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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

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...

Good Afternoon all of you wonderful people! I'm very excited to officially announce plans for our next Blackpool TPM Trip . The last one was extremely popular so even more excited! The date of the event is the extended weekend of Friday 2nd - Sunday 4th September 2016. As you can see it's an extended whole weekend! Which gives you a choice - come on the Friday, or the Saturday, or on the Sunday or a couple of the days or stay the whole weekend! I would imagine though the bulk of us will do Sat/Sun. Please take note if you plan to stay with us overnight, it will be your responsibility to book your own rooms and unfortunately if your under 18 we cannot help you with this! If you were to stay the night - under no circumstances will TPM get involved and take responsibility with how you stay overnight, as for the overnight section of the trip will be an over 18's event. Plus this event will rely on you wonderful kind drivers or which your help will be much appreciated. But based on past success's I'm sure this will be no problem. The Outline of the day/s will be as follows: On Saturday, Meet outside the entrance by Pasaje Del Terror at 08:30 am opposite the ticket gates to have a small social before the park opens, and then we will enter the park. Please bear in mind we will leave without you if you are late as it’s not fair on time keepers! As members have found out! If by any chance you happen to miss this meet point due to travel arrangements or just plain lateness you can either phone or text so we can arrange to meet . This first part of the morning we will make the most of the quiet park and churn out those rides. We will try our best to get on all the attractions. I know not everyone will want to do some of the rides at Blackpool Pleasure. If you decide to not come on please be polite and wait for everyone to come off and chat to other members whilst you are waiting. Or go off and do another attraction as long as you’ll be back after the group has finished riding the attraction. Please respect other people’s wishes who wish to ride certain things that you yourself may not be too keen with. During the day, around half 1, we will stop for a bite to eat where you can go and eat where you like and we will arrange where to meet after everyone has finished eating. (Who knows we might all want to eat the same thing anyway ) After lunch we will group together for the Official Group Photo for the meet and continue going round the park and riding the attractions people want to do until the park closes at 8. During the Evening we will relax and watch the Blackpool Illuminations. On the Sunday we will start on the Merlin Attractions meeting outside the Blackpool Tower at 09:45am. We will explore the Tower and during the day go to the Blackpool Madame Tussauds/ Sea Life & Dungeons just like our London Meets. During the afternoon we will have a little breather in the Blackpool Ballroom for a couple of drinks and if you are lucky me and my dance partner might go off and do some ballroom and latin on that famous floor whilst you socialise over drinks. For those who do go up on the Friday we will most likely go along the piers and arcades and see the nightlife. We will also try out the Waterpark either the Friday or the Sunday. As it's quite a big event the way the weekend is run is subject to change but due to the distance I know you and I will be in regular correspondence so everyone knows what is happening. I will be handing out my phone number for everyone who is attending the meet that day, should there be any problems. We aim to stay together as a group for the day, going from one activity to the next, enjoying getting to know people you share very similar interests with, the idea is to just go with the flow and enjoy the day with some awesome people. There will be many photo’s in the day being taken and the possibility of a few video clips. Whilst we cannot force you to stay with the group, it is the general purpose of these meets! You will have my number (and some of the senior teams) if you become split so by all means use it. The meets are a fantastic laugh and everyone is invited, even if you have never posted before or been to any kind of meet at all. If it's your first meet, I understand it can be nerve breaking - but we were all there at one point so know how it feels, please don't let this stop you from attending - Once there you'll be part of the group in no time! Just look at the past trips this year! I will soon be posting up a separate post on possible accommodation locations which you can use to help you decide where to sleep (If your staying for the night.) If however you know where your going already by all means book it up when we confirm the dates this time next week. I know for example I will be staying at a nice B&B near the Tower, right in the centre of it all to enjoy the nightlife. Plus some really good deals on Laterooms.com Once again, everyone will have my phone number so please use it on the day If anyone has any issues or concerns or even nervous about coming, feel free to post here, or PM myself and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If you feel like my response is taking too long another member of the team will be more than happy to help. We will all try and help you out as much as we can. Please PM me or post here to say if you’re attending. If you are bringing a mate along with you, please also include who they are so they are not known as ‘Plus 1.’ The events with TPM have been fantastic this year and this one will be no different! Attending (0)