When people ask us why we don't do TPR tours anymore...

[robbalvey]

For a 52 year old man to call out the Alvey's after basically kissing A$$ in a trip report is disturbing.

 

Calling out their young daughter however...is simply disgusting.

Welcome to the type of crap we had to put up with on every single trip. At every single event. Not from everyone, obviously. But from enough people who made us throw in the towel. And of course, none of these people will ever admit that they did anything wrong. So what ended up happening is that the fun ended for everyone.

 

(But do send an email to Elissa if you think you aren't a horrible shitbag and can have a good drama-free time on one of our trips!)

Edited January 18, 2017 by robbalvey

[storms555]

^^I dont get why people wouldnt want to do extra fun stuff. Going on trips are for having fun and living a little! Thats why people will often take off more work(or school) days than the actual amount of days of said trip, so they have extra days just in case. Its called planning ahead. Or maybe they were just a bunch of sticks in the mud who like to complain. Also as far as money goes thats why its always good to save up some extra on top of the amount of the actual trips worth as well. Again planning ahead.

[TheAmericanKnight]

I also just want to point out that this was posted to the TPR hate page in response to someone else who was arguing over HOW they should be hating on TPR. So not only do these people have issues with TPR but they also are in-fighting with their own group because they can't agree on how to hate us!

 

 

I'm serious, you couldn't PAY the best comedy writers in the world to come up with this crap!!!!

 

If you're part of a group dedicated to hating one person and you can't decide on the best way to hate, perhaps it's time to move on with your life.

 

Just a thought.

[LawlessBagel]

Just like the majority of things we see written about us on the internet...

 

Oh dear I just had flashbacks of the cesspool that RRC became....

 

 

Anyways this guy is obviously crazy. Also bringing the kid into it...WTF

 

I'm surprised you made it as long as you did doing trips with how self entitled people are these days.

I went on one TPR trip in 2013 and had a great time. I can't say that every aspect was catered to my liking but I'd be crazy to expect that it would be on a group trip. Heck one part of the trip that I thought was going to be completely stupid ended up being one of the highlights AKA City museum. I would have been hard-pressed to have saved much money doing it myself. At the same time all had to do is show up. I didn't have to spend any time on planning or any of that stuff which I love doing but in that case I didn't want to especially since I did additional week afterwards on my own. And of course I'm sure Robb remembers my crazy roommate of the same name but not once did I ever complain about because it was out of his hands. what was the point of complaining he had no idea the guy was going to be a weirdo.

 

Anyways closing statement you did an awesome job with the trips it sucks that people had to ruin it

[storms555]

I noticed a lot of older people say todays society,especially in countries like America,are full of self entitled people in general. So that makes me wonder lets say it was possible to have a big group amusement park event 80,90,or even 100 years ago. There of course was no internet but somehow brought together a group some other way(newspaper,radio). Do you think back then there would of been the drama that the todays events would have or did people truly have better morals back then? Or would of it been the same and there was always self entitled humans on our society? I know its a silly question to ask but I always hear about all sorts of groups and activities being ruined because of self entitled or intolerable people. Was it the same back in the day and if not why are people so different now then they were half century ago or more?

[bluestreak]

It seems that the Roller Coasters In the Raw Movies stopped right around the same time that you guys stopped doing tours... is there any correlation and is there any hope for the movies to come back? I always looked forward to the new one every year.

[cfc]

We are living in the "post-fact era," where a personal "narrative" matters more than the truth to many people.

 

But what Larry said about KT is absolutely true. She is smarter than many of the adults on these trips.

[robbalvey]

It seems that the Roller Coasters In the Raw Movies stopped right around the same time that you guys stopped doing tours... is there any correlation and is there any hope for the movies to come back? I always looked forward to the new one every year.

The two aren't related. We stopped doing the DVDs and Blu-Rays simply because people don't really buy physical media anymore and you can watch all the content in amazing quality on YouTube now.

[boldikus]

Cosign on missing the DVDs. I love them. The fact that there is no volume 10 drives my ocd up a wall.

[robbalvey]

Cosign on missing the DVDs. I love them. The fact that there is no volume 10 drives my ocd up a wall.

Ha! Good! Yet another reason not to make one!

[RCjunkie]

...... So what ended up happening is that the fun ended for everyone.

 

Was it ever fun for you or was it always a pain to run the tours? Or did it start out as a minor pain that grew to be just unbearable after dealing with so many stupid people as time went on?

[PeoplemoverMatt]

I heard stories like this while on the trip last July, and I still can't quite comprehend how a human being could be this terrible to the people who put in an incalculable amount of work into creating what should be every coaster enthusiast's dream - to travel around the world riding the best coasters on the planet and have a great time doing it.

 

That just seems so counter intuitive to me but I have noticed how a lot of people these days, in addition to being whiny and entitled, are also rather self-destructive and think it's everyone else's fault they're that way. I don't know where it comes from but I'm just glad TPR is kept free of these sorts as much as possible. Again, more work put in so the rest of us can have an awesome time. I hope you guys know how much that's appreciated by those of us who recognize how difficult it is to do that!

[bluestreak]

It seems that the Roller Coasters In the Raw Movies stopped right around the same time that you guys stopped doing tours... is there any correlation and is there any hope for the movies to come back? I always looked forward to the new one every year.

The two aren't related. We stopped doing the DVDs and Blu-Rays simply because people don't really buy physical media anymore and you can watch all the content in amazing quality on YouTube now.

 

You raise an unfortunate good point... could you maybe put your new videos into a roughly 2 hour long Playlist?

[boldikus]

Cosign on missing the DVDs. I love them. The fact that there is no volume 10 drives my ocd up a wall.

Ha! Good! Yet another reason not to make one!

Lol I was waiting for that!

[Xmeister]

It's frustrating to think that an adult in their fifties can act so immature. I think the people in those groups feed off each other. They're so cowardly they need a support group to bitch and whine about situations that are their own fault while shifting the blame to someone else. No one is entitled to break the rules without consequences. It's pathetic and such snowflake behavior!

 

I thought that term was limited to misbehaving college kids but now I think the word has a broader definition.

[laqueefa]

If any of you have attended a West Coast Bash, you've experienced a top notch, well thought out and executed (drama free) event. I would expect no less from an out of country TPR tour, so it goes to show that Robb and company have been doing a bang up job weeding out the bad apples from this forum, and their events. It sucks that some have ruined the fun of public tours.

 

I can't imagine TPR thinking, "Hmmm, how can we totally mess up someone's day with unnecessary bullshit?" They're there to enjoy themselves just as much as the patrons of the event.

[gerstlaueringvar]

It's frustrating to think that an adult in their fifties can act so immature.

When society doesn't beat you up for being an idiot because of political correctness, people like this happen.

[robbalvey]

...... So what ended up happening is that the fun ended for everyone.

 

Was it ever fun for you or was it always a pain to run the tours? Or did it start out as a minor pain that grew to be just unbearable after dealing with so many stupid people as time went on?

I'd say our 2006 - 2009 tours were the ones we had the most fun on. Although they weren't "drama free" as there were quite a few bad apples and growing pains during those trips. But we chose to tolerate some of the bad apples during those years because we thought we had to. The "good apples" though actually showed more than ever during those years that they appreciated what we did. The perks came across as really "special" and it was nice to see people really enjoying themselves that kept us going.

 

But in 2010 we really started to see the signs of people becoming more entitled and the behavior was becoming unacceptable. The "extras" were no longer appreciated as much but now "expected" and those expectations sometimes ended up being unrealistic which resulted in people being obnoxious towards us. This started to happen more often that we would have liked.

 

We did a UK trip that year were we rented out rides at a park in the evening as a surprise bonus when the park had closed 4 hours before hand. We had people bitch and complain to us because we didn't rent out "all the credits" and they were going to miss a kiddie coaster or something completely stupid like that. We were dumbfounded. I seriously told the bus something to the effect of "are you fu*cking kidding me??? We make a totally bonus stop that we didn't have to, that we paid for out of our pocket, and some of you are COMPLAINING that we didn't do enough 'bonus stuff' for you? Seriously any of you bitching can go fu*ck yourself and leave the tour right now because I'm not having any of this crap."

 

I don't think I was nice about it in the least. The same group also bitched later on in the tour that we didn't include Legoland as another bonus park. WTF??!?!

 

This sort of attitude only got worse and by the Scandi 2014 trip, which is actually the tour that killed TPR tours with the most amount of appalling and obnoxious behavior, like the guy where I hand him the TOTALLY FREE TPR backpack and he tells me "this bag is 10% too small. I can't fit all my stuff in it." "Fu*ck you pal, carry less crap and try being less of an asshole" was pretty much my response.

 

Another story was at Liseberg and Helix broke down during ERT so I was working with the park to allow us to use our TPR wristbands to get one ride in later on that day going up the exit. Some of the park people overheard our idiot participants saying how they would use their wristband to abuse that privilege and keep going multiple times. (seriously, how big of a moron do you have to be to actually talk about this IN FRONT of park staff?!?!) When I announced to the group that plan wasn't going to work out because a couple of our dumbass participants ruined it for everyone else the guy looked at me and said "Fu*ck you Alvey" like as though somehow it was MY FAULT that he was a dumbshit and said outloud that he was planning to abuse the system.

 

And then watching some absolutely horrible, just flat out HORRIBLE behavior during what was supposed to be a totally fun "grand prix" go-kart race at Powerpark where this one woman sat there and spewed vile disparaging remarks about Elissa in earshot where we can hear her, because Elissa knocked her out of the final round, and then when we walked in the room, she pretended to be best friends with Elissa.

 

Don't even get me started on the creepy af guy who wouldn't shower, was hanging around the kids areas shirless just a little too much, caused drama at just about every park we went to, and then during an ERT split off from the group and harassed a ride op to let him wear the maintenance harness and go climb a lift hill of a roller coaster!!! YES!!! I'm not making this crap up!!!

 

And that was only a few examples of constant snowflake behavior on that trip.

 

After that trip, we couldn't deal with these assholes anymore. We were done.

 

Gone are those days, but hey, it was a great learning experience. We now do 2-3 trips per year with the people we CHOOSE to travel with. And that's much better! Getting rid of all those awful people made our trips fun again!

Edited January 18, 2017 by robbalvey

[Xmeister]

^ Just curious, was it ever more of a hassle to kick someone off the tour than keeping them on?

 

I'm assuming that a clause in the pre-trip paperwork stated that TPR had the right to ask a participant to leave at anytime, but I'd be worried about any legal shenanigans an exiled traveler might try to pull once the trip was over. Also I'd be concerned that they might try to interfere with the rest of the tour in someway. I tend to be a worrier though so maybe these would only be thoughts going through my head.

[ZeroG001]

Just wanted to get my two cents in. I, personally, have attended two WCB's (2010 and 2011) and I must say that they were the best experiences I've ever had at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I brought a group of non-enthusiasts with me each time and everyone that attended had a blast. I might not be very active on the forums, but I definitely browse weekly just to see what's going on at parks. And you can bet that anytime I need help planning a trip to a park, this is the FIRST place I come. You've got a great community here and I'm thankful for the experiences I've had and for the people on this site that have helped me plan trips to parks over the years! So keep doing what you're doing! There will always be haters.

[Belgiumcoasterfreak]

Robb, TPR isn't the only themepark community with this problem.

I've been a member of another local coasterclub for almost 6/7 years now, and I witnessed the same frustrating B.S things like you do.

 

Our local staffmembers do everything to organize the best trips you can imagine, but for some sh*tty people it's never good enough. Like for instance: some people bragged about the fact that a scandi trip with A LOT of extra's for +/- 1000 euro's (everything included) was 'way to much money for what it is' and 'they could organize it faaaar cheaper then that'. And even some people who joined the trip and got along with it, complained about other dumb stuff like: 'the hotels are sh*tty' (hotels in Scandi are pretty expensive, like you will know, so they got budget hotels to lower the trips price tag). I can imagine that for the people who organize these trips, I'ts pretty frustrating to witness that kind of behavior the whole freaking time. So I'm not surpised that you need to vent from time to time, even if you look like an asshole to some people at that moment. Sometimes you may look like one, but if you know all this, you just know why you do it. I've never met you, or did I joined a trip with you, and I've heard a lot stupid things about you... I just understand your frustration. People always need something to complain about, and unfortunately those kind of people aren't the minority anymore...

 

I must admit, once I was one of those guys, in some sort of way. For example: if they organized someting extra, but at the moment it was canceled, I was frustraded. But the difference is, most of the time I've kept my B.S frustation for myself. I didn't made a scene about it, but just moved on. At this moment, I'm just happy with what we got. Like extra's at a trip, it's called an EXTRA for a reason. Some peolpe don't get the fact that it's not always easy to obtain something like that.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Wow...these stories...People are stupid. I toally 100% believe these stories are true, though. I work in the travel industry, in accounts payable now, but I started in customer service and oh, the things people would complain about. I would have people asking for a refund because the outdoor pool was closed in January at their Canadian hotel. I do not in any way miss having to deal with those people.

 

West Coast Bash was amazing in every way. I wrote that in a TR, and I haven't changed my mind. I got to visit a new city and experience things I never have before. Magic Mountain was so much fun even with a couple of the ERT coasters down in the morning, even with unexpected surprises in the evening. I got to do everything I wanted.

 

And then Knott's was just mind blowing awesome. Everyone there was just super excited to show us around the backstage areas, lunch was incredible, both the food and the presentation ("more than one") That's the sort of thing that only comes out of a relationship. It's hard enough to negotiate with a business to provide a particular service, pay for that service, and have them follow through on that service. But Knott's really wanted us there, and it showed. That only comes from years of doing these events, getting to know the Knott's management, and impressing them enough and consistently enough to foster those good feelings. No one else could have done that event. It just wouldn't have been the same.

 

So get rid of the idiots who complain about not being able to swim outside in Canada in January. And thanks for tolerating my idiocy over the last several years. You guys put up with a lot around here, and it's created the kind of community that has turned a summertime hobby into a passion that has brought my son and me closer. Seriously, thank you.

[Ape]

"don't start none, & there won't be none!"

We used to have only one rule on our trips besides "don't be late" and that was "don't do anything stupid" which also pretty much encompases what you said. By the time we stopped doing trips, we had to have a list of about 25 rules, every single one of them created due to some stupid obnoxious thing someone did on our tours. I just couldn't take it anymore...

)

 

 

I am curious to see the list of rules if you have it saved some where.

[Leekak]

Once you decide to organise an event/holiday your nightmares begin. From experience, and I only organise with Family and close friends your digging a very deep hole that is hard to fill. My maximum person allocation was seven including myself - Initial problem getting deposits and commitments, then you have airport frustration, I want to eat here, I want to go there etc. after landing some party members cannot wait another 20 Mins for a cigarette, then some need the toilet, some even want to buy souvenirs (We are only at the airport for Gods sake) Now on to your days - Some people cant get up on time, some want breakfast at one location some want to go elsewhere, Dont even get me started once you get to a park. Evenings can be just as bad - Some cant stay out later then 20.00 as their tired, some want to stay out all night and all of this is really just the tip of the iceberg when you are the organiser and like I said we never do more then seven people maximum, times that by 5 and I cant even begin to imagine your frustrations. Hats off to TRP even though I have never participated in a trip I have to respect what you went through and had to deal with. Stick to what you know and what to expect it sounds far safer and hopefully stops F***wits bashing the crap out of you.

[robbalvey]

Once you decide to organise an event/holiday your nightmares begin...

What you're describing and what we do sounds very different, though. Outside of ERTs and traveling, the group doesn't stick together and go through a park as one group on a TPR trip. Your experience and ours seems night and day, TBH.

 

I am curious to see the list of rules if you have it saved some where.

Eh, we do, but I really don't want to have to flash back to all that nonsense! lol