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Elissa's Thoughts on the UK and Europe Trips!


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BTW... I never thought, that it is possible to get ERT on Olympia Looping or any coaster on a funfair!!! A great respect for that! Same respect for the beer tent.

 

I have an idea! Next time, you should built up a TPR-funfair on the field next to my house with all great Schwarzkopf coasters cruising through germany, while you visit Phantasialand, Moviepark or Toverland and make a bonus stop over here

 

If you get that, I bring the HARIBO and beer stuff

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WTF is true about a scarry Scotshman was licking my ear that busdrive

 

 

Erik I have pictures to proof it!!!

 

I do NOT remember this, therefore it NEVER happened!!!

 

Anyway, this is probably my favourite TPR trip day ever. Everyday is awesome, but this was truly outstanding (the night at Gruna Lund being a very close 2nd). As much as I like theme parks, the social aspects of these trips is what makes them truly unique. The beer tent was an amazing experience and I was so glad it was with so many great people. After many, many rides on Olympia Looping and a morning at Europa Park ( ) topping the day off with the fair was the cherry on the cake! Some of us even stayed up all night as we didn't want the day to end! (SteveC & the Fudges are too blame for that!)

 

It's a day I will never forget.

Edited by cobra_roll06
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First off, this has to be one of the most awesome nights in TPR history. It was right up there with our "Beach Party" at Belmont Park on the 2009 West Coast Trip when we rented out the Flow Rider.

 

It was at this very moment that I think I realized that the true TPR members are ones that appreciate all aspects of parks, themed attractions, amusements, roller coasters, dark rides, shows, arcades, food service, EVERYTHING.

 

TPR is *not* a "credit whore group" or a "just roller coasters" group. We are NOT the kind of people want to just run into a park, ride a coaster, run out. Ok, sure, we've done this before, but it's not the basis of this site. And especially not when you're at a venue that is like nothing most people have ever seen before in their home country.

 

I have to say that some of the best times I've had during TPR trips are actually things like the beach parties on the West Coast trip or hanging out in hotel lobbies or watching shows starring Trevor or bus ride antics or group meals. These are the things I remember most about the TPR trips. I knew when a bunch of us were just hanging out in the bar at Indiana Beach on the MidWest trip in 2007 that TPR was definitely the right place for me.

 

 

I just wanted to say too, that I love this thread. It's awesome getting to hear about the trip from the organizers' point of view.

 

I totally agree! The crazy side things that we all do on the trips is what makes them so amazing, whether it's toasting to Ezra, invoking the turkey, drinking beer on the beach, watching a one-man version of Space Odyssey, getting to meet a baby otter up close, visiting a jelly bean factory or doing a scavenger hunt in Disneyland. The coasters are awesome but moreso are the experiences with the people, the friends you make, the food you eat. I knew I would forever be a loyal fan of Robb, Elissa and TPR after that first Midwest trip. You all truly are amazing people and I hope to be able to travel with you for years to come and look forward to the next unexpected amazing experience that I will have on one of your trips. I'm starting to look forward to the culture experiences just as much as the parks. I'm so jealous that I didn't get to make it on the Europe trip to be able to have that awesome experience.

 

This thread has been awesome. I love the behind-the-scenes Elissa perspective.

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So was Olympia Looping a surprise, or did the trip participants vote on it as a substitute for Geforce? I was thinking it was the former, which of course would have caused me to flip my shit, and the only way I could see people being disappointed would be if you voted and their choice wasn't picked. And ERT...? still amazing.

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^^We didn't let people vote on it, we announced it about a week or two before the trip but didn't tell them about the ERT till the trip itself.

 

Day 15

Phantasialand

 

We knew that the Europa / Fair day would be crazy and busy so the next day we planned a full open to close day at Phantasialand. This allowed everyone to take a more relaxed pace, find a place to just relax and chill, etc.

 

So Phantasialand is one of those European Parks that I've been to roughly every year now for six years. I am not the biggest fan of it, but I must say after this last visit it is definitely growing on me. Winjas I fully believe is in my top 10 - 20 coaster list, it is just the most amazing fun ride, I truly love it. After a long hot day the previous day I decided to let KT sleep in so we skipped ERT (which hurt because I LOVE Winjas!!!) but she needed the rest and had a super cool little 'nook bed' that she slept a good amount in!

 

In addition to the ERT we also had gotten everyone fast pass tickets and a VIP Ticket from the hotel as well. This allowed me to get plenty of Winjas rides once we arrived into the park later. We also found some fabulous play areas for KT and some new rides for her as well in the redone Winjas area.

 

We had a really good lunch this day and while yes it was hot, it was good food so that kind of made up for it. After lunch we were treated to the most wonderful thing ever...RAIN!!! It was actually almost a storm, very cool. Why was it awesome? Because it instantly cooled the temperature 20 degrees! It stayed beautiful the next few days then as well!

 

Did a few more rides then went back to the hotel where there were some awesome kids play areas for KT to hang out in. Kept working on random logistics stuff with the new hotel for the following night and pretty much sorted everything out which felt slightly better.

 

We then headed on to the Efteling hotel, made great time, and Hanno and Robb went and got me McDonalds (AWESOME!!!) There were a few issues with rooming at this hotel as no matter how easy of a rooming list you give a hotel, they still always seem to mess something up but we tried to quickly resolve it and get everyone to their rooms. Seriously, if I send a hotel a rooming list that says TWO BEDS Steven Crossan & Dave Wilson and they give them a one bed room, that's a problem!!! GRRR!!

 

Of course the next order of business was to immediately text Lou a picture of the creature that lives in the Efteling Bathrooms which she loves so much and then we made it a pretty early night as we had more ERT in the morning and two new credits for Elissa!!!

 

Next up - Efteling!

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^Two things:

 

- Winjas is indeed awesome. Likely in my top ten/twenty as well.

- You need to edit your post, and add a 5,000 or so word tribute to the greatness of Hollywood Tour

 

dt

 

Dave - not sure if you heard but well over half the animatronics are no longer even working. King Kong is in B mode, Cheeta no longer water skis, the list goes on

 

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words. The tribute is 20% done.

PICT0778.JPG.d27a39689f55aca9229107690602855b.JPG

= 1,000 words

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no matter how easy of a rooming list you give a hotel, they still always seem to mess something up

 

QFT. When I was state director for the Jaycees, I used to have to arrange hotel rooms for 10-12 people, and not once during the four trips I was in charge of did a single hotel manage to get our group reservation right--and that was just five to six rooms at a time. I can't imagine how badly they would have screwed things up with a group of 50.

 

Still enjoying this thread!

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Seriously, if I send a hotel a rooming list that says TWO BEDS Steven Crossan & Dave Wilson and they give them a one bed room, that's a problem!!! GRRR!!

 

Mikel and I had exactly the same problem in the second Premier Inn - I guess it was in Grimsby. We had a one bed room. We didn´t tell you that, cause there were some changes at all and you spoke about something that there are some people that will have a single room. Later we figured out, that only the woman had a single bed room and the others still had to beds in their room But it wasn´t a problem, we couldn´t handle, only a funny moment we recognized, that we were the only one

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Phatasialand was beautiful, sure it didn't have 16 world class coasters but it was a great experience. Hotel Matamba - that was like a themed adventure in itself, and we had Micheal Jackson right under our window (just beat it Micheal!).

 

Our room was weird at Efteling, we got one bed but the base was two singles pushed together, so we but the matress to the side, and slept on the single bases which was really comfortable. Efteling was another amazing hotel, I've got to say all the park hotels were magnificent.

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I remember the first hotel on the '07 Midwest, Div and I got a double bed instead of two beds. We just looked at the bed, looked at each other, then said "ach it will be fine". So we just shared it. Nothing weird happened. At least not while I was awake.

 

Besides, we were more concerned with the blocked toilet. Many thanks to the nameless maintenance guy who came to the room two minutes after we called and fixed it for us.

 

See, its these little silly moments that you look back on and laugh. Sharing with someone who is easy going enough to not be a drama queen and freak out about the less important stuff helps.

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I remember the first hotel on the '07 Midwest, Div and I got a double bed instead of two beds. We just looked at the bed, looked at each other, then said "ach it will be fine". So we just shared it.

 

Even if you have a room with an seperate bunkbed (like in Phantasialand's Ling Bao hotel) Divv joins you in an double bed

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I will echo the comments about the German fair. In fact doing Europa, the fair and Phantasialand in just 2 days was pretty freaking unbelievable. I got to ride EuroMir and Olympia Looping on the very same day - that's fantastic!

 

As for the credit whore thing - I've always described TPR (and the trips) as being for "normal people who happen to like amusement parks". The trips are more about socializing and having a good time than they are about increasing your coaster count, and that's what makes TPR so amazing! I've been back for almost a month now and have yet to update my silly little lists; but I've gone through photos, and read reports (not nearly as many as I would like), and I really really miss everyone.

 

Cameron.

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I just have to say, I do group tours for a hotel, and I never screw it up. HA!

Our hotel has a variety of room types, and as long as you book the right one, everything will be ok. I Have worked at hotels though, that WAY overbook their 2 bed rooms, and then usually stick group tours with the problem. So I feel your pain.

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Aww Crap!!! Leaving for another TPR Trip tonight, better wrap this one up!

 

Day 16

Efteling

 

I don't think it's been any secret over the years that I'm not the biggest fan of Efteling, and while I like GCI's they're not in my top 10. Cut to the last day of the trip where we'll be visiting Efteling for a full day with two new GCI's! A great ending to a trip for most, but I was more looking forward to dinner!

 

So the park has grown on me over the years, I still just don't feel it's a full day park. I also don't understand their high and mighty attitude about themselves and their pricing. It just seems like a slightly larger normal Europe park. Same amount of attractions and charm, just more spread out. Anyways, the GCI's had only opened a few days before our visit so there was a bit of a delay during morning ERT, but most people used this time to get their flying dutchman credit. I didn't bother riding it (KT was asleep and Robb was dealing with park stuff) but I heard reports that it had at least improved from previous seasons with some additional theming.

 

Next up were the two new GCI's. I really liked these rides, but probably for reasons different then most. One, the layout (at least at the beginning) was quite different for a GCI which was a nice change of pace. Two, I love the dueling aspect of the rides. I think it works even better on this ride than Lightning Racer/Gwazi. Lastly, the new trains and lapbars which allow for a LOWER height restriction. I believe it translated to around 44'' for the middle cars. Seriously, this is great. These are family rides at a family park and it was great to see GCI finding a way to lower the restriction safely.

 

Once the park opened and KT got up it was time to get her a big credit...in fact, I believe it was her first INTAMIN credit!!! BOB!!!! She wasn't the biggest fan of Bob, but didn't freak out or anything either. I hope to get her on better Intamin credits in the future.

 

Did some more playing in random playgrounds, she LOVED the stupid Dream Flight ride that everyone loves for some reason and then cost us $100 in the gift shop at the exit! DAMN YOU FARIES!!!

 

Lunch was good, and the soda was cold and had ice, YAY!!!

 

Robb and I then went back to the hotel to let KT play in the indoor playplace (US Parks, are you paying attention here!!) before we headed out to the 'new' hotel.

 

Our farewell dinner I had arranged was quite the feat. I found an Italian place with great reviews and I thought it would be fitting since we started in Italy. Well initially the place wrote back "Sorry we don't have any room". I looked for some other places and just couldn't find anything I thought would be as good as this place. So I emailed them back again with a suggestion (they owned two restaurants right next to each other) that they could serve us in the restaurant that was actually closed that night but from the Italian Kitchen. They loved the idea and a plan was in motion!

 

When we arrived they had their act together and I was really impressed with the service and the food. (FRESH PASTA!!!) And KT's pizza was totally amazing as well. It all went well, there were speeches and laughter and then sadness as it was time to split up. Most of the group was heading home, a few off on their own, a few more to Walibi World...it was time to sleep! BTW, if you're looking for a great restaurant near the AMS Airport PLEASE go to Trattoria La Bocca...AMAZING!!!

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Day 17

Walibi World & Duinrell

 

Robin had been nice enough to organize a bonus day to Walibi World. Robb and I really had no interest in going, but about 25 people were going to go, and we didn't want 25 of our people to just end the trip on their own with no cool TPR stuff, so at the last minute Robb and I organized some ERT and a group meal for the group...we also tagged along for the first hour to get some quality Goliath riding and another kiddie credit for KT.

 

I gotta say the kids area was AMAZING at Walibi World, we had this super nice ride op basically follow KT around asking what she wanted to ride and would start it up for her and give her bonus rides, etc. Thanks to Hanno we left early and he drove us to a new to us park; Duinrell.

 

I had NO CLUE what to expect from Duinrell, basically all I knew was that they had a relatively new Eurofighter. The park was INSANE! Imagine if Disney's Fort Wilderness built an awesome family theme park inside of it. There were do it yourself rides, play grounds, full size ride op rides and tents! Again, a great little European park with a cool looking waterslide complex as well. The only negative was that I got EATEN ALIVE by some sort of terrible Dutch insect this day. KT got bitten about 15 times on one leg, and I easily had 45 - 50 bites altogether. Even now four weeks later I still have scars from a majority of the bites. =( I know that I'm always the one prone to insect bites (they love me for some reason) this was still the WORST bites I've ever had my whole life...not amused.

 

Luckily they didn't start to really itch until after the five hour delayed/missed connection flights!

 

Ok, so that about wraps up my thoughts on the UK and Europe Trips! I''ll have a whole new thread coming in about three weeks after the next round of trips! As always, feel free to ask questions or post comments!

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