Photo TR: Hooters Crew UK Reunion

[Divv3k]

Hey people, over the last few days a few Midwest Trip participants rolled back the months by having a little get together in the UK. Specifically it was a few members of the extended Hooters Crew (you may have seen that name mentioned before in some of the Midwest reports).

 

It all started in January with a random MSN conversation between Andrew and myself that resulted in Andrew booking flights to London for this past week. After others heard that he was coming over we managed to round up a couple of other new Midwest friends and we had a little reunion in the UK. So we had Andrew (coaster_dude2002) coming over from Canada, AJ (AJMouse) coming over from Holland and UK members Scott (Fallen Heretic), Dave (fudgey), Mike (Meik) as well as myself (Divv) from the Midwest Trip. Also joining us was Scottish member Steve (cobra_roll06).

 

We even had Matteo come over from Italy to join us for the first few hours of the trip while we were at Thorpe Park.

 

We had an absolute blast and I've got a feeling that this might be quite a fun trip report. I've pooled together most of the photos that everyone took and it looks like there's quite a good selection. It may start a little coastery but there should be some real fun antics in here too by the end.

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Update List:

PART ONE: THORPE PARK (Below)

PART TWO: CHESSINGTON

PART THREE: HOOTERS!

PART FOUR: ALTON TOWERS

PART FIVE: BLACKPOOL NIGHT LIFE

PART SIX: BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH

PART SEVEN: OAKWOOD

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PART ONE:

 

THORPE PARK

 

We decided to split our first day between two parks since we had the feeling that both of them would be pretty quiet this day. We were right, after getting to Thorpe Park for opening we were able to hit everything we wanted to very easily. We basically did all the coasters and a couple of the flats before heading out in the afternoon.

 

I'm sure Andrew, AJ and the others will chime in with their thoughts on the parks and rides as we go along.

 

Here's the first batch of photos...

Here's part of the group. It'll be getting bigger soon. We had a great time at Thorpe but I think we were glad we had Chessington in the afternoon since we got everything done in record time.

 

Chessington will be up soon!

For a powered ride Flying Fish is not that bad.

"Hello Ladies I'm AJ and I'll be in Blackpool soon so keep an eye out for me!"

Before heading out of Thorpe we had just enough time to squeeze in the Flying Fish.

Andrew can't quite believe what he's just experienced either.

Here's Steve's after face! "WTF was that?! And how do I get out of here!"

I don't think I've ever seen people so excited for a ride!

X FULL STOP NO WAY OUT!!!

And of course we had to do the "absolute must ride" coaster of the trip. You've all heard the full name before, but this time we bring you the slightly different version...

We managed to squeeze in a ride on Detonator - one of the better drop rides.

Who knows? Who cares? It's a fun ride anyway!

Will there ever be another?

This was the last B&M coaster to be built in the UK.

Although its not the best B&M invert by any means its still the best ride in the park in my view.

Nemesis Inferno was next on the list.

Slammer gets the thumbs up from Andrew.

Being that there are only two of these things around Andrew and AJ didn't want to pass up on the opportunity to ride.

Seeing as we were in the area and there was no line a few of the guys rode Slammer.

AJ relived the Colossus experience many times afterwards.

These barrel rolls at the end go on a bit too long for my liking but they sure make for great photos!

Yeah it's a bit shakey but I've definitely been on worse rides.

Divv and AJ brace themselves.

Next up was Colossus.

We even got a little air on the hill.

The launch is good. Although maybe not quite as good as Furius Baco for me.

It's fun for what it is.

Stealth was the first ride of the trip.

AJ's excited to be here.

The coasters are visible right from the car park.

First stop of the day - Thorpe Park!

The car's all packed so lets get going!

Andrew is in the UK and we're just about ready to head off on our four day tour.

[thecoasterkid]

I'll say it yet again...I wish I was there with you guys! I'm going to follow along on your trip report for sure Divv. Great stuff so far, can't wait to see the rest.

[cobra_roll06]

Great start to the TR man! I loved Thorpe, especially Colossus and X. WTF!

[Purplepills]

Really nice photos and trip report so far! Looking forward to the rest

[Nemesis Inferno]

Were this on Saturday perchance?

 

Cos I did see a guy in a TPR hoodie at Chessie then... Where it was nice and busy instead...

[Chrissie]

Great TR Divv!!

 

Looking forward to seeing more

[coaster_dude2002]

It truly spontaneous and random conversation we had on MSN that night in January. I’m glad we pulled this all off with 3 months of planning.

 

 

Thorpe was a fun park to start the trip off. Decent selection of coaster, and flats to keep you entertained. The crowds were light and the longest line was about 20 min for Nemesis Inferno.

 

Stealth: While it may not be an amazing ride it still packed a nice punch with the airtime hill. I just wish they could get rid of the awful OTSR on it. I smacked my neck quite a few times on them during the morning.

 

Colossus: It may have been a little rough, but it was certainly bearable and fun. The never-ending succession of loops, corkscrews, and barrel rolls was a blast. I’ll agree with Divv that the barrel rolls at the end were a little too long and taken a little too slow.

 

Nemesis Inferno: Easily the best ride at Thorpe. Super smooth in the back, and really forceful.

 

X FULL STOP NO WAY OUT!!!: I still have no clue what happened during the ride. All I remember was some random wind, lights, and “Access Denied, Moving on”. Steve and I had some great pops of airtime in the front seat. It was certainly a unique and confusing experience.

 

Overall I really enjoyed Thorpe and will get back there again some day after the Euro fighter is built.

 

Can’t wait for the next installment Divv!

 

- Andrew "Sad to be back in Canada" Janes

[Divv3k]

Were this on Saturday perchance?

 

No, we did both Thorpe and Chessington on Friday. Speaking of Chessington...

 

PART TWO

 

CHESSINGTON WORLD OF ADVENTURES

 

Being that it was a school day in April we figured that we'd be able to hit both of these parks in the same day and we were right. Chessington was dead and so we got to ride everything we wanted very easily and also got to stop by the Greedy Goblin for a nice pub lunch.

 

Onto some photos...

We left Chessington just before closing so that we could head to Nottingham to meet Dave and Mike and get together for a very special dinner...

Two parks into Andrew's trip and things are going pretty well.

We finished up the Chessington experience by checking out the powered mine train.

Steve has had enough of AJs constant shouts of Maaaattttt Daaaaammmmooonnn!!!!

I still maintain that wild mice are amongst the most boring and lame rides ever.

Onto the wild mouse and AJ practises his Mexican for the experience.

Yes Elissa, you're not seeing things I'm afraid. McDonalds is no more at Chessington. Say hello to Burger King.

AJ tries to access Private parts but has no luck.

The ride itself is not bad. It has some real foot chopper moments.

See what I mean?

Vampire has one of the coolest station's around.

AJ gets himself psyched up for the experience.

Next up we did Vampire. So here's a nice shot of the ride's sign.

I genuinely believe that this is one of the best coasters in the UK.

If Fury is anything to go by I absolutely cannot wait to try out Winjas and Crush this summer!

Then we got to ride the awesomeness that is Dragon's Fury! It's weird that I hate spinning rides but absolutely love Fury.

First up we hit Tomb Blasters. Would have loved to have seen this ride before it became a shoot 'em up. It's still quite cool though.

Unlike Divv and Andrew who made full use of their Annual Passes on this trip.

AJ and Steve are upset that they have to wait in line for tickets.

Ah dammit... Bubbleworks is closed. Andrew and AJ will have to wait til next time to experience this randomness.

Second park of the day - Chessington!

[coaster_dude2002]

Talk about foot choppers on Vampire! I nearly lost my shoe in the trees above burger king twice that day.

 

Dragons Fury was far better than I had imagined it would be. On our first go the car didn't spin too much, but the second time was totally insane! Right from the first drop we were whipping around, and the first horse shoe turn was amazing. The ride neve let up until the end.

 

The mine train was pretty good as well, nice theming and quite a bit of speed. The ride op was awesome as well, although I don't know how he could have any feeling in his hand after giving people high fives while the train was traveling at a good clip through the station.

 

I can't wait to see the photos from the special dinner in Nottingham. We should have snapped some photos of our epic 6 mile, 50min drive from the hotel to get there.

[thecoasterkid]

Bwahaha, Matt Damon mention! Chessington looks like a pretty cool little park, I'd love to try out Vampire.

 

Maybe in a couple years I'll have to come over there and do this same kinda trip for myself.

[Shockwave]

Great report so far!

 

Chessington are really doing their best to ruin the Transylvania area. First Bubbleworks gets the corporate treatment (ok it's not bad, but I LOVED the old Bubbleworks), now Maccy D's is gone, I just hope they don't go any further than this!

[Divv3k]

PART THREE:

 

DINNER TIME!

 

After Chessington we drove to Nottingham to meet up with Dave and Mike, more Midwest friends who were going to be joining us for the next few days. Now the Hooters Crew originally got its name because of the group of people at the start of the Midwest Trip who met up at Hooters in Cincinnati. However, as the Hooters Crew evolved as the trip went on many fully fledged members never even actually visited Hooters.

 

So with that in mind I bring to you in pictures our visit to the only Hooters in the UK!

We had a great night in Hooters (how can you not?) and it was a real great way for us Midwest friends to catch up! Alton Towers will be up soon!

Come back tomorrow for some free beer!

OK, here's some babes representing!

OK< I know you're wondering "Where are the babes?" Well AJ scared them all away with a knife.

That Hooters Hot Sauce is HOT!

Dave - another exteneded Hooters crew member met up with us tonight (along with his brother Mike, also a Midwest Trip member).

You won't believe some of the things they have on the menu!

But what to have?

Yes, we're here! At the ONLY Hooters in the UK!

[SharkTums]

Grrr I can't believe they got rid of the McDonalds for Burger King!?!?! WTF>!!?

 

Glad you all had a great time!

 

And yes, wait till you ride Winjas!!!!

 

Crush on the other hand...well...not so much!

[fudgey]

Seriously....

 

Divv holding that menu - quite a scary Psycho photo...

 

AJ with a knife... OMG.. even more Psycho...

 

Awesome night, keep em coming!!

[coaster_dude2002]

That was a good night, minus our 50min/6mi drive around nottingham in order to find Hooters. We should have asked for directions earlier, but we are guys, and I'm a geographer so we shouldn't have to resort to doing that!

 

Now that we finally got you guys to a Hooters you no longer have to say you are in the extended Hooters crew, you now are officially part of the crew! (Steve your included too)

 

Divv, Keep up the awesome work.

[thecoasterkid]

Hooray for Hooters! The restaurant that is. Get your minds out of the gutter people.

 

It's awesome that there's only ONE Hooters in the UK, and you guys found it! haha. I bet it's just not the same without Carmen there though, or Drooler to hassle the waitress too.

 

Glad to see Dave and Mike were able to take part in the action too!

[AJMouse]

Woh I finally found the topic, hehe.

 

Good stuff to read and see back.

 

Stealth: Liked it. Took me back to Cedar Point, but I do remember that coaster being just a preteenyweeny bit higher.

 

Colossus: Unlike Matteo I wasn't counting all the loops and barrelrolls, so the last one was a surprise to me. An unpleasant one I might add. I didn't really like it that much ^^.

 

Nemesis Inferno: What can I say, it has a crocodile!

 

X dot NO WAY OUT!!!: "random wind, lights, and “Access Denied, Moving on”" Exactly what I remembered. I do remember the very bright 'EXIT' sign on the way out though. Weird.

 

That was it for Thorpe. Nice little park, too bad the lines for the big swing were so long and we couldn't do it.

 

In Chessington we started the afternoon with standing in line to buy tickets. This I think turned out to be the longest wait of the day. Two registers were open but both were occupied with families having a hard time getting a season pass (I think anyway). After quite some time they left to the season pass register around the corner. Good idea. Steve made one of their children trip. Good stuff Steve! And it wouldn't be the last time haha.

 

Inside (which turned out to be hard for me to get there with failing tickets and all), we grabbed some food and the first beer of the day (it was beer-o-clock after all).

 

Fury was good to me, although I didn't get much spin on both my rides from what I remember. I do remember the bad on-ride-photo, which as always, was awful. I sat behind Andrew the second ride we got, and I saw his shoe nearly falling off above Burger King. Didn't realize it was him until after the ride hehe. It's not very high, but the ride is pretty fast and close to the ground or branches of trees. This makes it good! Oh and the station is nice as well.

 

Hooters was A-w-e-s-o-m-e. The food was bad, the beer was disgusting, but there were some nice girls! I just don't ever want to go there anymore, you know you won't be able to get with a girl who works there that night. Unless.. hmm I could follow her home.. hmm.

[Fallen Heretic]

Im so sad I missed Hooters. I believe I was stuck in a contraflow in the M6 at the time. Looked like a good time was had by all.

[Divv3k]

Yeah you missed a great night Scott! Actually here's a little of what you missed.

 

Thanks to AJ for the video...

MVI_3798_agk.avi

Hi Shawn!

[coaster_dude2002]

Is anyone else having issues with sound on the video?

[Divv3k]

Sound seems to be working ok for me. Here's a YouTube version if it helps...

 

[coaster_dude2002]

Thanks Divv! I totally forgot about the "Hi Shawn" video from that night. Glad you managed to find and post it.

[fudgey]

OMG - totally forgot about it as well. I have a sneaky feeling that more forgotten randomness is going to appear.

[coaster_dude2002]

Trust me the other "Maattt Dammonn" video will not be appearing any time soon!

 

However the Vertical slide incident may get posted at some point just for you Dave

[thecoasterkid]

"Hey Everyone!"

 

Glad to see that you were all thinking of me while I was missing out on the fun, haha. Andrew and I were talking today at Wonderland and I'll definitely have to make it up there for a repeat performance of this trip in a couple years.