Photo TR: Derek goes to Germany

[CaseyFish]

^Those boob outfits are awesome, we should all go and dress like they did in national lampoons european vacation.....

 

And yes Nicole it is me, with the whole thing of me becoming Caseyfish in the comics, Robb changed my name in the chat room one night and it stuck, so I just kept it:) Just to prove it's me,

 

Casey"I love my fangirls in German BOOB outfits"Childers

 

PS I know there not called that, please no one get mad at me:)

[dubaidave]

^

Is Derek going on the Japan trip?

 

Is was thinking of l;eading a party of interested people round the drinking wholes of Tokyo, now I`m not sure if Hhe could cope.

lol

 

Best thread ever.

 

[niiicolaaah]

^^Casey.... lol... just... lol.

 

^Please don't encourage him. I don't want him to die in Japan. It would suck having to get his body back from all the way over there.

[SharkTums]

Yup Derek will be on the trip...but before any of you drink we need to go get footage at the fishing restaurant!!!!

 

Beer in the vending machines!!!!

[DerekRx]

Hey everyone, I made it home safely. Andy, thanks for posting those pictures, after the 3rd mug, I really can't remember what happened, how I got back to the hotel, or anything! Somehow I made it back though, and when I got there, my jacket and stuff was already there for me!

 

As for why the beer hit me so hard, its probably the fact that besides some bread for Breakfast at Phantasialand, I hadn't eaten anything all day. Big mistake, but from what I can remember up until that 3rd mug, Oktoberfest was just simply awesome, despite the rain.

 

4 Mugs, 4 hours, 125lbs....today my liver is in pain.

 

Oktoberfest pictures will be up by the weeks end, but for now you can enjoy these Phantasialand ones.

[DerekRx]

If you're getting here from the main page, you can also find non-coaster siteseeing in Frankfurt on page 1, as well as more Phantasialand on pages 10 and 11, and all the Oktoberfest goodies can be found on page 11 as well.

 

Phantasialand was simply awesome. With such elaborate theming, uniqueness to all the rides, and a pretty cool hotel, its definitely my kind of park and I really am looking forward to returning there in a few years. Onto the pictures which cannot do the park justice. First, getting to the park.

At dusk, torches came on and the place looked pretty cool

As well as some Slice by Slice, teriyakied beef

At one of the hotel restaurants I tried the Crispy Experience, lobster soup

Cool, glass bottles of Lift apple soda!

The hotel even has a pool, both indoor and outdoor

And Casey, save up your cash for the next TPR trip there, you'll be able to enjoy the shower

The sink ruled!

The bathroom was pretty posh too

There's some coasters in there, and Epcot!

The view of the park from my window

My single room was pretty elaborately themed and spacious, and the bed was a lot bigger than expected

and finally, here we are at Hotel PhantASIA

From Koln I took another train to Bruhl. Here's its Schloss

Mmmmm, brewery

If Koln wants to put a boring coaster up there, I know of one

OMG, there it is! The real reason I came to Germany. Maybe I should skip Phantasialand and just spend 2 days at the Dom

Look, its the real Rhine, not that imposter in Frankfurt! (and we didn't go over the river like 19 times like last time!)

Look at me, I'm having fun

From Frankfurt I took an ICE train to Koln

[DerekRx]

Now for some park photos.

And new for 2007 will be another fun ride, Talocan!

Hey, look Nicole, they have one of those rides that go in that motion

As you can tell, its a really well kept park

It didn't make me nautious! =P

The main reason Elissa wants to go back to the park, spinny raft ride!

And then you see some dude fighting a dragon

And then you end up in Arabia

The storyline is goofy. You get eaten by this dragon thing

ooooh, Schwarzkopf dark ride that is also a Jeff Johnson credit!

If you're into that sort of thing, the park has one of those living statue shows to watch from time to time

Round and round we go

I was fine though, because Fear was really awesome with some pretty unique things

What a Winja is, I do not know. But this sign sadly told me I would be missing out on one credit this trip

Finally I found Wuze Town, home of Winjas!

Temple of the Night Hawk was one seriously screwed up indoor coaster. Random music, a laser bird, and a 3rd lift that wasn't really needed.

The park contains a double decker steam powered carousel that used to operate in Munich at Oktoberfest

This cool looking pagoda houses a Vekoma Haunted Swing, themed to a wedding??? The mortal kombatish preshow was pretty entertaining though

Watersplash!

The ride is like 20 helices all thrown together around a mountain, a fort, and some other random old west theming

Probably Vekoma's best coaster ever, and the best mine train outside of Disney

Behold, the ride that will allegedly grope and fondle you if you're a boy under the age of 10

[DerekRx]

and now for the random weird darkride segment:

See, I told you it was an Intamin froghopper

Once again, the queue is really nicely themed, and even had dudes jumping out at you

Moving on, we get to Mystery Castle, home of an Intamin froghopper

And then some other random giant with heads in his stomach finishes off the ride. WTF?!

Ahhhh!!! He's going to follow me home

And of course, hitchhiking Asian ghosts

And there's a chick with 3 heads and huge hands??

Now the ghosts and the Asians are mingling together

and Pirates of the Caribbean?? With a drunk monk??

and then there's Aligator wrestling???

and I have no idea whats going on

and then more dead people

And then another some dude slaying a dragon scene

and then the next scene is of dead people

First you see some giant Asian Caseyfish

So here's Geister Riksha, some Asian themed haunted mansion

[DerekRx]

Oh yeah, and if you didn't know, this year Phantasialand added Black Mamba to its Africa section of the park. The ride was really trenched out, much like Nemesis, making it pretty cool. Sadly, the ride wasn't nearly as forceful as Nemesis or Batman, but its unique layout, use of tunnels, trenches, and extensive theming make for a really cool coaster. Its better than the newer B&Ms like Talon, Great Bear, and Silver Bullet, probably up there with Top Gun at Carowinds.

While not as intense as Nemesis, it still had some forces, with a really cool distorting layout and excellent theming. Go. Ride it!

Especially with the great foot choppers!

After this flatspin it was pretty much just a whole lotta turns and tunnels, but still fun

So much theming in the queue that there was actually real vegetables growing in the gardens!

Followed by a flat spin

And this waterfall turnaround was very much a reminder of Nemesis

Some nice whipping action in the roll

More trenches, tunnels, and a zero G roll

Nowhere else will you ever get a shot of the top of the loop from inside the loop!!

Oh My God!

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. But wait....does the walkway actually go THRU the loop!?!?

Can't get enough of that vertical loop

From here you can see not only my signature shot, but also some of the trenchyness

Told ya!

Soon the coaster will go thru the loop

The coaster is pretty conceiled, but there's some good spots for shots

Down the first drop (notice there's no nets here!)

Hey look, its other members of BACT!

Up the lift goes the train

The station is themed to a cave, with sound effects like bats and stuff. Oh, there's also a giant snake splitting each row

New for 2006, Black Mamba, the biting ride

[dandaman]

Holy schnikes!

 

Black Mamba looks freaking amazing!

 

Oh, and glad you had your walkway loop penetration, too

[pvcoasterguy]

Wow... that park looks really nice.

 

From the Winjas to the nicely themed rides to Black Mamba... everything looks so well-kept and enjoyable.

[DarkStitch626]

Derek in reguards to your passing out situation...this is what it reminds me of.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzuXVC9hFFg this is rated G so no big deal. Its from Family Guy "Ladies and Gentleman the beer room"

[Meteornotes]

Great photos. Those dark rides at Phantasialand were indeed bizarre. Mary and I had a really good time making up a story for that ghost one. Plus it had alligator ninjas, which is just an awesome idea all on its own.

 

dt

[DarkStitch626]

Black Mamba looks simply put amazing..the inversions and the incline immulmen, that just looks great how close to the ground it gets.. Thats something you won't see in California..haha

[JimmyBo]

That's a nice looking shirt you wore to the park. Supporting Pizza Port...woot woot.

So whats the deal with passing out derek? Black Mamba just looks insane with all the tunnels and foot choppers...good stuff and glad to see you made it back.

[CaseyFish]

Great Report Derek!!! Another shower pic....sweet....and it had one of those heads that you can take off of the hook, bonus points. Not only is it tall enough but I can make it go higher if need be....and a Caseyfish sighting:) Glad you made it home okay, great pics can't wait to see more.

 

Casey"Always good to know where Casey approved showers are located"Childers

[rollermonkey]

Wow, Phantasialand always looks fantastic, but now that Black Mamba is 'growing in' some, it really looks fantastic!

 

Tomato plants inside the coaster? WTF?

 

Thanks, Derek, now I have to figure out how I'm going to get to Germany again ASAP!

[MARK]

Yeah, the trees behind the first flat spin are really covering up that goofy looking green fence behind the ride. Makes it look more jungle-like.

[socalMAN123]

No River Quest? Anyways, nice pics and Black Mamba looks really cool!

---Brent

[PHL-Freak]

I'm not able to remember a downtime of one of the Winjas! You weren't lucky.

 

But what amazed me most, WTF?! In Geister Riksha, there were FOUR alligators wrestling? Are you really sure?

Since January or something like that, the forth alligator wasn't there all the time.

 

Now, I can't wait anymore to get to Phantasialand on saturday. I'll enjoy it

[gregleg]

^^^^Yes, I believe it. Greg is a trustworthy fellow. Did you guys find some gluten-free beer for him?

 

Nope, Greg stayed quite sober during Oktoberfest.

 

Still a good time, though, and we got Derek back to his room safe and sound (I'm sure there's posts to that regard, I haven't gotten through the entire thread yet, posting from the lobby at our Europa Park hotel...)

[gregleg]

he just had to drink something called "Spezi", that`s a mix between Coke and Lemonade - and it didn`t make him drunken

 

No, but it actually was quite good. Normally not something a diabetic would be drinking, but with the activity levels of this trip I've been consuming a lot more sugar than I normally would, so that wasn't a problem at all (during park trips I take less insulin AND eat more sugar, and maintain a fairly level blood sugar with that combination, so I'm not arguing. Even my endo approves )

 

so he was the only guy to show all the others the way to the hotel...!

 

Oh, THAT was an adventure, to be sure! I was the sober one, but I hadn't really been paying attention during the walk over, so I had only a vague idea where the hotel was! We found our way back, though...

 

Next time I hope everyone is staying until the end!

 

Well, I sure am! We didn't get nearly enough RIDE time in for my tastes (We DID go back for a few hours the next day, BTW, so we still got some more rides in, and I picked up some awesome snacks for our train rides)

 

 

Many many thanks to Captain and his friends for being such great hosts!

[DerekRx]

Just when you thought I couldn't have any more photos from Phantasialand, I went back on Monday for more! This time I was finally joined by the rest of the BACTers who were doing the original FULL Okcoasterfest, including Movie Park, Schloss Beck, Skyline Park, Europa, Holiday, and Prater in addition to what I did.

And after Casa Magnetica, my kokosnuss was still good to eat!

While this dude plays pool. (They picked me to do it, but I had no idea what they were saying. I would have ended up hitting the chick with the pool stick or something)

And in this room, this volunteer does her best Smooth Criminal impression

Inside there's not much more than 2 scenes, in this one you'll find water flowing uphill

"We're good to go!"

Since I can't savor my kokosnuss in the tilt house, I'll save it for later

Time to go to Casa Magnetica, their tilt house, which only does a few shows a day

I'm kookoo for kokosnuss

Dude, best thing about this place! Fresh coconut!

They're already setting up for their winter event, stringing up lights everywhere

Coming Summer of '07, BrokeBACT Mountain

...all the while, only the Native American is actually mining stuff!

...and lighting things on fire while hanging out with a TPR donkey...

...and cock fighting...

In the silver mine, you'll find Mexicans drinking...

I'm excited for another darkride, Dave just wants me to stop taking pictures so he can make out with Janna

Next up, another dark ride, the Silbermine (Silver Mine)

Here's the team enjoying the monorail that Joe won't ride

Joe, you see this awesome Aztec temple type building....its the station for the Schwarzkopf Monorail!

Check it out, its Epcot Europe, or Eurocot, or Epcope or something

Next up, a ride on the old double decker carousel

Dave and Janna are excited to be on the spinny raft ride, but they really wished Elissa was there with them

The rest of the team enjoyed the Schwarzkopf darkride that Joe hasn't been on

With hardly any school kids in the park today, no one wanted to play with the Octowusy

Also on the Tour was a scene from The Birds. Kinda creepy the way they attacked the boat too!

Why, waterskiing Rosie O'Donnell, that's what!

As was Tarzan and his monkey and elephant friend. What was so amusing to them??

Frankenstein and his monster were also on the Hollywood tour today

"Old and stupid"

Fisherman guy is falling in the water, that can only mean one thing....

Your guide for today is none other than Alfred Hitchcock. He's seen better days though!

The Hollywood Tour, another 1980s dark ride

It was cool that they were dueling them today too

Totally 2 different layouts, each with unique things, but I think I like Fear better, with its 90 degree turn and all

This here means one possible thing....Winjas Force is opened today! Score, both credits after all!

Who needs to go to Berlin when its right at Phantasialand

I found this random creepy snake charmer statue in the not yet fully completed walkway between Black Mamba's 2 halves

First Southport Turtles, now Black Mamba turtles. Save them!!

The group started off the day with a ride on Colorado Adventure since Black Mamba didn't open until 10am. They also enjoyed the mine train

[DerekRx]

More photos!

With the flash off at night

A few of the park at night, even though they're never opened in the summer past 6pm

Finally, at the end of the night we kicked back a few up in the Dragon Bar on top of the hotel. Sadly, no German chicks were here looking for Joey this time. In fact, no one was here besides us!

The indoor section of the pool. There's like a break in the wall if you want to swim outside too

This hotel even has side boob and butt!

My meal at the all you can eat Asian buffet!

The pool, restaurant, and spa from my room

One final view of the park from my hotel room

Scariest thing about Black Mamba, this he-she, shim, heher thing

Here I am hanging out with the mystery mutt guy mascot thing

From the park entrance, you can see a bit of Black Mamba doing its waterfall turn. I think they hope to eventually connect the front of the park to Africa around here

Since I'm so awesome, they knighted me at Mystery Castle

I went with cinnamon sugar. And I totally balsamic chickened this thing in like 30 seconds

No Gran Marnier here, only banana, nutella, or cinnamon sugar

2nd best thing about this park, CREPES!

The inside of Feng Ju Palace, the haunted swing themed to a wedding (seriously!)

Random scenery in the Asia section

Here's River Quest, one freaking awesome rapids ride. Elevator lift, whirlpool, 3 levels and 3 drops = good stuff!

The two log flumes are right next to each other, but both with a different layout, and lots of interaction with Colorado Adventure. Sadly, they only had 1 side opened at a time that day

Here's the actual entrance plaza for the park, all European themed and stuff.

[DerekRx]

Finally, the thing you've all been waiting for, the reason I wanted to get back to Germany so badly....

 

 

 

The Koln Cathedral!!

 

The shuttle driver from the hotel got us to the train station so early we managed to get an earlier train to Koln. Therefore, we had like 50 minutes to chill, and since the Dom was right outside the main train station, we figured "YOU DARN WELL KNOW WE'RE GOING HERE FOR LIKE 49 OF THOSE 50 MINUTES!!"

Good-bye real Rhine River. See you in a few years! Tomorrow's update....Oktoberfest!

Greg and I relax for our 4.5 hour journey to Munich

The engineer dude gets everything situated for our journey

Tim reserved us our own private car, and it was actually the front of the train for about half of the journey

And let's hop an ICE train to Munich

Grab a Paulaner for the road

"THIS is more like it!"

"This isn't what I came here for"

It was nicer looking inside than the one in Frankfurt, but even still, it took like a minute to see

Oh yeah, and the Cathedral was here too

Derek and Dom beer, now this is cool!

There it is, in the distance. I knew it was close to the train station since I wandered thru the station last time we were there instead of going into the church