Photo TR: TPR Italy/Europe Trip 2012

Wow, it has been waaaaaay too long since I last posted a TR. Where do I begin?

 

When I heard about the TPR Italy and Europe trip, I was really excited because it was the first official 'TPR Tour' that I had a good chance of participating in. Many of the rides and parks that were offered were definitely on my most-wanted list, and, considering that I wouldn't have to worry about flying, it was a very practical trip to join. I waited in anticipation in the months leading up to the trip and was glad to have finished school shortly before it began. I had been living in Italy for one year and managed to hit most of the parks on the Italy tour, so I manged to get an arrangement where I'd attend the last 4 parks of the Italy trip and continue on with Europe.

 

Without further delay, let's start out with Day 1: Mirabilandia.

Mirabilandia can be pretty easily seen from the freeway as you approach Ravenna.

We've arrived!

Mirabilandia actually has a nice entrance.

Mom and Dad always do these!

That is one gigantic Ferris Wheel!

Our first ERT session was on Katun.

I lagged behind slightly and missed the group photo... Oh well.

Everyone seemed to like the drop-down floor!

Katun became my new favorite invert! This picture might give you an idea of how big this ride really is.

Next up is iSpeed!

Gotta love the Formula 1 theming!

Even though I personally dislike its intensity (after riding it 5 times in a row, I was somewhat nauseated for the rest of the day), iSpeed is particularly special to me because it was my 150th credit!

"For your first ride on iSpeed, maintain a defensive riding position!"

After riding 2 of the most highly acclaimed roller coasters in the world, this kiddie coaster was quite boring.

Yeah, it's bright outside.

Gotta love funny mirrors!

Here's the real reason why TPR is here: Divertical!

Unlike several 'water coasters', Divertical actually has a bit of a layout!

Of course, it's still testing.

Mom and I rode this water slide.

Heading back, we get a glimpse of Divertical's queue.

DONKEY!

Who wants to ride the Scary-Faced House ride?

Divertical opened a few minutes later and we managed to get a ride! I kinda like the over-the-shoulder lap bars.

Magnets!

We headed over to the Drive-In for lunch.

How can you not love Italian theme park food?

 

I'll continue Day 1 tomorrow.

Continuing with Day 1.

Mirabilandia has some great foliage in the middle of the park!

What is Explorer?

It's a somewhat intense powered coaster that has a few close-calls with the rocks and theming around it!

Next up is Columbia (launch) & Discovery (drop)!

Actually, it's just Discovery today. Columbia wasn't operating.

Control panel shot!

As usual, I'm the one that's not joining in on the pre-discussed pose!

SKLOOOOOSSSHHHH!

Divertical helix action shot!

This is Reset: Anno Zero (Year Zero in Italian). Reset takes you through the remains of New York after something bad happened... but I wont' spoil it all for you.

Pakal, also known as a slightly extended version of a normal L&T wild mouse. This thing had brutal brakes!

I wonder what will be going into this lot...

Stunt Show!

Robb & Elissa are the stars of this show!

"Hey everybody, these are REAL AMERICANS! From FLORIDA!"

The show began with some BMW police cars doing some drifting.

Then some motorcyclists came out, revved their engines loudly, and did some tricks.

Then some non-police BMWs came out and tried to get away from this truck!

Next up was the ball of death!

Even more Beemers this time (seriously, if BeemerBoy wants to live up to his name, he should come over here and watch this show!)

This guy came out and did wheelies!

As expected, they did the 2-wheeler trick, but with a car drifting around it as well!

This is EXACTLY what police officers do on a daily basis!

No Italian police/Carabinieri fleet is complete without a Fiat 500!

Robb was all over the drifting POV!

This stunt show is Elissa-approved!

Thanks to V Pass, we didn't have to worry about waiting to ride Katun again!

Katun is seriously awesome! Despite being an Intamin fanboy, I prefer Katun to iSpeed because it's fast and intense enough to be fun but not so much as to overstep my boundaries as iSpeed did (and iSpeed is the only coaster to have done this, so far!)

After it reopened, Mom and I rode Master Thai as the last credit of the day. It wasn't as bad as some people said it was; I heard that it would be painful, but it was actually kinda funny how you just flopped about in the train as you went through corners.

Seeya later, Mirabilandia!

 

Coming soon: Day 2 - Movieland Studios and Caneva Aquapark

Day 2: Movieland Studios and Caneva Aquapark

 

After my day at Mirabilandia, I was admitted to a hospital in Vicenza (about one hour away from Gardaland) because I was beginning to get strep throat. Unfortunately, due to how busy the hospital was, I didn't get out until 2:30 AM, and, after getting my medicine from a pharmacy out in town, I finally arrived at the Gardaland Hotel by just after 4:00 AM. Needless to say, I lived up to the condition in the TPR trip guide that said 'We will be operating on limited amounts of sleep.' Despite this, I managed to have a good time at Movieland Studios and Caneva Aquapark.

Before we headed into Movieland Studios, we got a sneak-peak at Caneva Aquapark.

This is a new waterslide that was under construction.

Anybody recognize this?

If you guessed, "The crazy-a$$ airtime slide of death that TPR rode a couple years ago", then you're correct!

You go down this alarmingly steep drop on a 2-person raft and you either go over the hill or you fall back down and get off at the bottom of the first drop.

These are the park's trap-door speedslides. They have some of the most jarring shut-down lanes of any slide I've ever ridden!

Now we're heading into Movieland Studios.

This is one of only a handful of 1st-gen Intamin Free Falls that still exists, and it's certainly unique in Italy!

This is Magma.

What is Magma you might ask? I won't spoil it for you, but you can see that TPR is having a good time, so you know it has to be awesome!

"Why did Cartoon Network stop showing all of these awesome cartoons behind me?"

Our first credit of the day, Brontojet!

It was quickly followed by the last 'credit' at the park, Bront'O'Ring.

Next up is U571, also known as 'the claustrophobic-nightmare drowning ride'.

This is what happens if you forgot to get your TPR packet and you don't have a poncho while riding U571!

Here's some park map for 'ya!

The Horror House was a decent walkthrough haunted house.

Kevin and I decided to take on Tomb Raider!

We did it by ourselves, though. At least it was a fun ride!

What's a TPR trip without at least 1 exclusive buffet?

Lasagna is one of those things that I could always eat regardless of my mood or cravings.

Now we come to the TPR exclusive ride: after-lunch ERT on the mechanical bull! Ken's giving it his best here.

Go, Kyle, Go!

Next up is the awesome Rambo show!

They took some TPR people as prisoners!

Gotta love those orange prisoner's pants!

Rambo's here to save the day!

What's a stunt show without a good explosion or two?

Rambo couldn't save the girl...

So he sets the perpetrator on fire!

"Yay, Rambo saved us... Alright, now give me some

You can see who the DeLorean fanboys of the group are!

Hypnotizing microwave TV screens on the monorail ride!

Gotta love backstage peeks!

Magma's about to do something cool... And yes, Magma is basically a giant truck that takes you through random stuff!

This pirate ship doesn't look too popular.

Gotta love Schwarzkoph!

Who's the Dolphins fan here?

What a beautiful area of Italy!

Hi, Kyle!

Last ride of the day, Terminator 2!

I'll 'terminate' this update with Kevin wearing those sexy Terminator 3D glasses!

 

Next update: Day 3 - Gardaland

Nice pictures! I'm visiting Italy in September this year so it's nice to see some fairly recent Trip Reports.

Thank you for this nice little PTR!

Day 3 - Gardaland

 

I had already visited Gardaland in August of 2011. I didn't comprehensively check out the park; I only got credits and a few other rides. This time around, however, thanks to TPR's inclusion of Gardaland's fastpass system (as well as the fact that we were at the park for the full day), I was able to experience basically every attraction that Gardaland had to offer. And now that I had a full night of sleep, I was able to enjoy my day a little more.

PINK SHARK!

Gotta love the awesome Raptor-themed Gardaland bus!

Speaking of Raptor, it's our first ride of the day!

Kyle and Nolan approve of the Live Girls.

There are more of them... they must be breeding.

One lonely shoe, just having fun on the catchnet.

We've arrived at ERT: the Ride!

Raptor's lift hill and first inversion go right over the entrance plaza. It's pretty cool, actually!

After Raptor, we got to ride this little screwed up thing.

No, not this thing. This was actually pretty awesome!

This was the messed up death contraption that caused everybody to black out (though it didn't seem to be as crazy as the one in China).

Now it's time for some over-the-park shots!

Helix! Helix! Helix!

Raptor in all of its awesomeness.

Want some more of Lake Garda? You've got it!

If you didn't know what was behind you, it'd be hard to imagine this area being home to a theme park!

The 'wet' section of Gardaland.

And with this shot, you've basically seen 95% of the park.

Ready to ride Mammut, one of the best mine trains out there!

This was probably the best 'Facebook-style' picture that I've ever gotten of myself!

Gardaland's rapids ride was actually pretty good!

This is the only SLC that I've ridden so far that hasn't tried very hard to kill me. In fact, if you know how to brace properly for every turn, it's actually quite good!

Fuga da Atlantide, probably the most well-themed ride at Gardaland!

"Hey, you! I see you taking onride pictures!"

Kevin secretly likes stuffed animals. Or does he?

Time for the first thing I haven't done here so far: The Gardaland Express!

You go through several tunnels with 'interesting' wonderland theming.

There are quite a few nice photo-ops, too!

But, mostly, you spend your time staring at happy flowers.

"I'm so popular here, I have to hide in the tunnel if I want any privacy!"

This is the part that totally looks like Disney!

I like trains. And while this one was rather strange, it gives you a nice chance to cool down after walking around for a while!

Yes, that is a separate hole just for cigarettes!

Welcome to FANTASY KINGDOM!!

The Vekoma Mad House was located beneath the giant tree in the middle of Fantasy Kingdom. The theming here was superb!

I had to stand in a rather uncomfortable position to grab this shot, but it turned out alright (I just wish my lens was cleaner).

Last ride before lunch: I Corsari, AKA Air Conditioning: The Ride.

That's right, Pirates!

Once again, I had lasagna for lunch! Benvenuti in Italia!

 

Part 2 will be coming soon!

Nice photos Patrick. Its good to see photos and look back on this awesome trip. Keep up the good work.

Great TR! iSpeed and Raptor look awesome!

Day 3 - Gardaland, Part 2

This is the famous 'Oh s**t!' moment of Sequoia Adventure

Thanks to this trip (and to Harold), I'm beginning to like Top Spins!

POV on 'World's Longest Wacky Worm: the Ride!'

Magic Mountain, much better than any ride of the same name in Italy! Maybe even better than the Magic Mountain in California!

These restraints are much better than any Vekoma train from before! They make a world of difference; I think every theme park should install these new trains on their Vekoma Corkscrew or Boomerang ride!

First drop.

The classic Loop-de-Loop

This ride is actually kinda pretty with the surrounding foliage and fountains!

Imagine having all of the blood in your body rush straight to your brain... That's what this feels like!

I wonder how many cars this ride could accommodate on the structure...

Gotta love timing (though not as close as I could have hoped for; if only the monorail was a little slower)!

Muu Muu!

The classic log flume SKLLOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH shot.

Next up, this interesting-to-say-the-least mummy dark ride!

I used both guns and thus managed to stack up a pretty good total.

Unfortunately, Nolan scored this many points!

Woosh! Definitely the best SLC I've ridden so far (the only one that hasn't tried to kill me)!

Harold and I take on Italian Journey to Atlantis once again!

You definitely get wet on this ride!

You know you're a theme park nerd when you ride the kiddie monorail just for pictures!

Sexy barrel roll!

Airtime hump!

On the monorail, taking a look at the water balloon launchers! Yes, people are actually crazy enough to do have water balloon wars there!

This might give you an idea of how big this Wacky Worm really is! It even has 2 trains!

Ice Age 4D was open...

But I couldn't experience THE SPECTACULAR 4-D ADVENTURE.

If you ever visit an Italian theme park, you absolutely need to get a crepe!

Cute little Intamin drop tower! It's awesome!

It may not be as intense as Katun or Riddler's Revenge, but Raptor always gives you a fun time!

Gotta love free food! That's right, TPR gives you a meal coupon while you're at Gardaland!

I never knew that Space Vertigo had lights up there!

Arrivederci, Gardaland!

Skoda Roomster: the Ride!

I'll end this update with a shot of the Gardaland Hotel at night!

 

Coming up: Day 4 & 5 - Voyage to France, Walygator Park, and Holiday Park!

Days 4 & 5: Drive through Switzerland, Walygator, and Holiday Park Germany

 

With the Italy trip officially done, Theme Park Review headed up North to France. Day 4 consisted mostly of driving, but we did have a nice rest stop in beautiful Switzerland and a good dinner at our hotel near Walygator in France.

 

EDIT: Due to a power outage, I've saved my work so far and will add comments later.

Our lunch stop was at a gas station in Switzerland. What a view!

This spaghetti alla carbonara (spaghetti with an egg-cream sauce with bacon), Coke Zero, and bag of chips cost nearly 20 Euros! Welcome to Swiss-cheese prices!

This Toblerone cost 4 Euros, but hey, I can say I got to eat one in its homeland!

After our day of travelling, we spent the night in a hotel in France, near Walygator. The next morning, when we arrived at the park, we stumbled on what appeared to be a French car gathering in the parking lot.

Yup, that's where we are!

This is the park map. Note that the S&S tower and the Huss spinny-discus-on-a-stick were closed.

Good job, Kyle! You got yourself locked inside a phone booth that has no phone... and you're in France!

Colin! Why are you attacking a fellow Australian?!?

For bullying children, Colin was put in the naughty-stroller.

The park opened its gates and actually let the cars in! Some French classics can be seen here, along with... wait, a Mustang?

Quite a bit of advertising here.

Which do you think would result in more lawsuits in the United States: The wonderfully clean water or the rail-free boardwalk?

GIGANTIC LIZARDS OH MY GOOOSSHHH!!

Anaconda... The one thing that everybody was dreading.

Thankfully, we get to start the day off on something a bit more exciting: Monster.

In case you were wondering, yes, this is indeed Orochi from Expoland in Japan!

You might have noticed that this looks a lot like Raptor at Cedar Point. You're right; Monster is an exact clone of Raptor! The only difference is that this ride doesn't actually have a MCBR. Look carefully at what would be the MCBR: there aren't any brakes!

The French have kept the trains just as shiny as that Japanese did when TPR visited Expoland!

The other two weren't operating, but hey, there wasn't really a line during ERT!

Kevin debates whether or not he wants to have his camera broken by Anaconda. Meanwhile, Kyle is unhappy about having to ride with Mr. Sauber (yes, that IS an F1 reference!)

I had been prepared for the worst, but, honestly, Anaconda wasn't THAT bad. Sure, it was a bit shaky, needed sandbags to clear the first hill without a rollback, and didn't have working restraints, but it wasn't terrible.

Three cheers for the guys who were willing to brave 'Family Coaster!'

Is it just me or does that concrete work look very sloppy?

"Salut, Theme Park Review! Oui oui, I am just a French horse. Carry on with your American business."

Here's the last interesting ride that IS open at this park: Waly Coaster.

Neil and I got our Euro-Party boogy on with the funky French techno music!

Corky!

The classic loop.

Yeah, I doubt that we'll be able to ride this thing before we have to leave...

Do French stick figures lack a mid-section?

This is totally not a Bambi knockoff in any way, shape, or form!

Tow-boats. I got used to seeing these here in Europe.

Before I leave the park, I decide to grab a pizza. I hadn't learned much French, so I trusted my instinct and went with the 'Crispy Bacon'...

So I guess a Frenchman's crispy bacon pizza has ham, cheese, and egg? I KNEW I should've gone with the 4 Fromages (which I now know means '4-cheeses')!

 

Day 5 will continue shortly with my update on Holiday Park Germany!

Part 2 of Day 5: Holiday Park Germany. And yes, that means I finally get to ride Expedition GeForce!

After a surprisingly brief drive from France, we arrived at Holiday Park!

Robb gave us our Plopsa money.

Based on previous reports, the park's quality has greatly improved over the last year. I can certainly tell; the theming looked fresh and fun!

Not only is this drop tower tall, it was one of the first Intamin drop towers in Europe!

But before I do anything else, I have to start with this park's crown jewel: Expedition GeForce!

This world-class coaster has an amazingly cheap onride photo price! Certainly one of the ride's standouts!

Silly stuff aside, this really is an awesome coaster in all respects. From its cable lift to its eddy-current magnetic brakes, this ride was technologically state-of-the-art in 2001, and is still impressive today.

And it goes without saying that this thing has consistently given riders a thrill with a good combination of turns and hills.

"Yes! I'll finally have every coaster enthusiast's dream credit!"

I won't spoil it all for you and make you expect too much from it... but it was very, very good to say the least.

Thanks for helping us get up the lift hill so fast, Mr. Catchcar!

Get ready...

TWISTY DROP!

Time to head to another ride.

Well, actually, let's see some more GeForce for just a second.

Getting back on topic, that is a rather tall drop for a log flume!

Hey, a familiar face!

It's hard to stay on topic; GeForce can be seen from all around the park!

By the way, did I tell you that this is a reverser log flume?

I like tall spinny thingies!

You know what time it is now: Super-Gerbil!

Everybody seemed to have fun; it mustn't be that bad!

They have a 'trust system' on this ride: no gates block you from running to the train!

Man, that's a tight fit for the exit pathway!

Most of Super-Wirbel hides in the trees.

Holly's Wilde Autofahrt = Holly's Wild Car Fart?

I decided to ride the tall spinny thingy next. What a view!

Getting closer to the top.

Yet another tall spinny thingy, but with a little less spinning and a lot more thrill!

Even I felt rather nervous riding this thing. It really felt as if you had hardly anything supporting you, but that helped to make it very exciting!

Ready for a little bit more Expedition GeForce?

This is one of the tastiest (and twistiest) pieces of Swiss-cheese ever made!

I'm surprised that there aren't more rides like GeForce, though I can't say I dislike exclusivity...

This hill right here does a good job at giving your stomach the butterflies!

Next up is the supposedly infamous Burg, which talks about Medieval Europe.

First, we begin with... some prisoners?

Something's wrong with this pig.

Ok, I think I've had enough of Medieval Europe for a while!

As expected, this drop tower was awesome, all thanks to the fact that a stork didn't visit me!

Wiener Schnitzel (no, not a hot dog, ACTUAL Wiener Schnitzel) with gravy, fries, and a Mezzo Mix (a drink sold mainly in Germany and Austria that's basically pre-mixed orange soda and cola)! I'm not in Austria, but I'm close enough!

We all thought it'd be a good idea to go here before our Expedition GeForce ERT!

The park gave us free ice cream and water while we waited for our ERT session... Why did we have to wait?

Unfortunately, due to technical problems, our ERT session was delayed.

This first hill really helped bring the pipi out of you!

As time passed, we began to worry that we might not be able to have an ERT session.

After a while, our worst fears were confirmed: Expedition GeForce's catchcar problem couldn't be solved in time for us to get ERT. The amount of disappointment was huge, but, thankfully, almost everybody got to ride it (besides one person).

For a brief moment, the train began to ascend the lift! But then it got stuck here.

Then it started again... and stopped right here.

"Intamins are kinda like Alfa Romeos: Amazing to experience when they aren't broken!"

The train did manage to complete the circuit, but the catchcar didn't make it down the lift, ending any chances of ERT.

While our last-minute disappointment was definitely a downer, I can say had a great day at Walygator and Holiday Park Germany!

 

Coming soon: Day 6 - Europa Park!

Edited August 6, 2013 by Six Flags Enthuseast

Great TR! Expedition G-Force is in my top 3 must ride coasters before i die, it looks amazing! Also, I love Mezzo Mix, definitely my favorite non-american soda!

Nice TR! While Holiday Park doesn't have many coasters, GeForce makes up for it.

Day 6 - Europa Park

We arrived late last night at Europa Park's Hotel Colosseo, an awesome Italian-themed hotel! And it also happened to have this model of Wodan, the brand-new GCI wooden coaster!

As you can see, it has a modesly-expansive layout and interacts with several attractions.

To start off the day, we were walked into the park through these special gates...

Past the Frisk Fisk center...

Under the monorail...

And right to blue fire Megacoaster!

Everyone loved blue fire! It's definitely a great coaster with some cool technology (did you know that blue fire's restraint handles actually have heart-rate sensors on them?)!

This was actually a pretty decent powered coaster!

Here's yet another tow-boat!

Stood in the single-riders line for Wodan, and I loved it! It jumped straight to the top of my wooden coaster list!

Next up was Europa Park's rather interesting indoor boat ride, themed to... well, what is this now?

I think these are pirates, one holding a snake and one holding a gigantic spider-fly thing.

Alright, enough strangeness for now. Let's get something to eat.

Nom nommy chicken and rice bowl!

Surprise water spout near the Russia area!

Euro Mir, AKA the crazy spinning coaster themed to a defunct Russian space station!

Even though the line was slightly long, we didn't wait longer than 10 minutes thanks to the fact that Euro Mir is super-ultra-high capacity! Seriously, one train loads and leaves, and the next one is right there to take more riders!

To celebrate its opening, Wodan has a burger named after it!

Just in case you're wondering, yes, this is the closest thing you can have to Bench: the Ride!

On B:tR, you basically sit down and are transported into this creepy, German, winter wonderland.

For some very strange reason, you can actually get an onride photo.

"You came to the wrong neighborhood! Prepare to get squished by my gigantic snowball!"

This was the most entertaining part of the entire ride!

Tall people!

 

I'll continue Day 6 at Europa Park tomorrow.

Day 6 - Europa Park: Part 2

Next up is a shooting dark ride!

Kathryn completely trumped me on that one!

Quite a few people got pretty close to being Orcas!

This thing had the longest line of all the rides that day at 40 minutes. But it had nothing to do with bad operations!

Waiting in line for Pegasus, you can get a nice shot of Silver Star's enormous lift hill. It was the tallest ride B&M made until Leviathan opened and the tallest roller coaster in Europe until Shambhala's debut 10 years later!

This was actually pretty awesome for a family coaster!

Next up is Silver Star, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz and themed to a racecar!

Kathryn approved of her first crepe! (Notice how I just hung out with the Australians all day?)

Euro Maus greeted us as we entered Eurosat!

Eurosat was one of the best indoor roller coasters I've ever ridden! Lots of fast turns, but not too disorienting.

"Wait, how the hell did you discover the real Jurassic Park? Just don't tell anybody, ok?"

This guy does NOT look happy!

You'd never see this at a Disney park!

"Yup, I'm just a cat, walking around Europa Park looking for food!"

Swiss Bobs are next!

Team Germany sets off!

This store is really awesome. You might be asking, "Why is it that cool, Patrick?" Let me explain.

Firstly, it has LOTS of chocolate.

Secondly, it has LOTS of different Oreos.

Finally, it has LOTS of cows!

I guess Europeans really like this kind of stuff on their coffee cups!

Hi, Bob!

Somebody told me that this had really good stuff, so I went over to investigate...

Is this what they're talking about?

No, it must be this!

Indeed it is! Basically, this is bread covered in melted cheese and paprika! It's totally awesome!

Another cool thing about this little eatery is that you get a good view of the bobs coming out of the helix!

 

Part 3 to come tomorrow.

Thanks for the updates...seems as if you had a good time at Europa

Yay, Europa Park! Keep the pictures coming!

Europe is on my bucket list with Mirabilandia and Expedition GeForce must-dos for me.