*** THE BEBES *** Rainbow Magicland ITALY TR

Bebes!!!

What an awesome thread. A bunch of theme park photo tr's with a lot of great reviews and thorough info and opinions about the park.

I'm loving every report!

Are you heading to Kings Island anytime soon?

-Zach

Do you want to S*CK my F*CK? Berserker!

Olaf, metal face! American girl think sexy.

Great TR, guys. I'm enjoying the updates.

Perhaps I missed this somewhere, but inquiring minds want to know - what is the origin of the "Bebe" moniker?

Glad you asked, Moina! It's really quite simple.

When we started dating, we began calling eachother "Baby". As in, "Hey, Baby, you want to go to The Sizzler tonight?"

Our own laziness lead to the slurred pronunciation of the word "Baby" as Beh-Beh.

It got to the point where we never call eachother by eachother's name and only refer to eachother as Bebe.

When we would play games and such, the scorecards would read Bebe and Bebe, with a gender symbol nearby to designate which Bebe was which.

When we began posting as The Bebes, we changed to Lady and Mr. to differentiate, since gender symbols aren't available in these text boxes.

So, for those of you wondering: We are Corey and Danielle Giannantonio aka The Bebes (pronounced Beh-Behs, NOT BeeBees).

So if you see us around, please call out,"Hey Bebes!!!!"

Thanks everybody for all of your kind words! Here is a response for some of the recent questions that The Bebes have been asked:

Loved the Love Among Freaks reference! (or was it Jay and Silent Bob?)

 

Do you guys post your hotel reviews on Trip Advisor? I know many would appreciate the cockroach story if they were contemplating a visit.

YES, The "Berserker" reference is from Clerks!!! Good Catch! We were hoping some people would get that!

We haven't posted any of our hotel reports on trip advisor, but perhaps we should. Many places we stayed on this trip were great values, and others were just plain horrible.

Bebes!!!

Are you heading to Kings Island anytime soon?

-Zach

It is not likely that we will visit King's Island anytime soon, Zach. We visited in 2006 on Theme Park Tour: The O.G. We have been wanting to return to Holiday World in an upcoming trip, so perhaps KI could squeeze its way in, especially if they open ANOTHER new attraction in addition to Diamondback by then.

Sarah loves anything with an Eiffel Tower!

How cool! When we were married in Las Vegas, we had dinner in the Paris Hotel's Eiffel Tower Restaurant. On our honeymoon (a transatlantic cruise to Europe), we had lunch in the restaurant inside the REAL Eiffel Tower in Paris, France on our 2-week anniversary. So, the Eiffel Tower is very special to us too!!

King's Dominion was the 3rd Eiffel Tower that we've been in. Sadly, we didn't even bother with King's Island's tower in 2006.

I'm so glad I asked! I've been saying "Beeb."

Maureen "hate mispronouncing names" O'Donnell

^ Me too!

I've been saying "Throat Warbler Mangrove."

To answer your about Hurler's name: it used to be themed around the "Wayne's World" movie, so I guess that has something to do with hurling. And I'm glad there's someone else in the world that doesn't think it's a horrible ride!

Great KD T/R! hopefully I'll get back to this park sometime in the near future. My last visit was in 2004 and it was my best time I ever had there.

That Buick bears some resemblance to the Family Truckster of National Lampoon's Vacation fame. Surely that accounts for Mr. Bebe's fascination with it.

^Ohhh Wally World how I miss you already!

I'll be at BGE from Sunday to Thurs

I'm so glad I asked! I've been saying "Beeb."

 

Maureen "hate mispronouncing names" O'Donnell

Same.

I really do love your reports. Keep them coming!

DAY 12: Busch Gardens Europe

Friday June 5, 2009

We awoke Friday morning ready to visit our final theme park of the trip: Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, Va.

Big Bad Wolf is a suspended coaster, and one of the best. It has some fun scenery and a great dive after a second mid-course lift hill. We waited about 15 minutes and only rode it the one time.

We continued our our journey onward (in the next post below)...

After lunch we headed for the Big Bad Wolf, which was celebrating its 25th anniversary.

And off to Der Restroom!!!

Completely Drunk.

The Platter and The Beer (partially drunk).

Here is the Menu. We shared a Festhaus Sampler Platter (Knockwurt, Bratwurst, and Smoked Sausage with Red Cabbage, German Potato Salad, Sauerkraut, and a roll). And, of course, what Oktoberfest party would be complete without a beer!!!

Inside Der Festhaus you could get cupcakes in the guise of Elmo & Cookie Monster.

This is what it would’ve looked like if Justin ate at Der Festhaus with The Bebes.

Outside of DarKastle, we spotted another sad panda and remembered our friend, Justin, who was supposed to come on the trip with us, but backed out at the last minute.

We boarded the 8 person chariot and entered the Kastle. This was the absolute coolest dark ride we’ve ever been on!!!! A hard to describe combination of 3-D animation, motion, and physical elements. Worth the wait!

Immediately inside the Oktoberfest section is The Curse of DarKastle. This was the first attraction that had a significant line. We waited nearly 45 minutes before reaching the ride cars.

And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for!!! Oktoberfest!

Lady Bebe illegally poses for a picture on the carousel horse.

Dame Bebe geht zur Toilette.

The nude fountain in Germany will make your lizard spit.

This oversized German kid offered Mr. Bebe fellatio for 9Euro. Nein!!!

Germany!!!

Oh, my!!! Noon already! Time to get going to….

Oui oui, mais nous étions douloureux après écraser par une barrière en bois (The cheese is old and moldy).

Fantôme d'Alpes was a good, forceful inverted coaster with lots of looping. We rode a second time in the front to experience the wondrous French Canadian Alps first hand. Did we survive???

Undeterred, Lady Bebe rushed past the crowd, pushing and clawing her way to the very back of the lift.

As we made our way to the ride, we noticed this poor skier, who had been flung from Alpengeist and through the roof of a refreshment stand.

The big attraction in New France is Alpengeist, which when translated from French, means…. Well…. Nothing.

It’s German. Spirit of the Alps. The Alps?!! In Canada?!!

Anyway, Alpengeist (Fantôme d'Alpes in French) is an inverted coaster themed to a ski resort, making it like some sort of malfunctioning ski lift.

New France was full of old west style log cabins, Kodiak bears, and a wonderfully delicious smelling smokehouse. However, this area was quite neglected. Somebody spilled this whole bucket of flowers and didn’t even clean up after themselves. How aboot that!!

This is where Busch Gardens Europe gets a little bit discombobulated, as our next themed land was New France. This would be early 1800s Quebec, Canada (a far cry from Europe, eh).

Lady Bebe’s daddy collects squished pennies, and prefers a good squished and stretched backside to the stamped side, so we brought a coupe dozen pre-1970 pennies along with us on Theme Park Tour: Part Deux.

This was the Bebe’s first ever B&M dive machine, another TPT:P2 first! We rode twice. Once in the back and once in the front. The stop and hang at the dive point was neat in the front. Overall, a nice smooth ride. Short, but sweet.

While Mr. Bebe was loading into the seats, he slipped and landed his “taint” on the center leg divider. Ouch!

This floorless B&M dive machine has a train of three cars that seat 10 across.

And the newest addition to the park’s coaster collection: Griffon.

Our European tour continues into France…

After you pass through the Irish Village, you enter a small wildlife area, where there are a number of injured bald eagles who can no longer fly. Because of their inability to fly, they are kept in the habitat with only a small 3ft fence. Super cool! Next door to the eagles is a wolf den.

The only attraction in Ireland (aside from the Leprechauns and the rain) is Corkscrew Hill, a 4-D adventure ride. It was sort of lame, but kept us dry for a few minutes.

While Lady Bebe was indisposed, Mr. Bebe eyeballed Grogan’s Pub.

Lady Bebe went searching for leprechauns in the Irish restroom.

Next on our journey was Ireland, complete with the greenery and the rain.

The famous interlocking looping coaster was fun in some regards (the long cave run) but ho-hum in other areas (lots of slowing). By the time the train returned, the queue was quite full. We didn’t stay for a second ride.

There was hardly any crowd when we got there and we waited for the front.

In Scotland, we encountered the mythical monster of Loch Ness.

Busch Gardens Europe is separated into 9 different themed areas: England, Scotland, Ireland, France, New France, Germany, Oktoberfest, Italy, and Festa Italia. We decided to head straight for Apollos Chariot in Festa Italia, but we were quickly turned away. Italy doesn’t open at 10am with the rest of the park. So we followed the crowd to Scotland.

Big Ben says that it is 10:15am already, and we need to get on our way.

…and then she was cast off to the stockade.

Lady Bebe made Mr. Bebe try on this bloody hot dog hat. Bullocks!

We walked onward into the main entrance portal of Busch Gardens; an area themed to England, complete with a red phone booth.

But first, Lady Bebe must use the restroom.

Busch Gardens Europe is a really nicely themed and landscaped park! We headed inside.

We arrived at the park right before it opened. Since we have a Platinum Seaworld season pass, we got free preferred parking and free admission. But the parking lot was pretty vacant. Other than a couple busses (grrrr!!!), it looked like the crowds were going to be pretty light.

A quick glance outside proved that our day would be a challenge. There was rain, and a good amount of it! We put on our raincoats, checked out of the Days Inn, and hopped in the car. Busch Gardens, Here we come!

continued...

We left Busch Gardens Europe and sadly concluded The Bebes’ Theme Park Tour: Part Deux! We would travel to Norfolk for some BBQ and ice cream at Doumar’s (the inventor of the ice cream cone) and an overnight stay at Mr. Bebe’s friend, Joe’s house. Tomorrow we fly back to Los Angeles.

Throughout the entire rain filled trip, we managed to ride every adult roller coaster with the exception of Exterminator at Kennywood, a credit we already had.

13 days, 12 parks, 70 roller coasters, 66 NEW credits, and a lifetime of memories!!!!

Riding a kiddie coaster in the lightning scared the piss out of Lady Bebe. Another trip to the Loo.

Grover’s Alpine Express. It was still running, so we snapped a quick pic and rushed through the queue. Just as we got to the gate there was an announcement over the park loudspeaker regarding the closure of the rides. The ride ops were discussing with each other whether or not they were supposed to stop operating, as they hadn’t gotten a call from management. We asked them to send us through before checking, and they did!!!

As we passed by Escape from Pompeii, there was a bright flash. “Was that lightning?” And then a great Crash of Thunder. Oh No! We better haul ass so we can get our final new credit of the entire 13 day journey on….

We headed though Oktoberfest and San Marco and back to Apollo’s Chariot again. We were going to wait for the front, but chose the second row to speed things up. We got on in just a few trains and had a nice ride near the front, but the back was better. The clouds were building and we still needed one more coaster.

After the cruise, we climbed up the ramp on the Germany side and went to Curse of DarKastle again. There was absolutely no one there and we walked right on.

Swans and turtles inhabited the river. Apparently, they could care less about the rain.

We headed back to Scotland and down a ramp to the Rhine River Cruise.

There was an animal show starting soon, so we high tailed it back to the wildlife area in Ireland. The show was fun, but the similar one at Seaworld San Diego was better.

We walked around and watched the river rapids. Then, we spent a few quarters blasting the riders with water guns. Great fun when you get them from all sides! Muah ha ha!!!

The whole ordeal made Lady Bebe have to pee like a Clydesdale.

We were on the second train, in the very back. Much like Nitro at SFGAdv, Apollo’s Chariot was a fun ride filled with floater air. The best part was the little pop, just as you come to the final brake run. As our train pulled in, they were escorting people off of the train in front of us. Yes, Apollo broke. We sat strapped in our seats outside the station behind the train in front of us. It started raining again and there was nothing we could do about it. After about 10min., they sent the train in front of us up the lift and brought our train into the station, where we were manually released from our lap bars.

Dejected, we waited in the station, hoping that whatever “weather” was threatening would pass soon. After about 30 minutes, the ride was reopened. They cycled the two trains once each, then loaded up.

And just as we got there, they shut it down. Inclement Weather.

Apollo’s Chariot! We finally made it around to where we tried to start!

The next stop was Festa Italia. It was still Italy, but more like a carnival. And it had a few big attractions, including….

There was no big attraction in San Marco, but there were several flat rides. We didn’t ride.

More cool scenery, and more imposing storm clouds.

Mrs. Giannantonio couldn’t care less about long lost relatives and goes for the fresh, homemade vino! Salute!!!

The next region that the Giannanotonios visited was the Italian district of San Marco. Would the Giannantonios find any long lost Italian relatives in this Venetian sestiere?

This oversized German kid offered Mr. Bebe fellatio for 9Euro. Nein!!!

There is no way that Huge Hummel boy would work that cheap. For 9 euros, he will put on quite a show with his umbrella, though.

So I'm told, that is.

Throughout the entire rain filled trip, we managed to ride every adult roller coaster with the exception of Exterminator at Kennywood, a credit we already had.

Congratulations. This is quite an achievement considering how notoriously unreliable coasters can be at US parks.

Another great trip report. I'm glad your trip went so well, even though you faced a bit of bad weather throughout. Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations on such an epic trip! I've enjoyed every post. You guys (and Big Mike too of course) have set the gold standard of TRs. Good photos, great storytelling & progression, clever captions, some crude humor, lots of peeing. Fantastic!

Can we look forward to part Trois next year? And would you be down for Big Mike style meetups or do you like to keep it "vacation style"?

Again, legendary TR. Thanks for the entertainment.

Congratulations. This is quite an achievement considering how notoriously unreliable coasters can be at US parks.

Thanks Ginzo!

Some notable near misses:

- Phoenix was closed due to the weather; opened after about 3hrs

- StormRunner hadn't operated all season til the day we got there

- StormRunner didn't open for several hours on Day 2 at HP

- StormRunner denied us a backseat ride due to weather on Day 2 at HP

- Kingda Ka re-opened after a two week hiatus just for us

- A broken El Toro opened as we approached it

- El Toro broke again while we were in the station for it

- Superman:Ride of Steel closed for the day a couple hours after we rode

- We were ushered off of Volcano on Day 1 at KD due to weather

- Every ride in the park closed due to weather on Day 1 at KD

- Hurler didn't open for a few hours on Day 2 at KD

- Apollo's Chariot closed due to weather as we got to the station

- Apollo's Chariot broke right after we finished our lap

- Lightning threatened our last credit on Grover's Alpine Express

Yeah, we were really lucky!!!

Great final installment, but I'm sooooo sad it's over!

My husband is a frequent bathroom break person, too. I am inspired by your report to take photos of all of his bathroom breaks on our next trip!

Thank you for taking the time to put this together and allowing us to share in the fun!

Congratulations on such an epic trip!

 

Can we look forward to part Trois next year?

 

And would you be down for Big Mike style meetups or do you like to keep it "vacation style"?

 

Thanks Emiroo and MOinAB!

You can look forward to a Part Tres THIS AUGUST! We are planning a Bay Area trip that will include Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, California's Great Adventure, Gilroy Gardens, and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!

In addition, we have trip reports for SFMM and Termination Day in the wings, plus we may have a "special" wrap up style report for TPT:P2.

We would love to meet up with other members along our adventures. Just let us know!

-Corey & Danielle Giannantonio (The Bebes)

Well I am glad the whole trip ended on a positive note, Lady Bebe did not get molested!

Looking forward to reading each and every trip report for the rest of your lives!

Peace, Big Mike

Thanks for the awesome TR's guys. Your photos made me want to get out to some of the parks I haven't been to in years.

Thanks for the GREAT Park recap! I can't wait until I take my PA park tour at the end of July. Since you have experienced both knoebels, Hershey, Waldameer and Kennywood. Which 2 parks do you recormend us to visit?

And, I also noticed you where not that enthused with Farenheit and Stormrunner. Those where two coasters that I was very interested in riding. With that said, I can't wait to experience the coasters at Knoebels. Please let me know which coasters in PA are MUST rides.