Beeja

Hi Benny, thanks for all the great reports, you sure visited lots of parks this seasonn, that Fun Card was a great deal! And I'm really happy for you that you finally got to ride Anubis, Belgium's best, indeed! About the Giants: post your bests! I've seen some great pics on your FB, I think a selection will do fine. And like Larry already mentioned, you can always post more if asked... Well, take care and keep up the good work!

STOP MAKING ME JEALOUS!!! You're visiting every park I wanted to visit this year but I haven't got to any of them (except for Efteling, thanks to you!)... Then again, your fantastic reports ease the pain just a little bit and after looking at your pics, I'm going to make sure that I visit Europa, Phantasialand and Plopsa Coo next year! Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I love your shirt! HEY HO! LET'S GO!

Thanks for the comments so far! It was great meeting you and your daughter too, Benny! I hope you enjoyed the Tour! I sure hope we can visit some more parks together in the future, that would be nice. Now onto the rest of this TR! We also had ERT on de Vliegende Hollander (Flying Dutchman), which is obviously quite well themed. Going through this entrance is like being teleported to the Dutch Golden Age. The harbour with the enclosed lift hill en the beginning of the first drop. Yes, we're still in the year 2010! In this shed houses a mid course break run... Before... kerSPLOOOSH! Note that you're not getting that wet, all the water gets catapulted to the sides It's a great and good looking ride but in my humble opinion, Efteling should've done better with this splash... After all the madness, the boats return to the harbour in peace. After ERT it was time to get that Dora the Explorer feeling and wander around in the park. First stop: Carnaval Festival! A hilarious darkride with a catchy tune! It's a great way to score some culture credits. Unfortunately, the only sound my mind hears is "BBBbbbzzzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZ". I wonder where my brain gets that sound from... Maybe that recent sporting event? I don't know! Beer Country! At last!! I can die happy now This makes me a wee bit uncomfortable... Especially that priest ont he bridge! YIKES! Siamese sumo wrestlers?! Is that even legal?? Shadow piranha is eyeing his next victim... Hans is all "I'm outta here"! Belgium says "tot ziens" Next to the Carnaval Crazyness is the indoor roller coaster Vogel Rok (a Vekoma, quite good but a bit too dark inside). This weird fella welcomes you at the People of Laaf, a walkthrough and monoride village with lots of stuff going on... Stuff like little houses (this is the school) Stuff like watermills and exploding water holes (note: monorail snail in upper right corner!) Stuff like sleeping, grumpy old man. Stuff like Chris popping out of something that looks like a ... nevermind! (Hi Chris!) And I leave you with this totally crazy stuff: men! More coming soon, stay tuned!

Ohai! Thanks to Benny (Groteslurf) and his lovely daughter I had the opportunity to join the Europe Trip for one day at the Club TPR Day at the Efteling. It was a great day filled with plenty of rides on the new woodie Joris en de Draak and de Vliegende Hollander (I LOVE ERT), meeting old and new friends, walking around in the park, a fantastic lunch buffet at noon, and so on and so on... Joris en de Draak is a great addition. It's fun for all ages (it's not that high and the speed is just perfect) and the racing/dueling parts are very sensational. Both sides are part the same, part completely different. They both start with a great first drop followed by an even better triple up. From there on, they're following their own path, crossing the other here and there. And from there on, they both seem running out of control! Towards the end, both tracks come together again to complete the last part racing. Almost at the end, both trains have an über cool reversed banked part (which I adore!) right before the finish. Returning to the station next to the other train is great, especially when your train won! Seriously, the loss of Pegasus is already so forgotten! This first part will only contain pics of Joris en de Draak (the rest will follow, don't worry) and since I'm not that much into writing a long story, I'll let my pictures tell their own story. Enjoy! BAM! Here they are, Fire and Water in all their glory. GCI Joe checks if the trains can handle all the TPR geekiness. Oooooh, that's one angry dragon! Getting close... I was getting all excited right here! Hmmmm, this spaghetti of wood looks delicious! This is inside the station building. When the trains returned to the station, the flags of the winning side were lowered! Station building overview (note how the light of "coaster heaven" can be seen in the back) I call this one "Destination: Pure Bliss" "Swooooooosh!" is the only sound your brain is allowed to make here. Joris en de Draak is Peter-and-Hans approved! Robb and ...(Derek?), hard at work (the result is great!) Ick! Here's Miss Pure Evil again! Dutch airplanes flying over the Efteling are now required to fly parallel with her horns. A lovely turn for all you lovely turn enthusiasts. How I'd love to build my house right here... Oh God, she's procreating... Water (the left and my preferred side) is in the lead! This duck goes for the "swim with a view" option. Don't you just love those sexy GCI turns?! Yes, it's true! Joris en de Draak is even fun for THE CASTED (front seat, wtf?!) And to conclude this part, I leave you with this pic of the entrance (yes, my brain and my camera work in reversed order...)

Nice angle in that last picture of Phantasialand Great pictures as usual, Hanno! You and your camera are an amazing couple... I really love to look at your pics, they're always entertaining, special and sometimes "failed" but still beautiful! And you say your picture taking skills crashed that day?! My best skills don't even come close to yours on a "bad day"... Thanks for posting these and I'm looking forward to your Efteling update! Take care!

Dear mister Overlord, below some pictures of the Pony Ride at Bobbejaanland (Belgium). I hope you can use them! Oh, and it was nice meeting you at the Efteling! Take care!

^ I sure did! Looks like fun when everything goes well but I guess it can be very painful also... Great reports so far, guys! I'm really enjoying this. Katun looks very impressive, I hope I can have a ride on it one day... Is it also very forceful? Have fun at Europa Park (no problem, I guess) and see you guys on Sunday!

Great reports, Benny! I really don't mind the random stuff and cool cars are great fun! Plopsa Indoor looks like fun, it's a shame that I haven't visited it yet! Maybe I should that Fun Card after all... But it looks like your daughters are getting a little too old for Plopsa Indoor, your oldest hardly fits in that electric car Anyway, thanks for sharing and see you on Sunday! Btw, Hans: we should visit a F1 race together, I love F1! Oh, and I visited the pits at Zolder already... And I drove a Formula Ford car all by myself once See you too on Sunday!

Hi Benny! Great TR with some beautiful pics. I love the one from the Mega Mindy Flyer with the sun behind it! I'm really happy with this TR because I was still considering buying that Fun Card. Now that I've seen this park, I'm convinced! The park looks great and I love how they built some rides right in the middle of the woods. How were the crowds and queues? Thanks for sharing and see you soon! YAY!

Hey BeemerBoy (and other Kick Boodie Enthusiasts), I just read this thread and I thought of something I've seen in Italy once. The ride I'm talking about is your normal everyday chair swings but it's the activity that takes place on it. It's called "calcinculo" and the aim is to kick your friend in front of you high up! It's not exactly the ride you're looking for but I guess it's the same idea Here's a video of it, as seen on youtube (sorry for the bad quality, it's not mine, but it shows what I'm talking about) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAAZZQ--NHc

According to RCDB, De Standaard (Belgian newspaper) and the Plopsa fansite, Plopsa Coo will build a new coaster for 2011. CEO Steve van den Kerkhof confirmed the news. Here's a short extract from the article, translated via a website so I hope it's OK: With the arrival of the new attraction an investment of such a € 3.5 million would be paired. Which constructeur the new roller coaster can supply, is still unknown. The most attentive spinning coasters are built Maurer Söhne and Gerstlauer. Taking into account the planned budget it is very probable that the future innovation of Plopsa Coo by is built one of these two constructeurs. I hope they choose Maurer Söhne and they build something like Winja's! But then again, Anubis (the newest ride at Plopsaland De Panne) is a Gerstlauer and the company seems pretty satisfied with this baby. Then we get something like Tony Hawk's Big Spin! Fine!

Great report so far, I'm really looking forward to the other updates! And thanks to this report my brain keeps telling me: "Do the same! Go on a trip in Germany!! So many credits you still don't have..." Tripsdrill looks just plain creepy in your pics... But then again: no crowds > too much crowds! See you soon on our next park visit together!

Great report from a great day! I really enjoyed your company too and I hope this was the first of many park visits together! Your pics are extremely beautiful, I will not post mine because they will look like sh*t next to yours... Anyway, Bengal Rapid River was a wet ride already, my pants were still not completely dry when I got in my car to return home! You weren't on it, you can't tell!! Well, hope to see you soon again!

Dear Mr. Gator, here are some photos of the Garden Boat - Bootvaart at Bobbejaanland (Belgium). I hope you can use them! AND A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Have a great day

After some sandwiches and a good cup of coffee I'm ready to post the next update! Enjoy! Time for dinner at the hotel and after that it was off to bed! We were exhausted... Stay tuned for day two! Myra and Belle (she only wanted her pic with the cardboard princesses) Myra and Sleeping Beauty (her favorite princess) And another shot of the amazing castle (I was impressed every time I walked on by...) Another pretty mural at the end of the ride Gepetto's lovely house b-e-a-utiful! The ride stopped for a few minutes (dunno why) so I got the chance to shoot some details. But again a happy end! (notice Myra's hand, she was waving all the time Ow, this makes me sad... Something went wrong... Don't laugh too hard, Pinocchio! Ooooh! Candy! Iek! Here comes evil Stromboli... Now that is just too cute! On to the next dark ride: Pinocchio! Phew, a happy end! Feed me your babies! Gah! Go away!! ... but gets very scary! In fact, they show only the scary scenes! Myra was not amused the first time... The tour starts with a lovely scene... A beautiful wall painting to look at while waiting... Time for a dark ride: Snow White! We visited Phantom Manor two times, Myra loved it! While wandering around, we saw Hooks ship. Very cool looking boat and I want one too! Bye bye everyone! Thanks for coming, I really enjoyed it! Sleeping Beauty shows off her lovely blond hair... Yay! More princesses! And who knew that Belle was Asian?! Woah! Eric is HOT! Eric and Ariel on the prettiest float of them all! Baloo and King Louie are having a party! "Those poor unfortunate souls!" Scar = pure evil! I don't know this character but YIKES! His is one cool looking bad a$$! Ooooh, a float filled with villains! The lovely Mary Poppins Here's Peter (yummie!) Here comes the Peter Pan float! Hook and Smee are having a great time... Woody says "You're my favorite deputy!" Here's Pinocchio. Don't you just love his shoes?! They're so cute! Come and give Mickey a big hug! Helloooo giant creepy sun! This one is for you, Elissa! Here comes the parade!