Photo TR : Copenhagen, Bakken, Tivoli Gardens, Bon Bon Land

[Groteslurf]

^No worries Hans. I'm sure we'll be having plenty of ocassions to that in the future

[Edward]

Nice pictures. And I see I've been captured in one photo (5th).

[Airtime&Gravity]

Great pictures

 

I want to visit Efteling as it looks like a beautiful park, and the park experience looks like a cross between Disneyland and Tivoli Gardens. The rides for the most part don't look like much, but the level of theming is what really seems to set the park apart. Efteling definitely looks like one of the best parks in the world, and your report does a good job of showing it off. It's great to see the expansion Efteling has been going through, and Ravelijn looks like another great addition to the resort.

[Groteslurf]

The Tour de France passing in front of my door, it never happened before. I experienced the circus 6-7 years ago, when the Tour passed by the office where I work and it was quite impressive to see everything passing by. Armstrong, Contador, Shleck and co pass by in 10 seconds or so, but it takes several hours for the whole circus to pass by.

Our plans were to leave on holiday already on July 3, but once I heared about the Tour and since this doesn't happen every year, we postponed our holiday by 1 day. Yes, most of you will think this is weird and silly, but it ended up to be a very good thing, since after we decided to postpone our holiday, the Club TPR day at De Efteling was announced. So because of the Tour, we were able to attend the Club TPR day.

So July 4 ended up to be an extremely packed day for us. After lunch with TPR at De Efteling, we drove home for the Tour.

On to the pictures.

When we arrived at home, the publicity cars already started to pass by (and it was still about 2.5 hours before the cyclers would pass by)

Not too many people yet.

More publicity

"Yes dear, my boss gave me a new company car. Nice uh ? "

Batman was here.

Somebody couldn't resist bringing a tribute to Eddy Merckx who apparently is 65 years old.

My wife and neighbour decided to bring some chairs.

It can't be long now.

Much more people now.

TV choppers. Getting excited now.

"Where are they ???"

This car always drives a few hundreds of metres in front of the first runners.

And here they are. At the least the first 3 driving in front.

And the rest of the group.

Anybody recognizes somebody ?

And that was that.

Part 2 of the day finished. On to part 3.

[printersdevil78]

Benny, that's awesome! Congratulations on having such a unique opportunity, and thanks for sharing it with us!

[Mechanic]

What a great series of reports. I particularly liked the first report of Plopsa Coo. It reminded me very much of Gilroy Gardens, except that it looks at least 10 times cooler.

[Groteslurf]

^^ Thanks Jason

 

^ Thanks and yes, Plopsa Coo reminded me too of Gilroy Gardens. Quicksilver Express came to mind a few times when riding Coaster. Of course, all the green is also very comparable to G.G.

In fact, that's a good description : Plopsa Coo is some sort of mix up Knoebels and Gilroy Gardens.

[hansrubens]

What did you left De Efteling for that!?!

 

No serious great update the atmosphere must have been great and it's an unique opportunity to watch the Tour so close to your home. Too bad the Spaniard won though!

 

 

---Hans

[Groteslurf]

Part 3 of the same day.

 

After spending some time with TPR at De Efteling, watching the Tour passing by in front of my house, it was time to leave on holiday.

 

Our first destination was Phantasialand.

We would stay 2 nights at Hotel Matamba.

We love themed hotels and don't mind spending some extra bucks on getting at suite. We stayed at the Kwaheri Suite.

Loved the bathrobes

Great room theming

Lovely bathroom

Didn't need those.

Children's room

My kids discovering the room

Lots to read, eat and drink.

Balcony

From where we had this excellent view

Probably the closest one can sleep to a B&M

Phantasialand overview

Still wonder whether that wood is really supporting the building.

Yay. Buffet !!

Great theming everywhere

Us

We really liked this restaurant

Impala : muh

Zebra : mmmmmmhhhhhhh

Even the restrooms were themed

There even was a kids buffet

Phantasialand camp out.

Next morning. Before having breakfast, I checked whether Black Mamba was still there.

Don't you just love this place ?

Don't eat my kids will you ?

Hotel kids area

From the sofa, while watching tv ...

I had this view )

View in the sleeping room

There is another great hotel right next door.

Hotel Ling Bao

Stunning

My kids started praying for something

Tsingtao beer

Great restaurant

Every evening during summer : Asia Nights

Buddha

There was a great vibe at the Asia Night.

Acrobats performing

Chinese singers. They were .... ahum... not really great to say the least.

Next update: Phantasialand

[Midgetman82]

Wow, I've never seen a B&M that close to someone's hotel window before. Great Pictures!

[Groteslurf]

With our Plopsa Funcard, we had 1 day free access to Phantasialand

Since my last visit, they relocated the carroussel to right after the main park entrance.

There are also some new kiddie rides near the carroussel.

The mainstreet is nice.

I think it's nicer now without the carroussel at the end of mainstreet.

'Small boy'

My wife and youngest daughter are not that into coaster riding, so I bought 4 quick passes for me and my oldest daugther. This way we could do every big ride without waiting.

Too bad they changed the quick pass rules for Black Mamba. You can't go on frontrow with the pass anylonger, only row 2 to 8.

My daughter and I on the rapids

It was really refreshing.

New theming

And with this ride, all our quick passes were used.

We had a great day at Phantasialand

Edited August 8, 2010 by Groteslurf

[Tezee]

Thank you for this nice TR. This year is Asia Nights FREE. Did you take some Pictures of Winjas?

[Groteslurf]

^Thanks.

 

Yes, Asia Nights are free of entry through Hotel Lingbao, but I guess it's meant mainly for hotel guests.

 

No pictures of the Winja's. Sorry. First time I used the quick pass for both Winja's though and it worked out great.

[MagiMountainMan]

Wow...thanks for the pictures:) You have a beautiful family and it looks as though you guys are having a great time. I have never been to Phantasialand but it looks like a must. That hotel looks amazing! Keep your reports coming. They are fantastic.

[Groteslurf]

^thnx

 

Short Black Mamba video shot from our hotelroom balcony

 

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=MOV09068_vl8e[/coastertube]

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSZYMMJKHo4

[BeemerBoy]

Awesome report! Really enjoyed the race coverage, and the unique views of Phantasialand.

[Groteslurf]

After Phantasialand, it was time for Europapark.

After having slept in all other hotels in the previous years, we booked a room in the Santa Isabel this year.

Every Europapark hotels is awesome.

Lobby theming

Conference room

More lobby theming

See-through floor.

They didn't have to pay for their stay over.

Admit ! This is amazing theming.

We booked a suite again, so we got a golden vip roomkey.

The only bonus included in the vipcard, is that you have access to the suites floor.

Suites floor.

Our suite : Santa Isabel

Loved the livingroom.

Sleeping room

Bathroom

Restroom

Bunked beds for the children

Room theming

Balcony

Hotel Castillo Alcazar

And we also were close to an attraction. This time Altantica.

Exploring the hotels a bit more.

The hotels are simply amazing.

We had a drink at this place. The history of the Mack family on the walls.

El Andaluz hotel.

You can even rent a Porsche and do some driving on the Autobahn.

Olive garden

My kids had a lot to confess during our holiday.

Time to eat.

The buffet at the Santa Isabel hotel is a bit more expensive than the buffets in the other hotels, but it was really worth the money.

We all loved it.

Chef, throw some more shrimps on the barbi for me please !

Another Porsche for rental

Dammit, totally forgot the WC soccer was still on. Here's Holland playing.

The day after, Germany was playing. A little bit more crowded.

I admit, I was extremely glad we didn't have to stay at the Colosseo with all those soccerfans.

Even the sodamachine is themed.

I must have taken a picture of this hallway everytime I went through it.

Temperatures were quite high during our stay.

So in between we had a lot of fun in the pool.

For our last dinner, we ate at the Colosseo hotel.

Mariachi band.

Bar Colosseo

I preferred the previous name of the bar : Mille Miglia.

Everybody does, because the bar was empty.

Another great stay at Europapark. Can't wait till they open their new hotel in 2 years.

Nest update : Europapark.

[live2tell75]

Wow looks like all the Europa hotels are beautiful! I thought Hotel Colosseo was gorgeous, this looks just as nice!

[Groteslurf]

And here the Europapark pictures.

Blue Fire is not any longer open during morning hotel-ERT.

So most hotelguests run to Blue Fire at 9 am, when the park officially opens.

But we got our 2 rides on it before the 'GP' arrived.

New ridesign

I like the ride.

The new ride.

I'm not the biggest fan of splash battles to be honest.

But I discovered that when the temperature is right, you can have LOTS of fun on it.

It's the ride we rode most during our visits and also the ride we had most fun on.

Even my youngest daughter, not the biggest themepark fan in the world to say the least, loved it.

There was some kind of opening/celebration during our visit. Not sure for what exactly.

"I'm gonna park my car over there"

Unique coaster, but I don't really like it.

I like this one though

Me : 'Hold up 2 fingers !"

Daughter : "Why ?"

Me : "In about 10 years, you will be happy you have this picture. This is your second B&M !!"

And another ride on Poseidon.

It was hot during our visit. So this was fun too.

Chillin.

I really love Europapark. Not only for the theming and coasters, but also for all those random rides.

Even on busy days, only the big rides get lines. For all those random rides, there is almost never a line.

There is so much to do for everybody.

This was a nice refeshment.

Water playground.

Hidden shop.

England

Self portrait

On sale already. Ok, I hate soccer. I think soccer is the most overrated sport in the world. The soccerplayers are overpaid and lately all they do is showing off with their Louis Vitton handbags. But last winter when there wasn't even an inch of snow on the fields, they cancelled the games because of that !!! But even then, WTH would buy a shirt like this ??? (sorry about the rant)

Main street.

The park is stunning at moments.

Dive show. Not a fan of diveshows either. Sorry. And it ruins the view on Atlantica.

[Beeja]

STOP MAKING ME JEALOUS!!!

 

You're visiting every park I wanted to visit this year but I haven't got to any of them (except for Efteling, thanks to you!)... Then again, your fantastic reports ease the pain just a little bit and after looking at your pics, I'm going to make sure that I visit Europa, Phantasialand and Plopsa Coo next year! Thanks for sharing!

 

Oh, and I love your shirt! HEY HO! LET'S GO!

[Groteslurf]

^ To make you even more jealous : I'm seeing Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg live in 2.5 month

 

Next update. At 1 hour driving from Europapark, Centerparcs opened a new holiday village a few weeks earlier, so we booked a weekend at their new park called Domaine des Trois Forêts.

 

It's a very huge park and the cottages are really nice.

Unfortunately it' was hot, really hot, extremely hot during our visit. It was just too damn hot to enjoy the park. Both my oldest daughter and me weren't feeling too well because of the heat, so we drove home already on Sunday morning in stead of Monday morning.

The new park is a full ecological park, whatever that is good for. The only thing I know it means, is that you can't find A/C ANYWHERE !!!

In temperatures nearing 40°C with high humidity, to me that must be how hell is like. Although, dixit Robb, the music is better, I hope it won't be that hot over there. Or at least hell will have A/C in the sleeping rooms

As said, the cottages were nice. In fact, the best cottages I stayed in at any Centerparc so far.

You NEED bikes to move around inside the park. It is a massive park.

Living room. I was really glad with the fireplace

Kitchen

Masterbedroom

First bathroom

2nd bathroom

This one holds a steambath/powershower. Normally I would take a steambath everyday, however it was too damn hot.

2nd bedroom

The best part of the cottage was the terrace.

The window can be opened completely.

By doing so, the terrace became a real extension of the livingroom. Too bad the huge closed window also let in a lot of heat during the day.

Discovering the park. I-am-melting !

Artificial river.

Park centre.

I really had troubles standing the heat, so I obviously forgot to take pictures inside of the parkdome, so I downloaded a few pics from the press section on the Centerparcs website. This is how every Centerparcs parkdome looks like.

Aqua Mundo

Is was the best Aqua Mundo I've been to so far. A lot of different pools and slides.

The river again

Morning dew and a few deers. Forget the deers, if only there was morning dew during our stay.

Back to my own pics. This was the bowling in the Market dome : no A/C, but because this place didn't have windows, it was by far the coolest place in the park.

There was also a farm at the park.

Babe trying to cool down.

Inside the farm, there is also a kids playarea called Baluba.

Last picture. There is a complete new road from the 'route national' to the park. Too bad is was that hot during our stay. Domaine des Trois Forêts IS a beautiful park, but not in 40°C.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Groteslurf

[Ledgy]

Me : 'Hold up 2 fingers !"

Daughter : "Why ?"

Me : "In about 10 years, you will be happy you have this picture. This is your second B&M !!"

Ha, ha, can´t stop laughing... That´s great... and her glimpse say... OK Dad, if you want me to do that... cheeeeese...

 

Great Trip report again! Thank you for sharing your journey. I´m sad, would like to speak to you at Efteling, but thats the problem if you don´t recognize over there who is who and met up with some people you were on the Trip before (in my occasion on the UK-Trip)

 

Hope we´ll meet up on another Club TPR day in Europe in the next years. Loved to ride Joris en de Drak!

[Groteslurf]

^Thanks.

 

I'm sure that we'll meet up a some point soon.

[Groteslurf]

The day after we came back home from holiday, I was invited to the Tall Ships Race which was this time departing from Antwerp.

Hello mermaid !!

To be honest, the only thing I know about the Tall Ships race is that it concerns tall sailing ships.

Ships everywhere

Great name

A lot of ropes.

We were able to get aboard of some vessels.

Rush hour

Every one's a winner

Summer beach in the port.

Next vessel

Russian again I think

Another boat

The place where we would have dinner and watch the fireworks.

Random statue

Random building. Well, not really. It will be a new museum soon.

The most beautiful ship I saw that evening. It turned out to be a ship with a quite interesting history. Here some info I found back on wiki : The frigate Shtandart (Russian: Штандартъ) was the first ship of the Baltic fleet. The kiel was laid down by the decree of Peter I and according to orders of governor Aleksandr Menshikov on April 24, 1703, at the Olonetsky shipyard near Olonets. The vessel was build by the Dutch shipwright Vybe Gerens by Tsar Peter design under his direct supervision. She was first flagship of Russian Navy. Shtandart took part in many military operations, and was in the Navy till 1727. On 4th September 1999 the "Shtandart Project" (a non-commercial organisation dedicated to youth-training) has launched an exact replica of frigate Shtandart. The Replica was built by naval architect and sailor Vladimir Martus, with help of hundreds of volunteers.

Damn you, soccer fans.

Funky building.

Time for dinner

Great setting.

The best thing of the evening was rediscovering an old friend. More than 20 years ago I was is the same school as the lady in green. It was weird but also very awesome meeting again after 20 years.

Nice views.

The company which invited me.

More great views.

After dinner, it was time for the fireworks. Too bad it was not as close as expected.

End of this update. Next update will be an heroic one.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Groteslurf

[Groteslurf]

August 13 @ 9 pm, I participated in the Dodentocht/March of Death.

 

This march is a 100 km walk/run which you need to finish in 24 hours time. Although some people run the complete distance and finish it in not even 10 hours time, the Dodentocht is not a race. There is no ranking, it just a personal victory if you finish it.

 

I'm not a walker, I'm a runner. I've been running for 2.5 years now, and lately I've been concentrating on running longer distances (1/2 marathons), and since this wasn't a problem, I decided to participate in the Dodentocht together with my brothers-in-law. My plan was to run about 10-15 % of the time, so that different musscles would be used.

Official logo

The forecasts predicted some rain during the night, so I used my TPR bag to protect my stuff against the rain.

Official Dodentocht beer

Route

Together with 10651 other participants, we prepared for the start

Scanning chip

People everywhere.

My brothers-in-law

ready for the start

Here we go for what is going to be an exhausting 24 hours.

I suck in taking pics in the dark. This is a sunset with a lot of walkers in the front.

The animation everywhere all night long was awesome.

Only after about 10 kms, I was able to run for the first time. Before it was just too crowdy.

Beautiful settings everywhere, and 1 huge party in every village we went through.

Lots of free food for the participants

Here I am. It was my first time I participated. I made some capital beginner mistakes and I was already suffering blisters after 30 kms.

More food and drinks

I just loved all the random people everywhere along the roads and that in the middle of the night.

Scanning post

2 weirdos

6.71 kms to go to the next food/drink supply.

I couldn't run anymore because of the blisters. I started feeling pain everywhere and 2 kms before the next supply post, lights went out completely.

Till then I was convinced to finish the 100 kms, but the 2 kms before the supply post at 40 kms weere hell to me. It was 4 am in the meanwhile, I had been walking/running for 7 hours in a row, my legs were hurting because I couldn't run anymore due to the blisters hurting like hell, the fact that if I would proceed, it might have taken me several days to recuperate, the fact that there would be a taxi home at the next supply (my sister-in-law was waiting there), everything combined, I gave up after nearly 40 kms.

The last scanning/supply I passed.

The Duvel brewery.

Free Duvel beer. Too bad I was too exhausted to drink it.

To give you all a full impression of the Dodentocht, I'm using some pictures from the Dodentocht website.

Yeah yeah, I was in bed at that time ((

The UK army was there too.

The people along the streets were really awesome.

I would have love to still be there.

Ready to continue.

K.O.

Kids handing out water.

Still fresh

I think it's this guy who finished all 41 marches so far.

It's really exhausting.

REALLY exhausting.

But look at the next 5 pics

The reason why I WILL finish the Dodentocht in one of the next years. (not next year because I will be in CP together with TPR during next year's edition)

No pain, no glory !!

R.I.P. to the participant who died after having a heartattack during the Dodentocht. Very sad this happened.