thrillseaker92 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 What has happened to the TPR tours and cruises? It seems like I dont see anything about them happening anymore. (If this has been addressed please feel free to remove) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkyle Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 If I remember correctly, basically entitled people ruined trips to the point, it was worth the hassle or stress to set the trips up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCI Wooden Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 This thread has the info you're looking for. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=70866 Coasterkyle summed it up pretty well. Hopefully humanity will improve and the trips will return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) ^ Pretty much. We actually still do trips and tours. But with close friends and people from past trips who didn't annoy the crap out of us. If you think you can be a decent human without causing a bunch of obnoxious drama and being stupid, feel free to email us. Maybe we'll put you on the list...maybe not. Edited March 13, 2016 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianparkfan Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Really hoping to have these tours back one day. It'd be so much more convenient to book these kinds of trips with TPR instead of setting all of this up on your own. Pisses me (and I'm sure a lot of other people) off that s few spoiled people had to ruin it for the rest of us. Guess some people couldn't appreciate how awesome the tours already were, and wanted even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 ^Agree. I never had the chance to join a TPR tour before they were over which is a shame given how great they must have been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Pisses me (and I'm sure a lot of other people) off that a few spoiled people had to ruin it for the rest of us. It wasn't a few. By the time the Scandi trip rolled around...it was like HALF of them. We were so done after that trip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianparkfan Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 ^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixflagsguy5 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Maybe it's just a matter of coming up with a better way to vet people out prior to the tours...? I would imagine that the tours were a good chunk of your profit from the overall site/club. I'd hate to see loyal members miss out on top-notch tours just because a good portion of the coaster community breaks park rules and is disrespectful to the site owners. For a lot of coaster enthusiasts, your tours are the simplest way to experience international parks. I'd love to see it come back. As a long time member of the site (mostly reading), it'll be sad to not see the fun tour updates throughout the year. All the best, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks for the kind words. We hope to get to know more of you personally and then perhaps you can all join us on a small trip somewhere! Or at some point we'll forget how annoyed we got and open big trips again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseaker92 Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks for the info guys. Its really a shame that people can't just be grateful for things and always ruin them. Hopefully some day we will get the chance to experience TPR trips again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Maybe it's just a matter of coming up with a better way to vet people out prior to the tours...? Like Elissa said, without getting to know people on a personal level, it's tough. Because at that point everyone is pretty much a stranger, other than what we can decipher from the forums. And of course everyone will say "Oh, I won't be a problem..." I would imagine that the tours were a good chunk of your profit from the overall site/club. They aren't actually. Not at all. The tours were mostly a labor of love for us and something we had fun doing. When we stopped having fun, we stopped doing the tours. Trust me, if they were a huge money maker for us, we'd still be doing them! For a lot of coaster enthusiasts, your tours are the simplest way to experience international parks. I'd love to see it come back. As a long time member of the site (mostly reading), it'll be sad to not see the fun tour updates throughout the year. And like Elissa said, maybe one day we will bring them back. You will still see fun trip updates on the forum, just in smaller format and back to the way we used to do them before we did public tours. Remember this one? http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17136 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianparkfan Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Maybe it's just a matter of coming up with a better way to vet people out prior to the tours...? Like Elissa said, without getting to know people on a personal level, it's tough. Because at that point everyone is pretty much a stranger, other than what we can decipher from the forums. And of course everyone will say "Oh, I won't be a problem..." I would imagine that the tours were a good chunk of your profit from the overall site/club. They aren't actually. Not at all. The tours were mostly a labor of love for us and something we had fun doing. When we stopped having fun, we stopped doing the tours. Trust me, if they were a huge money maker for us, we'd still be doing them! For a lot of coaster enthusiasts, your tours are the simplest way to experience international parks. I'd love to see it come back. As a long time member of the site (mostly reading), it'll be sad to not see the fun tour updates throughout the year. And like Elissa said, maybe one day we will bring them back. You will still see fun trip updates on the forum, just in smaller format and back to the way we used to do them before we did public tours. Remember this one? http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17136 I've looked all over the Internet, and couldn't find anything close to what TPR offered. TPR pretty much had a monopoly on the coaster-tour market. While I understand that the "coaster-tour market" isn't a very big one, and that the tours probably wouldn't make millions, I'm surprised to hear they made so little money. Truely hoping this labor of love can come back... While it'd be a hassle, one idea could be some kind of online question are/interview process to take out the party-poopers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 (edited) While I can understand the tours probably wouldn't make millions, I'm surprised to hear the tours made so little money. I've looked all over the Internet, and couldn't find anything close to what TPR offered. TPR pretty much had a monopoly on the coaster-tour market. Here's a few notes on what we discovered over the years... - People would complain that our tours were "too much" money. - But compared to other "non theme park" tours, they were cheap as hell. - We liked staying in nice places with luxury items at parks (Q-Bots, ERT, better than your average catered meal, etc...) and we always opted for nicer hotels and "on-property" hotels when applicable. - But even still, people complained that they were too much and that we weren't making them cheaper by staying in Motel 6, putting 4 to a room, renting vans and cramming too many people in them, etc, etc... - We refused to give up those things to cheapen the product even further. It's just not our style. - We offered the tours as cheap as we could cutting out most of our profit to make them as affordable to people as possible. - You probably don't see many other people offer them because they have learned as we did over the years that tours like this: a) Aren't very profitable; b) Appeal to a small niche market of people; c) appeal to a small niche market of people who whine, bitch, and complain about everything. Just look at our forums. A park announces a new awesome ride, and instantly there are pages and pages and pages of people complaining about it. Now translate that exact same attitude into a group of 50 people and put them on a bus all together for 10 days. Not everyone was like this, but it was enough to make your head explode. So therefore you don't see a lot of people putting on tours like this and why we finally threw in the towel! Let's be honest here, if there was a lot of money to be made doing tours like this, don't you think you'd see a TON of people doing them? But you don't... Edited March 14, 2016 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsMe Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 The bitching about the price is weird. If you would put all that luxury in one private trips it would cost a lot more. Just do the math! So for the package (including ERT, onsite property, meals etc.) that was always included I think it is fairly cheap. So yes, it is a lot of money in general, but not for what you get. It can be done cheaper if you wish to go on real budget style (cramping people in vans, minimum amount of meals, cheap motels) however don't choose to go on one of the TPR Tours in that case. It is like saying that nice new Mazda 6 is too expensive. You get what you pay for! Have to say if the 6 would be a TPR Tour it would come loaded with all options free of extra charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ape Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I had hoped to one day join one of the tours, especially a Japan one. With having little ones it had not been in the cards for us. I hope they return as well even if I didn't make it on one I love following the updates and trip reports from everyone. A thought for if they ever return, you mentioned needing to get to know people beforehand, Maybe require they attend one of the bashes or some event you're doing first before they would be allowed to join. I know it isn't much and you still wouldn't have time to really get to know them but it does seem better than going in blind. The vets that are typically there could also report back to you if there was an issue with one of them. Sorry people suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Finn Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I can definitely attest on a small level that there were some problem people on the New Hotness 2012 tour. It was an incredibly well-planned trip and it was very nice to actually be put up in nice hotels every night and not be crammed. I can totally appreciate and respect your decision to hold off on them for that reason. It would be incredibly frustrating to go through all of that effort to be critiqued by people. I could never plan a trip like that on my own, every detail was accounted for. I would obviously love to return to a trip at some point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Maybe require they attend one of the bashes or some event you're doing first before they would be allowed to join. I know it isn't much and you still wouldn't have time to really get to know them but it does seem better than going in blind. This does actually help us out, and we DO look at the bash attendee list when we would have new people sign up for a trip, but the reality of the bash events is that they are 10x more work and more stress for us since we are cramming so much into one (or two) days. There are been many West Coast Bash events where I personally didn't even get to ride anything because we were so busy setting up for whatever the next part of the day was going to be. But we most certainly DO cross reference those event lists! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ape Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Well I think I was a perfect little angel at Banshee Bash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBpony414 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I remember hearing that the TPR trips were going to be on hold and figured that more than a couple people contributed to something that put a stop to them. Now that's been verified and it's very disappointing but not entirely surprising to hear that was the case! Bummer, however I still love reading everyone's TRs whether it's from a small or large trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Maybe require they attend one of the bashes or some event you're doing first before they would be allowed to join. I know it isn't much and you still wouldn't have time to really get to know them but it does seem better than going in blind. This does actually help us out, and we DO look at the bash attendee list when we would have new people sign up for a trip, but the reality of the bash events is that they are 10x more work and more stress for us since we are cramming so much into one (or two) days. There are been many West Coast Bash events where I personally didn't even get to ride anything because we were so busy setting up for whatever the next part of the day was going to be. But we most certainly DO cross reference those event lists! Gotta add my 2++ cents in here... I admit that I have never seen anything even close to what Robb, Elissa and a host of others do to prep and hold these Bash events. But I do remember mentioning to my group (after our first WCB at SFMM) something along the lines of: "That had to be a crap-load of hard work for them for so little in return (to say nothing of the trips). I'll bet they are probably lucky if they even get to enjoy a couple of rides throughout the day - they must be exhausted at the end of one of these events." And that was before you guys started adding in the KBF into the WCB event! Then when you get obnoxious people whining and complaining in person (or on the forum afterwards) about the event, I would also take personal offense...not to mention the park staff for going above and beyond to cater to us enthusiasts. I can honestly say that I have been to three Bash events to date and we have NEVER walked away disappointed or unhappy at one of them. These are some of the best memories I have at theme parks actually...from the crazy water cup challenges, the fun games, the backstage coaster tours to the outrageous ERT at every event. Not to mention all of the surprises that seem to pop up during the events that make you think, "Wow...they really put a lot of planning, thought and effort into these events!" I admit that I have been somewhat shy and reluctant to introduce myself to new people at these events, so I haven't made "tons of new friends" per say. I just want to go and appreciate everything about the parks, TPR and to have fun with whomever I go with. I have met some really cool people along the way and am sure that I will meet a few more if some other bashes are offered/held in the future that we might be able to swing. I wished that my partner and I would have been able to go on some of the trips, but with him being in his 70's (yes, it's an older/younger gay relationship, so please don't judge until you get to know both of us), there was concern over length of duration and ability to hit that many parks in a relatively short amount of time. He had expressed concern to me that he wasn't sure if he would have the stamina (he has COPD) to do a TPR trip and wouldn't want to "hold me back or complain to me about being too tired of the fairly fast-paced schedule." I certainly respect him for being honest with me and that is why we never signed up for any of the past trips (I would never go without him). Although if we would have been able to do one, we would have opted for comfort and class versus crammed and klassy - and certainly not have bitched about anything! With that being said...be grateful for what you currently have with TPR, folks! As it has oft been said, "it only takes a few bad apples to spoil things for everyone else." Or something like that... Robb, Elissa and other mods that have worked very hard to make the events, trips and forum awesome for us enthusiasts over the years...THANK YOU!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterer Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 It is a shame, but it was probably inevitable. People are just so hard to please. Everyone has a different threshold when it comes to cost vs experience, and it's so hard to strike the right balance, especially with larger groups. At the end of the day, the reason you pay for a tour is so you don't have to organize it yourself, and can do the trip with like-minded people. If people were really so worried about costs, they would just go themselves. I run logistics now for an organization that sends several thousands of people overseas every year, and I'm helping a friend start up an adventure tourism company, and I can attest - logistics and trip organizing is a largely thankless job, and can be infinitely frustrating (and personal), especially when you're actually the one leading the trips as well. Every tourism company charges a mark up to help off-set the overhead and operating costs - and the fact that you guys were willing to organize these trips largely at face-value, without pulling a lot of profit from them (and sometimes even at a personal cost) speaks volumes to your character, motives, and sheer willingness. Though I never went on a TPR trip, I can certainly appreciate all the work that went in to all the trips you organized, and hope you guys continue to have fun running smaller trips with friends! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marth555 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Ever since I first saw the TRs of the tpr group trips (especially the overseas ones) I had wanted to go on one as they looked like a total blast its a bummer that I wont ever get the chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auzzieparkz Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Any chance of an trips being offered next year? I'm an Aussie we don't whinge to laid back or drunk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Any chance of an trips being offered next year? I'm an Aussie we don't whinge to laid back or drunk! No, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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