Photo TR: TPR UK Trip

[ginzoWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

I love seeing these photos of Blackpool, which was easily the best park of the UK Trip.

I totally missed the Carousel of Evolution.

[beatle11I prefer to mate with donkeys over humans!]

Great pics. I laughed at the Carousel of Evolution stuff. I really need to get to the UK.

[printersdevil78Nuthin' better than a naked donkey!]

^^To be honest, I probably woud have missed it, too, had it not been on Mike Moody's radar. It didn't really stand out among all the flat rides.

Enjoy the second installment of Blackpool Pleasure Beach!

[printersdevil78Nuthin' better than a naked donkey!]

On to part three! But before the photos, I want to say a BIG thank you to Robb and Elissa for putting this day together for us! I mean, Blackpool Pleasure Beach on its own would have been awesome, but add to that ERT on three major coasters, a backstage tour of Grand National (which, essentially, was a backstage tour of the park's central operation), meal vouchers and then an amazing show that evening? This day definitely made it into my top three TPR trip days of all time... and that's a pretty tough list to crack!

[printersdevil78Nuthin' better than a naked donkey!]

OK, so to keep us occupied during our final evening in Blackpool, Robb and Elissa arranged for us to attend a show at the Horseshoe Theatre called "Beyond Belief." And it was! I feel sorry for anyone who missed this special performance because words can't even come close to doing it justice!

I'm going to describe what I remember of the show seven months later, and hopefully some of the others who attended can help fill in the blanks.

The show began with two attractive women dancing on stage, followed by the introduction of magician Richard de Vere. The headliner, he opened his portion of the show by delivering a five-minute monolog about TPR and how wonderful it was that all these roller coaster enthusiasts chose to come to Blackpool to help stabalize the sinking economy. Then he did some magic that mostly involved disassembling and reassembling the girls as lights flashed and techno music played. They wore lab coats in one scene.

Eventually, de Vere introduced a St. Bernard named Schnorbitz, which apparently was once owned by his mentor, famous British comedian Bernie Winters. He proceeded to ride Schnorbitz, then dry hump the dog from behind. I think someone from TPR got a photo of that; I wasn't sure whether photos were allowed, so I didn't take any once the show started (I kind of wish I had). We were told that Schnorbitz had a girlfriend, a small dog named Schnookie, and there were some sex jokes there. And then some guy named Marc sang a song.

Moving on to the second act, a large woman named Mia Carea came out on stage and pretended (?) to be drunk as she delivered a bunch of jokes about how all the guys wanted her. She especially picked on Josh ("Jash") from our group, and that became a running joke for the rest of the show. She also came out into the audience and drank some guy's glass of wine in one gulp. Then de Vere came back on stage, caught an overweight woman supposedly getting up to go to the rest room (some of us thought she may have been a plant--most of us weren't sure) and called her up on stage. Then he proceeded to turn her into a teddy bear wearing the same color dress she had on as a human.

Following intermission, de Vere and Carea came back on stage as dolls in a spoof of a 1950s British children's show most of had never heard of called "Watch With Mother" (thanks to Mike Moody for explaining that to me). They spent 15 minutes or so making jokes about toys including a "giant chopper" and "big red engine" (which wasn't even red!), then Marc came back on and sang another song, this time with his shirt unbuttoned to his waist. I seem to remember something with the girls dancing some more and maybe more magic, and then de Vere called a Scottish pre-teen dressed... um... unsuitably for her age to the stage and got her to tell a story about her drunk father and Santa Claus. I think there was some other stuff that happened... then at random, the woman who got up during intermission and was never seen again suddenly appeared wearing a bootleg Superman costume. De Vere "hypnotized" her to think she really was Superman, and then he made her levitate. And I think that was the end of the show.

It was very weird, very random and very... TPR! A great way to end our time in Blackpool!

[mwm1444A donkey is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family.]

I think the most amazingly odd part was when de Vere introduced Schnorbitz by singing The Mickey Mouse Club March with slightly altered lyrics - and the theme to the early '90s Chipmunks movie spoof cartoon also featured at some point.

[printersdevil78Nuthin' better than a naked donkey!]

^That's right! I forgot about the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" theme, but I do remember the Mickey Mouse/Schnorbitz theme:

"Who's the biggest hound around that's here for you and me? S-C-H, N-O-R, B-I-T and Z. Schnooooorbitz! Schnooooorbitz!"

I also forgot about the part that came right after Schnorbitz's bit. He made a joke about humping the dog, and everyone was laughing, and suddenly he got VERY serious and said something like, "I know we're having lots of fun out here tonight, but in hospitals around England, children are dying." Then made an appeal to all of us to donate to the Schnorbitz Fund for sick children. Then, as suddenly as the seriousness started, it was "Oh, here's another joke!"

[BeemerBoyWDW Monorail Fanatic]

Great coverage of Blackpool! A lot of stuff I had never seen in any report before. It makes me wonder how much more there really is at that place. It also makes me realize I REALLY need to visit!

And thanks for the shout, too!

[printersdevil78Nuthin' better than a naked donkey!]

Day 7 (I thought Blackpool was Day 7, but apparently I was off on my numbering, so I'm getting back on track here) took us to three parks... though only two were on the schedule! First up was Lightwater Valley. Enjoy!

[larrygatorObsessive Overlord of the TPR Park Index]

Jason - did you miss the haunted swing at the end of Impossible or was that closed/removed during your visit?