My Ongoing Spain PTR

[Homer]

Awesome TR, Kyle! Can't wait to see the rest of Spain!

[cfc]

Very cool--looks like KT is having an awesome time.

[Wishmaster]

The 2nd film however was freakin bizarre. It was some "conservation" 4-D movie, that barely had any 3-d, the effects came off as "trying to hard", and the panda at the end uttering "help" was just pointless. Everyone just kind of stared at each other with a "WTF?" when it was over.

The film was made as a joint project from the Efteling and WWF.

[Shockwave]

Great photos Kyle. Looks like you had a hell of a time! Can't wait for more.

[alexinla]

Great Tr so far, only complain: Not enough shirtless guys!

[thefitness]

Awesome pictures!

 

The second video was a "Save Our Planet" type film?

[RaptorBoyASU]

The 2nd film however was freakin bizarre. It was some "conservation" 4-D movie, that barely had any 3-d, the effects came off as "trying to hard", and the panda at the end uttering "help" was just pointless. Everyone just kind of stared at each other with a "WTF?" when it was over.

The film was made as a joint project from the Efteling and WWF.

 

Cool, I figured someone would know more. It had good music, I just thought the concept and the 4-d was a bit weak.

[cfc]

The 2nd film however was freakin bizarre. It was some "conservation" 4-D movie, that barely had any 3-d, the effects came off as "trying to hard", and the panda at the end uttering "help" was just pointless. Everyone just kind of stared at each other with a "WTF?" when it was over.

The film was made as a joint project from the Efteling and WWF.

 

Sounds like the 3D flick at Liseberg. Did each scene end with some critter's habitat being destroyed through the fiendish machinations of man?

[SteveC]

^correct - you have seen it previously Chuck.

[TPDave]

the UK add on people said it was the same film...

 

 

Great TR's by the way Kyle, I love hectors face in the Bull sandwitch

[redfoot12]

This report is really making me wish I had been able to obtain the funds for the Midwest Trip. Oh well. Europe next year?

 

At the risk of being labeled a jerk, I've been wondering this for the past two weeks. Is Ed a guy or a girl?

[Wishmaster]

Sounds like the 3D flick at Liseberg.

Yep, and Europa Park and Parque de attractiones Madrid have it too.

 

The film is called Pandavision. So if you see that name somewhere, run away as fast as you can.

[Wes]

At the risk of being labeled a jerk, I've been wondering this for the past two weeks. Is Ed a guy or a girl?

 

LOL!!! Ed's a male.

[larrygator]

^But we did run into many women on the trip that had a strong resemblence to ED with breasts.

[cfc]

Sounds like the 3D flick at Liseberg.

Yep, and Europa Park and Parque de attractiones Madrid have it too.

 

The film is called Pandavision. So if you see that name somewhere, run away as fast as you can.

 

Yeah, we had to ride up a big-ass escalator to see that freakin' flick at Liseberg. Sitting through it actually makes you want to denude a rainforest.

[redfoot12]

^But we did run into many women on the trip that had a strong resemblence to ED with breasts.

 

Hmmm.

I totally thought he was hot until I started thinking to myself that he might be a dude. Man--I need to get some.

[coaster05]

^Wow that takes creepy to a new level.

 

Great trip report. I love looking back at all the things we just did as I sit at home working on landscaping..

[redfoot12]

I do my best.

[RaptorBoyASU]

as I sit at home working on landscaping..

 

DIE!

 

God, I'm over being at work. It was so hard to come back after the trip. At least it's Friday.

[BeemerBoy]

^But we did run into many women on the trip that had a strong resemblence to ED with breasts.

 

Hmmm.

I totally thought he was hot until I started thinking to myself that he might be a dude. Man--I need to get some.

 

^Wow that takes creepy to a new level.

 

Well, I guess you can say that it takes some real cohones to admit on the internet that you were sizing up a dude you thought was a chick. I mean, I think.

Maybe the next update will reveal more Ed for him. Where is that update anyway?

[redfoot12]

I'm actually slightly repulsed by Ed now.

[RaptorBoyASU]

^^Here it is

 

Day 2: Parque de Atracciones Madrid and Parque de Atracciones Zaragoza (aka Bouncy-Bouncy park)

 

The 2nd official day of the trip, and it was a busy one. We started the morning fairly late with a full breakfast buffet, and a bus ride back out to Parque de Atracciones Madrid. We had ERT (exclusive ride time) on Abismo and Tarantula before the park opened, a few hours at the park, and then a bus ride to Zaragoza for the 2nd park of the day, Parque de Atracciones Zaragoza. Sounds insane, but it was a pretty comfortable pace since I had already been to the Madrid park on day 0.

 

So I ended with going to bed at the end of Day 1 in my previous post, but I forgot I had a few pictures from that night.

 

Is this Ed before drinking or after drinking?

 

Inebriated elevator ride

 

This is what this is for, right Lou?

 

Ok, so the bus didn't leave very early the next morning, since the Spanish parks seem to open much later than us US folk are used to. In fact, there weren't that many early mornings for that reason, which was quite nice. The hotel had a full breakfast buffet laid out. Cereals, pastries, spanish cured meats, cheeses, bread, tortilla (the spanish variety, like a potato garlic quiche), bacon, sausage, eggs, etc.... It was really nice that we had this kind of spread at almost every hotel. I rarely eat a real breakfast most mornings (breakfast bar), so it was a nice change of pace.

 

We packed the bus with our luggage, and headed out to the first park of the day, Parque de Atracciones Madrid, which about 1/2 of us had managed to hit on day 0 as well.

 

Being as awesome as Robb is, he scored us ERT on both Abismo and Tarantula. Both are great coasters, though Tarantula really depends on the amount of spinning you get.

 

I posted enough of these the other day, but here's on more. ABISMO!

 

So I got 2 rides on Abismo during ERT, but I spent much more time over at Tarantula. I think I got 5 rides, 3 with insane spinning (and 2 with very little).

 

I really failed at getting pictures of the track layouts at this park

 

Hmmm...did Hector love it or hate it?

 

Yup, he loved it

 

Apparently Dave did too

 

The part that surprised me most about tarantula was how fast the lift was. HELLA fast. That and I also wasn't prepared for how fast it took the course. It was my first "banked turns" spinning mouse. I loved it.

 

This picture is why Lou is not allowed to point out guys for stalker pics..... not cute

 

Ok, now on to what had to be one of the funniest, and most painful rides of the trip.

 

So we saw that adults were allowed to ride the bouncy horses, and immediately piled in line. Basically they were horses that were powered around a track, and randomly bucked. Looked fairly gentle.

 

 

Away we go.

 

So far, so good

 

What we didn't realize though is the seat was situated in such away that there was a ridge right below your balls. So every time the horse bucked back and forth, the ridge would slam violently into them.

 

Hector and Dave have no idea what's in store

 

How's come it doesn't seem to be bothering Miles?

 

It sure seems to be bothering Jon

*photo credit to Dave Lawrence*

 

I don't feel the need to re-ride

 

Spanish parks sure know how to do theming. This was for the splashdown boat

 

REVENGE OF THE MULLETS

 

 

For all you that like your boys slim....

 

I think he needs to eat something, but he has a cute face.

 

Next on the rides left to hit is DESPERADO! Ok, really random ride. You go sit in this theater with a bunch of moving stools themed to horses. It's then a shooting dark "ride", where you try to shoot the outlaws in a western town on the screen. At the end of the first round, the leader has a spotlight shown on them and their photo shown on the screen. The player with the lowest score gets turned into a donkey. It was rather hilarious especially since no one understood enough Spanish to get the "plot" fully. After the first round there was a shootout on the street, a stagecoach chase, and a bar shootout. I didn't figure it out exactly until the last round, but still managed 2nd place.

 

Still haven't hit the frisbee.

 

I actually sat this one out. This model of frisbee spins too fast and makes me feel ill.

 

Time for one more ride....and it's the "ghetto Jungle Cruise"

 

It was actually fairly entertaining. No boat driver like at Disney, the animatronics were falling apart (you could see moving parts), and there was swearing in English in the soundtrack (well, just "dirty bastard"). It so rocked. Oh, it was another ride that used a cable to pull the boat through the ride.

 

You could see moving parts through the gorillas neck

 

Such a blatant rip-off

 

They were wiggling their ears and blowing bubbles

 

It was a pretty good length too, we had time to sit back and relax.

 

Well, time to go. A 3 hour or so bus ride to our next destination.

 

To pass the time, Dave explained Elissa Bingo!

 

The object was to catch Elissa doing and saying certain things. All that stuff she does all the time (like skinning hot dogs). He passed out cards to everyone, and the game started right away. There were also spots for other people's idiosyncrasies (like Ed drinking, Lou having a fag, etc). I didn't end up winning, but it was fun to watch others on the lookout.

 

Lou enjoying a fag

 

Robb and Elissa also had lots of TV shows on DVD to watch during the ride (Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, Robot Chicken, Creature Comforts, Colbert Report, TPR clips, etc). We made a short rest stop, and were in Zaragoza in early evening.

 

Just in case you forgot where we were going

 

So the best way I can explain this park, as far as layout is "Spanish Knoebel's", but instead of really good wooden coasters, they had random steel coasters. It was very spread out, had a bit of a carnival made permanent feel, and had a large swimming pool. And it was AMAZING fun! I didn't expect much from this park, and it blew me away. Nothing was insanely thrilling, but everything was so much fun to ride.

 

Hmmm......I think I'll skip these this time

 

The first coaster at this park was a small kiddie coaster. We all had a ride. I forgot a picture though.

 

Onwards to their "big coaster".....a Galaxi

 

My first Galaxi credit, and it was pretty good. I still prefer a good Wildcat.

 

They also had a top spin (which I sat out since the ride op said he would run a special cycle, turns out it was pretty tame)

 

The best coaster at the park.....RAMSES

 

It was a huge surprise. It looked like crap. A pirate ship on a track, or a disko without the spinning. But it ended up being a lot of fun. It pulled you up one side of the V-shaped track with a cable, then let you go to rock back and forth for a long time. There was airtime on each transition to the upwards track, and the first drop had no warning. Great coaster for it's size and simplicity.

 

We also got a ride on "Bouncy-Bouncy" and the rapids ride before it was time to eat.

 

On to dinner.

 

They really pulled out all the stops. They started us with a plate of tapas type foods.

Prawns, smoked salmon, heart of palm, some sort of cheese, prawn salad torte, chorizo, and iberian ham.

"photo courtesy of Robb"

 

They also provided plenty of wine

 

And then came around with calamari, croquettes, and some other little fried food

"photo courtesy of Robb"

 

Have I mentioned lots of wine?

"photo courtesy of Robb"

 

So we all figured that was the meal. Oh no, no, no. They then brought around skillets full of leg of lamb, and potatoes & garlic in olive oil. It was heaven. I'm picky about eating lamb, and this lamb was amazing. I could have loaded up on potatoes too. YUM YUM YUM. There was also a chocolate mousse type dessert.

 

Now that we were all full, and slightly drunk, it was time to go do the mirror maze.

 

Hi Piers!

 

The maze was full of mirrors, but also clear plexiglass. I ran into one hard, hitting it with my forehead. And about 2 minutes later, so did Robb, as seen here.

 

Mirrors are fun

 

We also went in the funhouse and the haunted dark ride after dinner. Then on to the last few rides before it was time to leave. One more ride on the Galaxi (no lights), and then one more re-ride on the best flat ride of the trip.

 

BOUNCY-BOUNCY!!!

 

I never expected so much fun from such a simple concept. Basically the cars moved in a circle, and then the hydraulics kicked in. The cars bounced violently up and down. Throwing you out of your seat at the top, and throwing you around like a rag doll at the bottom. If you haven't watched the TPR video of it, you really need to. It's in the updates on the main page, under Zaragoza on the right side. I haven't cackled and giggled so hard on a ride ever.

 

We gave a huge thanks to all the park's staff, and then headed to our Holiday Inn Express in Zaragoza.

 

Lou assures me that this is the correct usage of this bathroom fixture

 

A phone call home, and then down to the bar for a couple drinks.

 

Jon is sure enjoying himself

 

Wow Chris, are you that drunk already?

 

 

So another fantastic ending to another fantastic day. The cool part as the trip went on is that we hung out with more and more people. We had a "group" that pretty much hung every day, but people moved in and out with ease. I think I got to hang out with almost everyone on the trip at some point. It really made the trip that much better.

[redfoot12]

Hmmm...

Is Ed the vindictive "I'm gonna kick that Redfoot's ass" type? If he is, I know to surround myself with the sauce.

[Groteslurf]

Great TR again.

 

The Desperado attraction is exactly the same as we have here in Bobbejaanland I think.

[coastermaniac1]

REVENGE OF THE MULLETS

 

I know, when I was in Parque Atracciones nearly everyone had it.

 

 

Anyways another great PTR. I cant wait to see the PTR of Port Aventura, Terra Mitica and Parque Warner.