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Last time I went to Thorpe Pak was in 2010 and it was a hot summers day and everything was a walk on. It's a long drive for us, (200+ miles) so it takes a bit of planning and co-ordination with others so we don't get to go as often as we'd like, Towers is much closer and is usually easier to sync up with others since it's you only need a day and don't have to mess around with accommodations etc.. This time it wasn't as sunny but as a consolation price there were two new credits to collect, Swarm (actually my first wing coaster, too!) and Hyperia. Gutted that the Slammer is no more, I really enjoyed that as a flat ride it was probably my favourite flat there, I'd say my new favourite is probably Rush and it was operating on a better cycle than last time, I believe last time it was 3 full swings and this time it was 5 (I counted). I heard that they are removing the remnants of Slammer in the closed season and it's intriguing thinking what will replace it with it being close to Hyperia and if it will be tied in to the Find Your Fearless [loose] theme. We did Swarm first as Hyperia and a few others were not open till around 11.30am. This was a new credit for me and my first wing coaster. I gotta say, I really enjoyed it. Always thought the wing over drop looked crazy on and off ride when I've watched POV's and was excited to try it out and see how it would feel and I loved it, it offers a great moment of hangtime and is a great build up of anticipation for the start of the ride, kind of like Oblivion but with an actual layout after it and not just a brake run after the drop (Don't get me wrong though, I still love Blivvy) Then onto Stealth, my previous TP #1. It still rides great considering its age (only 4y between it and Colossus), some people say it has a wobble/rattle now but idk, I didn't really feel it. Brilliant, punchy, intense hydraulic launch and airtime over the top hat and then ejector at the end since you slam into that airtime hill before the brakes. If that cup of coffee you just had didn't wake you up, Stealth certainly does the trick. Onto Rush since it's there anyway, barely a 5 minute queue we were on the next one and when we were just about to board noticed the app said Hyperia had opened so after our nice ride on Rush we headed over to Fearless Valley. The area looks great, I know people have said there is a lack of theming or whatever but IMO it doesn't take away from the area and the atmosphere was great. The ride is imposing and very fun to watch dispatching and going around the layout. The app was showing 60 minutes but we queued for single rider (just the two of us but we didn't mind riding separately) but the queue moved very slowly, I'm not sure if there was just a lot of groups of 2's/4's riding or it was how it was being batched etc but it took around 60 minutes anyways idk if it might have actually been quicker to just join the main queue with never having ridden it before didn't have any way to gauge the main queue to know how long it would take from any given point. There was only one member of staff at the merge point and I heard that could make it slower since they can get overwhelmed since 4 queues merge at that point, idk though. First ride on Hyperia I ended up in row 7 on the inside and my sister was in row 5 on the outside. The ride was amazing, I didn't even know what to expect but whatever I was expecting it exceeded it. Wow, what a machine. After just one ride the whole thing was just a blur, like some of the elements you don't even remember taking them you're trying to think how it felt but it's just all so fast and all you know is that it felt awesome. Since we're talking about Hyperia I'll just add my thoughts on our second ride here too. We rode again at around 3.45pm, the queue was showing as 45 minutes so we just decided to get in the main queue since it would probs be our last ride of the day and didn't know if the single rider line would be moving slow again so we just decided we'd do it together this time. We got row 3, I sat on the outside this time which makes the outer bank after dispatch way more fun! Wanted to try and concentrate here for all the elements to try and recall afterwards lol, hands up for the first drop and absolutely ejected out of your seat all the way down, it's SUCH a good first drop. Probably the best, for me. The outer bank element that rolls over into an inverted drop as well, between that and the first drop are my 2 favourite elements. Loved the Stall too, sooo much hangtime. New UK #1 right there. (Sorry, Nemmy) In between those two rides on Hyperia we did SAW and Colossus - I had read about people saying these two (particularly SAW) were very rough and since when I went in 2010 SAW was only 1 year old so I couldn't relate, it wasn't rough then lol, I thought people were overreacting about Colossus too I never thought it was that bad in 2010 but I gotta say, I totally get that now, it's not aged well; let's put it that way. It could do with some new trains, the ones that SIK uses would be great. I heard it might be getting some track work done, idk about that though. After those two we jumped on Nemesis Inferno, which was great (as B&M inverts usually are!) Was an amazing day, and even a blowout on the Motorway on the way home the next day it was still totally worth it. Already wanting to go back again and lap Hyperia. It definitely won't be 10+ years till my next visit and thinking of staying on site next time and doing 2 days.

so.. when I heard that TPR was going to doing a UK trip in 2024, and that they were going to a park that I had dreamed about ever setting foot in for almost 40 years? yeah, I quickly inquired and was able to join them on the trip. I decided to be comfortable - my spouse passing really made me into a bit bougie/enjoy while you can kind of person. . so I not only booked flights, but paid for upgrades. United was "kind" enough to upgrade me for the 40 minute flight from Austin to Houston (which ended up being so bumpy there was no drink service anyways), but due to an error on their part? yep, didn't upgrade me for the longer, 9 hour flight, and had me in Economy. the wonderful desk agent in Austin, tried for almost an hour to "fix" the longer flight, but eventually told me there was nothing they could do and that I should check in at the gate in Houston and see if they worked it out. But offered me a bunch of drink vounchers for the longer flight and told me to go relax in the United lounge until my flight in about an hour. don't think it will surprise you to hear that the United lounge wouldn't let me in, as I was only upgraded on the Domestic portion of my flight, but not the International. . therefore I didn't qualify to go in. . . but I could pay $56 for a day pass? Yeah.. no. Instead I gave the name of the agent who had been helping me and they called down to her (turns out she's a supervisor) and she told them let me in. . . .so I did get a nice snack while waiting for my plane to leave. I was determined to stay in a positive mood, and not let glitches like this deter me - after all, at the end of the flights, I'd be in London. But oh yes, I'll deal with United when I get back after. not worth $56 to pay to get in, so glad that I didn't have to. but a nice snack. my "surprised" face at the gate in Houston, upon being told that nope, they didn't have an upgrade for me. I was number 12, and they had filled upgrades 1-11 and had no more seats in Premium Plus. shocking, I know! oh well. .I had figured out I'd not be getting the upgrade they had charged me for. BUT. . I was glad I had stayed positive, as it turned out the center seat was empty (despite it being a full plane), so my neighbor in the window seat and I had lots of room to spread out on the longer flight. So it all worked out. I ended up watching an Anime movie about a otherworldly "keymaster" that turns into a chair. ("Suzume" which I highly recommend. . I quite enjoyed it), and Disney's "Wish" - which I liked so much, I watched it twice. Sunrise from the plane as we were in transit. here's what I had for a meal on the flight. that Milk cookie was so sweet I really didn't care for it and spit most of it out. The Steward seemed surprised and said most like it. but it was edible and decent (I wasn't all that hungry anyways) I did make use of some of my Drink Coupons tho. . . the Bloody Mary hit just right Finally landing in Heathrow, and getting thru Customs was a breeze. I had decided to be a little bougie, and had hired a car - that picked me up at the Customs area with a little sign. LOL. . I felt so important turned out to be an excellent choice, as there were protests all over London - seems to be something that happens pretty much every Saturday - and the drive took over 2 hours to get to my Hotel. but since I had paid a flat rate for the driver, he took the way scenic way, to avoid many closed off streets, and I ended up seeing many sights I might have not even gotten a chance to see. from the car, yes, but still. . very cool to see and now I could say that I saw them. Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliment London Eye, Parliment, Big Ben. .from the other side. I think that's the shard in the back on the right? eventually tho, I finally made it to the hotel, and only wanted a hot shower. but turned out they were having issues with the keys (creating them). . . so they moved some things around and put me in this room (which was fine, I just wanted to sleep there anyways for 2 nights before the TPR trip started). I went back down to the front desk and talked to the Concierge. i was really interested in seeing a show in the West End (I was staying at the Doubletree West End - and huge shout out to Elissa for helping me decide to book a room there) my "wish list" show had been "Spirited Away". . but tickets were quite expensive, and I didn't want to pre-purchase just in case of delayed flights or some other issue. So had been leaving it up to the universe. The Concierge got hold of the box office, and via some miracle, there was ONE open seat available. In row 7, near center stage! They told me they would be happy to put it on hold for me, and I could pick it up at the on call one hour before the performance. i was stoked, and tipped the Concierge well for the help, and then got walking directions to the British Museum (another reason I had chosen this hotel was the proximity to that). and off I went. (I had gotten a free ticket online, tho I was well over an hour past my ticketed time, due to the issues getting to the hotel. . but I wasn't too concerned, as I had been told I could just go around to the backside of the museum and get in over there even without a timed ticket). it was a lovely walk, and the weather was just cool enough that I was having a grand time. I mean. . as a first time visitor to London, one HAS to, right? it's a gorgeous, and HUGE, museum. and was absolutely packed with schoolkids - which I guess is a good thing? (tho I ended up chatting with multiple security guards - chatting or perhaps flirting? I'm not really sure - they kept commenting on my Katya shirt and boots). even tho it was past my ticket time, I was told to get in the line and just go in with the other timed ticket people. So got to go in the front of the museum. I spent just about 4 hours here. . by no means did I even come close to seeing everything. But was able to hit up every area that I was interested in. unfortunately "the Wave" the famous Japanese silkscreen, was not on display at the moment - having been taken down for some restoration work. . but there was plenty of other things to see (and photograph) yeah yeah. . .juvenile humor.. but it was funny to me. a few purchases later (mostly magnets) and I headed back to the hotel to change up a bit - to get a little fancier for the theater some fresh walking directions, and I headed out (exhausted, but determined) to go see "Spirited Away" the theater it's playing in is one of the oldest, and the staff told me is the largest, in the West End: the London Coliseum. ahhhhh. . THIS is why the show was nearly sold out. the actress playing Yubaba/Zeniba? (Mari Natsuki) That's the actress who voiced the part in the original Anime! I was VERY lucky to get a ticket. the show had only been playing in London for a couple of weeks and the gift shop folks were freaking out, as it still had to run thru the end of August - and they were sold out of almost everything. they had a few T-shirts (in smaller sizes), and some keychains. . .but most of the merch had sold right away and they desperately were trying to find a way to restock (I spoke with them before the show started, and they were expressing how surprised everyone was at how well the show was doing). hopefully that's a good sign, and we'll see the show here in the States? It sticks VERY close to the film - tho there's a new song and set piece added in act II to pad it a little bit. The puppet work on the characters is super impressive. . I loved it, particularly when Haku flies out thru and above the audience to end Act I. anyways. . . I bought a couple of shirts that are a little too small for me, but will hang in the closet as souvenirs. . .and enjoyed the specialty Martini the theater truly is GORGEOUS. (pics taken when they opened the doors. NO photography during the performance. . I think they want to keep the puppets "hidden". . which is strange when two full versions of the show are avail. on Max to watch, so you could see the puppets anyways.). they relaxed the rule during curtain call. .so that's how I got that pic. the whole show is in Japanese, with English translations flashed above, and to the sides of the stage. after the show, I had totally forgotten it was Saturday night. (I was exhausted, and was lucky to have kept my eyes open for the whole show. . LOL). . . but seemed like most of the West End shows ended around the same time, and everyone poured out into the streets, and it was like a big, festive, party going on out here. this was my back-up show, if I had been unable to score a ticket to "Spirited Away".. just for Tom Holland. Ian McKellan was also headlining a show. . but he had just fallen off the stage a couple of days before my arrival, so his part was being played by an understudy. So I didn't even look at tickets for that. I was focused on my wish list one I wandered among the crowds, enjoying some pastry and the art installations on some streets. then gave in, exhausted, and hired a pedi-cab to get me back to the hotel, where I went up to my room and promptly crashed. I had to get up fairly early tomorrow for a full day at Tower of London. so a quick shower, and off to bed. but hey, I was in London! (the two Spirited Away shirts I got. . . the XL "might' fit. . . but the other one for sure wont)