Photo TR: The Ray's do the TPR Europe 2010 trip!

[nursemelis374]

Nando is my favorite restaurant in London! I wish so bad we had one here!

 

Looking forward to the Europe part!

[Lamoure]

I love those Face-While-Drop-Shots !! Damn my Camera isn't thaaaaaat good enough

[jray21]

Pen. You stab the sole of her foot with a pen.

 

I think I will use that and the coffee recommendation next time.

 

Nando is my favorite restaurant in London! I wish so bad we had one here!

 

Looking forward to the Europe part!

 

I've never tried it, but next time I will have to!

[amyzoo]

It's great to see all these pictures, sometimes I can't remember all the little things happen once the trip is over...helps to refresh my memory!

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

^ I agree with that. It's great to relive the trip! Can't wait for the next update!

[jray21]

Day 3! This was the first official day of the 2010 TRP Europe Trip! We left London pretty early, took over a British Airlines flight thanks to Lou, and arrived to meet up with the rest of the group at the airport! We took a bus driven by a guy who looked like Mario, we were in Italy after all, to our hotel at GARDALAND! The hotel was absolutely amazing! It was a great, but very hot, day.

 

Upon arrival at the hotel, Bruno from Gardaland had an incredible welcome reception for us (Thanks a ton!)....and Front of the Line Passes! After the bus drivers decided to take a break and strand us all at the hotel, we finally arrived at the park and had a great time. The Europe parks had incredible theming, and Gardaland was no exception. The balloon tree house thing was very impressive. I got 5 credits at this park (I think), and was really looking forward to riding my first Screaming Squirrel, (more about that later)!

 

What I learned in Italy:

 

Lines are only a suggestion

You are considered rude if you don't let others cut in front of you

Ice does not exist

Air conditioning does not exist

Shaving does not exist

Deodorant does not exist

Diet Coke does not exist

Coke Light is not the same as Diet Coke

Coke Light is still better than any Pepsi product

Gelato is still the single greatest food item in the world

Soft serve Gelato is still better than any US ice cream

Fences and barriers are only suggestions, lay/sleep/rest/swim wherever you like

Italians don't have to worry about lawsuits because they have common sense (They don't have to have a ton of stupid American required safety features)

...And the number one thing I learned, Copyrights/Trademarks don't mean anything in Italy!

 

Anyway, on to the pictures!

On the way to the hotel, Piers decided to entertain KidTums...and the rest of the bus!

KidTums approves.

Piers shed a tear seeing the wine vineyards.

Bruno had this awesome reception for us!

Renee and Derek catching up. Hurry up Piers, Derek really needs his haircut!

Wow! This is an awesome hotel! Thanks Elissa!

After a ten minute fist fight, Melissa got the Queen chair.

Amy with Mr. Bird something mascot.

Here we were waiting for the bus drivers. They dropped us off and completely disappeared for a while. But it was no big deal because we were all being social and meeting new people and catching up with old friends.

Ben scared many people with his new 'stache. Last I heard, it was finally gone!

I don't think I will be sitting there.

As we pulled up to the park we noticed the luggage door to the bus next to us was open, and we saw.....

This nasty man! I do not want to know what he is looking at, or what he is doing.

This is some of the incredible theming, and it's only the main entrance!

Amy has made it to Gardala!

Yay! Our first park of the official trip!

This entire area was fenced off, but hey, if you need to sleep...

The entrance to one of the lands. Kind of reminds me of Lost Continent.

More incredible theming.

Christine is about to ride Blue Tornado.

Renee is glad that she wasn't dumped lately because no broken hearts are allowed.

A few smiling faces, I guess this Vekoma isn't too bad!

Melissa plays a white wookie/abominable snowwoman.

Amy as a white wookie thing.

4 TPR members enjoy Mammut, and 2 Italians don't understand what all the excitement is about.

Mammut lets you sit in the engine compartment!

This is a mexican sleeping on a hammock drinking Tequila. I'm not saying anything else with this one.

Speaking of Mexicans, here are two from our trip!

Amy is enjoying the 'West of the Pecos' area.

West of the Pecos? Looks more like the Deliverance river area to me.

The once serious Voyage theater has become home to Sponge Bob!

Pizza Rolls!

Next up is Ramses. Indiana Jones meets Terminator meets Aliens.

Some kid totally threw his sister into the water fountain, and no one seemed to care at all! Awesome!

The ride had good theming, but the longer it went on, the weirder everything got.

I know a plastic surgeon who could take care of that.

Wow, you can buy bongs at Italian amusement parks! Talk about cultural differences!

Next up is the Screaming Squirrel!

They seem to like it, but they must be really easily amused because it was very pointless, and very uncomfortable.

That was the most f-ing pointless ride ever! What the hell was the point of that?

Another embarrassing kiddie credit. But it was the worlds longest wacky worm!

Nice painful corkscrew.

This is still part of the park! Very clean!

ACE accommodations when they visit.

Dogs really are allowed in the parks, not just service animals!

Really drunk Pirates of the Caribbean.

Random broken head serpent man.

These guys were twitching as they swung from their ropes! Why can't we do this in America!

Fortress for the battle scene. Check.

Pirate Ship for battle scene. Check.

Skeleton on pile of gold treasure. Check.

I guess we go underwater here? I guess they ran out of things to copy.

No poking the stairs with your umbrella. No balancing baby carriages on the stairs. No doing calf raises on the stairs. No going to the bathroom on the stairs. No balancing a brief case on the stairs. No stepping on the stairs. Do hold babies off your lap so you can lose them easier. Do hold animals in an inappropriate manner. Really, you are allowed to have animals on this ride!

This is the exit to the Pirate Restaurant. Much better than a crammed gift shop, and the food was pretty good!

Italian pirates have a lot of.... 'pride!'

Part of the Pirates ride queue!

Nice theming, and a pair of Italians just lying on the nice clean ground for a rest.

Our sexy group for most of the trip!

Amy was looking for Spongebob, but only found the captain.

Almost as nice looking as the Arabian Coast at Disney Sea!

Nice open area for a small future ride. The food places on the right were very very good.

The middle of the main walkway is a nice place to lay down.

This was were our included lunch was for the day!

I thought only Ireland had leprechauns.

We got a crap load of food included in the meal....even for us Americans!

They had the World Cup games showing in the middle of the park. It got pretty busy later on.

This was my first experience with Italian 'lines.' You purchased your food at the booth to the left, and then you took your receipt and pushed, shoved, and clawed your way to the front and hoped that the person would acknowledge that you exist and get your food.

On our way to Space Vertigo!

Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

An even nicer queue than Space Mountain!

Right before launch, er, drop.

Next up was Flying Island! I really wish we had these in the US!

Ooooh! How do they do that! (Don't you love the professional Photoshopping!)

The jet lag is really starting to kick in.

That beam looks way too skinny. I hope it doesn't break!

Nice view of Mammut and Blue Tornado.

This is the cool balloon house thingy I was talking about.

Magic Mountain and Sequoia Adventure.

Nice sunset over 'Lago di Garda.'

Now it looks like a real Flying Island!

Looks like Top Gun, but not as good.

Having fun before Magic House!

Christine and Melissa dressed up a little too much for the first day.

Fantasy Kingdom, not land. Huge difference.

Tony the Tiger and the small world characters.

The peeing elephant fountains.

Nice shot of the Magic House lit up at night.

"Lilt" was a very delicious Pineapple Grapefruit soda.

They don't even bother with hiding the driver in their parade floats.

Notice there are no ropes, workers holding people back, and no security, yet the parents and children stay safely back. Never in America.

Drew couldn't keep his hands off of Muu Muu.

Now Drew has the 'I haven't slept for two days' smile.

This was from the kids train ride. It was very well themed, and had good animatronics.

One of the worst parts of the trip was that everyone got these weird rashes/bug bites throughout the trip!

Orange Schweppes. Even normal soda tastes better in another country.

We were all sooooo exhausted after the first day. Christine is taking a nap, and everyone else is ready to fall over at one of our dinners.

Back on the bus after a long day. Man I look hideous!

Next up is Mirabilandia!

[themeparkman25]

What I learned in Italy:

 

Lines are only a suggestion

You are considered rude if you don't let others cut in front of you

Ice does not exist

Air conditioning does not exist

Shaving does not exist

Deodorant does not exist

Diet Coke does not exist

Coke Light is not the same as Diet Coke

Coke Light is still better than any Pepsi product

Gelato is still the single greatest food item in the world

Soft serve Gelato is still better than any US ice cream

Fences and barriers are only suggestions, lay/sleep/rest/swim wherever you like

Italians don't have to worry about lawsuits because they have common sense (They don't have to have a ton of stupid American required safety features)

...And the number one thing I learned, Copyrights/Trademarks don't mean anything in Italy!

 

Checking restraints is slow and unnecessary. A visual scan is sufficient.

 

Fixed! Haha. This is a great trip report, Joey. I have enjoyed it so far and look forward to the next update!

[larrygator]

Prego

[ginzo]

^Grazie!

[nursemelis374]

This trip report is making me very happy! That first day was so much fun! I really liked Gardaland and can't wait to go back! I rode that Flying Island thing 4 times and I think we all went on the Pirate ride 4 or 5 times. We had su much fun on all the random kiddie rides too. Love it!

[amyzoo]

I miss everyone, can't wait for the next trip so we can all get together again

[jray21]

This trip report is making me very happy! That first day was so much fun! I really liked Gardaland and can't wait to go back! I rode that Flying Island thing 4 times and I think we all went on the Pirate ride 4 or 5 times. We had su much fun on all the random kiddie rides too. Love it!

 

That Flying Island was pretty fun. It could have been because you could actually see since there were no plastic windows that where never repaired like in the US. The pirates ride was one of the best ones of the trip. I can't wait to go back!

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

I loved Gardaland! This was my first real culture shock. Not being able to understand and communicate with people, not being able to read signs or anything, and he toilets... wait, the holes in the ground, haha. No thank you! Thank God there were regular toilets at the hotel.

That wacky worm was by far the best that I have ever been on, and I agree that the pirate ride was one of the best of the trip (along with Europa's). I actually enjoyed Magic Mountain with the new restraints. I wish they would put them on ALL the Vekoma's!

I don't know how many others had the lemon pie at our dinner, but I couldn't stop thinking about the whole rest of the trip. My mouth still waters when I think about it.

 

P.S. Your "What I learned in Italy" thing is so perfect, haha!

[live2tell75]

This trip report is making me very happy! That first day was so much fun! I really liked Gardaland and can't wait to go back! I rode that Flying Island thing 4 times and I think we all went on the Pirate ride 4 or 5 times. We had su much fun on all the random kiddie rides too. Love it!

 

That Flying Island was pretty fun. It could have been because you could actually see since there were no plastic windows that where never repaired like in the US. The pirates ride was one of the best ones of the trip. I can't wait to go back!

 

I completely agree about the Pirate ride, that was one of my favorites on the entire trip. I think the main draw was that it was air-conditioned and cool. But the real reason was to pay respect to the pathetic Sea head monster! I'm glad you got a photo of him. And I loved the whole kids area too! The Magic House was my favorite madhouse on the trip. This brings back such great memories!

[jray21]

Time for a pointless video! I didn't take many videos at all so they aren't anything special. I will have some better videos later on, some POV's, Spookslut, and drunk Piers/TPR people later in the report..

 

 

This pointless video contains three clips. The first clip is a 'POV' from the Flying Island Attraction. The second shows a parade with no ropes or employees keeping people back because in Europe they know that if you get injured it's your own fault, and you are responsible for your own actions. Unlike in America, where everything is everyone else's fault. You can also see the great lengths they went through to hide the parade float drivers. The last clip is a pointless clip of a pointless ride to end this pointless video.

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

^ Nice! You know, I took a video on the Flying Island as well. When the trip was over and I returned home and started going through my photos, I was a bit bummed that I didn't take photos from the Flying Island instead of a video. Oh well. Reason number 10,001 to get back to Europe!

Edited November 2, 2010 by ernierocker

[jray21]

Next up is Mirabilandia, with iSpeed and Katun! We started off the day with ERT of Katun, and it was an incredible ride! We had a great time, and in true Italian fashion they let us just wait right on the station platform for re-rides. We didn't have to get behind the gates or anything. We got a ton of rides in, and then we were headed to iSpeed! iSpeed was very smooth, and a ton of fun. They did a good job with it, and we rode it a ton of times. They also had an awesome mini-log ride for kids that Melissa will have in her backyard one of these days. The splash battle was amazing as well. I have never been so soaked in a non-waterpark ride! In fact, I got more wet on the splash battle than most tube rides at waterparks! We had another incredible lunch, I got my fill of Gelato in for the day, and discovered "Nutella & Go!" We had another incredible day, and I couldn't believe we only had 5 days left of the official trip! There were a lot of weird rules, half naked people, and good copyright stealing throughout the park. It was an awesome day!

 

This is a video of the splash battle. Alfredo looks like he enjoyed it a little too much.

 

 

On to the pictures!

Had a long day at work? Feeling wound up and need to relax? Enjoy your drive home with a few beers! Drive Beer, because driving is stressful enough!

There is no mistaking what will happen if you cross this fence. Of course, in America if someone jumped over and got killed, the family would sue and say they thought it was a Halloween maze and you were supposed to go in there.

Yay! We have arrived at Mirabilandia. Say Mirabilandia five times fast!

It was so hot, even in the early morning, that we all huddled around any shade we could find.

I was so tempted to push them all in!

King Rob(b) fills us in on all the awesome rides and ERT for the day!

Fold right side then left? No. Fold top down first? No. Fold left up to top? No. Damn maps.

Another nice 'asking to be pushed into the fountain' pose.

I see you!

Off to ERT on Katun!

Hey kids, he has a special place for you to sit!

Many people don't know that Eve from Wall-E has a famous Italian sister.

Please run into the wall to the left.

Amy loved all the cute animals around the park.

A nice little shake kids so they get sick house.

Next up was iSpeed!

iSpeed was great, but there was no great acting by Keanu.

Twisty inversion!

Naxcar, not Nascar, and no that is not stealing because they are obviously not even slightly similar!

The park was not really crowded at all!

Up and Over!

Great Ride!

This was the weird entrance to iSpeed. You had to walk to the end of the building. I never did figure out what all those doors were for.

That dude has bigger boobs than all the girls on the train combined! Also, Carowinds should take note of how to really make a train look like a race car.

Another fun twisty element.

Next up was one of those cool things I've only seen in Europe, Mini Rapide!

It's a kiddie log ride, perfectly sized for Melissa's backyard!

Riding the big kids log ride.

Even the log ride boats look more like real cars than Carowind's Intimidator.

Just say no to same plant marriage!

See that creepy fat man with the camera Kristen? Stay away from people like him. They are bad people.

Perfect shot in the face!

Me and Alfredo tried our best...

...but we got killed in the end.

We were absolutely soaked to the bone, but it was an incredibly hot day so it was completely worth it.

No the picture isn't crooked. The ride sits in the station leaning to the left to make it on one of the most uncomfortable waits in the station.

The kissing disease dinosaur ride. The real reasons the dinosaurs went extinct.

So... you cannot take NO Whiskey? So that means I cannot ride unless I have Whiskey? Double negatives are so confusing!

Oh crap, I faced the wrong way again!

Eric, Andrew, and Alfredo before being hatched.

Would have been a nice shot of the wife if the Dinosaur hadn't jumped in at the last moment and ruined it!

This was a fun little ride, and it gave us a few moments of rest.

T-Rex is ready to eat the next group that comes by.

I think some bushes need to be trimmed.

Some of the dinosaurs were showing their age.

Ah!

aaaah!

AAAAAHHHH, were going to be gummed to death!

Lunch! Beef Stroganoff, fries, fruit cup, lasagna, chocolate cake, and chocolate mousse! (I stole Amy's dessert)

Amy got the pork cutlet (like Tonkatsu), fries, and a really big and good pesto pasta salad!

Roast chicken, fries, tomatoes and veggies, pesto pasta salad, and a fruit cup. There is also another dish below the pasta salad but I can't remember what it was. The dessert was already gone by the time I took the picture. I told you they gave us a crap load of food on this trip!

The complete opposite of America. The basketball game to the left is absolutely empty while the football(soccer) game to the right was busy all day!

Next up was apocalyptic New York and Reset!

It was pretty funny all the swear words that were everywhere.

The better looking New York.

All we need are a bunch of homeless meth addicts and this scene would be exactly like the real thing!

My thoughts exactly.

Renee was glad to be back in NY, but it smelled too fresh to really feel like NY.

It really was a pretty cool looking area. The ride was really fun, in a warped kind of Europe way.

Stay strong lady liberty!

Darn right!

Even the busses were exactly like the real ones in NY!

Nothing says NY like empty boxes from stolen appliances!

Nice group picture!

Nothing says freshness like a microwave food stand!

Is that really a Gelato Burger?!?!?!?!?!

It is!!!!! The bun was an orange Brioche, and it was delicious!!!!!

Next up was Space Center Area 35! The space center with no space vehicles, only fighter jets!

Nice Jet. I can't wait to see what incredible coaster/ride they have here.

Another cool plane. Must be a pretty intense ride with all this theming.

That's it?! This whole area and all this theming for an S&S Tower!

Somehow I didn't feel safe walking under this plane with those supports.

One of the best purchases of the trip! Nutella & Go!!!!! It was like those japanese Yin Yan's, but with Nutella chocolate, and this awesomely disgustingly sweet drink!

My computer says these pictures at Gardaland were taken the same day as Mirabilandia, but I couldn't remember. I think we did go back that evening, but either way, here is some nice theming at Gardaland!

At night these guys come alive and kill anyone who stays after closing.

Another cleaner trying to run us over.

Taking a much needed break after an exhausting but incredible day!

BeetleBen cried when he saw how beautiful and lucky his european counterparts work areas were.

The Atlantica Stargate boat ride!

Not even close to Disney's Little Mermaid. She doesn't have shells for a bikini top. Totally different.

All this theming for three tables, six chairs, and a rubbage bin!

We also did the Inferis haunted maze. All the Europe mazes had us do this weird conga line thing where you had to keep your hand on the sholders on the stranger in front of you the whole time and shuffle through the maze like a bunch of zombies.

...and the scareactors were allowed to touch you! Holy crap it really does scare you to death when they are able to touch you but remember, it's only for 'technical' reasons and I'm sure they NEVER abuse their touching privileges.

Next up is Movieland Studios!!! The Napster and Limewire of the theme park industry!!

Edited November 2, 2010 by ernierocker

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

 

Is it just me, or does the mountain bear a striking resemblance to the lower half of Disneyland's Matterhorn?

[Movieguy]

Very nice TR. Ispeed, coupled with Katun, seems to be slowly turning Mirabilandila into one of the must-see parks in Europe. It certainly seems really cool from what I've seen here.

[smells_like_team_disney]

This is a video of the splash battle. Alfredo looks like he enjoyed it a little too much.

 

You better believe it, haha! It was so amazingly hot that day, and the heat just seemed to follow us around the entire trip (can't say I'm complaining). I think it finally cooled a bit by the time we got to Efteling. Awesome report so far, Joey. Can't wait to read the rest of it.

 

My computer says these pictures at Gardaland were taken the same day as Mirabilandia, but I couldn't remember. I think we did go back that evening, but either way, here is some nice theming at Gardaland!

 

Correct, we did go back to Gardaland that night. Just in time to enjoy an encore of the Disney Electrical Parade knock-off.

[nursemelis374]

Yeah, we went back to Gardaland so we could do the most amazing Pirates ride ever again!

 

And yes, I will either have that log flume or the one from Movieland in my backyard someday.

[nay]

Love it! And thank you for not pushing us in the fountain.

[larrygator]

Yes, we went back to Gardaland a little early because the majority of participants were too lame to spend an extra hour in Italy's best amusement park.

[jray21]

^Ok, now I remember. I had originally thought the extra hour wuss out night was at Movieland. Thanks for reminding me!

 

^^That would have been funny though, and refreshing!

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

Awesome! After hearing all the negative things about Mirabilandia, I was surprised by how much I liked it. I had a ton of fun there and it looks like everyone else did as well. I have NO idea why people wanted to leave early!

iSpeed was flippin' amazing, and Katun was definitely one of my favorite coasters of the whole trip, if not my favorite!