F1shy Posted September 4, 2005 Posted September 4, 2005 (edited) Hey everyone. Some of you may know me… some of you may not… so here’s a quick introduction about me! Yay! Haha, I’m not self-obsessed. This TR was made 2 weeks ago… but because of some Turkish Hackers… it was deleted… and I didn’t have a backup of what I wrote… So I had to type it all over again… What a blast I must say. My name is Oliver, and I just moved to Heidelberg, Germany from Atlanta, Georgia. I am 15 years old, turning 16 in October w00t! I moved here because my dad is a Colonel in the Army, and we plan on staying here for the next three years. ***DAY ONE 8/14*Hey look, it's time to tell you what we (my family and I) did in EuroDisney. WHEW! My dad and I headed straight for Space Mountain: Mission 2 (My mom + coasters = nah uh). For those of you who are a bit slow on international theme parks, ESPECIALLY International Disneyland Parks, Space Mountain: Mission 2 is an "Incredible Hulk"-type launching roller coaster that is completely indoors. The only parts of the coaster that are outdoors is the top part of the launch, and the loading station. What can I say about Space Mountain? It is visual. VERY visual. and there's music blasting through the speakers (like MGM Studio's Rock n' Rollercoaster) on the train. There are two inversions. The first one you experience is a half loop to a half corkscrew (I’m not sure what that is called)... and the second inversion is just a simple corkscrew. There are two other coasters in EuroDisney, which are Thunder Mountain Railroad (I forgot what it was called but it’s like the one in Orlando). My dad and I stood in line FOREVER just to get on the coaster. It was at least a two hour wait... I wouldn't say it was worth it, but it definitely was fun to ride. And the other coaster at EuroDisney is some Indiana Jones ride... it's nothing real special... just a few dips and drops, and a loop. All of that pretty much describes EuroDisney's roller coasters. My parents and I left the park in the early evening, feeling that we had ridden everything that we wanted to ride. We headed for Paris to visit Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. After a couple hours, we headed back to the we-love-your-money Davy Crocket Ranch (a Disneyland Resort hotel). This is a big part of my report that has nothing to do with theme parks… instead, it’s about what happened between EuroDisney and Alton Towers. Again, If you’re not interested… just skip this section, and head over to Day Five of the report. ***DAY TWO 8/15*The next morning, we woke up early, had some croissants and orange juice for breakfast, and headed off to Paris to catch a glimpse of the Arc de Triumph before moving on to Normandy. I fell asleep most of the way from Paris to Normandy… so I can’t say much went on during that time. When we got to Normandy, we decided to visit Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, and Pointe du Hoc. I was surprised to see that none of the cliffs had cement barriers (like in Saving Private Ryan)… Utah Beach was covered with scattered homes and shops… same thing with Omaha Beach. Of course there were a few German shelters in the cliffs of Omaha Beach (I walked in some of those… really small and dark), but other than that, there was nothing that I expected to see. After leaving Omaha Beach, we headed towards Pointe du Hoc. What can I say about Pointe du Hoc? Amazing. Just amazing. There are so many craters in the ground from bombs and explosions from the war. It is definitely a sight to see. Have you seen the Call of Duty 2 video for Xbox 360? There’s a gameplay video of Pointe du Hoc and it looks just like what I saw with my own eyes (without all the shooting and people running everywhere, of course). After leaving Pointe du Hoc, we were low on gas… as in, for the car. On our way to the Autobahn, we stopped in a little French town where a small gas station caught our eye. The gas pump was automatic, which means it only takes credit cards. My dad tried his MasterCard a couple times, but it didn’t word. Thankfully, a French guy was already there filling up his van, and we were trying our best to try and explain our situation to him. Now I must admit our French is horrible… pretty much pathetic. This French guy also knew no English whatsoever. But what he did for us was the nicest thing I’ve ever seen someone do. He told us to follow him with the car, and he drove us halfway to the nearest gas station that would accept my dad’s credit card. From there, he tried his best to tell us what direction to go in… using hand motions and French words. What was even nicer about the guy was that he was standing in the rain when he was telling us these directions. IN THE RAIN. Even in the rain, this guy was still smiling and laughing at himself at his attempts at speaking English, and we were still having a good time, even though we couldn’t understand each other! Did I mention this was around 10:30 at night, too? I thought French people were arrogant, and I also thought they didn’t like Americans… shows how much the American press knows about the French people. Well anyway, after filling up our gas tank at the gas station the French guy led us to, we headed off for the Cherbourg Ferry Port. When we arrived at the Port, we found out that the next available Ferry for Portsmouth (our next destination) was 8 AM the next morning. So we drove around Cherbourg looking for a hotel with a vacant room. Guess what happened. No hotels with vacancies! Woo! So what did we do? We drove back to the Port parking lot, parked the car next to others, and slept in the car until 6 AM (which is when the ticket office opened). I, personally, could not sleep that night. My dad was snoring in the driver’s seat, while my mom was sleeping comfortably on the backseat (which I gave up to her). So I waited until the next morning for the ticket office lights to turn on so I could rudely awaken my dad. Wow I’m a good son. ***DAY THREE 8/16*The next morning we bought our Ferry ticket for 375 Euro… 125eu a person. Gah! The woman next to us nearly fainted when the same price popped up for her family. My dad bought our ticket, and within an hour we were lining up for the Ferry ready for the 4 hour trip. When we got onto the Ferry, I sat on the top deck to watch the ferry leave the dock, after that I immediately headed for the lounge, and instantly fell asleep. Those blue recliner chairs were soooo comfortable… I’ll never forget those. After the ferry ride, we headed for London to do a bit of sightseeing. We parked near the Tower of London (not much of a Tower, really), and decided to eat lunch at a Japanese Noodle restaurant (which wasn’t too bad). After eating our lunch, my dad bought the family tickets to take a tour around London. I can’t remember much of the tour, but I know that it was long enough to make me grow an appetite for dinner. After the tour, we drove around looking for a hotel to stay at for the night. We found a decent Holiday Inn and decided to stay… but we wouldn’t get in the room until after we ate dinner. We drove around and found an amazing Italian restaurant. And when I say amazing, I mean excellent food, a relaxing atmosphere, and really cool lighting in the bathroom! I, myself, had a pepperoni and jalapeno pizza (which tasted like it came from the Heavens above)… while my parents bought some type of foreign food which I have a hard time remember what it was called. After the fantastic, stomach-filling dinner, we headed for the hotel… by this time it was around 11:00PM. We watched some EuroSport on the TV (ah my new favorite channel…) and went to bed. ***DAY FOUR 8/17*Our first plans after waking up were getting showered/dressed, eat breakfast, and head to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. We got to the Palace 30 minutes before the event started, and it was PACKED. We watched the ceremony (which I now think is over-hyped by some people), and left to ride the London Eye. Yay for London Eye! It was a lot of fun, riding the wheel, and getting a view of London from one of the tallest structures that overlooks the city. The London Eye picture near the end of the ride didn’t look so great. Apparently, some English Engineers forgot that light reflects off of glass, and that when the flash goes off when taking your picture, you only see a glare and people’s feet. Yay for glares and people’s feet! After leaving the London Eye, my parents and I walked past the London Aquarium, over a bridge, passed Big Ben, towards the Westminster Abbey. After seeing tombs of some of the past generations of members of the Royal Family, we left for out hotel in Stafford, where we stayed for the next three nights. The hotel we stayed at had a thing called “Road Chef” or something like that. They’re spread out all throughout England (I think…) on the Autobahns, and it was pretty neat. It had a breakfast section of the building, and a Happy Chicken or something like that for Lunch/Dinner/Later-in-the-Day meals. We fell asleep after watching Assassins on TV (Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas), which I thought was a great movie. ***DAY FIVE 8/18*ALTON TOWERS YAY!!! We left for Alton Towers around 9:00… and pulled into the parking lot just before 9:30 (which is when the park gates opened). The free monorail ride there was pretty cool… it gave you a tease of what the park had to offer. When the park gates opened, we walked straight towards Spinball Whizzer… because it was the closest coaster to the park gates. My dad and I walked into the queue line, and as we strolled up to the station platform, the coaster broke down. Lucky us. We waited for 10 minutes, when finally the ride ops gave up and gave everyone in line FastPasses for Corkscrew, Hex, etc. After exiting Spinball Whizzer, we walked towards Oblivion. We found out that Oblivion hadn’t opened yet… and since a looooong line had already formed, we decided to ride that later, and head towards Rita. When we got to Rita, we found out that we had the same problem identical to Oblivion. The Queen hadn’t opened yet… and again, a loooooooong line had already formed. So, my dad and I walked past the Rita-goers, and got in line for Corkscrew. Wait a second… there was a line for Corkscrew? We had to wait?!?! IN A LINE?!?! Yeah… there was no line for Corkscrew. They were running two trains that day… and only loaded one of the trains… and just kept the other one running for show, I guess lol. After riding corkscrew, my dad and I waited in line for Rita. Yes… we actually had enough patience to wait 2.5 hours for a 20-some second ride. Waiting in line for Rita was a bore… so I kept myself occupied by reading what people had written on the wooden posts. Very nice findings I must say… “90 minute wait from this point” then a few feet down it will say “89.5 minute wait from this point”… even though it would take 5 minutes to actually get to the other “point”. Also, while waiting in line, my dad and I started talking. These two girls in front of us turned around and asked us if we were Australian… Umm… How could I respond to that… I just stood there. Then I said, “Nah, we’re Americans… why do you ask?” And they replied, “because you have that accent…” Umm. Wait a second… WE have an ACCENT?! Does that mean Australians think that Americans are English?! Or Vice-versa?! Well anyway, one of the girls was a total blonde. She wasn’t really stupid… but watching her shake and her facial expressions as Rita trains screamed by was hilarious. And then watching her at the station hesitating to sit down on the train, and listening to people behind us yell, “Go! Get on the train!” was also pretty funny. She actually screamed, “I wanna get off!!!” when she was already strapped in… but the ride ops just smiled and laughed. When the train blasted out of the station, you could hear laughter from all around the station, and you could even hear her scream coming through the last high speed turn of Rita. After the two girls got off the ride, I gave them a quick thumbs up/down, with a questioned look on my face. The blonde girl immediately gave a frightened look with a thumbs down. That made my day. Anyway, my dad and I waited an extra 30 minutes to get the front seat… but it was definitely worth it. Having the wind in your face, with your hands in the air is the best feeling in the world. After getting off Rita, we headed towards Hex. What can I say about Hex? That was the most disorienting ride I have ever ridden in my life. It’s indescribable. The only way I CAN describe it is that the room tumbles, and the seats rock back and forth, giving you the sensation that you’re going upside down, when you’re really not. After leaving Hex, my dad and I headed for Nemesis, Air, Ripsaw, etc. We waited about an hour to get a ride on Nemesis, and it was a 15 minute wait in the station to get the front seat. Again, the wait for the front seat was worth it. Getting to see rocks, water, and people fly by you is an amazing sensation. After leaving Nemesis, we headed towards Air. We waited an hour and a half for Air, but when we got to the station platform… the ride broke down… Lucky us. We waited for about 30 minutes… but apparently… Air mechanics only knew how to make the problem worse. So, everyone in line for that station were given FastPasses for Nemesis, Air, and Oblivion. What a deal! During our wait, my dad had left. His excuse? “I’m too impatient to wait any longer.” Yeah, very nice dad. If he had waited 5 minutes longer he would’ve gotten a FastPass too. Well anyway, since the park was closing soon, I just stayed in the Nemesis/Air area, and rode Ripsaw for the rest of the day. A lot of fun I must say haha. ***DAY SIX 8/19*My parents wanted to go sightseeing… and I didn’t. Solution? Another day at Alton Towers… by myself! Yay! Yeah, going to Alton Towers by yourself sucks. Don’t do it. Even though I did get to ride all the coasters I didn’t get to the day before, it was pretty boring. I spent most of the day sitting around, watching people scream their lungs out on the coasters, getting good coaster pics, watch people try and win a car by getting a hole in one on a really hard hole… and just walk around the park. Not a day of excitement for me =\ ***DAY SEVEN 8/20*The next day we left Stafford for “The White Cliffs of Dover”… and the car ferry of course. We didn’t stay in Dover very long… just enough time to get to the docks, and get our tickets for the next ferry. Of course we saw the white cliffs of Dover… they’re pretty hard to miss… but other than that, we saw nothing. The ferry took us to Calais… and from there we headed towards Luxembourg. But on our way to Luxembourg, our car’s gas supply was slowly diminishing. So we stopped in a small French town called Sedan (around 11PM or so). We looked for a hotel to stay in… but all of them were full. So, we debated on whether to sleep in the car for another night. What happened was, my dad and I saw some French policemen who were pulling cars over… and we asked them for some help. Well, here we go again… None of them knew English at all… and my dad and I didn’t know any French. So… with some hand motions, and some “wtf?” looks being exchanged between the two languages, the French police dispatched a message over the radio, asking if any hotels were vacant. Some of you may be asking… “The FRENCH POLICE!? Did that for you!?!?” Yeah, I know… who would’ve known that the French police were nice to Americans. Well after a few tears from drivers that were pulled over, the French police pretty much escorted us to the hotel. We got to the hotel, thanked the police, and once we got inside… just take a random guess. Yep, the woman at the service desk didn’t know any English either. Just our luck! But again, with a few hand motions, some drawings (that was pretty fun, actually), and some more exchanged confused looks, we got the last vacant hotel room in the city. Too bad the room was really small, and there was only one bed between my parents and I. So what did we decide on doing? I slept on the floor, while my parents slept on the bed. What did we watch before going to sleep? I think it’s called Stuck on You (Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear) in English, with French subtitles! YAY! ***DAY EIGHT 8/21*Yay! Last day of the trip! I miss home! Haha, anyway… We left the hotel, desperate for some gas (for the car… sheesh), we found a gas station that was closed the night before that took American MasterCards… and within 10 minutes we were out of Sedan with enough gas to take us to Luxembourg, then home! When we got to Luxembourg, we parked in an underground parking garage made completely out of rock. Afterwards, we walked around part of the city, taking in the scenery part of Luxembourg had to offer. We didn’t stay in Luxembourg very long… probably about an hour or so… but it was still long enough to get a few good pics. After Luxembourg, we headed home! Yay!!! Day 1 - Scaffolds on left side of ND? Day 1 - Look at those sexy gargoyles on ND! Day 1 - More Notre Dame! Day 1 - Notre Dame Day 1 - They came outta no where I swear... Day 1 - That's as much of Space Mountain you will ever get to see... Day 1 - Look at the size of their castle!!! /sarcasm Day 1 - EuroDisney's Haunted House clone... Ooooo... Aaaaahhh Day 1 - Eiffel Tower... All lit up and flashy! Day 2 - Very nice... Day 2 - Normandy (My desktop backround) Woot! Day 2 - Glimpse of Arc de Triumph Day 1 - HEY LOOK ITS ME!!! YAY! Haha... me and my drumline shirt. Day 2 - Again... Pointe du Hoc Day 2 - Pointe du Hoc... If you're ever in France, you MUST go here... Day 2 - What happened here? Hmm... Day 4 - Me in front of the Eye Day 4 - Big Ben and Westminster Abbey Day 3 - Man was I tired... and lonely *sniff Day 3 - Watching the Cherbourg ferry dock... Day 5/6 - Air Day 5/6 - Alton Towers: Where the Magic Never Ends! (Until 5:30pm) Day 4 - Another pic of the Eye... another one of my desktop backrounds! YAY! Haha... My dad and I on Corkscrew Day 5/6 - Spinball Whizzer Day 5/6 - Rita: Queen of Speed Day 5/6 - Oblivion Day 5/6 - Nemesis Day 5/6 - More of my Parent's R&R Day 5/6 - Parents R&R... while I was at Alton Towers Edited September 5, 2005 by F1shy
SLUSHIE Posted September 4, 2005 Posted September 4, 2005 How far into the turret buildings can you go? Can you get into the underground tunnels and stuff?
F1shy Posted September 5, 2005 Author Posted September 5, 2005 Unfortunately, you couldn't go very far into the turret rooms... because the government, or whoever, cemented up the doors. There were some underground rooms that we had found, and again, doors to other rooms/tunnels were cemented off. -Sorry about having pics of only days 1-4 up... My internet keeps going on and off... 'tis why I'm putting up pics in small groups.
F1shy Posted September 5, 2005 Author Posted September 5, 2005 Alrighty then... I just found out that you can only have a max of 30 pics/attachments per post... so here's another post showing pics of days 5-8... Day 5/6 Day 7 - More of those silly White Cliffs of Dover Day 7 - White Cliffs of Dover Day 5/6 Day 8 - So my parents decide to wake me up from a nap... and tell me to pose for a pic... I wasn't very happy haha... Day 8 - In Luxembourg... and there's the back of my head!!! Day 7 - Helpful Tip: Never fall asleep in the passenger seat when my parents are driving... Day 8 - More of Luxembourg (Last Pic YAY!)
ChrisZer0 Posted September 5, 2005 Posted September 5, 2005 Dude, kewl TR man!! Seeing im going to the UK/France/Netherlands next fall, its a nice preview of whats to come.
coasterfreak11 Posted September 5, 2005 Posted September 5, 2005 Very cool. I love the pictures. Looked like you had an awesome time!
QuakerOaties Posted September 5, 2005 Posted September 5, 2005 Nice pics! How is it living in a foreign country? If I was plopped in Europe for three years I'm not sure if I'd be freaked out or completely and utterly thrilled. Mark "Notre Dame is huge" Luskus
benzo41190 Posted September 5, 2005 Posted September 5, 2005 I really need to get to Europe some time before 2007. Because once college starts, i think I wont be able to go on many long distance trips any more . At least till im 30, then I will have my dream job .
F1shy Posted September 5, 2005 Author Posted September 5, 2005 Nice pics! How is it living in a foreign country? If I was plopped in Europe for three years I'm not sure if I'd be freaked out or completely and utterly thrilled. Mark "Notre Dame is huge" Luskus Living in a foreign country... hmm... Well here in Germany, a lot of things are different. Can you say, "Culture Shock"? Haha... it's not like I can say that I was expecting all of this. The road signs are different... There are no cardinal directions on the highway (i.e. I-85 West... its just A5). Restaurants are a real treat, too. But I'll explain that later.
Twister II Posted September 5, 2005 Posted September 5, 2005 Yey! Hope you had fun with the family, lol.
Token Yankee Guy Posted September 6, 2005 Posted September 6, 2005 Great Photos F1shy. I hope to get out to Alton Towers sooner or later. Man I miss the United Kingdom.
coasterzak Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 Oliver, Finally had time to read it all! Great TR. I am so glad that the French are nice people. My french teacher always said that was a huge misconception of their rudeness. If you ever need a translator, Je parle un peu! I'll come to you with my German problems. Truly some stunning pictures and I'm glad you included "non park" stuff to help show some of us uncultured folk what Europe is all about. Glad to hear you had a good time and it's really interesting to read about non-US parks. Good luck in Germany! Zach "My picture is your avatar" Harig
Nrthwnd Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 Great TR guy. And for my $, I think you posted some excellent single pix of each AT coaster there. Really nice single coaster shots, perfect to show what they're all about, individually. Very nice. You did a great job there.
rollermonkey Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 So, is your Dad Army or Air Force? I can't remember which base is in/near Heidelburg. Isn't that very near Holiday Park? I remember staying at a base near HP during one of my own trips in Europe. I can sympathize with you about living overseas, at least I chose to move to Italy, instead of being dragged along by the parents. On that vein, I haven't lived in the US since 2000! Enjoy Germany and Europe! Tell us if you get to Oktoberfest! Chris B
F1shy Posted September 19, 2005 Author Posted September 19, 2005 Wow, I thought my TR was dead! Haha! Well to answer your questions/comments... Really nice single coaster shots, perfect to show what they're all about, individually. Very nice. Thanks Nrth, that means a lot. Photography isn't my greatest skill haha... So, is your Dad Army or Air Force? My dad is a Full-bird Colonel in the Army... and he's Chief Executive of the 7th ARCOM. Not exactly sure what that is lol I can't remember which base is in/near Heidelburg. Isn't that very near Holiday Park? I remember staying at a base near HP during one of my own trips in Europe. There a couple bases here in Heidelberg... Patrick Henry Village (where I'm staying), Mark Twain Village (where my high school is), Patton Barracks, and another base where the main PX is loacted. And, to answer your Holiday Park question... I live 30 mins away from Holiday Park Muahaha! I'm goin there for my SWEET 16th B-day in October. I can sympathize with you about living overseas, at least I chose to move to Italy, instead of being dragged along by the parents. On that vein, I haven't lived in the US since 2000! Italy wow, very nice. Championships for swimming are in Italy this year. Can't wait woot!
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