Nrthwnd Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 ^ Um, your punctuation could use a bit of a brush-up too, y'know? Just an observation.
Louise Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 You know, I'd like to go and meet new people as well as ride some great coasters, but you all make it sound like a tiny clique of friends that if you aren't already part of, you'd be left to fend for yourself (buddy-wise). Makes a girl wonder if it's worth it, or if I should just plan my own trip again. I would hate to be considered one of the 'fanboys' you all are openly dissing here, although apparently 'fangirls' are welcome. I know I'm a few pages late, but I think I can relate to this and the other post you made about being a 25 year old single female and therefore I should probably respond. I'd met Robb twice and Elissa once before the trip, but I knew they were gonna be pretty damn busy on the trip and figured I'd just hang out with them as and when I could, but apart from that, I was a single 20 year old female who didn't know anybody. I was actually really pleased that Karen and Nicole were signed up for the trip, as they were "unaccompanied" females also (ie no husband/boyfriend/father with them), so I knew at least I wasn't the only one. However, in the weeks preceding the trip, Nicole and Derek became an item, and I found out that Karen had been on the 2002 Coaster Odyssey trip and therefore knew quite a few people, which put me back into my "only unaccompanied female" niche and worried me slightly. I'm a pretty outgoing person and know I can talk to and make friends with pretty much anybody, so I wasn't too worried, but still, everybody has insecurities and nerves, and I was a little concerned... Anyways. What was funny was, there were probably a dozen people on the trip I'd had a fair amount of online contact with and had spoken to on a regular basis in the months leading up to the trip, yet I barely spent any time with them! Don't get me wrong, I got along fine with them all, and we had a laugh and a joke when we were in the same place at the same time, but inevitably, groups form, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. On the first day, I ended up with a particular group of people, and I spent most of the rest of the trip with those people (by choice), but it was NOT exclusive cliques, people dropped in and out, I still got to spend plenty of time with other people, etc etc. As far as the people go, the trip was nothing like I expected. With two notable exceptions, the people I spent the most time with were people I had had ZERO contact with online, I might have read their introduction posts on the UK board, but I didn't remember them, and I knew nothing about them. Out of those people, I'm still in pretty good contact with at least three, and I expect to stay good friends with a bunch of them for a very long time, hell, a couple of us already have plans to travel together and meet up in the future. Anyway, I have a tendency to be longwinded, but what I'm saying is, don't worry for a second, although little groups are made, all the groups intermingle and get along fine, and if you do one of these trips, chances are you'll make friends for life, I know I made at least a couple. There are some jokes which are in-jokes for everybody on the trip, and each little group had its own little jokes which nobody else will get, but it's all in fun, and as long as you're considerate to other peoples' personal space, nobody will have the slightest issue with you, and you'll have a fantastic time. Everybody looks out for each other. Robb comes over to where I live for work every once in a while and he asked for some honest feedback from me when he was last here (and then he stood me up, but whatever ), and I was honestly wracking my brains trying to think of some bad points to give him. I really can't. If you have any doubts, PLEASE feel free to PM me, if you do a future trip you'll be in the same situation as I was, and I can speak pretty frankly about it all. Just my two cents. *Edited spelling and grammar!
65skylark Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Great post Lou. I know it was in response to someone elses question, but, I think there are others with the same feelings. I will have my wife if I go, and, like you, I am fairly outgoing and like to talk with people, but, I also only know just a handfull of people from this site. After the UK trip there is definately a feelling of being kind of an "outsider" if you weren't there. Even as Robb or Elissa posted (sorry can't remember which one) "people who have been on a TPR trip before will be accepted first" adds to that. I am in no way putting any blame towards anyone for this as I would do the same thing if I were Robb and Elissa. But, anyway, nice to here from someone who was there about this subject.
Louise Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 ^Thanks! Yeah, I was gonna just PM the person who made the posts I responded to, but then figured it might be useful to others so I'd post it publicly. I understand what you mean about Elissa saying that those of us on the UK trip being accepted first, but all that is is a reward to us for being their guinea pigs. Although I know we all expected the trip to be great (they were hardly gonna do something half-assed for God's sake), at the same time, in some ways we had no clue what the hell we were letting ourselves in for, with it being their first trip and all. You guys all have the advantage of all of our little pearls of wisdom. Honestly, if there's any "you're not welcome in our group"/"you're an outsider" stuff on ANY of next year's trips, either within the UK Trippers or with other forum members, I will be SERIOUSLY shocked. As I said in my previous post, I was on my own, didn't really know anybody (although scarily enough a lot of people walked up to me on the first night pointing and saying "Loooouuuuuuu!" - I'm looking at Ted as I say this ), and I was made to feel really welcome by everybody. *Edited to correct appalling spelling and grammatical mistakes!
Hercules Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Thanks a lot for that post Lou. That really made me feel better about the whole thing and I'm definately going to try to make it all work out to try to get my name onto the list for the trip. Up until now, the only person that I know that would be a possibility to make it on the trip that I want to go on is Joe (Parktrips) and I'm sure we wouldn't want a sorry slob like me following him around all over the place. Once again, thanks for the great posts Lou!
OldJJman Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Time for my 2 cents. I've known Robb for about 8-9 years, Elissa & Derek for about 7. All I consider good friends. If you see us in chat, we bash each other relentlessly, just to laugh at each other. I've met Dave on a couple of occaisions, and that was it. Heck, I met Cameron 2 weeks before the trip at Beach Bend! We only knew each other by reputation and pictures on the forum. As was stated earlier, on the UK+ trip, there was a forum set up only for those participants. That's how I got to know even more people. People like Lou, Barry, Nicole etc. You can gain a lot of insight by reading. There were some that never posted. Yes, I had my own group of people that I wanted to hang out with, but it didn't always work out that way. I tend to take a lot of pictures, and sometimes wander off by myself to do just that. I really wanted to hang out more with R&E, but I did spend time with them before and after the official trip. (I even got to squeeze in the Jellikins Coaster at Fantasy Island with Elissa!!) I'm not always the friendliest person in the world, but I will welcome anyone that wants to make a commitment to this kind of trip, because that's what it is, a commitment. After the 2002 ACE European Coaster Odyssey, which I thought was a *great* trip, I always wondered how a trip could be better. Well... OMG! After really enjoying the TPR UK+ trip, the ACE trip seemed like total crap! Almost a waste of time, when you compared the two. The hotels were almost always 100% nicer, cleaner and definitely more condusive to where we'd be travelling next. Food was always readily available and/or not far away from wherever we were. (Gotta love the hot dog eating Swedish women at the 7-11 at midnight in Gothenberg!!!! ) Elissa does an inordinate amount of planning that most of us didn't (And still don't) seem to realize. Add to that the fact that some of the days were stretching the limits of what we could do comfortably, so she would post to the forum a list of possible choices for the *GROUP* to decide on, so that things would work out in the groups' best interest! Something that NO other tour groups would even consider. Be patient. It's a long ways away. Enjoy the ride now. Love it when the rides start. JJ
Louise Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Up until now, the only person that I know that would be a possibility to make it on the trip that I want to go on is Joe (Parktrips) and I'm sure we wouldn't want a sorry slob like me following him around all over the place. More to the point, why the hell would you want to follow around a sorry slob like JOW for the trip?!?! Ewwww!!!! (Love ya Jow! )
downunder Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 I go on tours (other tours not TPR) based on the itinerary first - I want to see and do things. I don't make any assumptions or have any expectations about the kind of people on the tour, and if you meet cool people then that's a bonus. If I wanted to just meet people I have no problem doing that at home rather than on the other side of the world. As long as you go in with a live and let live attitude on tours there shouldn't be a problem. If I get to go on any of the TPR tours it will be primarily because I want to go to the parks and being a foreigner it makes it a lot easier and cheaper to get around on a tour than hiring a car or risking my life on greyhounds. I am reasonably confident that a TPR tour will be a lot of fun too. Just my 2 cents.
65skylark Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Just wanted to add, I TOTALLY understand the UK trip deal. Just want to be sure no one takes it as a complaint on my part And, Lou, at least people know who you are for the most part. The first time I met up with Ted, I was sitting in the bar at the Knott's Hotel with Wally and he was looking at me like "Who the hell is this dude."
bobafett Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 I want to hang out with the guy who wore a DreamTheater shirt on one the trips. Mt husband loves that group and said that anybody who likes DreamTheater must be an intelligent person and knows that they would take care of me on the trip!
Louise Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 ^^ I think just having breasts guarantees you a certain amount of notoriety on a coaster site. Introducing myself to people was kinda fun though, getting the whole "yeah yeah, I know who YOU are" thing. I'm infamous, yay!!
bobafett Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 I just want to visit these parks and go on all the rides that I see posted on this website by people who do trip reports when they go. They make me salivate like Pavlov's dog, getting me nuts by looking at this rides instead of thinking of dinner when I hear the bell ring.HA!
OldJJman Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 ^ The Dreamtheater t-shirt was probably Dave (Meteornotes). I like them, just don't have a t-shirt. JJ
bobafett Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 I think everybody will have a great time on these trips. I just hope I get seat on the bus!
roasted_marshmallow Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 That's another concern... there must be more than 50 people who want to go on the midwest tour, and those on the UK tour get first dibs already... It's going to be hard getting onto any bus at all. And I'm not scared of not making friends, I'm an outgoing person, (smart, sexy, have boobs... I've seen the pictures, I know it was a sausage party in the UK.) The comment was I guess directed at the bugging of the fanboys, who are probably members of this site, probably read this, and probably feel like crap. They may not have social skills and know what personal space is, but they probably have feelings... They spent a lot of money to go on that trip and have now been ostrasized (sp?) on this site. I feel bad for them. (Not that I want fanboys of my own, just that they don't need to be picked on so publicly.) That's all. I know that if I go on one of these trips (if I can get on a bus!) I wouldn't want to be made fun of on the forum when I got back. Anyways, I'm still excited about the possibility of going as I think it would be a great time, and it appears that you could use more women on the bus.
Carnage Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 That's another concern... there must be more than 50 people who want to go on the midwest tour, and those on the UK tour get first dibs already... It's going to be hard getting onto any bus at all. I wouldn't worry about that. Of the 53 of us very few of us would be able to do all 3 trips. Some won't be able to do any trips. So really don't expect all 50 to snag all the spaces on any of these trips. And actually the midwest I'd guess will have the smallest UK turnout, just because alot of us have already gone to most of these parks. I actually did a midwest trip last yera, so really aren't considering this one. Spain is the only trip I can look at.
ParkTrips Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Up until now, the only person that I know that would be a possibility to make it on the trip that I want to go on is Joe (Parktrips) and I'm sure we wouldn't want a sorry slob like me following him around all over the place. hey I don't care! you're one of the cool ones! More to the point, why the hell would you want to follow around a sorry slob like JOW for the trip?!?! Ewwww!!!! awwwww you so sweet! probably read this, and probably feel like crap. eh, I guess a lot of us are just heartless or something, because I dont feel bad about things people can control themselves. =\
larrygator Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Something I forgot to post before. Someone asked what goes on at the hotels at night. Some people stayed up and drank in the bar catching up on World Cup action (or WWE pay per views), some congregate in rooms, some enjoyed a dinner at a restaurant. The one constant was large groups of people sitting around talking about the day, sharing pictures and videos. And then there is Lou who was working overtime to fund her trip. LOL. For the record that is completely sarcastic. Lou is a very respectable women who is very funny and self-effacing and doesn't mind being the butt everybody's jokes, but some people just don't get her humor. You might not realize this, but every night Robb was constantly borrowing pictures and clips from others and downloading it to his laptop so that the time consuming TRs could be posted as soon as Robb had laptop access. And when we had Internet access, we were reading what the rest of you were saying about our trip in the UK Trip thread. Especially Jew and ParkTrips entertaining posts wishing us ill will.
Louise Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 And then there is Lou who was working overtime to fund her trip. LOL. For the record that is completely sarcastic. Lou is a very respectable women who is very funny and self-effacing and doesn't mind being the butt everybody's jokes, but some people just don't get her humor. Thanks for that Larry. You do realise that you're shattering peoples' dreams here though, I think Robb was hoping some dirty old guys would sign up for Spain in the hope I'm as much of a whore as he tries to make out. Seriously, thanks. And when we had Internet access, we were reading what the rest of you were saying about our trip in the UK Trip thread. Especially Jew and ParkTrips entertaining posts wishing us ill will. Yup, Robb and Elissa worked damn hard throughout the trip, both with the organisational stuff, and doing updates while we were there. That's why a few people got so defensive when other forum members were saying "I want the next update NOW!", it's not like they weren't trying, it's just that there are only 24 hours in a day! Oh, and Jow's post containing all the bus crash pictures is still joint first in my list of best TPR posts EVER, that was hysterical. For the record Jow, there were half a dozen of us sat around a laptop in the bar at Blackpool laughing over that for at least five minutes.
Hercules Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 ^^ I think just having breasts guarantees you a certain amount of notoriety on a coaster site. Introducing myself to people was kinda fun though, getting the whole "yeah yeah, I know who YOU are" thing. I'm infamous, yay!! I guess I need to go get those implants that I've always wanted....
ParkTrips Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Loo -- I think the registration form should include a "referred by" field, where I am totally writing you in to help you earn a commission!!
larrygator Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 I know I'm shattering some guy's dreams, but it is all part of the big plan. Load up a TPR trip with Casey fangirls and maybe I can get some scraps. Even Danny Bonaduce got David Cassidy's scraps. Come On, Get Happy!
Hercules Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Come on Larry, you know you are no Danny Bonaduce
okinawaboy11 Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Japan - Fly In/Out of Narita AirportFly Out Friday Aug 31 Fly Back Monday Sept 17 Parks Included: Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Fuji Q, Space World, Universal Studios Osaka, Mitsui Greenland, Expoland, Kijima, Parque Espana, LaQua, and LOTS MORE! This trip will be *16* park days total and you'll get to see a LOT of Japan! I might be there that time! But I would only be able to hit a few parks with ya'll. :-/ I'll be there on a vacation sort of. But I have to get back by the begining of sept, like the 3rd, for school :-/. If ya'll made Nagashima or Fuji-Q first then I would most def be able to meet up with ya'll. OR if I go in July I'll just send ya'll a heads up!
larrygator Posted August 5, 2006 Posted August 5, 2006 Come on Larry, you know you are no Danny Bonaduce That's OK, Casey is no David Cassidy, either. He's more like Wilt "10,000" Chamberlain
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