laracroft

Mine is http://www.youtube.com/user/lara6683 Mostly me playing videogame themes on piano...no coaster related videos unfortunately

I'm a professional musician too I play piano for operas and musicals, and do a fair bit of musical directing as well. In my spare time, I like making up my own arrangements of video game music (game nerd) and I've even started a dorky youtube channel for fun.. http://www.youtube.com/user/lara6683 I'm hoping to buy a Roland 700GX or FP 7. Or Yamaha S80/90. Can't decide.

Ok, so I'm a girl and don't see that this is SUCH a huge deal. Sure it's inappropriate and a total invasion of personal space -I'd be pissed off, but I'd get over it pretty quickly. Definitely not a life changing occurrence. This kind of thing happens all the time -many times I've had random members of the opposite sex (drunk or not!) cop a feel. It happens, and it's not right, but I'm certainly not traumatised by it. I'm also slightly amused by this guy just not being able to restrain himself at Disneyland!

^^^^Elissa, you make it sound so exciting, you make me want to do the Australia trip, and I LIVE here. We don't have the best rollercoasters, but we DO have the tallest drop tower in the world.

Flipdude, I totally see where you're coming from. I'm from Australia and will also not use many of these perks. I think what Elissa is trying to say is that you have two options. Pick one. Perhaps neither is perfect for you, but you have a choice. It is impossible to please everyone. I think the $50 is worth it. You get random crap, store credit, keep the website running, and priority placement, which is a considerable perk. It makes sense that those who do use TPR more contribute financially, and are thereby afforded privileges.

I agree with you Flipdude. But I'm happy to pay. It's great value for money, and works out to less than $5 a month. Can't expect these things to remain free.... I'm sure Robb would come up with a trip placement that was fair to premiums and non premiums. That being said, if there was a trip I was keen on, I think I would sign up fpr premium membership...

I'm not a huge fan of this. Not because of the money ($50 a year is nothing!), but because of the potential exclusion it could create. The biggest perk would be getting priority placement on trips. But this would become meaningless if too many people had premium memberships (yes, I'm sure you have thought of this). Those who chose not to have premium memberships for financial reasons, or just for the principle of it, would be disadvantaged in terms of trip waiting lists, forcing them to get premium memberships if they really wanted to go on a trip. A lottery really seems like a fairer way to go. Or if Robb and Elissa pick who they want to be on the trips; hell they're your trips, you can do what you want! A separate premium membership board/forum seems exclusionary. I am definitely not arguing about the value for money offered here. I would pay it no problems. It's just the principle of it that I'm not sure I like. That being said, I'd probably pay it if there was a trip I really wanted.

Brent, that makes sense now- I have never been able to use e-check because I have a credit card and bank account linked up. Apart from that, I really don't mind paypal. I covered fees at my end (it did it automatically!) and it was only $2.75, so 1%, which I can totally live with. I paid from an existing balance though, if that makes any difference...

Name: Lara Age: 26 What is your roller coaster count? 163 What is your home park? Don't have one. Stupid Sydney. Used to be Australia's Wonderland. What is the nearest big city? Sydney, Australia What is your occupation? Musician About how many times a year do you visit a park (including your home park)? Maybe once a year I go up to Brisbane, other than that, TPR trips! About how many times a year do you travel to a park that is not your home park? Once or twice When you travel do you go primarily to amusement parks or do you also try and hit other sites? Mostly parks! Or musicals. What is the farthest you’ve traveled to go to an amusement park? East Coast USA with TPR. Does roller coaster time get in the way of family time? (Do you choose to miss your children’s or family’s sporting events, holidays, birthdays, etc…) I missed my mum's birthday for a TPR trip. She got over it. Other than that, no. Do you have any other major hobbies? Video games. Musicals. Extreme sports, DDR Do you get feelings of sadness in the offseason? Do you even have an offseason? Do you travel during the offseason? No. We don't have an off season...we don't have an on season! There are no parks here! Do you consider yourself friends with someone you met who works at an amusement park? (Or reverse it, if you work or worked and an amusement park have you made friends with enthusiasts?) Of course. Would it bother you to go to an amusement park by yourself? Not really. It's more fun with people though. Although not with annoying people who won't go on anything. Have you gone to an amusement park by yourself? If so have you ever ran into another enthusiast and tagged along with them? Yes. I made friends with a fat ranga kid (ranga=red head). Does that count? Do you find it easy to make friends with other enthusiasts? Yes. On the whole they're really nice, although a small number are a little creepy. Also, they make me feel less dorky. How do you get your coaster news? TPR. I don't really care THAT much about coaster news though. How many different forum sites do you regularly post on? This one sometimes. If there was a poll that asked a large pool of enthusiasts what their favorite roller coaster is, what do you think would be the top 3 responses be for wood? And for steel? Wood: Balder, T Express, El Toro Steel: Expedition G force, SROS, MF Same scenario but for amusement parks, what would be the top 3? Depends what area you are asking about. Cedar Point, Tokyo Disneysea, Europa Park, others such as Knoebels, SFMM, SFNE, SF GAv.... Have you ever “stole a kid” to get a credit on a kiddie coaster? No, I'm not a whore. Do you cut other categories out of your budget to make trips to parks? (Entertainment, fast food, holidays, tobacco or alcohol, etc…) Yes. I don't smoke, drink, buy dvds, buy cds, buy bags/purses, get manicures/blow dries/other stupid unnecessary things that girls do, I try not to spend too much money. But that's regardless of whether I'm saving for a trip or not. Before you visit a new park do you research the park finding the best way to navigate the park, get the best deals, or what days to go? Definitely Do you feel the roller coaster enthusiast community is a warm and accepting community, or a negative and discouraging community? Mostly very friendly, nice people. Also, I feel like less of a nerd when I'm around enthusiasts! Do you like to talk about your hobby with people who are not roller coaster enthusiasts? Sure, if they're interested. Most of my friends are amused by my hobby, and think I'm a bit strange. But they already thought that. Oh well.

TPR hoodies are awesome. I have a zip up and a pullover, both size S. The zip up probably does run slightly larger, but I don't mind it fitting a bit loose. Try a pullover if you want a tighter fit..

My brother and I playing videogame themes on piano (blindfolded)..he's Donkey kong and I'm Mario..and we do some DDR

I'm a screamer. Sorry if it's annoying-it makes it so much more fun though!! I scream in haunted houses too, but only because I am genuinely terrified of them....

the Twin Flip by Moser. I was sooooooooooo sick.

Nice TR. The corkscrew looks great! I was up on the Gold Coast a week ago - I only had two days so I chose to do Movieworld and Dreamworld. Lethal Weapon was closed when I went, I hope it is open for you!

I can't deal with the Saw series, and Scream terrified me when I first watched it as a 13 year old. In no particular order: - Cube - Silence of the Lambs (not really scary, but the last scene is great) - The Shining - Dog Soldiers deserves a mention for being ridiculous - Event Horizon - more sci fi, but the uncut version is pretty disturbing - Don't Look Now - the final scene is pretty much the strangest, most disturbing thing I have seen on film - The Omen - particularly scary as I released I share my birthday with Damien down to the hour...