live2tell75 Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 ^ That sucks about the funhouse at Blackpool. I wasn't aware there was one before. I guess we should be happy the one at Shouthport is still open. --Eric J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 Next up my favoriate park (along with Alton): Blackpool Pleasure Beach! Coming soon! Stay tuned! --Eric J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I got to pop Richard's Ghost Train cherry at Southport. (How the hell a theme park enthusiast gets to the age of 24 without ever riding a ghost train is beyond me...) My reaction on King Solomon's Mines was similar to yours Eric, and seriously, I don't think any of me other than my hands were touching the car during most of the ride, Jeff probably saved my life a couple of times! Evil, scary, painful, but hilariously fun. Kinda like the Wheel, come to think of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomizzle For Rizzle Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Great pics Eric. BOTBC rules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 Blackpool: I can't even express how cool Blackpool was! They went way out of their way to welcome Theme Park Review. A welcome reception including a buffet, wine and juices was great. Free internet access, a trivia event, lots of extra ride times and the most friendly staff of the entire trip! Here are a few pics from our first night at Blackpool and at the South Pier. Enjoy! --Eric J Did I mention how much I love Blackpool? Theme Park Review loves Blackpool! Clockwise from front left: Jodi, Jim, Catrina, Ted, Chuck, Mike, Daron, Tim, Peter, Karen, Dave, James and Lou. The weather was gorgeous! Nice and breazy! I love Blackpool already! Even the CEO of Blackpool was there to welcome us! The reception included a yummy buffet, wine and juices. The reception Blackpool gave us was fantastic! The hotel resaurant was very cool and blue! For coaster freaks like us, this view from my hotel room is a dream come true! The best hotel stay on the entire trip: The Big Blue Hotel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 More Blackpool Pics: Hotel window view at night. In a few hours I will get to ride all of the cool rides of Blackpool! Nightime at Blackpool was very nice. I love the views of Blackpool! Back at the pub next to the hotel, the triva contest was fun, even though I was the biggest loser. But I got a shirt for being the most pathetic!! Yeah! The famous 10 minute crazy spinning Waltzer ride. A very breezy ride! Kristie and Greg are ready for a spin! Chuck joined me on the Crazy Mouse on the South Pier. Donkey tokens! Donkeys! Love it! I love the coastline! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hey, it's good to see that I haven't lost my talent for looking completely crazed when smiling for photos. "Hey, kids! Come and ride the spinning coaster with the nice man!" Very nice TR, Eric. Santa Cruz used to have a funhouse with one of those wheels and a varnished-wood slide. I really miss that place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 Day 6: Blackpool Pleasure Beach As I said before, Blackpool was awesome! Along with Alton, Blackpool was my favorite park on the entire trip. The 3 hours of ERT, the gazillion rides, old dark rides and fun walkthroughs made our trip great! I can't wait to go back someday. Here is Blackpool Pleasure Beach! Enjoy! --Eric J Pepsi Max was fun, but a little to rough for me. You could see a lot of the coast. The view from Pepsi Max was wonderful. The lift was steep! TPRers enjoying Pepsi Max, the largest coaster in Europe. ERT on Pepsi Max was next. Blackpool opened Bling for us early! I feel like I'm in RCT! There was a lot of competition on Steeplechase! I was able to get 2 of the 3 Steeplechase credits. As the picture says, I'm off! Next up one of my favorites: Steeplechase. And so are the rest of TPR. Robb and Jim are ready for the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper had a lot of tight turns! Ist of the ERT was on the historic Big Dipper. Almost time to go in! Even the president of the Blackpool Coaster Group joined us. TPRers are ready for blackpool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 More Blackpool Pleasure Beach Pics: TPRers ready to conquer the Magic Mountain dark ride. The Zipper Dipper was a fun kiddie coaster credit. Barron, Ted, Catrina and I enjoyed the Chinese Hedge Maze. We were the lucky few that got the Space Invaders 2 credit before it broke down. Catrina & Ted joined me for Space Invaders 2. Roller Coaster was very historic. ERT on Rollercoaster was great. Tommy and James snug like a bug in their bobsled. Avalanche was fun. It was time for ERT on Avalanche. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 More Blackpool Pleasure Beach Pics: Ok, 99.9% of Blackpool was awesome except this random scary clown in a glass box. Have ever seen anything so scary! Jim was trying to hold on! It was fun trying to hold onto the other car's riders hands throughout the ride. Many generations have done this. Grand National was one my favorite coasters on the trip. The River Caves was an old fashioned tunnel of love ride. You might have heard, you get a little wet on Valhalla! Valhalla has got to be the best water ride anywhere! Barron, Ted and I enjoyed riding a piece of history. The historic Airplanes ride. The Alice In Wonderland dark ride seemed very similar to Disneyland's version. A view from the Noah's Arch. Barron, Catrina, Ted and I loved the Ghost Train! Is it a credit? It has a coaster element! Ok debate! One time was enough for me. Blackpool had another one of those wild mouse death machines! Barron, Ted, Catrina and I were so happy about our Pizza Hut Buffet outside the park. We had free refills!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 More Blackpool Pics: I will wiss you Blackpool! You were great! Shouldn't Dave and Jim be passed out by now? There were lots of late nights in the lounges of our hotels. Hanging out in Blackpool. Guess what these TPRers are doing? If you guessed checking out the UK Trip updates then you are correct! After dinner we were given complimentary tickets to see the show Hot Ice. It was very campy, semi Vegas-like and it was fabu! Our group striking their best figure skater poses. My cheeseburger was pretty good. Hopefully the horses on the walls won't kick anyone while their eating! The inside of Coasters was cool. The tables and chairs were themed to amusement park rides. After our day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach we had dinner provied for us at Coasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 Coming soon: Lightwater Valley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyBo Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Great pictures Eric! It's awesome to see so many different views from so many people about the parks. Nice pic of me and Dave doing what we do best, consuming drinks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 ^ I think I was better at spilling drinks. Sorry Tommy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyBo Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 ^ I can't believe they made you pay for a new beer. I mean if you spill your entire drink onto Tommy's computer don't you think they would have given you a discount? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Oh well, it was my dumbass fault for knocking my eblow on the table and spilling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 LMAO at poor Clint trapped under my leg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 ^ That's hilarious Lou, I never noticed Clint under there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 You should photo shop in the 4 of us that bailed during the intermission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 ^ I'll work on that Paul. I don't know why you guys bailed on the spectacular-campy-long-over-the-top skating show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Casey tried to tell me that he bailed because there wasn't enough legroom... Yeah yeah. That show was the campest, most over the top, sometimes entirely redundant ice show I've ever seen, and I loved every second of it. The number where all they did was bang drums with symbols on them and chant "Pisces Aquarius Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Libra Virgo Capricorn Aries Sagittarius Scorpio" over and over again while wearing spandex outfits and furry hats was my favourite part. Oh, and the bit where the curtain got caught on the doorframe as they pulled it off the rink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 ^ AND the two POUNDs that Big Mike got from two of the skaters during the bows, hmmm? I think Ryan nearly wet his pants with glee when that happened, not once but twice! Couldn't hold the boi down after that, lolol. My Humble Critique: Mostly cheesy as hell. Second half not as good as the first. So Paul, you and the others IMhO got the better part of the show (1st part) before you left. And I thought the 'thick hair' hanging everywhere from the costumes and backs and 'other places' was a bit.... freaky. But I still got the CD of Part 1 and always laugh at the inanity of the 'WhipTango' number, heh heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
live2tell75 Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 Day7: 1st park: Lightwater Valley To be honest I wasn't feeling so great on this day. This was the first day where the trip was catching up with me. I was really tired. I don't know why, we had only done 8 parks so far! I know when I'm tired when I could care less if I skipped a coaster and/or rides. Lightwater Valley wasn't really anything spectacular. I was really looking forward to riding the Ultimate. I had seen the 2002 dvd and it looked really neat going through the countryside and woods. The ride was fine until after the second lift, then all hell broke lose! The Ultimate was a one time ride for me! I got the crap banged out of me! God bless everyone that went on it more than once! You must be made out of steel! The lunch was really gross. I did enjoy the Sewer Rat Ride. That had one of the coolest queues ever! I did perk up during the ERT at Flamingoland later in the day, but that's for the next trip report. --Eric J. Looks like Lightwater Valley wore Tommy and James out too! I wasn't feeling good to begin with, so I skipped The Toad In The Hole ride. I'm glad I did, because when exiting the ride, a sign warned riders to wash hands before eating and to not drink the water! Yuck! We had to hike through the woods to get to some of the rides. Catrina and I are ready for the Wild Cat. This ride is to intese for Barry! I wanted the op to keep the gas tanks in the cars! It would of made it more thrilling! Jim, Dave, Mike, & Ryan agree this a Elissa approved rodent ride! The sewer underground queue was crazy! The Sewer Rat was a lot of fun! Poor TPRers, they are about to get the crap banged out of them on The Ultimate! The Ultimate: Ride of pain! Maybe I should of had a smack in the mouth to have more energy! Woops I mean snack! Day 7: 1st Park, Lightwater Valley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 While it was done well, it was just not really my thing. I'm glad youg guys enjoyed it, I just don't think I could have sat through the rest of it. I'm just too used to people on skates trying to put a puck in a net, not dancing. I actually loved the Ultimate. I guess I just handled the pain better. The couple days after Blackpool I kind of went through withdrawls. Blackpool was such an amazing experience, that the following lesser parks kind of felt that much less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyFish Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Great TR so far Eric. ^^^ and Lou I was dying, I swear, the lady in front of me was leaning back so much he head was like in my lap and if I moved my knee one inch I would clock her in the head! I wanted to so much cause too. But yeah there was some of us that left, bummer no group photo. But the funny part was on the way back we all kept looking back to see if anyone else was going to leave and suprisingly nobody did. Take Care, Casey, B.O.T.B.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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