HotFuzz does TPR Asia Tour (Photo TR)

[sfne2005]

So the transfer from Hong Kong to Korea was, well, interesting to say the least. I went to bed around 5pm and woke at 8pm to get on the bus which headed to the airport. From there, an 11pm-ish flight (red eye) to Korea. From there, straight to Lotte World. And I cannot, and did not, sleep on the flight over. So I was completely destroyed. After a few hours out and about, Dave (my new roomy) and I crashed out from say 1pm to 6pm. We got back into the park, finished up credits and other randomness. This place kicked all sorts of azz!

Our hotel...which is attached to the park...and mall...and rink...and gun range....

Did a little photography as they were cycling empty trains to close the night. Dave and I were fortunate enough to get on the last train with only a 5 minute wait. Awesome.

My second of this ride (first one in Spain) and I still didn't understand anything they were saying. Oh, and I still did horrible.

This is very similar to the cell at my work.

The support is In the Loop.

Interesting but corny Halloween parade. I was so tired I actually hung out and watched some of it.

Quaint monorail ride touring the park.

Zombie sex? Sorry, I was listening to the In the Loop podcast while doing this update.

Two things to note: The blur is cool and the line is huge.

Funny thing, we hardly saw any TPR members at this park all night. Either they were all sleeping or they were at the gun range. Shrugs

Night time on the inside.

Hope you all are enjoying the pictures...because my fingers are getting numb.

Keeping on par with pictures of gyroswings I didn't ride.

Still bigger, even at dusk.

Yes, there is a balloon ride on the roof. I guess where else would it be?

Found Bob's onride picture hours after he rode plastered for all to see.

What? Why not?

All sorts of stuff to do inside this massive place.

Ooh, there is the gun I shoot for work right there!

Like a gun range. Sorry I didn't shoot with you Jeff. I hate guns.

There IS an ice skating rink on Lotte World property among all sorts or random things. You could basically live in here and never go outside...except to ride Atlantis.

Now this is a castle. Disney HK take note.

Tall. Yea, that's all I got.

Run forest. Of the bulls that is.

Marcus, good thing you weren't wearing socks with those sandals today. Otherwise they'd get all wet.

The women's chariot. Note the Intamin rep in the background. That's right, a real Intamin bigwig.

Sorry for the grainy-ness. I take them when I can get them....often times there isn't enough time to focus.

Jeff does. You loved it. Stop your complaining. CHRISTIANA!!!!

Probably the most "fun" I have ever had on a rode or coaster anywhere. The ride itself is very good. But the interaction with other riders is what did it for me. Remember "fat face"?

What do I see?

[sfne2005]

Everland. What to say about it that already hasn't been. I'll just say that T-Express was the main reason (coaster wise) for doing this whole trip. It didn't disappoint.

And yes, I bought a few souvenirs.

Got a kick out of the face on azz costume.

This bear wanted to eat me.

I had hoped they would let the kitty out to pat and hold, but not this trip.

Taunting the bear is a good idea. I felt sort of bad for him.

Hi pussy cat. How's it going.

In addition to awesome rides, they have awesome animals.

Take that Disney.

I must say, my Eagle Fortress ride in the day was very unflattering. Over hyped by far. At night, during ERT, lights off, running super fast......top 10!

Dave, why is the chair tipped so much?

All the pictures of T-Express should make up for all the culture pics through this PTR.

I took no pics of the ride session as I spent every moment riding. Even spent the last part of the night riding it as much as I could.

The verdict is in (which you already new if you saw Robb's video), my new number one (steel and wood combined). Fast and intense as El Toro. Smooth and airtime filled as Balder.

Cool looking trains though.

Blah on the signage though. It needs a cooler name or picture. Why not just have a picture of a cellphone?

Look at it. It looks amazing.

Ok, I am back. Walking to our little ERT session. Let's see how she ranks.

Woah, hmmm.....there she is. (I'll be right back, gotta rub one out).

Dude, even the decorations are telling me to piss off.

Midway awesomeness.

He looks mean.....my kind of character.

Interesting opening ceremony song and dance. Got nothing on Chris' dance though.

Eewww, kinda busy here.

Hot issue? Come on, what choo talkin about?

[SteveC]

Rich - the giant cable car experience says Ngong Ping on the ticket, don't know if that is the name of the place as well as the experience.

 

The Bubba restaurant fail was truly magnificent, I think the waitress was actually Italian (or of some similar extremely random and to be fair unexpected birthplace).

 

I don't have many life regrets but missing the bungee is up there. Hell and damnation, don't blame me - you are the cop, you should have arrested me or something. I can't believe we were thinking the same thing and only discussed it on the ferry back. Okay you can blame me for not bailing on Disney the next day to go back, but then we would have no awesome onride pic. Maybe if TPR trip back out say in 2013 then there lies the challenge. (oh - holy crap I'll be 50 then).

 

Dude - enjoyed your pithy captions as ever.

[nowaymang]

Great report and thank you for sharing your experiences abroad. If I had the resources to do so, I'd travel once a month to ride T-Express. That ride looks sexy!

[cfc]

My second of this ride (first one in Spain) and I still didn't understand anything they were saying. Oh, and I still did horrible.

 

I actually came in third on "Desperado" as Bobbejaanland, and I'm a pretty lousy shot. I guess my strategy of just blasting anything that moved paid off.

 

Good stuff, Rich. T Express looks great. As for that tower, I think I could be persuaded to walk around on a tether, but would probably draw the line at jumping off.

 

By the way, Disney says .

[Ryan462]

Woah! Fantastic Report

 

I hope that I get to ride T-Express one day because it looks unreal!

[DaveH80]

Great Pics Rich!

[sfne2005]

Still not done....grrr....

Finishing up on Everland, we head out for a bit to go on a credit run.

What's with all the coaster enthusiasts and there fashion fopars? I mean, come on....socks and sandals? Pfft

Or how about some Octopi that has been sitting out in the molten sun for who knows how long?

Hi, I am freaking crazy. Want a donut?

Anyone want to lick the powder off my eyes?

This is my favorite picture of Robb ever.

The next few pics are typical Robb silliness. He was having a good time and so were we.

There's a Dunkin Donuts at Seoul Land. So you better believe we stopped. What's wrong with you? They have the weirdest flavor here...including toe jam!

Oogedity boogity.

Cheesy

Victory! Hey, is that Hiro Nakamura?

Said High Roller. No way in hell was I riding that piece o cucka.

How many Loevstrand brothers does it take to lock a TPR member in the High Roller? (I know I spelled your last name wrong Peter and Marcus..sorry).

I love this picture.

Random steel track madness.

The next day we find our selves magically teleported to Epcot.

The purchased onride photo.

Blah - grainy. But Christiana doesn't care.

This poor girl was working in the morning during our ERT. She was a lot of fun. Maybe she is mentally ill because she got excited each time she saw Jeff and I get back in line.

That blur is the train. Night rides were simply amazing. Though, if I have one complaint about this ride, is that the midcourse brakes make each ride a little different....as in not consistent. Some rides where insanely airtime ridden. Others were a bit more passive.

Night shot of T-Express.

Steve, wish you were here! Piss off.

Same bus ride, same time as above just different dreams.

The back of the bus was not the liveliest I have been a part of. It was like the geriatric ward. CHRISTIANA!

I share Dave's sentiments. Metal chopsticks, no knives, tasty meat surrounded by fat....not my thing.

Walking to credit. I love you.

To here. My two pictures of the mouse were crap and not worth posting. Sorry. Buy Robb's DVD coming out soon.

[sfne2005]

This is the last leg of the trip for me. I tagged along to Japan and hit up a few parks not on the itinerary last year during the Japan trip. It was absolutely worth it for one coaster....Kawasemi. We'll get to that later.

And over at the Hello Kitty land section of the park is the most inappropriate kid attraction / themeing ever.

Though I have no coaster pics at Seibuen Yuenchi....I do have this nifty queue seating / staging area for the coaster.

Awwwwww

Hey, that goes for you too Erik!

Dave...no drinking and driving.

Is it me or do the palm trees have boobs?

Hi Erik...watch out for those brakes.

Random midway with park emptiness.

This was a lot of fun.

Clear cut case of more is not better.

Big badda boom. Anyone know that reference? That movie is awesome.

No snow on this trip.

More park ERT... this time at (looks at guide book)...Nasu Highland.

Grrrr.

Supa fast!

Awesome looking only.

I hear they play Jarts (lawn darts) in the Tokyo Dome.

I just took pictures instead.

Such a cool place at night...but super busy this night. Having all the credits I decided against riding anything. I think Robb said he waited almost 2 hours for Thunder Dolphin. No thanks.

Some of the parks were a repeat, but I liked the LaQua area so much I opted to return.

A familiar and welcome sight in Japan. The crosswalk between the train station and the Prince Hotel...base camp for this and last trip.

[HerBlackWings]

This has been a highly entertaining TR. Rich, you're a real pal. Thanks for the abundance of JJ photos.

 

p.s. ...and another thanks for finally remembering my name.

[sfne2005]

Next up: Tobu Zoo. Prepare for loads of Kawasemi pictures.

Random teamwork challenge between Jew and Elissa. You should know that they failed...miserably.

Yea don't worry, she drops in about 2 seconds. Just watch the forthcoming DVD!

Go Elissa Go! I think most of our group was successful on this obstacle. We all failed miserably on the other three, which are the hard ones on the show (Ninja Warrior) anyhow.

Nice view of the bay.

Later in the day the newbies hit up Sega Joypolis. I spent the time at the Decks area taking pics and shopping until the meetup at Muscle Park.

Miss you Kawasemi...keep it real yo.

Second to last. Boo. But I am looking forward to Piraten in 09!

I did spend a lot of time riding. Many of these pics are courtesy of Burst Mode (hi Steve).

Sick of Kawasemi yet? Not me.

Oh, and this easily blows EGF away...for me anyways. Remember, I am emo.

Only behind its big brother SROS @ SFNE. I hope they don't ruin it this winter with the rehab thing, otherwise this will be my new number 1.

To me, this is a Balder-like experience. It easily made this my number 2 steel coaster.

Fortunately, more parks are getting these mega-lites.

For ME....this proves that a great ride need not be tall or fast. I don't see why every park can't get one of these gems.

But ride "experience" is really important. With ERT in the morning, and no line the whole time we were there made for awesome reride conditions.

And I certainly wouldn't reride it much if there was an hour line. Plus, if I waited that long, maybe I wouldn't be as satisfied.

Yes, its not tall, super fast nor does it have extreme laterals so it might not be for everyone.

A quick cable lift, quick drop and into airtime heaven.

Phenomenal. That's all really. It does what it does without any delay.

Courtesy pic of Regina. Next.

Stats.

Last pic before I get to ride.

Lost in translation?

There's the little birdy.

My "first sighting" pic.

Small, quaint and pretty. Plus, you add an intamin coaster in the mix, well, you gotta hope its gonna rock.

Then the clouds gave way and we were let in. Good thing because it would have been a shame to miss out on this little gem.

Super early arrival at the Zoo. We were greeted with the "ain't no way in hell you are riding anything in this rain" rain.

Interesting ad for Regina. The ads were better than the ride.

[gisco]

These have been great updates and only one more to go. The on ride pic of me made me laugh. You have some of the best captions of any trip report.

[sfne2005]

Disney fans beware, you will not be impressed with this part of the TR. I literally checked into the hotel, made my way into the Tokyo Disney resort, walked onto Raging Spirits as it was down last year for rehab and I needed the credit, bought some pepper popcorn, took a few pics and left. Time in park was maybe an hour and a half. Sorry!

Thanks for looking and reading.

And to finish up the body of this TR, I will close with some fireworks.

My favorite Tower of Terror...but the line was too long for my liking so I skipped it. Besides, I had a full box of Popcorn.

Disney Sea mega water show!

Just put me in a washer machine with some blue dye and it's all the same to me.

Most useless ride in the world. It looked nice at night though.

And using the single rider line, I passed the entire 45 minute queue and walked onto a train. Can't beat that!!

Raging Spirits was super smooth, themed well with fire, lights and smoke.

It was lit up all nice like a drunk redneck with a case of Schlitz.

Pics from the courtyard.

Second Disney resort stay...this was a little nicer the the Hollywood Hotel in HK.

[sfne2005]

OK, almost done. I wanted to share this little story. My roommate for Korea and Japan was Dave. We had many conversations about Disney and my general apathy towards it. Dave is a great fan of all things Disney. I can respect anyone's interests. We would joke about it how Tokyo Disney is the mecca of Disneyness and how excited he was about going. I think, Tokyo Disney was a big factor in his doing this trip. Hell, mine was T-Express and Kawasemi. So we are on the train headed to Disney. I look out and see the park from the window. I turn to Dave and say something like "Hey Dave, there it is!". I then instantly captured this picture below. I teased him a bit about how he was about to cry. We laughed about it and he is a good sport about it too. I like this picture because it captures pure joy and anticipation. Dave at first did not want this posted, but he gave in. Thanks Dave.

Dave's first sighting of Tokyo Disney.

[sfne2005]

And to close this PTR, I figured I would do something different. I will post pictures of me taken from other people (thanks mostly to Steve) at various times during the trip. (This is not an attempt at vanity.) Thank you very much Robb and Elissa for all the hard work you put into such a great trip. I honestly do not know how this trip could be topped by any other. See you again soon on another trip.

[SharkTums]

I seriously think you have the best pictures of Jeff anywhere! He looks dead or dying in the majority of them!

 

Thanks for the kind words, it was a great trip, and it will be hard to top...but Mmmm Piraten...very excited. Kawasemi gave EGF a run for its money in my eyes! I just wish we had had better rides on SROS this summer, it dropped a bit.

[mejaybe]

Ok, I know I'm a bit late on this but the answer is The Fifth Element. "Big baadaa boom" Line was quoted by LeeLoo after she crashed into Corbin's cab. Frikkin' sweet movie.

 

GIMMIE' THE CASSSSHHHH!!!

[astro runner]

Rich,

 

What can be said that hasn't already? Funny captions, excellent pictures and a great reminder of wonderful times. I look forward to the next TR from "Hot Fuzz" - BTW Thanks for bringing up the incident with the Bubba Gump waitress Glad to hear Steve got such a kick out of it!

 

Chris "The Boardwalk Bullet is not my favorite coaster" L.

[Roachman]

Rich

 

Awesome Trip Report! Your commentary had me rolling!

 

The Skywalk/Skyjump looked insane and T-Express looks like my new coaster goal now....

 

 

Brad

[Woogle]

 

Great report! Laughed my a$$ off!

[DaveH80]

Dude, again great TR! Sky Jump looks real sick, T-Express & Kawasemi look amazing (very jealous). I really hope to see more Mega-Lite coasters pop up, we def need one in the states...Lake Compounce would be nice?? (Hint! Hint!) Wishful thinking

[SteveC]

Rich - great ending to it all, and I do think the final collection of 'Rich pics' deserve a collective noun (you know like a murder of crows, a pride of lions etc etc)

 

I propose:

A clinic of Hot Fuzz

[BeemerBoy]

I look out and see the park from the window. I turn to Dave and say something like "Hey Dave, there it is!". I then instantly captured this picture below. I teased him a bit about how he was about to cry. We laughed about it and he is a good sport about it too. I like this picture because it captures pure joy and anticipation. Dave at first did not want this posted, but he gave in. Thanks Dave.

Yes, thanks Dave for giving in on that one. We've all had those moments over different things, and I think that pic was pure awesomeness. Through all of Rich's great biting sarcasm, that pic capped off a really great trip report, and pretty much summed up what travel is all about.

[cfc]

Nice wrap-up, Rich. I'm really sorry now that Kawasemi wasn't ready for last year's Japan trip. I've never seen pictures of Raging Spirits at night--looks pretty cool. (God, I hope it's better than Indy at Paris Disney--that's one of the worst rides ever, although it's better than the Paris Space Mountain.)

[rllrcster]

Fabulous report Rich. I shall be better prepared for Boggle rematches in Scandi. Plus you'll need to reclaim your Metroid Pinball title.