RCFreak Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 So reading LOU's PTR has inspired me to post my pics I took on TPR's Spain 2007 Trip as well as the mini-Europe Add-on and my first trip to NYC! I ended taking 1,025 photos over the course of two and a half weeks, so bare with me as I re-size most (but definitely not all) and up-load them. Some of them you might have already seen on the mini updates and I'm sure more of them will pop up in the full updates when those finally get done too. *cough* Just as a warning I have the memory of a goldfish, so many stories have already been forgotten or will be jogged looking through my pics again. It all started when I got home from Australia 2006 and hadn't visited TPR in a while so it was a huge shock to find out they did a tour of UK that was open to everybody. Then I come to find out they had even MORE trips planned out and as soon as I heard about Spain I knew I had to go! Keep in mind I was never a huge poster in these forums and really didn't know anybody going on the trip. That in mind I had one of the BEST times I've EVER had in my life so far and have made many great friends out of it including Robb and Elissa themselves. (Shameless plug fo the trips? You decide. lol) In looking for flights I found an incredible deal through KLM and Northwest (blech!) out of JFK so I figured What the hell, I've never been to NY before, and here was a great chance to go for a bit. So there I was June 24, 2007 flying out on an adventure of a lifetime. After getting a decent nights sleep it was time to explore! I'm definitely not a planner and love to just go with the flow and see where things take me. I do usually have a few goals in mind but no structure to it. It definitely lets me have a much better time then fighting a time schedule to see as much as I can. I also figure it definitely would not be the last time I was in NYC. So the next morning we head off to Brooklyn to ride, what else, the Coney Island Cyclone! After getting my Nathan's Famous Hot Dog it was time to head off to the rides! A few rides on the Cyclone and a few of the other rides (inlcuding a really insane breakdance!) it was off to Times Square. I fell in love and actually spent the majority of my next two days around the area, I just couldn't get enough! Side trips to the Empire State Building, and The American Museum of Natural History (which also ate up a LOT more time then anticipated) Seeing both Spring Awakening and Marry Poppins (with ABC's SUpper Nanny sitting next to me!) and a whole lot of walking, off to Spain I went! Now for the pictures! Kinda looks photoshopped LEAVE ME ALOOOOOONE!!! Much cooler in person I don't want to grow up! When I played with LEGOS I never went that big... This was an animatronic, it kicked all sorts of a$$. Hello Kitty loves NYC too Toys"R"Us toy ferris wheel! it took me two seconds to realize which coaster wason the poster... is that bad? YES! New York's Hard Rock on broadway? These came out really good for not having a tripod... Almost as pretty as me! Time to head back to Manhattan see!?! This attraction is TPR approved! View up the Boardwalk This just cracked me up! My first wacky worm is actually on the lower left in this picture. overview of Dino's Wonder Wheel amusement park Cyclone from the top of the Observation tower. Oddly felt like I was back at Cedar point for a minute... When I sat down they actually had to hammer a nail back into place on our log! Safety first kids. ooohhhhh There she is the day before she turned 80! Flashbacks to Problem Child 2... *blech* awww look he made a friend! I shall call you Squishy! Insert a joke about the shaft here Astroland, but for how much longer? "feed the Clowns or they will kill you in your sleep" This ride is for swingers A look toward the Cyclone an Intamin Observation tower and that INSANE break dance! The "guts" of a ferris Wheel is one of my favorite things to look at. I'm actually terrified for my life right now... I didn't know Ghosts had holes... The Original Coaster Wheel. Jeff Johnson counts this as 16 credits! I see something in the distance... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 More pics, nothing coaster related in this one, but lots of museum pics! I'll end this with some floaty balls! Stick around for the start of the actual trip itself! Good Rex, good boy, Sit! Stay! Sarah! Where's littlefoot? Talocan? TPR approved? Hector Approved! I could live here... Rocks Gone wild by night! Conservative daytime rocks I got a rock... I spent about two hours just looking around Lots of totem poles all around I fell in love with the Northwest coast Indian exhibit at The American Museum of Natural History Big balls Night two had me visiting the wonderful Banks family and their f***ed up nanny! it won for good reason too! I love this musical! but this Church was all "nu-uh" These thatres pop out of no where begging for money YEAH Transformers! Self photographer extraordinaire! Man, writing this many captions is hard... I think i can see my house from here Nice view ooo good thing too, I almost forgot where I was That's better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil jimmy norton Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Nice man, the museum is an awesome place to go. Did you visit the Mythical Creatures exhibit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunfire Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 These are awesome pics. Wow, you're not even in Spain yet and you've already taken more photos than I have on my phone (which is about 100 pics)! LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster05 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Hector I swear we were in the museum abd at Astroland the same days you were. We also visited NYC before we went to Spain. Great start on your PTR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Great start Hector, can't wait til you start on Spain! You are SUCH a poser by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorBoyASU Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 It took me like 2 seconds as well to identify that coaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterdude5 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 ^ Which one is it? At first I thought it might be Tatsu but it looks like there's a parachute tower in the background... Great trip report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorBoyASU Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 It's Raptor. Helix to the block brake circling the dive out of the zero-g. Sky ride tower in the background, as well as the Grand Ballroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 Nice man, the museum is an awesome place to go. Did you visit the Mythical Creatures exhibit? Sadly I didn't have time (or money) as I wanted to wander around and had to be back up to 43 for Marry Poppins that night. Hector I swear we were in the museum abd at Astroland the same days you were. We also visited NYC before we went to Spain. Great start on your Photo TR. "It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all!" Great start Hector, can't wait til you start on Spain! You are SUCH a poser by the way. hehe you say that like it's a bad thing. Don't worry I have a lot of pictures of other people too. And that coaster is indeed Raptor at Cedar Point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 Off to Spain!! After a VERY rocky start in getting over (I was the last to arrive that night wasn't I?) after missing two flights (damn everyone who jinxed me by saying "don't miss you're flight!") and not knowing where the crap the hotel actually was I finally made it! Add to it that no one was there at the hotel when I got there as Elissa had gone off to McDonald's down the street and the people who went off to Parque de Atracciones had not returned yet, I was a bit worried that it was a sign of things to come. Luckily it wasn't! The next day promised to be an early start as we were off to take the bullet train to Sevilla and Isla Mágica. I honestly had no idea what to expect from many of the parks on the trip and this was the first one to blow me away. When we arrived we had to wait for Robb to contact the PR guy for the park and that gave a lot of us (mainly me who wasn't there the day before) to chat and get to know each other a little. When Robb got back he said that they were going to give us ERT on their two newest attractions, their new 4-D theatre and their new spinning, shooting, pirates-peeing-on-you dark ride, Captain Balas (AKA Captain balls) They actually showed us two movies, one was N-Wave studio's 12 and a half minute "Haunted House" in 4-D and the second was N-Wave Studio's 9 and a half minute (did it feel that long to anyone else?) "SOS Planet/ PandaVision" Then we all headed over to El Jaguar, which is an extended SLC (AKA Bonus Helix!) I rode Lethal Weapon at Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia so i had some idea as to what to expect (the helix is the smoothest part...) and I liked it, I think I'm the PERFECT height for Arrows and Vekomas as they don't bother me as much as they do other people. Other rides include a Zamperla Mega Disk'O, A very decent flume, a splash down, heat exhaustion, and an Indiana Jones type "adventure" ride ride with carts from the Flintstones, which was really well done for the park it was at. On to some pics including LOU all wet! Our Sexy ride home. Cutest ad, EVER! Choose your own Adventure: the Ride Drying "where the sun don't shine" Or you could go in this fountain and risk getting some sort of communicable disease from the locals. This look slike a postcard. It also got you just enough wet to cool you down but not soak you (unless you just happened to be standing right on top of one of the little jets that pop up from underneath and go up your shorts... Those Spaniards sure love them bulls. A lot of the smaller parks had a mechanical bull out for people to humiliate them selves on. They had some boats going out toward the front of the park and I think they have a big fountain night time show there too Lots of bush at this park, I guess they don't believe in trimming in Europe Chris really, really wanted to ride the llamas. EL Jaguar, look out! The park was built around this lake (The lake was built in the park?) The themeing to the outside of Captain balls was amazing. New for 2007 4-D "oooooooo" "ahhhhhhhhh" Luickily the Camera of doom was not present How about a little kiss. "We want candy too!" I'm a Rock God, Give me some candy!" This was our first impression of the park lead back to where the new attractions were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piers Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Hector, those are some brilliant pictures. I had no clue you had done so much just before getting to Europe, no wonder you looked so tired that first night we all found you in the lobby! I was tired just from our half day in Madrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Lots of bush at this park, I guess they don't believe in trimming in Europe Sheer brilliance and cutting wit. Beautiful pics too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Love the pics. You can see my shadow in this one taking this pic from another angle. It will be in my update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 ^The backside of awesome! lol So the next morning brought us to Parque de Atracciones Madrid and as it was my first visit, I got to hear a lot about the park from those who went the day before the trip started. Again, I was quite blown away with this park as it had one of the best photographic entrances to a park I've ever seen. As always with the Alvey's, 'Tis much better to arrive early and entertain ourselves then to arrive late and piss off the park. So we had quite a bit of time to kill and again, it was chit chat and get to know yourselves more, and they let us in to stand around some more as we headed over to Abismo and Tarántula and chatted more as maintenence finished up their testing and Robb filmed Abismo a few times we got our rides in and headed over tarántula. Abismo was my first (and only) Maurer Söhne X-car So I was terrified of the ride, more like the restraints and/ or getting stuck at the top of the lift. Luckily on the few rides I had on it they were all fantastic! Tarántula was my second spinning coaster besides Exterminator at Kennywood and this totally blew me away! the ride had me giggling the whole way through and getting stopped on a block up there is quite disturbing if you just happen to be hanging on the side without a catwalk. Other rides include Tornado which was pretty "meh" for being Intamin; the log flume with that stupid timed waterfall that decided fat people slowing down a log should get absolutely drenched (Yes, that was me...); the Jungle Cruise rip-off; Spanish Small world; an old shcool Frisbee which I prefer over the gaint's as long as it has a good program, and this one wasn't too bad; and of course Deperado, which I didn't win, but I wasn't the donkey. Then it was off to Zaragoza! Good bye PdAdM! "Man I have got to remember to stop eating those shrums" Excuse me sir but the wires from your neck are showing. No missing feet today The sky cleared a bit and Abismo had a long line. Tarántula *drool* I was a split second off from getting Dave in there too! Lou's ready to ROCK! Are you? Random Castle and Holidog clone I think Kyle's face sums up the ride. Soaked from that damn log ride and not having any idea what kind of scrotal pain would be delivered. Backside of Lou Evil to come later I think there's a coaster in those supports somwhere WHEEEEEEEEE they got Abismo open first and Robb got his footage from the front. Swan lake this is not. This was so random A few of us headed over to Tarántula hoping it would open with Abismo Damn it's early! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster05 Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Great pictures Hector. Even now I still really enjoyed that park and it was probably number 2 for me on the trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 I was a split second off from getting Dave in there too! Don't know if you caught it, but there's a guy on the left side of that pic giving you the ole 1 gun salute. Great pictures, especially of Abismo and Tarantula. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 ^ Funny, I JUST noticed that yesterday as I was going through my un-edited photos. Anyway, After a full half day running around one Parque de Atracciones it was off to another one very far away. The drive was pretty boring, but Robb had made a few DVDs featuring random shows (Family Guy and Robot Chicken!) and segments from previous TPR DVDs to help pass the time. Once we finally got there, the entrance was less then stellar and it looked like a very tiny ghetto place. We all got our black VIP wristbands and they let us loose, most of us headed off to get the three credts the park had and other various random rides before having an AMAZING dinner (with wine and champagne) and running around with a buzz through the Mirror Maze. The first ride up was Mina, which was a small Zamperla kiddie coaster and I had the extreme thrill of not having my lapbar locked at ALL on the ride. Then it was off to Moncayo which was a standard SDC Galaxi. We also rode Rameses (You can hear me screaming like a girl in the mini-updates video) Bouncy Bouncy (many praises from me here as well), their lame Top Spin (on "crazy" mode as the PR lady said they would run it, or something like that) and their Rapids ride. All in all I was more then impressed by the park in the town that was being built around it it seemed. Another short drive over to our Hotel for the night and some time in the bar before being kicked out by the lady at the front desk it was off to Port Abentura the next day! The last pic I took before we hit Port Aventura! It was also around this time that Dave Thomas passed out the awesome Elissa Bingo cards. I wonder who won that... ...and Lou has lost A little Matrix action... Course it just looks like Chris' trying to force Lou's hands down his pants I think this is when Chris challeneged Lou to get the awesome lighter Zaragoza gave to us that was given as a prize during trivia (right?) i think Ed just caught on as the Beer just hit my camera lol I love when people don't realize I'm taking pictures and don't have a chance to pose. I think this was during euchre At the "bar" at the Holiday Inn exress. Kyle finds this pleasing lol. Last Bouncy Bouncy ride I just missed Chadlyr and Dave are the brave ones to go first (or did I miss some people and forget?) Poor flash, but Kyle and Lou look so serious mmmm best part of the meal (I'm not a big seafood or things STILL on the bone fan) That's me! The only actual coaster photo I have from PdAdZ as I forgot to take more pictures here. We made it! Welcome to Zaragoza, Pardon our dust as we make way for the actual city coming soon! Wind Farm! They grow em good in Spain. It was very green "Jolly jolly Jolly" was on the TV, who was paying attention to what was going out there. Random Castle... Rock... thingy Little towns were along the way to dance for us so it wouldn't be too boring. Very Plain *rimshot* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Yes it was an awesome little lighter. I am shocked customs did not confiscate it. I use it to light candles now that Matt has quit smoking. Nice pics. I love how everyones pics from that "bar" ended up crooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeatleBen Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Thanks for another TR of the best trip I've ever been on! Good times, good times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 ^^ Good for Matt! And I like to think of those pictures as "artsy" thank you very much. lol ^Most definitely!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Next up was Port Aventura!! I absolutely loved this park and think it's one of the nicest and well themed parks I've been to (I also haven't been to any Busch parks yet either so take that with a grain of salt) with a great mix of rides and things to do and see. The first afternoon there was pretty much a free for all (as most of the days were outside of ERT and the trip over to Barcelona and Tibidabo) so most of us decided to head over to Furious Baco as it is a newly opened Intamin Rocket prototype. And of course like the true Intamin it is, it broke down as soon as we got there. After waiting for a bit we headed off to explore the rest of the park and we headed over to Polynesia where I finally found out that this was IOA quality stuff we were dealing with. I think our intention was to head over to Dragon Kahn at the back of the park but we stumbled on a highly landscaped Vekoma Roller Skater called Tami-Tami. This is when the groups started breaking up even more. The group I went with (<3 Panthers) was hungry so we stopped by and got burgers (well, some of us) it was during our eating we discovered the fun trick on Tutuki Splash that the final drop had the potential to also soak a boat on the lift if timed right. My pictures tell me we then went off to ride Sea Odyssey which had the most hilarious safety video (a little of which is in Robb's video) and the most random English speaking Dolphin. At least the queue was very impressive. Then we finally hiked over to Dragon Kahn! Definitely one of the best B&M's I've been on, this mostly standard sit down looper featured a bonus loop and plenty of old school B&M forces which kicked mucho a$$-o. Lift Hill: The Ride (El Diablo) was fun if not a very disappointing Arrow Mine train. Hurakan Condor was an awesome Intamin drop tower with different sides to choose from, I'm sorry, different sides to be forced to sit on. The water rides were particularly fun with the aforementioned Tutki Splash soaked us. The really good log flume (Silver lake something or other) Soaked us. The Rapids also soaked us. Luckily staying at the awesome Hotel El Paso gave us resort Express passes so we used them quite a few times for the water rides as it was still hot! We also got passes to go into their waterpark which wasn't bad, but was way too small for the amount of people that get crammed in. There were quite a few well themed flats around the park as well, most of which ran an incredibly weak program (Kyle and I had a nice chat about being former ride-ops at Cedar Point on their Breakdance) that all could have been so much better. Now onto my rant on Furious baco! The ride sucks! i don't say that about a lot of rides, and it would have been a GREAT ride if it weren't for the trains. my first ride was in the front row, ont he outside. I actually felt a little nuaseous (and rides do NOT make me sick) and I couldn't wait for the damn thing to end! however I did feel a good ride was somewhere in there and it showed itself on a night ride (ha ha Lou!) I was fine as long as I didn't see my vision being blurred by the ride lol. We had a really good few days there and it was a nice travel break considering the bus rides we had to and from the place. Enough of me ranbling, Here's a LOT of pics! The most exciting part about lift hill: The Ride! yes it is isn't it. Mmmm Bonus Loop. Dragon Kahn! VERY Star Tours-esque, this little guy was "fixing" a damaged ship that looked like a shark. Turns out it was a crappy simulator but very well done Half the fun was not knowing what the crap the ride was. This is probably my most favorite queue, EVER. hmmm this is really nice for Sea Odyssey Tutuki Spalsh's small drop after emerging from the cave of wonders... er... gum Dinning room themeing Smile for the camera! Man I love Roller Skaters YAY Credit! Hmmm I wonder what that is? oooo this is nice. Oh well, off to somewhere else! the queue was well themed. Don't be sad Lou, we'll get to ride it. There she is! in all her broken glory... Heading further in, Furious Baco looming int he distance The view after you go around some of the entrance buildings A Woody to greet us even though Universal doesn't own the place anymore. A LOT like IOA Reminded me a lot of IOA Entrance to the water park. We were so close we decided to walk to the entrance. After a brief rest some of us headed off to the park I WIN ELISSA BINGO! not even an hour there and Steve already found the bar. The view to the left had other Spain participants The view if we looked slightly to the right. The view from our hotelr oom. the hedge maze was stumbled and walked over many nights, and One night a few employees crashed their golf cart there too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 More pics!! Next up is our side trip to Tibidabo. This is my dear friend from templo Del Fuego (which I LOVED as well! Only thing that would have made it 100 X better would have been a water tunnel like Posiden) *SMACK* LOL! How many people got this shot off the bus? Powerful laser beam. You can take out an eye with that thing. Chris' ultimate goal! Trying to recover Chris likes it there I think Lou likes it there TICKLE FIGHT! Another view of bacon the tearful goodbye Chilly Willy sure likes that idea Man, John really loves his statues. Lou tries to get into the action too. I *LOVED* this fountain Tee Hee I'm so 12. Another ERT session! Someone needs an English spell check. Bunny Mountain! ok not really but there were a lot of cute bunnies that resided on that patch of grass Look we're still dry! You go Stampedia! Cedar Point? We're all watching Lou Porn So we had to warm up somehow at the bar (note: both those glasses are actually Ed's) The Panthers made Lou wet a lot this trip. Ed does his best impression of a dog. A tad wet from the flume no comment... Ron doesn't like gravity. Don't worry if you forgot your gum, the park provides plenty of space to grab a piece. Themed Flat in the Mexico section (made me giggle a little that they would have a Mexico section at a Spanish park) I think this gave me an erection but still massively tall! Not the tallest I've been on Nicely themed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Awesome TR Hector! You don't seem to forget your camera as much as Lou does. I am Jealous you got on Cyclone. I have worked in NY 4 times over the last two years and every time I go it's been closed for some reason or another. However, Ghost Hole! Yeah baby! keep up the great work. Your pictures are awesome and you captions are hysterical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 ^ What he said. Well, what else can you really say about great work? This is probably my most favorite queue, EVER. In the pic with that caption, if you look carefully in the mist, there's a rainbow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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