Your Planned Trips and Reports

Hi everyone.Basically a very quick post to extend an invitation to a meet that members over various forums have each year. Every year we abuse the London Merlin attractions and then have a meal in the evening somewhere. You do not have to attend each attraction, but it's tradition that the group stays together and is usually the best meet of the year.It is being organised via Facebook. HERE.If you can't view that, then add me on Facebook, and I'll invite you.You're more than welcome to book a room at a Travelodge for the evening, a few of us already are. This is to be confirmed as to where- a couple of locations are going around at the moment such as Leatherhead and T5. A…

The third park we visited was Wicksteed Park in Kettering. It's a very unique park and a great laid back place to visit. It has a large lake and a wonderful lakeside railway that has had over ten million passengers, since it opened back in 1921.After paying a car park fee, you don't have to pay for anything more, unless you want to. For the rides, you can purchase tokens or wrist bands.It was quite busy when we arrived.The queue for the tokens and wristbands was very long.Wicksteed is home to Europe's first double Pirate Ship.We met up with my mum and dad The kids loved the bumper cars.Ben on the jets.Tea Cup fun with Lydia.We all had fun on the Astro Slide.A rather unco…

As is well known, Italy has seen a whack of investment in it's theme parks of late. Gardaland saw the first of what is turning out to be a very successful product for B&M and a new theme park opened up near Rome. Being the canny git that I am, decision was made to visit Italy with the intention of seeing what the country has to offer. Benin, Peep and a theme park worker who I won't name ( ) all set off last Friday with this in mind. Trip itenary belowDay 1 - Fly to Rome, Hire car and see the sightsDay 2 - Rainbow MagiclandDay 3 - Drive to RevennaDay 4 - MiribilandiaDay 5 - Miribiliandia in the morning, drive to VeronaDay 6 - Verona rest dayDay 7 - GardalandDay 8 - D…

With the money grabbing but fun Warwick Castle behind us, we drove to Alton Towers, the next morning. We had stayed in a Premier Inn at Solihull, so the drive wasn't too far.We arrived around half ten to a fairly quiet car park...We were greeted with a very long queue for the monorail, which didn't really make sense as the car park seemed a bit quiet. It turned out the Monorail had broken down.After a 10-15 minute walk, we arrived at the fantastic entrance.Once inside, Ben started planning I love this tree. The Towers. A magnificent building.Our party split up to ride different things. As I was on my own at this point, I managed two goes in a row on Thirteen via the sin…

Afternoon everyone!I got back from Florida last week, after literally the holiday of a lifetime. I'm feeling it now- I came crashing back down to reality so hard due to various reasons and circumstances at home and I'm finding it really hard. It'll be a little while before I'm back on the forums properly so please be patient with me whilst I work through things.With that said, I'd like to introduce you to my trip reports! I'm going to try and do things a little differently; I'm going to post summaries on here, so for people who want to just have a brief outline, they can read on here. For those that want to know every single detail about the trip, they can click on a link…

After saving up our Tesco Clubcard Vouchers for a long time, we used them up on some Merlin passes. The plan was was 3 fold. 1: Over the period of a week, during the summer holidays; Journey up to Warwick to visit Warwick Castle and then Alton Towers, the next day. (Hotel in Solihull as base.) Part 2 was to journey south to Kettering and meet my folks at Wicksteed Park, a park I used to frequent as a kid and one that I have lots of memories of. Part 3 was to carry on south to the inlaws in Essex and use that as a base for Thorpe Park and Chessington. A busy week but one that I was hugely looking forward to.....So, on to our first park/attraction then - Warwick Castle…

Since Nicky lives rather close to Camelot, and I’d never been and it keeps opening and closing more than a traditional British high street shop, we ventured forth onto the M61 and drove to CAMELOT! What’s this, a picture of the journey? Something must be terribly wrong here...OMG NICKY’S DRIVING AHHHHHHHHHHHH!And as if by magic, we left one hell to enter yet another... We arrived at a rather interesting (yet decent looking) entrance area...Rain was pouring down onto us, but oh wells, onto the first coaster...Dragon FlyerThis is an unique ride... Even for a powered coaster, in that the way in which is powered is by a diesel motor and generator which sits accompanied …

I just got back from Europa Park last night. This is going to be a trip report as it will probably end up turning into a rant at my dad's dismissal of the entire park but I will be reviewing the rides, Hotel Colosseo and the park as a whole.I also want to test how well my photos come up so prepare for high res spam.Hotel ColosseoCan't think of a single fault here. Beautifully themed (the fountain shows in the centre are brilliant), 5 min walk to a hotel guest only entrance to the park, great food, friendly staff who nearly all speak German, French and English and even though we were told it was fully booked out, it never felt overcrowded.All the on-site hotels give you ac…

First time back at Legoland in a long time. It looks a lot different to what I remember. We left home after the park opened because we're all lazy buggers. KP crisps are doing 50% vouchers so if your planning on going to Merlin attractions soon and paying have a looksie. So off we went, went and got Callum's ticket. The guy at the admissions desk we went to was brilliant. In terms of busyness it was barely any one. Got in to the park, one thing I don't miss is the bloody hills. The one leading down to Viking Land you literally turn a corner and I almost fell down it went that steep.So off we went onto Viking River Splash. For the landscape that it's on they've done well t…

So me and Nicky went to Germany last week (hence the lack of sarcasm on the boards, I will make up for it ), and since it featured coasters here's the report, have fun...Day 0 – Flight in and Travel to SierksdorfAn early Sunday morning is not always great, especially when you feel ill, but it was needed to be done, as there was a holiday to go to and coasters to ride... So a wake-up, bag-check and money-sorting and off to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 at 7 in the morning it was! Horray for sleeping all the way in the car I tell you, I like sleep...Anyways after checking in and finding out me and Nicky would not be sitting next to each other (evidently we picked the flight with th…

Last month my Wife and I took a four day trip to Europa Park, Rust in Germany. It was our first time to the park, to Germany and this is my first ever trip report so please be kind To start off I thought I would quickly summarize our trip in numbers.Days away: 4 Days, 3 NightsDays in Park: 3 DaysNew Rides & Attractions Ridden: 38Shows seen: 3 ShowsHighest number of re-rides: 8 rides on Schweizer Bobbahn (Swiss Bob Run) coaster over the 3 daysTotal number of photos taken: 653Day OneThe JourneyWhen we first started planning the trip we realised that Europa Park did not seem to be the easiest of places to get to if you didn’t already know where you were going. Thanks to…

Afternoon all, I didn't want to clog up Nicky's Florida trip report topic so here's mine! For our second anniversary Chris and I went off to Walt Disney World Florida for ten nights in what has ended up to be the hottest May in Florida since 1916. The parks were busy, the rides packed out, you'd be lucky to get near the parades and yet it was the best ten days off my life. To try something different I'm doing my trip report in the wrong order. So here we go..I'm going to start with Animal Kingdom which we spent two of our days at, the reason for this will become apparent as you read. Animal kingdom is the park I'd heard the least about and for me was the park I was least …

For my 21st birthday, me and my Dad went to Florida for 12 nights just before Easter. We went on a package deal with Virgin (less hassle).Day 1 - 7th AprilFlew out from Manchester on a brand new plane. Shame it was 2 hours delayed because of technical difficulties. That was all we get told. "This flight will now leave at 1pm because of technical difficulties." Then we got listen to them announce the boarding from the flight to Las Vegas instead. So instead I abused the free 30 min wifi at the departure gateI've flown with Virgin before but this was a much more modern plane with nifty new cup holders so you didn't have to use the whole tableI watched Morning Glory and King…

You know there are times when you just think...when the bloody hell did that happen? Well That just happened to me at Flamingoland. I have had plenty of visits over the last few years whereby I've been impressed at the park progress, but this year, (partly due to the fact that I didn't really get a chance to ride much because we were there for my son's birthday, and he had his diminutive friend, brother and cousin in tow) it struck me just how far they have come from the concrete jungle they were in the mid nineties. It struck me how Merlin-like the park was starting to become, the Children's world interactive play area set amongst meercats and lemurs out-Chessingtonin…

Hansa-ParkToday was the first day of the season at this fairly small park, which has recently started getting a name for itself following installations of "story" based rollercoasters and other themed attractions. It's actually been around for decades and was briefly a Legoland park - although no traces of this remain.We arrived a little before 9am, paid our admission and entered through the small, but picturesque Hanseatic style entrance building. A band were greeting guests and characters posing for photographs. Flower arrangements were laid out in front of us and arranged to show todays date "15.4.11". A fairly open entrance plaza area was well themed with buildings ar…

Basically guys, I'm going to Thorpe Park on wednesday (13th April 2011) and my mates have ditched me at the last minute. I have a merlin pass and I will be going, but how would you recomend I spend my day at 'The Nations Thirll Captial'?

I've noticed there are no official meets planned for our award winning, "theme park of the year", Chessington.Basically, please post any time period in which you would be interested in attending. If we can get enough interest then it would be a fantastic alternative to the Thorpe meets for some variety.I was thinking of during the Easter break. Yes it'll be busy but I imagine the majority of people will have more chance of attending during this time.Post your views below. I've decided not to make this into a poll, but one could be posted after a general time frame is decided and if there is demand for it. Edit: Trip Date: Monday 11th April. Full details to be announced so…

Hope this is the right place, it is kind of a report on a trip :)So anyway, yesterday I was still feeling a bit ill and was really bored so I hopped on the train with my camera and spent the day going around the City of London. I went to a load of places I've never been before, such as the Gherkin, Lloyds building, Bank of England, and some more familiar places like Tower Bridge and St Pauls. It's the first time I've really used my new lens I got a while back in low light so don't expect too much but hopefully some of these have turned out okay. Resizing has reduced the quality in some of them but if anyone wants to see originals I'd be happy t PM or whatever. I'll stop t…

Next week I'm off to disneyland paris from the tuesday to thursday on a college ICT trip. We're going to a few seminars and then we get some time at the park too. We're staying in the Western themed Cheyenne disney hotel!Seeing as I haven't been to disneyland paris in years has anyone got some good tips for what rides to do etc? Also has anyone stayed at the western hotel before and what was it like? These seminars, I've heard they're so boring but what shall I be expecting?When I get back I'll post pictures/videos etc from the trip

My wife and I want to go to Orlando this year to all the theme parks, but we aren't sure as the best time to go.We are thinking of early May as we are hoping the parks will be quiet.What would you guys suggest?

Foreword:I don't normally do Trip Reports but this one is a little special because the chances are that this maze will never be repeated again. Still, I am going to keep this short and sweet unless interest arises for extra detail, eg a written walkthrough. Tom Spindler - 13th Seance's creator - has become renowned in the scare attraction industry for making horror mazes that are incredibly detailed and going beyond what most mainstream attractions will do to be scary. While waiting outside on the aptly named Crucifix lane, our group of 5 TPM members had no clue what to expect.Memorable Scenes:Both the detail and the single actor wrapped in sewn up cloths, sitting at the …

Hi everyoneJust wondering who would like to have a mini meet on the 31st October as the atmosphere is better and it would be fun? Just wondering as I need people to go with

Friday 27th AugustDuring the day at work I was quite restless, the excitement for the impending trip of awesomeness was getting too much for me. Luckily work was great and the work load was small (yeah, I'll do a quality control on a film thanks). As soon as 6pm hit I was out of the door, suitcase in tow and I made my way to the annoyingly busy tube station at Oxford Circus. Underground trains + evening rush hour on a Friday = death.Eventually after what felt like forever but was a mere 10 minutes I was at Kings Cross station. I had yet to purchase my train ticket to Richard's place and the queue for the ticket office was long and just wasn't moving. I started venting my …

Went to Flamingo Land last Wednesday, was absolutely fantastic...We were staying in Scarborough, about 20-30 minutes from the park, we arrived at roughly about 10:45. First off I got a Q Buster ticket as a informant told me that it would be very busy, all the staff we met were polite and very helpful, so thank you for that FL!The zoo was good as well as the rides, we say some Meerkat babies So cute! The chimps were locked inside, their outdoor window was smashed, never under estimate these apes! Thats about it, it was a fun but pretty uneventful day!Ride Count:Velocity - 1 (Thrilling but painful)Dodgems - 1Corkscrew - 1 (ouch)Flip Flop - 2 (So much fun!)Mumbo Jumbo - 2 …

It was with great excitement that I set off with my mum and sister on the 25th July for our long-awaited summer holiday to New York, Washington DC and most of interest to me, Orlando! After going to Orlando last year I was very excited to return this year, and of course one significant addition is now present which wasn’t there last year…WARNING: I will be posting spoilers without any further warning. If you don’t want to see, skip my writing on that attraction.I doubt many are interested in the details of the first part of the trip, so on to Orlando! On the 30th we were off to Newark airport for the flight to Florida. We stayed in the same place as last year, so we jumpe…