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Mer

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Blog Entries posted by Mer

  1. Mer
    As always, it was good to see everyone again and be back at Towers  I can't believe the gorgeous weather we had for the whole weekend - I've never had that oop north before!
     
    Saturday
     
    This was a very chilled day, owing to the hot hot weather  Started off with Smiler and Oblivion, before going on Hex  
     

     
    Was really impressed by the TLC! The audio in the cinema is nice and loud, perhaps *slightly* too loud BUT it's better than being too quiet, especially when you have people talking over it (I always watch it properly every time). I've said this before, but I still always think of that electricBill YouTube video and expect it to say "Fifteenth Earl of S***e"  
    The Octagon looks sooo good now  I loved the dry ice rolling down the steps on the right-hand side! Also it was fun going on someone who's never been on before (Paige)! 
     
    We then had a lovely walk around the Towers, going up on the roof too. It never fails to amaze me how nice the Towers are and the beautiful views you get from the top  
     

     

     

     

     

     
    After lunch we did Nemesis which, of course, was as great as ever and looks gooooood.
     

     
    We then chilled with some drinks at the Coffee Lounge, caught some sun...then headed to Duel to find it was broken  (No staff member out the front but the doors were locked shut). So some of us finished off with Th13teen, where the indoor section was nice and cool! Played some Extraordinary Golf afterwards which was good fun as always, and it's nice to see it's been spruced up. 
     
     
    Sunday
     
    Another beautiful day!
     

     
    Some of the fountains aren't quite lined up...snotty-nosed frog alert! 
     

     
    Started off with some ERT on Nemesis (twice in a row, obvs) then got GalacticAir out the way while the area was still quiet  Me, Mike, Peaj and Matt happened to get front row, which was just as well as we rode it without VR! I think that's the most I've enjoyed it as "Air"  
    Next up was Duel  I was pleased to see that the lighting changes last year (which made several scenes too bright) have been put back to how they were, or at least improved as it seems nice and dark again 
    It was good to bump into Stretchy afterwards, who joined us on a refreshing ride on Congo. There was quite a delay whilst queueing due to someone jumping in the water (apparently they weren't on the ride but climbed over a fence)  Despite the lack of waterfalls, it's still just as "rapidy" so we still got pretty wet, and Ryan got the brunt of the "KFC Mega Wave" in our boat  
    After RMT and lunch we went to Intamin Forest, which was all broken  Unfortunately Rita reopened so we jumped on that while the queue was short.
     

     
    Rough as hell but at least it didn't destroy my back this time!
     
    Then we did Hex again, went inside the chapel afterwards...even came across some Sanctuary theming  
     

     
     
     
    Spinball was down so we did X Sector...everything looks so nice with sunshine and blue skies!
     

     

     

     
    Then it was time...for Battle Galleons! How could we not in such a heatwave?! In the end, it was just me, Peaj and Matt (Mike chickened out ), with some others at the guns around the ride. Was nice to have a cool down...but then, as we were near the station, the ride came to a stop. Right in front of some water guns Turns out someone in the station had got their hair caught in the handle (ouch!) so first aid had to come and help. I'm not sure how long we were actually stuck there, possibly about 15-20 minutes? Peaj and Matt were in the firing line so got drenched - I was actually disappointed out that nobody aimed at me (twas absolutely boiling being sat in direct sunlight)  Or maybe the gun just couldn't turn round far enough  Was the most entertaining ride I've had on Battle Galleons though! 
     
    And that was the end of the meet! Some of us chilled in the Splash Landings bar while waiting for the inevitable queue of cars to die down. Newly painted theming is looking good!
     

     
    It was also Marc's birthday on the Saturday, so we surprised him with a card and cake! So I'll end this report with a photo of said surprised Marc:
     

     
     
    Thanks for reading!
     
    (Oh and if anyone's wondering if I will ever write that Europa trip report from the meet last year...I'm getting there )
  2. Mer
    Sunday 4th September - Sunshine, Spinning & Midway Madness
     
    The sun was out today, no rain at all!
    In the morning, those of us who weren't doing Sandcastle waterpark returned to the Pleasure Beach with our rainy day tickets.
     
    George was living up to his forum name of SmilerGeorge  

     
    First we did Avalanche (which we didn't have time for on the Saturday as it had a long queue all day), which was faster and more forceful than I remember! Then we re-rode Grand National, Big One and Skyforce - and this time, I managed to nail it! Tips for those who've yet to ride: you have to make sure you're rocking side to side fast enough (faster than in the queueline demonstration video), the first time you go upside down will probably be too slow to start the spinning momentum, so keep rocking until you do a full flip...then hold the wings in place and prepare for insanity! I couldn't believe how fast I was spinning, and I think the wind must have caught me a few times as I suddenly picked up speed at points! I felt a bit out of control at one point and a tiny bit scared (which rarely happens to me on rides!), even though I WAS in control  I managed 71 spins on it, coming first place out of our ride  
     

     
    Not surprised that I felt a bit odd/tingly for a good 10 minutes afterwards!
    And it was sunshine and blue skies, I got some good off-ride footage of it  Look out for Marc, Alex and Liam on this one!
     
     
    Had a cheeky browse in the gift shop before catching the tram up to the Tower  At the 2014 meet, it still had some scaffolding around it, so this was the first time I'd seen it looking nice and restored to its fully glory!
     


     
    Whilst some visited The Dungeons, the rest of us did the Tower Eye. This was more enjoyable than the previous meet, as the glass floor seemed clearer and less scratched   It's a shame the stairs to the very top are closed off, and we also saw the new Bar 380 which looked rather small (but I guess they've only got so much room up there). The 4D experience was, of course, great entertainment  Much better than the London Eye one!
     

     
    Bar 380:

     
    Just chillin' on the glass floor:

     
    Had lots of fun sitting on the floor!


     
    Great views...

     
    After some lunch, it was time for the magnificent Tower Ballroom!  It is truly stunning to be in, and breathtaking when you walk in. Even if you're not into dancing or that sort of thing, you can't deny its beauty. It was good to also see the Wurlitzer come up from under the floor too (unfortunately I'd just stopped filming)!
     


     
    I was rather busy filming and eating lunch to dance this time, but Paige had a go and did well at learning to waltz with Peaj  He returned to the floor later on (with a younger woman than last year, no old ladies this time!) to cha cha and then do the quickstep - one of my favourite dances to watch on Strictly  
     
     
    Our final attraction of the day was the Circus. I really enjoyed this last time and found the audience involvement hilarious, so was looking forward to it. Sadly I felt underwhelmed this time, in terms of comedy anyway - the stunts/tricks were awesome. Although it was funny when Alex was one of the people chosen to participate at one point - I was hoping someone from our group would get picked!  We did get a sense that some performers were new and/or that there was a lot of nervousness, as there were a few mistakes. The fire alarm was going off in the background at one point too, which I don't think helped!
     
    The fountains at the end were pretty though

     
    Before heading back down to the distant land of the south, we went to Coral Island for a bit (for those unaware, it's essentially a large arcade place with some little dark rides and theming). Did the ghost train thingy which wasn't bad!
     
    I think the staff member was a tad unimpressed by the swarm of adults coming on  

     
    Some of the theming:

     
     
    So there you have it! Thanks y'all for reading, hopefully it's been entertaining!
     
    For all the photos from the meet: Blackpool Weekend 2016
    And finally...
    My compilation video from the meet
     
     
  3. Mer
    Hello all!
     
    I've been meaning to get round to various trip reports and things for a looooong time - I still have a ton of videos from 2015 that need uploading!  I just haven't found the time or been able to focus on it due to other things going on/various health issues over the past year. However, as I type this, my videos from the Europa meet last May are uploading to YouTube, so I'm getting there   I'm not doing reports for every meet/visit last year, just ones that I've not done them for at all yet. And they will be more condensed than my old ones  
     
    So...Blackpool 2016!
     
    Aah, Blackpool. Such a wonderfully tacky, northern place! I'm not gonna lie, I do love it for many reasons, one of which being the unique things the Pleasure Beach has to offer!
     
    Let's start with our first day of the meet:
     
    Saturday 3rd September - An Extremely Soggy Day At The Pleasure Beach
     
    People joke about the weather up north, but this was easily the worst weather I've ever experienced at a meet (and I think others could say the same too)! That 2013 Swarm photoshoot was pretty testing, but that was only a few hours...this was the whole day! Thankfully, Paige had her potentially-dangerous-hairdryer with her, so we used that in the evening to attempt to dry our selves and our clothes off! And no Great Fire of Blackpool happened (although we did have an electricity socket hanging out the wall in our room...but the hotel issues are a whole other story )
     
    Brace yourselves for some TPM poncho sexiness...

     
    The good thing was, they gave everyone tickets to return the next day due to the rain! The bad news was, Valhalla was advertised as being closed all day...for now!
     
    So, what was our first ride of the day? Alice In Wonderland (Liam's first - and last - time riding a pussy)! A ride which I'd not been that fussed by before (probably because the first time I rode it was later on in the day after more exciting stuff, and just before Valhalla), and I enjoyed more this time. Gotta love that queueline music  
     


     
    Wild Mouse: If you've ever wanted to experience possible near-death on a coaster, this is probably the nearest you'll get to it in the UK. I mean that in a highly positive way though - it is insanity! You really do have to hold on for dear life  I could've happily gone on again at some point! Sadly no one else agreed (well except Peaj, I imagine )!
     



     
    In a stark contrast to Wild Mouse, our next ride was the River Caves! The last and only time I rode this was in 2008, so it was great to go on it again  I couldn't remember much about the theming etc at all, and knew that it's one of the oldest rides there, so I was taken aback by how nice it looked! It is stunning  Some people are reluctant to call the Pleasure Beach a theme park when comparing it to others in the UK, but their dark ride theming is bloody good! Then you look at the state Bubbleworks ended up in, and how Tomb Blaster has been ruined... Oh, and seeing a group of people actually get out the boat at the top of the small drop, where the sign clearly tells them NOT to was rather amusing!
     
    Uh oh...time for Infusion! "What sort of cheese was that?!" Cheese from hell, that's what. My poor little ears! I swear there is no escaping the ear-bashing on this thing, whether you put your head forwards or keep it back! 
     
    More cheesy action now - Wallce and Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic!  I do love this ride, it really feels like you're part of the scenes, and the comfy slipper cars were a nice change from Infusion and the wooden benches of the River Caves. Paige enjoyed herself too, especially during the part with the terrifying, giant were-rabbit  
     
    Big One - managed to get the second row on this with Liam, so it was quite fun! His reactions summed up the ride perfectly: main drop, "Woooah!", followed by the failed airtime hill, "Oh..."  
     

     
    Skyforce now, and for many of us, our first time on it. I didn't manage to spin, although I did get stuck upside down a few times! But as it was pretty certain that some of us would be returning the next day, I still had hope...
     
    Steeplechase and Revolution were next, and both good fun as usual. Steeplechase is still one of my favourite rides there  
     
    Soggy Steeplechase selfie! Or as Liam called it, Staplecheese  

     
    After some lunch and some time in the arcade, we decided there was no better time to ride the woodies, starting with Grand National!  Whilst we were queueing for this, we saw Valhalla open, hurrah!
    I had the best ride ever on this - back row in the rain. It was absolutely brutal but SO GOOD! I was out of my seat on every drop and airtime hill!  
     
    Love this sign too...

     
    Big Dipper front row with Mr Fish was fun, not as much as back row was at the last meet though - so little airtime! 
    Blue Flyer - erm, meh. Nickelodeon Streak - again, felt a bit meh compared to last time as I wasn't at the back. Starting to think I'm addicted to airtime...
     
    Now, time for a proper Ghost Train  This was awesome as always and far better than any other...
     
    Ice Blast was great fun as per, then we dashed over to Derby Racers and squeezed a ride in before the Valhalla queue shut. Aww, such a charming and grand ride! Aside from the uniqueness of this ride compared to a standard carousel, and the fast speed, I love the atmosphere it has, with the cheeriness of the organ music etc  
     
    Me and Liam rode many horses that day!

     
    Our final ride of the day was of course Valhalla  Wow! At the last meet (2014), we unfortunately experienced a breakdown which completely ruined the flow of it all, and the lights were left on during the second drop...but this time was perfect! After much initial faffing and flapping with our spare "leg poncho" that is  Peaj had the right idea making a skirt out of his  
     
    Dean was rather excited too...!

     
    There isn't much I can say about this ride, as it taps into so many senses and a written description could barely do it justice. But that second drop is ridiculous (the good kind!) - it looks short but you somehow keep going! How is that even possible?! Clever lighting I'm guessing! It's a shame that you get so drenched as it makes it less re-rideable for some people.
     
    Here we are emerging from the ride, probably not much wetter than we already were from the day's rain! (Credit to Dean for this photo)

     
    Later that evening, after we'd dried off and eaten at Wetherspoons, we did our usual walk along the promenade, going on the piers and seeing the Illuminations, which had been switched on on the Friday that we drove up

     
    Dodgems fun!

     
    The waltzers on the south pier are aptly-named Hell-Raiser! They spin you so fast! The only reason they stopped our ride was because the op thought Dean was ill/not OK as he'd ended up laying across the others  (Although I think he did say afterwards he was glad it stopped when it did, and it was a bloody long ride anyway!)

     



     
    So that's all for now, but part 2 will be coming later. Will I manage to spin on Skyforce? Will Peaj pull any more old ladies in the ballroom? Will it finally stop raining?! Find out soon...
     
  4. Mer
    WARNING: High Liam content.
    Well, what an amazing day this was! It was a joy to see everyone again and to meet some new faces
    (Btw, I got the xmas smilies by googling them, started typing this during xmas, was gonna remove them since but meh, it's a Christmas meet )
    After being greeted with hugs and smiles at Waterloo station, it was off to The Eye (and that wonderful 4D experience). It was a clear day so we got some great views, could even see Stealth! Liam was such a tourist (actually, he was for the whole day) and came out with a great response to The Shard: "It doesn't look real! It looks like it's been painted on!"
    Seflie time!

    Next up was The Dungeons, which were a great laugh as usual, and with it being Liam's first time, we were provided with much entertainment in the form of his vocalizations. Such as: jumping on the boat ride; screaming in the plague doctors scene when the leeches crawl under your bum, and just general camp reactions. The highlight was, of course, when he got picked in the torture device scene Just...perfect! Shame we couldn't take any photos! Although...
    Our ORP from Drop Dead with Luke (and some random lady) was quite something...

    Luke's face!
    We skipped SeaLife and headed straight to Nandos, about an hour before our booking We managed to lose Peaj on the underground, whilst gaining Mark9 and Dan9...but were eventually reuinited in Nandos. Secret Santa was fun as always (but did we actually finish it?!), I think Liam was most impressed with his sexy fireman calendar
    At this point, I had intended on going around and handing all my Christmas cards out...not really sure what happened! So instead, I just went to people individually throughout the rest of the day and gave them their cards. But because of this, there were some people who I didn't get round to giving their cards to, so major apologies!
    BUT I did bring loads of candy canes And I tried to make sure everyone got one lol!
    After this cheeky dessert of candy canes, it was off to Madame Tussauds for most of us while the rest headed to the pub. A few bits (and groping of!) from Tussauds:

    Santa Banter!
    (In full HD 60fps, as are all my videos)


    http://youtu.be/FWs9qD1OAro

    I also added some silly/amusing annotations And it appears that our meet organiser was clearly still in shock after becoming seperated from us on the underground, and couldn't even catch a giant box
    A few stills from that footage:


    W're royal, ya know

    Erm, I still have no words...

    Aww I do love this photo!

    Soon, it was time for The Spirit of London!
    Here's some stills from my on-ride footage ...Because the detail in this ride is just brilliant.
    Luke popped his head round to tell us something important...

    (Watch the video that I have included further down to find out what, I didn't upload them for nothing )
    Rebuilding London and St Paul's



    #Lad

    Hmm, this reminds me of a particular coaster...

    Only just realised when watching the footage back that this helter skelter is also Big Ben!

    Where did everyone go?!

    Plot twist: they were taken by the creepy fireman!

    I think it's partly the fact that his right eye just stares straight ahead which makes him creepy (ish).
    I thoroughy enjoyed the ride as always, as did Liam!

    Why not see (and hear!) for yourself?
    http://youtu.be/boytOANK8_E


    I was a bit sheepish about being too obvious filming it, hence why the view seems quite low down at points. But it's the things that are said/the reactions (again, mainly from Liam) that are the highlights of the video, really! "WHO'S THAT?!" "Oh my god we're going down...OOOH!" "We're going oop...WE'RE GOING OOP!"
    Winter Wonderland
    Well, once we'd eventually got inside and shuffled painfully to the Carousel Bar, we could enjoy ourselves (as much as humanely possible). Myself and some others did Wild Maus XXL, which was even more insane, hardly seemed to trim! There's a particular corner which is ridiculously fast - you can actually see people being thrown to the side when watching!
    Then while some others did Barrel of Laughs, we did XXL. It was definitely worth it! Far more than just a giant Freakout or better version of Vortex It was fast, pretty intense, had both great force and great airtime, and when I thought we'd reached full height, it still went higher! Pretty sure I shouted "What the f**k?!" a few times!

    Winter Wonderland off-ride footage
    http://youtu.be/E3htSa9TRvU


    At 14-15 seconds in, watch the corner just above the blue sign - that's the corner I just mentioned, you'll see how fast the car flies through! You also get to hear the wonderful operator on XXL, who kept repeating the same things over and over again. OH and watch (and listen) out for my little edit at the end
    It was eventually time to say goodbye It really was lovely to see people again, especially people like Liam who I haven't seen in a long time and live bloomin' miles away! Actually had to hold back from crying when hugging goodbye
    Although, it was nice to go to the pub after with some peeps and just chill, was a nice way to finish such a good day!
    Here is the album with all my photos in for any who want to see the rest of them: Christmas London Trip 2014
    Oh and any photos with people in are set to private (the above link is a guest pass, so only those who I share the link to can see the private photos)
    So thank you to everyone for making it such a great meet, and of course to Peaj! Last year's meet unfortunately ended up on a very sad day for me and my family, so I don't have great memories from it. And for various reasons, 2014, up until around late October/November, was a pretty awful year for me personally. BUT (cue happy/triumphant music), since November-time I've finally been on the mend, and for the first time in a very long time (a few years perhaps!) I feel back to my old self - if not, better than that! Something must have shone through as I was often the one the actors spoke to at The Dungeons Seriously though, I feel so alive and more chatty, and I was eager to see how I'd be at a meet (especially with so many people), and I'm very pleased to say that I felt amazing!
    So here's to 2015 Happy new year! x

  5. Mer
    Trip report time!
    After being picked up from East Croydon by Peaj, along with Jaymiee and Ben (TopsyTurvy), we set off to Chessie. But not without picking up from Han from Wimbledon station; she got the train there by herself! Well done Han!
    Once arriving at the park, Peaj received a text from Mr Fish saying that “the car park is closed” – he’d gone to the wrong entrance, bless him While Peaj went to collect him, JamesC, Phill and Matt arrived! It was easy to tell that Matt was a TPM member with his annual pass and lanyard! However, Jaymiee had never met Phill before, so as he was arriving said “Who’s that man walking towards us?” Once Peaj returned with Fish, the entrance had opened and in we went, bumping into Adam (scarycoasterboy) on the way in! After initially losing James (his new MAP didn’t let him through the turnstiles at first!) we headed over to Hocus Pocus Hall and met up with Alex (ThrillseekerAlex), Jonny and Chris *I think* (TP1214). We did Hocus Pocus as we were right next to it and it was a good laugh, been ages since I’d done it! Han jumped a few times though bless her!
    After this we had a bundle of laughs on Rattlesnake! I shared a car with Peaj, James and Matt and made sure we screamed the loudest! As the years have gone on I love this ride even more; not that I ever disliked it but every time I ride, I find it more and more fun! I also adore the queueline as it just reminds me of my first ever visit to the park, and Rattlesnake was my first ride (this was back when it had its original height restriction of 1m 17)!
    While waiting for Jack and Ethan (EC!) to arrive, we had a ride on Safari Skyway. Nice way to chill and enjoy the views of the zoo. As you can see I was super excited to see the animals!

    We then met Jack (and his mum) at the entrance and headed over toward Land of the Dragons to meet Ethan. Peaj got a nice photo of us 3 plus James in the sun here!

    We then headed over to Tomb Blaster where Peaj explained the rules of the game “Empire” and where we had one of our group photos. Then it was off to Tomb Blaster for some fun! Really enjoyed the ride, and also while walking through the queueline, I was reminded of how good it all is! Good fun ride, sat with Ethan, James, Han and Fish and I beat all of them with a score of 13900! Not sure what my highest score on this is but I tend to score higher on Duel. Overall, out of the whole group, I came fourth with my score, not bad at all!
    Don’t we look good

    The time then came to try out the new ride…ZUFARI! The queue wasn’t too bad and at this point the sun really came out, so off came the layers! There is a photo point in the queue where some of us were given hats and snakes to hold for the shot. It’s a bit of a shame to have something like that in the middle of a queue as in some ways it just screams out money making, plus causes some delays. Then again it did provide extra amusement and any income to the park is positive I guess.
    Now, onto the ride itself. Let’s start with the preshow…errrm It’s great for interaction and the children seemed to enjoy it, but it was also quite cringey, especially Ghozi the lemur (who is apparently male but has a female voice?!). And the animation of its mouth is rather terrible! We did have a laugh though, even if it was for the wrong reasons! So then it was time for our adventure to begin! I must say it was nice to have a different experience to the usual rides by being in a vehicle driven by someone, something about it is good fun! Ethan thought so too!

    We were lucky that we had nice weather too as it meant the animals were all out; flamingos, giraffes, zebras and white rhino. There’s not really much else I can say about those parts of the ride, other than that you can get nice photos of the animals if they’re out. And they seemed pretty happy too which is nice to see. But we soon arrived at the Danger Cave! Having heard about this from others (well the whole ride in general to be precise) I lowered my expectations. And I found it to be better than I expected! As others have said, for something in the UK it really isn’t bad at all. The water effects were good and the children were all screaming The waterfall as you exit provided a good laugh too! Everyone in the group came off smiling and saying it was good and better than they’d heard! Hurrah!
    My happy mood after the ride quickly left me as I had a mini heart attack at the exit; my phone was missing! It had been in my jeans pocket but I checked my bag thoroughly incase I had put it in there and not remembered (yes, I do that). But it wasn’t there so I figured it had fallen out of my pocket into the vehicle. Now at this point the rest of the group were slowly disappearing from the exit. I did call after them but they didn’t hear, yet there was too much of a crowd to go after them, explain and then return to the ride; I didn’t want to risk someone finding my phone and taking it! As Sheepie would put it – I was flapping! I asked the staff members if they could look for my phone and luckily, they found it! Phew! But the bad news? The guy who found it then dropped it! I’ve only had it 6 months and up until now was in pristine condition, but it now has some lovely scuff marks on But I was flippin’ relieved that it wasn’t lost, and I guess if I’d had a cover on it, it would have helped
    I breathed a huge sigh of relief, checked it still worked after its dramatic turn of events, and thought that by now, the group would realise they were missing one person and one or two might have come back to see where I was. But NO! Never fear, I did eventually catch up with them by Rameses and of course, I could’ve contacted Peaj or someone if I couldn’t find them. But it’s a bit disheartening when nobody realises you’ve disappeared I know I’m small but I’m not THAT small am I?
    But never mind, it was time to ride an old, creaky top spin! The queue wasn’t too bad and I chose to sit on the edge as I just wasn’t in the mood for a face full of water. I’ve not ridden Rameses (or Ripsaw) for a few years as I just don’t find top spins that fun, plus the restraints try to knock the wind out of you! But this meant that I did enjoy it, and I’ll always remember my first trip to Chessie when I was too short to ride it, watching it and thinking how big and scary it looked!
    We then went towards Mystic East as we had seen Dragon Falls running earlier on in the day. However we were greeted with a sign informing us that the area was closed off while they updated the theming, and the ride was empty of water. Mystic East is one of, if not the best, themed areas of the park and it was rather saddening to see its main ride in such a state
    But as Peaj would say, “Hey ho!” And off to Wild Asia we went. We did Monkey Swinger first, taking advantage of its short queue. Speaking of Peaj, it was time for my traditional “Peaj Hug!”

    Love how I’m being used as a head rest! It was going nicely until Ethan decided to start his evil kidney jabbing! Had a fun ride as always but the water jets weren’t on which was a shame, but it was fun waving at Han every time we whizzed past her. While we were in the mood for spinning we headed over to Kobra, which had quite a queue but as always when you’re with such a great bunch of people, it doesn’t matter. Had a lot of laughs in the queue – to the point where I ended up collapsing onto the floor! - with conversations ranging from saggy melons to soggy biscuits (!), to whacking one out Don’t worry – it was just my mind being dirty! And I was appropriately named a “Dirty minded individual.”
    We had a good ride on Kobra, and after finding it uncomfortable previously (not the back rests, but the fact they pushed me into the front part, crushing my stomach) I was determined to not suffer again, however I think I made my leaning back a bit too obvious and the staff member asked me to lean forwards. As you can see, I was not impressed...

    I did try to lean back as much as I could though, and I think I know why I have an issue but no one else does; my height! The bottom of my rib cage – so roughly where the diaphragm is – gets pushed into the front part of the seats. Whereas for others who are taller, the front part would push against their belly instead, thus causing less or no discomfort. But this leaves me wondering what it’s like for children. It’s not awful, I mean if I brace myself I can push myself back and be fine, but I would like to be able to put my arms and legs up without feeling suffocated!
    After our ride, MarkC had finally arrived and was waiting with Han! And what better ride to do for our first one as a full group than Tuk Tuk Turmoil! I really do love this as a group ride, it is so fun and I could easily do it more than once purely for that reason!
    Group photo time by the talking elephant tree thing (forgotten its name)! Won’t post it as you’ve already seen it in Peaj’s trip report.
    Our bellies were rumbling so it was time to eat. It went well considering people went off separately, no faff or disagreements or standing around for a thousand years debating where to eat I went with some of the others to Creaky Café, which is a lovely little place and not bad for money. I literally walked in and exclaimed to James “OOOH this is nice!” We sat outside to eat, where the others who had gone elsewhere joined us. It was at this point that I felt even more happy and excited about the whole day and how awesome it had already been!
    We paid a visit to Bubbleworks while our food went down and experienced the new music. I have to say, it was quite jolly and some of us were dancing/bobbing around to it! Me and Peaj got right into it, so much so that I ended up marmalised!


    Joining me in my tub were Han, Jaymiee and Alex. Ooh cosy! I know this is so repetitive to say but I miss the original ride so much, it hurts to see how different it all is when all I can think of is how good it was! Particularly the fountain finale, gaah I miss those strobes! It made me so mad I turned rather demonic!


    Jaymiee decided we should scream as loud as possible when going down the drop and see if Peaj’s boat did the same in competition – and sure enough, they did! God knows what the operator thought!
    Vampire was up next Again, it’s such a shame to see it like it is when remembering how great it used to look. The queue was quite long but as usual we all made it good fun, and got some funny photos!

    And our game of Empire finished with Adam winning the flag! It was also funny when MarkC asked if my name was Meryl I nearly collapsed onto the floor again! Was a fun ride as usual, and I’ll always love that lift hill noise and the roar of the trains
    Time was running out so we decided to go on Black Buccaneer and make Dragon’s Fury our last ride of the day. Whilst chatting in the Buccaneer queueline, I discovered that Alex is from Horley. Horley! Somebody on TPM is from where I am from It might not seem much of a deal to some, but hardly anyone I know has heard of the place! Small world, eh? We soon got on the ride, where we could smell weed, which led to me and James trying to guess who it was I still say the lady on the opposite side wearing the pearls looked pretty out of it Got some good interaction on the ride too; the operator asked how we all knew each other due to our large group size, and we explained. The ride start announcement turned out to be “No standing up, no throwing up, no touching the cross bars if you are sat in the back rows, and if you plan on writing about this on the internet later, please say good things!” We certainly have!
    So it was time for our last ride of the day (or so we thought…) on Dragon’s Fury. The queue was long-ish, made worse by Mark’s sugar addiction I hate to moan (and contradict my statement about positive feedback), but the operation of the ride was pretty dire, with cars stacking up outside the station – there were four stacked at one point! This man certainly wasn’t impressed:

    Han, Fish and Chris look on in disgust:

    Ooh er! We planned our seating arrangements strategically, and I shared with Peaj and Ethan. This resulted in some epic spinning on the first half of the ride! Not so much after the second lift hill, but then again I’ve noticed that cars never seem to spin as much on that part. But yeah, it was brilliant fun and probably the best ride I’ve ever had on Fury!
    At this point, we had to say goodbye to Jack and Adam, and had found out that Zufari’s queue was still open! So there was only one option…LEG IT! Han wasn’t up for the mad sprint so decided to go for a mad spin on Rameses instead! We made it to Zufari in one piece, albeit breathless, and had another good ride on it. Some of us sat in the front for the preshow and JamesC was cheeky to Ghozi and got to do a monkey impression! We didn’t see as many animals this time around but it was still good.
    We then made our way out of the area and said our goodbyes to those who weren’t coming to the meal. It really had been a fantastic meet and I was glad it still wasn’t yet over. Mark clearly didn’t want it to be over either; while walking back to Peaj’s car, he came after me for more hugs, bless him! This frightened Han so much she pooped bricks:

    We had to sit outside at the Monkey Puzzle as there were no tables inside, and it was getting a tad chilly. Nevertheless, it was a nice meal, a nice way to relax after the day and to have a chat. I had paprika chicken and spicy chips which was yummy, although part of my breast was overdone

    James and Ethan soon had to leave, and the rest of us headed inside to the warmth where we found some tables, and Peaj, Alex and Mr Fish found themselves eating an enormous sundae between them! We chilled for while then decided it was time to leave and end our day
    And wow, what a day it was! Firstly, I’d like to say that it was a fantastic group of people that attended, as Peaj said. It was different, as there were quite a few newbies/new-ish to meets members, but it was great to see so many new faces and that everyone joined in and felt comfortable
    Mark isn’t as bad as he is online (I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that as I said it to him in person and he admitted it ), he is adorable! Meryl indeed! Apologies to Matt, Adam, Jonny and Chris who I didn’t get round to speaking to that much, but as I said it was nice to meet you guys! The same goes to Alex although we did speak a bit at the meal, and also thank you for offering me a lift home I would have taken it but as you know, I had to stay in Peaj’s car and be a good friend James and Ethan are as lovely as they are online – James, you’re a total geek for walking around with your drinks capsule and Ethan, despite being an evil kidney jabbing gremlin, you did make me laugh when you said “For some reason I thought Mer would be taller.”
    It was lovely as always to see everyone else again and that the whole group in general got on well and stuck together. So thank you all for being so awesome! This was definitely one of the best meets
    Finally, as always, thank you to Peaj for organising this meet and running it so well. Empire was a great game to play throughout the day and really helped everyone get to know each other. The meets actually feel like meets again, which is how it should be I can’t thank you enough!
    Thanks for reading! x
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