The Official "TPR 2006 UK Tour" Thread!

[IwantRevenge]

Does anyone else find somethnig really dirty about the name "Toad Hole?"

 

you can put some of the ride names together to make a sentence.

 

The ultimate Toad hold Rat race

[cfc]

I thought that Toad Hole was the best ride ever that featured a talking rubber mask on a stick. Stick yer animatronics up yer Toad Hole, Disney!

[Ed]

A The Ultimate. On my first ride ever I pulled the lapbar as tight as it would until it hurt my legs practically. And omg was I glad. The ride is fudging wierd. That's all I can say, it's just one of those experiences everyone should have in their life.

 

And I CANT Believe half of you missed the skate-board things. I owned those about 4/5 years ago when I last went. Hahaha..

 

I really am enjoying all these updates, even though i'm slightly annoyed I didn't make it to a single park *curse exams* it's still really funny to see all these parks that I know and have been too, visited and enjoyed by so many other people!

 

And i'm also glad that so many of you have just drooled over Nemesis. It really does deserve the praise.

[yorkie360]

I'm not sure if I'm adding anything to the collective knowledge here about the Ultimate, but I've got experience of it from the first time it opened in 1991.

 

Apparently the original design had it running trains which were half the length of those operating now (18 riders), but they were having some major problems and solved it by sticking two trains together (36 riders .. now 38).

 

So the whole thing's botched .. the original design never involved the front half of the train hanging over the edge of the 1st lift hill before picking up speed, and the second half was never meant to be as fast & violent as it is (even after reprofiling sections of the banking).

 

It's still a unique ride .. really good from the back of the long train, since it accelerates you UP the first lift hill and pulls you down the second. And if you think it's rough now, you should've tried it when it used to have overhead restraints!

 

My closest park today is SFMW, so I'm really enjoying getting misty-eyed over seeing the UK parks again. Thanks for all the pics!

[martinb]

Well the Ultimate was deigned by British Rail Engineers, thats says alot

[yorkie360]

Funny enough, I was working with British Rail engineers at the time .. and as a result, I'm surprised the thing ever got built.

 

At least it wasn't designed by Virgin Train engineers .. the thing with Virgin Trains is no matter how hard you try, you can never go all the way on them.

[Ed]

The same British Rail which has killed well over 200 people in derailment accidents due to lack of maintenance......

[yorkie360]

I'm not too sure that's a fair comment, but let's not get into that here. No casualties on the Ultimate, at least ..

[martinb]

I must express my disapointment at the lack of photos of the Log Flume at BPB, its in its last year of operation and out of all the PTR's I've read, there hasn't been a single photo of anyone on it, near it, mentioning going on it, just got off it etc!

[yorkie360]

It's definitely gonna be a shame to lose it, but it was effectively ruined when they built the Big One and Ocean Boulevard around the edge .. so not so big a deal any more.

 

I guess I'm more excited about what could be to come, but agree it would be a good idea to make sure we can get some good final photos and an on-ride video before the demo crew come in. Can anyone oblige? Anyone got any old pre-90s flume shots?

 

I'm still peeved that there are so few photos of the old BPB virginia reel around, and it would be a shame if the same was true of the flume.

[Carnage]

I didn't ride the flume at BPB.

 

The thing about BPB was that there was so much to do that you couldn't get it all in. I think everyone missed something here and there through the day just because of time constraints.

 

I know I missed noahs ark, space invaders2, and probably a few other random things.

[robbalvey]

I must express my disapointment at the lack of photos of the Log Flume at BPB, its in its last year of operation and out of all the Photo TR's I've read, there hasn't been a single photo of anyone on it, near it, mentioning going on it, just got off it etc!

I actually have a few really good photos, but chose not to post them. It's just a log flume, and not really a very good one IMO. I won't miss it when it's gone.

 

--Robb "Does anyone miss the Water Chute? Didn't think so!" Alvey

[martinb]

It's just a log flume, and not really a very good one IMO. I won't miss it when it's gone.

 

Finally someone who agrees with me, it seems every entusiast in England loves the BPB Log Flume, they nearly all started crying when they heard it was being removed, IMO it was too long and boring, c'mon 3 lift hills, but only 2 drops!

 

-Martyn

[Nrthwnd]

^^ Agreed. And ^ agreed again, heh heh.

 

And I actually got a ride in on the Grand Prix, the Flying Machines, walked thru Impossible, Trauma Towers & Noah's Ark, got most of the dark rides (curses, missed the River Caves!), all of the coasters, Valhalla 3 times (yesss), Bling.....

 

Considering how 'travel worn' a few of us probably were, missing the BPB Flume ride was 'no big deal' and altho I may not have a chance again to get to BPB in the future, missing out on the flume ride for me was not a mistake. Missing out on the River Caves, was!

 

Call me a wierd tourist, eh?

[Ed]

I think the log flume is great, get's you soaked when it's going well.

 

November time you just get random tidal waves literally pouring into the boat the trough is that full. Also there's a woman with a vacuum cleaner waiting for take all the water out from the boat.

 

Wish they'd do that on Valhalla tho, last time there was a good 2 inches of water!

[niiicolaaah]

The big long log flume by Big One? That was closed, I think! It looked pretty dry when we were riding Big One!

[Nrthwnd]

I'll agree with Nicole, as I remember seeing nothing happening with it, from the Big One's lift hill and/or when the coaster is coming back to the station.

 

Maybe that's why no reports and/or critiques of same.

 

[martinb]

^Are you sure?

 

I actually have a few really good photos

[yorkie360]

I bet opinions of the flume are divided by age .. if you never saw it before the Big One and Ocean Boulevard went up, then you probably wouldn't give a toss whether or not it got pulled down. Back in the 70s & 80s it was better positioned, sighted, and looked more exciting.

 

Anyone wanna do a survey??

[niiicolaaah]

Blackpool has two log flumes. The Beaver Creek Log Flume was open. The regular old Log Flume was not.

[martinb]

^ Funny thing is, I found the Beaver creek Log Flume better, got alot more wet on it aswell, with a much smaller que.

 

-Martyn

[yorkie360]

There's a joke in there somewhere about getting wet riding the Beaver Creek Flume, but I'm too polite to consider it. Hmm.

[cfc]

I think the log flume is great, get's you soaked when it's going well.

 

November time you just get random tidal waves literally pouring into the boat the trough is that full. Also there's a woman with a vacuum cleaner waiting for take all the water out from the boat.

 

Wish they'd do that on Valhalla tho, last time there was a good 2 inches of water!

 

As I recall, there was a dude with a shop vac at Valhalla that day, and the big log flume was running.

[Carnage]

Just about every water ride on the UK trip had a ride op vaccuming up water before boarding, as well as those drying machines after you get off.

 

Both of which were things I had never seen in north america before.

[Ed]

Well that's new this year! They only had it on the Big Log Flume last year. And I don't think anyone was puttting a vacuum into the Beaver Creek Flume....