nev

Ok so what this update has really failed to capture is the absolute torture that was the Eejanika and Dodonpa queue lines. The Dodonpa line is enclosed, and there are speakers that constantly chant "Do.. don.. pa.. Do.. don.. pa" over and over and over and over again. It doesn't stop. EVER. The Eej has an equally annoying african style chant that just screams "Eeejanika Eeejankika Eejanika Whooooaa". This also DOESN'T stop. Even when we were in the line for 3 HOURS and it broke down, the bloody music STILL KEEPS GOING! It was amusing for my to sing along to it for an hour or so much to the thrill of Lou, but even I lost interest. We resorted to being antisocial and listening to our iPods - I got myself through four entire albums in that queue line. You don't need to go in the park's haunted house for torture, just stand in a line... Do..don..pa... Do.. don... pa..... I'm gonna sue in a few years for mental anguish caused by those rides

I think this is the second pic to appear here where I've been overly happy and Lou hasn't been enjoying it as much. Something you want to tell me Lou? Rich

Pfft.... uni.. lame excuse methinks Nah gotta still get Tokyo... but we all know that's coming up soon!

Thanks heaps guys... really looking forward to it now... Lou - get on a train and come, you know you want to Cheers richard

Hey all you European disney people... A mate and I are going to unleash our Australian-ness on Disneyland Paris in a few weeks around Feb 13 for a few days, and I've got a few questions that I'm hoping someone can answer for me... How long would you recommend for the parks? At the moment they're running a buy 2 nights, get 1 free package, so we've got pretty much three days planned. Looking around the site and knowing what I do from the attractions at other Disney parks I can see myself filling two days, but what do you think? How busy will it be around this time? We're going midweek, so hopefully that'll work in our favour. We're probably going to stay at Sequoia - any reasons to definitely stay here or to avoid it? I'm open to suggestions! Thanks guys

Ok here goes... 1. Nemesis - Alton Towers 2. Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point 3. Duelling Dragons - Universal Orlando 4. Superman Escape - Movie World Australia 5. Thundercoaster - Tusenfryd 6. Riddler's Revenge - Six Flags Magic Mountain 7. Balder - Liesberg 8. Xcelerator - Knotts Berry Farm 9. X - Six Flags Magic Mountain 10. The Ultimate - Lightwater Valley (for sheer screwed up fun)

Oi Ryan! That photo was the one match Clint won! Scores should have been blurred cause I was ashamed Here's another photo from brekky earlier in the day - Some small furry animal and Chip.

Isn't Harry Potter and all related nonsense owned by Warner Bros?

Cars were silent in their operation as they were all electric, but did have sound effects of your engine revving, then when you reached a constant speed there was a very Jetsons-esque accompaniment to your driving!

Nah there's nothing anonymous about our drinking as our fellow UKers found out

Hey guys As this is my first attempt at a trip report, bear with me while I attempt to arrange photos and everything nicely! Clint and I spent a few days in Hong Kong to check out our local Disneyland. Seeing as Robb's already posted lots of stuff I'm not going to go into every detail of the parks, but here's our little Australian take Really couldn't find fault with ANYTHING at Hong Kong Disney - everyone was fantastic and we both had a ball. Even the whacky bar stuff were good fun to be around. I can't compare much with Autopia having never got around to going on it at DL but it was cool. Stitch was great! Different to the other version though - you sit down in a 'communications room' and Stitch appears as a cartoon who proceeds to identify and talk to people in the room! Clint and I were questioned by Stitch and he took pictures of us, called us names and even asked for our advice later on in the show... really amazing technology to be chatting away with a cartoon character in front of you! Anyway, here are some Disney photos, I'll get around to posting the Ocean Park ones soon! Nev (Richard) ... It's what you do with it - video projection, big flames and searchlights all come off the castle for the Magic in the Skies show. Not going to go on here, but DLHK's Lion King beats the Florida version by miles! Looks stunning, very cool staging and the addition of two cantonese speaking monkeys just add that little touch of Manga comic to it all! LOTS of open space rings the park. Watch this space for Indy? All over the park, huge pathways just 'end' with gardens. Can't wait to see what these guys have planned. These nifty little rafts transport you over to Tarzan's island. The rafts cross the Jungle Cruise boat track. The ride condition we AA's dread! Shot of main street. I'm not gonna make a joke about the castle... cause it's what you do with it that counts right?! These little critters pop up and 'oooo' at you from the back of Astroblasters as you pass them on the train! Part of the awesome little marching band. Kudos to them for playing continuously in sweltering, humid, 32deg heat! Hooray for glowing pools of water that spit at you when you touch them! Back to the attractions... this is the new soaky zone thingy in Tomorrowland. Basically a whole bunch of ways to surprise you with water. Again, it all lights up and changes colour which was pretty cool. Weird thing #3: The funniest thing of all - EVERYBODY sat down to watch the fireworks! Maybe it has something to do with the size of the castle, but try to picture main street all nice and orderly, with people calmly sitting everywhere! Was rather surreal Weird thing #2: Everyone takes photos with the peace sign, so we grabbed the nearest ride we could find and did the same! Now for some Hong Kongan weirdness... Weird thing #1: lunch was served with complimentary gloves. I've always wanted to have more sterility with my lunch. The other new attraction - Stitch Encounter - is right next door to (actually in the same building as) Space Mtn. Good thing we waited for the English session because it's nothing like the other US version! Over to Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise... where everything is just like the other versions until it all goes bad at the end. We havent yet figured out exactly why the mountain gets mad, spews fire and gushes water, but hey.... it looked cool. Back to the daytime... looking over Autopia from the queue Blurry shot of the main underpass... all pretty colours and lots of people driving and stopping with no clue! Cool Honda ad shot There are lots of colour changing LED lights all over the ride which make it pretty cool at night. No headlights on the cars tho! Just in case you forget what ride you're on, they put these little guages in to remind you! I'm fully charged as you can see. The red light comes on if the driver is a tool. Bit 'o bonsai action Great landscaping everywhere, but I swear these Boab trees should really be in Adventureland... Clint got a blue car, so his didn't go as fast as mine. Leaving the station I got me a shiny red car All electric, pretty fast and with big bumpers that come in handy. Looking down the loading area. Autopia's right between Space Mountain and Buzz's Astroblasters. On to Disneyland... Some photos of the new Autopia attraction. There are three independent circuits, each running 18 cars when we were there. Oh and Lou, we found you a great shaped water bottle Any hotel with a plasma screen this big can't be bad! View from our hotel room across Kowloon. The weather was great considering it's typhoon season. Had to start here at the Langham hotel in Mong Kok - where even the phone greeted us!

The Anatomy for Beginners show has just aired in Australia on SBS - the country's default network for showing weird international programs - and it was actually a pretty interesting series. I saw a few episodes - really intriguing one on the digestive system where he completley unravelled the digestive tract over a 12m long table. My viewing stopped however when I turned the show on a fortnight ago and saw the beginnings of a testicle dissection. I'm squirming in my seat now and I don't think it's an image that's going to leave my brain too soon

Dude, an entire video and not one pounding! Shame on you! Well done mate, I laughed, I cried, but mostly I was embarrassed for you

Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here... If you or your folks are after the definitive Vegas coaster experience, I'm sorry, but nothing beats ripping around the edge of a massive hotel and soaring above the Las Vegas strip on the Manhattan Express. No matter how rough it is, how sickening people make it out to be or whatever, just deal with it for two minutes and enjoy the view. While it really is a shitty coaster for enthusiasts, to the general public it's got huge hills, lots of elements, a view unbeaten by any other Vegas coaster and apart from anything else, it just looks impressive. If someone told me they had time to do one coaster in Vegas, I'd tell them to do the ME. If they had time for one non-coaster ride, it'd be hard to call between Insanity and X-Scream.

You go on a TPR trip and just follow Robb and Elissa around continuously