Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

European Extravaganza DVD Review

Meteornotes
 Share

Recommended Posts

Meteornotes Grand Master

Meteornotes

Posted
Posted

Yesterday, I got a large package in the mail. Well, actually, I got two, but I don't think anyone wants to hear about the books I bought on Ebay. Anyway, inside was the long anticipated new DVD production from Robb & Elissa, so last night when Mary came home from work we fired up the DVD player and checked out the assult on Europe on the giant TV.

 

Now, since we on the trip and present for abou 99.5% of the filming of this, there were not as many surprises as in the past, but that doesn't mean that it is not entertaining. In fact, I'd tie this with the Japan DVD as the best in the R&E video library. Tons of cool ride footage, lots of funny stuff, and the music selection is actually pretty good (with one or two exception). I'm not going to go through the DVD and describe every segment, but I really liked the Holiday Park segment (the song was excellent and went well with all the footage of the godly Expedition GeForce), Europa Park (still one of the best parks in the world), Farup Summerland and Liseberg (even if it proves what a dork I am!). There's not a bad segment on the disc, and there are lots of laughs, including the many antics of Joey, and Dan avoiding (or attempting to avoid) water.

 

So for those that have already ordered the DVD and are awaiting it's arrival, you're in for a treat. For those that have not ordered yet, well, get to it! It's damn entertaining, and we haven't looked at the footage DVD or the contest DVD yet (though I saw all the contest videos during the contest). Personally, I'm really glad we have this, as it will be a great record of all the fun we had in Europe this past summer. This trip was still one of the best times of my life.

 

So, um, buy it already! Oh, and if you still are not convinced, I leave you with these two words: GIANT RABBIT!

 

dt

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

ParkTrips Grand Master

ParkTrips

Posted
Posted

Figured it would be best to piggyback off this review and make it the "reviews thread"

 

My review of Theme Park Review's Coaster Expedition Vol. 6 European Extravaganza!

 

I recently recieved my copy of Theme Park Review's latest DVD featuring footage from their recent trip through Europe which spanned three weeks and included 26 parks and a hundred coaster spread through eight different nations!

 

If you have interest in overseas parks, give the TPR DVD consideration. Packed with all sorts of unique (not to mention rare!) footage, it was very interesting to get a chance to watch. The Alveys (Robb and Elissa) are joined by friends Dan and Joey as they trek across the continent, as well as a slew of "guest stars". True to their fashion, the DVD has some good humor along with the great video!

 

Here are some quick summaries of the various parks featured in the first disk:

 

Walibi Belgium

The first park in this set is Walibi Belgium, referred to as "Vekoma Land" by the TPR crew. With the abundnace of Vekoma rides, the music selection couldn't have been any better! The park also has a flume type of ride that looks to have some insane airtime, and we are also introduced to Wok, the politically incorrect mascot of the Walibi parks.

 

Bobbejaanland

If you are like me you have no idea how to say the name of this park, but don't worry because the DVD will help. The park recently got one of the first of the Eurofighter coasters and this section provides some good POV footage of the ride.

 

Walibi World

Though its another Dutch park with a full assortment of Vekoma rides, this is the park famous for Goliath, an uber-sweet looking Intamin hyper. Full of POV and off-ride footage and nice editing elements, this is one of the best parts of the DVD. Once again, Wok comes back!

 

Farup Sommerland

This park was very unique in that it is a far cry from your "normal" parks. There are unique attractions that seem to be more of a vacation/relaxing type of park, and we get to see the TPR crew and their bounching shenanigans. Oh, did I forget Falken, the park's new S&S Wooden coaster? Robb and gang really deliver with some good film of Falken from the lift hill and were even able to operate the ride! Now, if we can just get Joey to stop being a chicken, maybe he won't get picked on by the Danish chicks! Another very good segment :good:

 

TusenFryd

Heading up to Norway, the TPR group visits this small looking park that is home to a fun looking Vekoma (did I say that?) woodie and next year will open up an Intamin rocket coaster! In addition the park has what they bill as the "World's smallest roller coaster" and another Vekoma, this time, a looper.

 

Liseberg

One of the more well-known parks on the tour, Liseberg has some really cool looking rides. From Elissa's sales pitch to the great film of the parks three sweet-looking coasters, this section of the DVD just makes me want to go even more! Oh yea, it would be wrong of me not to mention the very nice POV shots of Balder

 

Tivoli Gardens

The folks from TPR visited the world-famous Tivoli Gardens next, and this segment delivers some great perspectives of a beautiful looking park, not to mention their newest roller coaster. Daemon, a 2004 B&M Floorless installation, is shown both on and off ride and looks pretty fun, and the crew got a chance to get some behind-the-scenes footage of Roller Coaster, an ACE Classic scenic railway type of coaster.

 

Bon-Bon Land

Right around the middle of the trip, we get to see Bon-Bon land, and I can't stop laughing at some of the stuff found at the park. If you haven't yet, go to their site and download the free video. The park is full of flatulence jokes and truly sick and twisted themeing to the rides. In addition to the innuendos and "dog fart" coaster, the park also has.. get this.. self-operated rides! Definately the funniest segment and my personal favorite!

 

Hansa Park

Getting into the Germany section, little Hansa park brings us some nice footage of some cool rides. These rides include a Schwarzkopf Looper and a Star Flyer, which looks awesome! With all of that and Elissa getting attacked, this was an impressively done segment from a park that seemed to be pretty small.

 

Heide Park

Continuing in Germany, Heide Park is home to the famed Colossus Intamin woodie. Tons of film of Colossus are provided as well as Elissa getting her SLC fix. More playgound contraptions are found, following the trend at other parks. European fascination maybe? Oh well, at least the park had Elissa-friendly food.

 

Movie Park Germany

This part covers Movie Park, home to a wooden coaster from RCCA. Claiming to be "of America", isn't it odd that 6/7 of their coasters are foreign. Nonetheless we get more good video, though I am sounding repetitive. The cop chase coaster looks interesting, its a small Intamin looper with mouse-like vehicles and tight turns and inversions.

 

Toverland

Toverland is a unque looking park that is part indoor/part outdoor. The outdoor portion has both a wild mouse-type ride with what apears to be insane airtime, as well as one of those Vekoma motorcycle coasters. Inside are more coasters and playground stuff. Oh, yea, the survival course that brings out the Eagle Scouts of the world.

 

Phantasialand

Though this park has gotten attention for its upcoming B&M Invert, the choice music shows where the real action is: the Michael Jackson ride! Getting most of the attention in the segment, just be ready to ride Michael Jackso, that's all I can say :lol:

 

Wild-und Freizeitpark Klotten

Don't worry.. I have no idea how to say it either! Anyways, this smaller-looking park has another mouse-style ride with some nice airtime and one of those wild boat chute things that are harder to describe than me saying "just watch the DVD"

 

Holiday Park

I don't know why they went to this little park in Germany, but Robb, Elissa & the others seemed to really like that one coaster. The park was very friendly and also let them flim from the lift hill, which gave some great aerial shots. Oh, I know why they went.. that's right, the coaster was Expedition GeForce, the wildly acclaimed hypercoaster!

 

Europa Park

The Mack park is also covered in the European Extravaganza, which looked beautiful. From chess wars to video from te lift hill of Silver Star (the only B&M hyper outside of the US), this segment is also one of my favorites. On top of all of that, the crew got some special perspecives of the Euro Mir coaster thanks again to the seemingly-friendly management.

 

Mirabilanda

Now in Italy, the TPR tour continues to the park with Katun, an above-average looking B&M Invert. Well, once again some great ride coverage as well as some film of rique behavior in the park and a rarely-talked-about Bill Cobb wood coaster! I'm running out of things to say, but I hope y'all are still reading!

 

Movie Studios Park

I have never even heard of the place and quite honestly don't remember if they had any coasters, but that's because the theatrics and effects at the park looked amazing! The one ride reminds me of what Rhino Rally could be, and overall there were some really cool effects and water rides.

 

Disneyland Paris

Join the gang as they profes their patriotism by spending the 4th of July in Paris! Mickey, Minnie and all of the old characters join with the new characters (such as Stich) in this neat-looking park. This segment has some familiar rides, including what was called the "better" Rockin Roller Coaster.

 

Parc Asterix

This, the final park on the trip, is the home to Zeus, a CCI woodie. Often featured on Travel Channel specials, TPR managed to get some nice footage of it and even of the awful-looking Vekoma looper. Elissa ends the trip credit whoring, and Robb takes the time to make fun of her. The fact that he too rode the coaster adds some hipocrisy and humor to the whole ending.

 

 

The video ends with a nice tribute and a great compitilation of footage from throughout the tour. Overall, there are laughs and smiles to have, as well as high quality video footage and really good editing. This is no cheaply-produced video (Well, its not a multi-million dollar budget, but you know..) and I find it well worth the price. If you join the forums you can get a nice little discount too This DVD set would be a great gift for enthusiasts and I highly recommend it if you care to see dozens of rides and parks along with some humor, dog farts, Vekoma loving and plain ol' good times.

 

PS - that is only the first disc. There are two more including one of exclusively ride footage and one for entries from the Theme Park Review video editing contest, both of which I have not gotten a chance to watch yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Meteornotes Grand Master

Meteornotes

Posted
  • Author
Posted

^The biggest mistake of the whole trip was no on getting Joey's near death experience at Toverland on tape! All those cameras and no footage. We should all be ashamed. But at least Joey didn't seriously hurt himself. If he did, we probably would have had to spend much of the day filling out paperwork, which would have been a drag...

 

dt

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RtherBOnACoaster Collaborator

RtherBOnACoaster

Posted
Posted

I got my DVDs on Friday and watched the first DVD on Saturday. I thought that that DVD was the best one I've seen you guys do because it made me laugh unlike the other ones where we dont know what your saying really. So I liked how there was actually talking and not just music. I liked some of the short things too like the Joey over the stream with monkey bars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Corkscrewed Rising Star

Corkscrewed

Posted
Posted (edited)

As promised, here ya go!

 

 

Theme Park Review Coaster Expedition Vol. 6

“European Extravaganza”

By Albert Lam

Last year, they conquered the Far East. This year, they go east, but not too far, in order to tackle (and I quote) 26 parks, 100 roller coasters, 8 countries, and 43 McDonald’s hamburgers. Yes, the Alveys invade Europe in Theme Park Review’s latest volume of theme park roller coaster goodness. Volume 6 is a bit more mature than last year’s version, but it’s all in light humored fun. This year’s escapades feature Robb and Elissa in their usual goofy characters and Dan Argona reprising his role of the serious Italian (who doesn’t like water). Joining the trio, however, is Westcoaster’s resident Jew and Hebrew Hammer, Joey Mandel, who delivers a performance of a lifetime. But more on that later.

 

At first glance, this might seem similar to TPR’s European Coaster Odyssey set from three years ago, since they do visit many of the same parks. But the Euro Extravaganza DVD achieves a depth that ECO could only dream of. Every year, Robb and Elissa outdo themselves, and this year is no exception. Taking advantage of their connections, the TPR ringleaders managed to secure special permission to restricted access areas in several parks. This means viewers get unique shots from lift hills, mid course brake runs, transfer track areas, and other zones that only professional film crews might access. It’s pretty darn cool seeing Expedition Ge-Force speed up the elevator lift, crest over the lift hill, and plunge down its first twisting 90 degree drop, all from up close.

 

Then there’s the on-ride POV footage, which is the smoothest it’s ever been thanks to Robb’s nifty little hip-mounted lipstick camera. This gives footage that is so steady it looks like it came out of a Discovery Channel special! And it’s certainly a testament to the great lengths Robb and Elissa will go to make a great product! The lone side effect of the lip stick cam is that it sometimes creates a hue or saturation shift when a coaster crests a hill or bottoms out on a valley, since the vertical direction change confuses the pixel interlacing, but that problem is only noticeable on cloudy day conditions, and it’s not much of an issue when the tradeoff is superior smoothness.

 

Enough about the technical stuff, though, this DVD contains what all five previous volumes have: FUN! Granted, there’s the usual assortment of gorgeous theme park atmosphere views and thrilling coaster shots. But then there’s the spontaneous hilarity of random Elissa-smothering, Joey-taunting, and Dan-wetting. With Elissa, then there’s an orca mascot at Hansa Park who really likes her. And I mean REALLY like her. In a very close, touchy, “lets hug forever” manner! Indeed, a laugh is never far away, especially considering that the usual Robb and Elissa antics are now accompanied by the stellar performances of their Westcoaster brethren, Joey and Dan! Joey, especially, takes the cake for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his part in “Monkey Bars over Water,” a delightful saga set in Farup Sommerland where Joey tries his best to swing across a set of monkey bars located over a waterway, but can’t quite seem to muster up the willpower to try. It’s in-the-moment humor at its best, and although Joey probably won’t appreciate everyone having a raucous laugh at his expense, lets all laugh at him anyway. As for Dan? Just watch what happens when he interacts with water. Or rather, when water interacts with him.

 

There are plenty of other incentives besides random goofiness though. Exhibit A: the girls. Plenty of beautiful, young European girls, providing scintillating eye candy for all the guys out there. From hot Danish chicks to hot Swedish lesbians to hot Italian dancers, this DVD has them all. Adding to the risqué… NUDITY! Well, animated nudity anyways. Animated animal nudity. Confused? Just peruse the Bon Bon Land segment (or as I like to call it, the European Park of Sex Ed on Farms). Cows having wardrobe malfunctions, ants urinating in buckets, dogs farting and defecating… this park is definitely messed up! If that’s not enough, there are promiscuous animatronics in Parc Asterix and naked statues in Europa Park. You know, in case footage of awesome coasters like Balder, Falken, Booster Bike, Kanonen, Expedition Ge-Force, Colossos, Heiße Fahrt (the most amazing wild mouse I’ve ever seen), Daemonen, and the MICHAEL JACKSON COASTER aren’t enough to entice you.

 

Yes, this DVD set has it all. Roller coasters, gorgeous theme parks, sexy ladies, perverted animals, huggy mascots, fantastic cinematography, even Dave doing his hilarious (and perhaps superior) version of the world-famous Elissa Escalator Dance—all packaged in 22 video segment synched to an upbeat and happy mix of rock, pop, and dance music, the kind we’ve come to expect from any Theme Park Review video set.

 

The bar has been raised… again… and I defy any coaster fan to watch this video and not be entertained. And with a second disc of ride footage as well as a third disc with half of the 2005 TPR Video Contest qualifiers (the other half will come out on the next DVD, due out early 2006), Coaster Expedition Volume 6 will literally provide hours of wonderful theme park goodness. A round of congratulations to Robb and Elissa, who’ve done it yet again. It’s definitely a good thing you didn’t quit doing these.

 

Information and ordering procedure is available at the Theme Park Review website:

http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastervideos.htm

 

The 3-DVD set retails for $30. Buying other sets can decrease the cost per volume.

 

 

*** This DVD is rated PG-13 for mild language, sexual innuendo, animated animal nudity, sexual animatronics, naked statues, on-ride goofing off, and way too damn many Vekoma coasters. ***

 

Running Times:

DISC 1 – 76 minutes

DISC 2 – 78 minutes

DISC 3 – I didn’t bother to measure

 

Song List:

Um... yeah... I'm going to let Robb edit this post and either post the song list here, or just delete this last line.

Edited by Corkscrewed
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Corkscrewed Rising Star

Corkscrewed

Posted
Posted
Those are some well-written reviews, Ted and Albert. You would have thought I'd have earned at least a nomination for my re-creation of the escalator song, though...

 

dt

 

DOH!

 

There's so much in here that it's hard to remember everything! But that was pretty damn awesome, Dave.

 

EDIT: I've slipped a mention of your dance into my review. Pretty seamlessly too, I might add. I'm proud of myself.

 

Also, I should mention that Soren is one crazy guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
robbalvey Grand Master

robbalvey

Posted
Posted

They guys over at www.coasterradio.com have posted their review and WOW I am so flattered!

 

http://www.coasterradio.com/articles/article035.html

 

I own 4 or 5 coaster DVDs made by professional production companies, but I've got to say that none of them were as well put together or as entertaining as "Coaster Expedition Volume 6: European Extravaganza!"

 

Thanks guys!!!

 

--Robb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/

  I accept