming headache every time, it's bottom 25. I have no desire to ever ride it again. The wingwalker thing is a gimmick, and I hope parks don't buy into it, because it could have been an awesome ride with regular trains (though I'm sure the airtime would have been less pronounced). Of course, others had different opinions, though I would say people either "loved it" or "hated it". There wasn't much middle ground. Glad to be back, but missing everyone terribly. Highlights for me were Tarantula, Bouncy-Bouncy, Dragon Kahn, Hurrakon Condor, Superman, and of course all the amazing people I hung out with.

Waited 2.75 hours for it yesterday. Insane, I know, but I really wanted to get a ride since I had never been on them. It was really neat, and nice and long. I think it's a great ride, and I'll gladly wait in line for it, once the lines die down. I think my threshold for it will be in the 30-45 min range. Hopefully the lines eventually get to that point by fall. The next ride will have to be at night.

Awesome! Less people waiting in line in front of me and James for Hurakon Condor next week at Port Aventura! Yah, I forgot about that one. I don't know, for some reason, I've always skipped over them. They just kind of creep me out (I'm a drop ride wuss). I skipped over all of them in Europe when I went, and also skipped over Pittfall, the one at Great America, and others. Of course, I was always alone at those parks or with another drop ride wuss. I might cave under pressure.

LOL at the people who believe any news source is fair and balanced. I will say this though, go to any federal department, military base, government contractor, etc.., the typical "conservative" strongholds, and see what news station it is. I can guarantee it's not FOX. In fact I know that DoD and DoS offices can only televise CNN for TV news. It's a bit left-biased, but probably the most centrist of the news agencies. OK, /rant I've never been on one of the 2nd gen freefall towers. I don't know if I will anytime soon either.

Son Of Beast Goudrix Predator That's about it.........

It's SFMM, I doubt it. When I came off of Log Jammer bloody, they laughed and said that was odd. Guest relations gave me a free meal to get me out of there, but never even suggested I head to first aid. They're morons.

^I can't wait for Lou's response to this one

BTW, Alton Towers is nowhere near London. Thorpe is near London though. And looking up Uttoxeter, it's only 10 miles from Alton Towers. Uttoxeter is closer to Blackpool than London, so you were half right.

A) This is when calling the park ahead of time to get their suggested route would be helpful. B) If you're only doing a TR for the comments, I think you're totally missing the point.

Sounds like things have changed since I worked there. Very few of the coasters went down because of rain then (and Raptor only did because of all the guest complaints from dirty water dripping from the wheel assembly during rain). Corkscrew had to shut because it would overshoot the brakes, Disaster Transport because the building leaks so badly that the trough would fill with water and cause "shuttles" to not make it through blocks, Wildcat because of the brakes, and Magnum and MF only if it was raining hard enough to cause pain to the riders. It took lightning to shut down Blue Streak, Mean Streak, Iron Dragon, Mine Ride, etc.... Actually, it sounds like ops have changed a lot since I worked there, which is sad, because it was the one thing they used to take great pride in. Very little downtime, and high efficiency.

Honestly, I would hit Magic Mountain on Labor Day instead. Disney traditionally gets huge crowds on the holidays themselves because of the locals. My experience has been that Magic Mountain is the complete opposite (July 4th we had walk on rides all day, same with Memorial Day last year). Ride X or Tatsu first thing at Magic Mountain, then head back to Deja Vu, and work your way around clockwise. If the lines get long, fastLane can be your friend (but only works on some of the rides). As far as food, I tend to eat outside the park at Magic Mountain because of the lack of good options (though Panda Express is my usual standby when I'm forced to eat there). Knott's and Disney have much better food and a much better selection. I haven't been to SeaWorld or Universal enough to comment on their offerings. Drive to Magic Mountain on a weekday will take a long time because of morning rush hour. I would budget 2 hours. Yet another reason to go on Labor Day. Fastpass at Disney is free, read the link above for info. I usually take a backpack to all the parks. The only ride I remember having an issue with leaving it on the platform is X at SFMM.

^Yah, I thought that had always been one of their things. Take all the video and pictures you want.

I loved Villain back in 2000-2001. Crazy airtime, and no pain.

That's a Rock-O-Plane - pretty much the most insane invention ever. You get a lever in your cage that stops it from swinging. If you do it right you can keep yourself upside-down for a long time. The one at Arnolds Park goes on for about ten minutes sometimes. Crazy stuff. I <3 Rock-O-Planes

Oh yah, forgot about Waldameer having a comet. I failz at coaster geekery.

^Last time I was there, Wildcat was still there. And you were working there (though I didn't know you yet)

^^No need for that. I just thought I had been bamboozled all these years. I loved Silver Comet. Great air, great turns, fun all around. Is the mouse any good? Or did you skip it?

I'm confused I thought Crystal Beach was on Lake Erie, and Martin's was between the two lakes.

^^LOL to "having a bad memory". There seems to be a lot of people with bad memories in Washington these days. Having a bad memory is the new pink. -Kyle "I do not recall" Miller