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TS North: 13 - 14 July 2013

WillG said:
Hayden seemed on a worryingly similar wavelength to me
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Why do you say worryingly?


Alright, my first full weekend meet at both a new theme park and a familiar one.

I started off the trip at Kings Cross in London where I met up with Mike and we bemused are selves looking at the spectacularly long queue for the photo opportunity by the platform 9 3/4 sign from Harry potter. It came complete with a photographer and a gift shop where you could collect your photo and other merc. Absolutely mind-blowing in the worst possible way! We met with Dave Chesse at the other end and went into Jury's Inn and of course with a name like that, predictable jokes were made.

On Saturday we headed off to Flamingoland via McDonalds. Flamingoland is a weird place, because it looks horrendous upon entry, but the further you go in the more enjoyable and better themed the place was. Hero was testing, but I really could not care. That thing looked like some sort of alien probing device, so it was best avoided. Flamingoland have very well themed floors which is very weird, as who is going to look at it? Food was not as bad as I thought it would be, and my burger was surprisingly decent.
Anyway onto the rides: ( I should mention I will be giving the rides alternative names because Flamingoland cant do a good job at it)

Mumbo Jumbo Shoulder restrictor (x2): I forgot why I hated being lanky and bony. The restraints reminded me why. The ride itself was okay, but it was just far too uncomfortable.

Kumali Head banger: Better then Infusion at Blackpool, but too short.

Velocity Ball crusher (x2): The launch was fun, but after the first hill its pain the rest off the way. Again, awkward annoying restraints.

Navigator Back pusher: Disk-O ride. Its fun, and thats pretty much it.

Cliffhanger The shot-tower-that-can-no-longer-drop-because-Flamingoland-broke-it: Not much to say. Like all shot towers, fun but short.

Flip Flop Pointless water features: The Ride!: Fun little frisbee ride, with a nice long cycle, but I kinda prefer Eagles Claw

Zooom! Departure Lounge Simulator 2013 Deluxe Edition: Boring family coaster, is not very interesting. Did like the station though.

Sky Flyer The Inverting Cage of Doom!: It hurt my brain.

Runaway Train The Ultimate Jr.: This harmless looking kiddie coaster is actually as violent as the Ultimate, and is more likely to destroy your back. You have been warned.

Little Monsters Why are the cars facing the wrong way?: Wow this dark ride is all kinds of wrong, its creepy, yet fails to startle you. Half the scenes take place behind you, and they actually have fully themed what you cant even see like the backs of the doors!

Twistosarus The actually kinda fun zamperla!: The title says it all, this small spinning coaster, was pretty good for what it was. The system for resetting the cars, was very weird however.

Terrordactyl Wind-in-yer-face: Fun little star flyer thing, shame the view isnt that great

Dino Roller The one that stalled: We broke the children's coaster, and yes it was hilarious.

After all that we went to Harvester, and I choose to be the cheapskate, spending all of five pounds. Well, I was impressed.

My personal highlight: Watching WillG become a single rider, on a lot of rides, because there were no seats left!

I will talk about Lightwater valley soon-ish.
 
CupCakeMonster said:
Also felt that I should remind you all of this (Blame Ben, he told me that this video existed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTpsrszzY24&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my new fangled telephonic device, so I apologise if there are any silly errors
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I'm torn between 'THIS IS AMAZING!' and 'OH, WHY would you do that?!'... since it's now going to be in my head for the next week, and I'd only just got rid of it!!

In other news, another Lightwater memory came to me today - getting spited by an evil child in the queue for the Skatekarts, but then watching her fall off the track :) Meanwhile, for the first time ever, I DID manage to complete a full lap of them! It was a little hairy though...
 
A bit late but..

First of all, it was brilliant to meet you all, most of you for the first time. It's the most fun weekend I've had in ages and I'm already looking forward to the next opportunity I get to go on a meet. It's always a bit odd to come back here and to be able to associate what was previously a faceless username with a real individual that you've actually met. I'm sorry if I came across as a little strange but it's because I am, I've come to accept that now. Anyway, you were all excellent company, I hope to see you all again at some point.

Flamingoland

Flamingoland was pretty much as expected. It had been a while since I'd last visited but all that's really happened is they've taken away Corkscrew and Wild Mouse, added a ton of pointless, cheap Zamperla rides and neglected their old ones. It's still severely lacking in atmosphere and the wide open spaces meant that we spent a lot of the day being fried by the sun. Although, having said all that, the Dinostone theming is a promising step in the right direction.

Mumbo Jumbo was first for us. Many didn't like it but I enjoy the unusual forces and hangtime it offers. I maintain that it's the best coaster at Flamingoland by some margin. (Unless Hero turns out to be brilliant, which I doubt).

Flip Flop was next. It was, as I remember, a surprisingly punchy, forceful ride with excellent airtime and a very long ride length. I'm not sure if it was the heat or the fact that I'm older than on my previous visits but my head was really swimming at the end of both our rides.

Kumali has aged terribly, it used to be a surprisingly good invert but now it's reverted to type and become a typically rough SLC.

Cliffhanger isn't even half as good as its former self either now that it runs in shot mode only. The shot and drop sequence really made the ride.

Velocity was just awful and rattly. A shame really because like Kumali, it used to be pretty good. I can only apologise for the bizarre opinions of my sister who still thinks it's brilliant. I'm not sure why we re-rode it twice but it certainly didn't improve.

I'm too lazy to go through everything but other notable rides included Little Monsters which if nothing else was a nice break from the sun, the impressively rough mine train kiddie coaster and of course the dragon coaster which we broke.

Lunch was just about acceptable but vastly overpriced and the service at the burger counter was painfully slow. Apparently, I ruined Will's sandwich because I had been there earlier and stolen all the bacon. I'm still a bit bemused by this but quite happy to take credit for evil deeds that I didn't do. (Or did I?)

Later on, the whole Harvester experience was a lot of fun and the food was good too. At one point though, we really did sink to the darkest depths of coaster enthusiasm. Amongst other things, this included Sam's obscure coaster quiz and various imitations of brake run sounds. Probably the less said about all that, the better. I would still do it again though! Dave's B&M impression is uncanny.

Lightwater Valley

My overall impression of the day was that Lightwater is a park that I love to be at. For the first time in a while, I felt like I was on a proper, relaxing day out at a theme park rather than a very business-like expedition to get all the rides in. It could have been down to how quiet it was or the weather but I genuinely think that Lightwater has that intangible something whereby you just enjoy being there. Lightwater manages to be a park that's much more than the sum of its parts. I suppose that's the fabled 'magic' that Alton has lost.

The Ultimate was as ridiculous as ever. Each completed circuit feels like you've been in some sort of epic battle and the ride becomes even more brutal towards the end of the day. Most of us did four consecutive re-rides before ride close and I'm almost glad they closed it. I'm not sure I would have survived another circuit! Even so, a uniquely epic coaster. Half of the fun was getting the post-ride reactions of Mark and Ben who had never been to Lightwater before.

Raptor attack was great fun, the dark really enhances a coaster and I think it's a shame that there are so few enclosed coasters in the UK these days. The fact that it's still smooth and re-ridable after all those years is testament to the quality of Schwarzkopf's engineering.

Whirlwind, wow that was something else! It was definitely being run faster than on my visit last year and I found it pretty intense even then. This time, on top of the higher speed, our fully loaded arm flipped a great deal resulting in some of the most intense and unusual forces I've ever experienced. I can only imagine that it's a similar experience to being in a plane whilst in an uncontrollable, tumbling spin. Definitely a once only per visit only ride for me. The hardcore flat ride people rode it again later. The rest of us rode the Ladybird coaster where my melting ice lolly went everywhere.

The other stand out ride was Eagle's Claw. Despite the apparent similarities, it manages to be a very different ride to Flip Flop. The inside facing seats make it a much more communal experience, in fact the atmosphere it creates is almost family friendly. The forces on Eagle's Claw somehow feel a lot more natural as well. It's by no means a tame ride though, it has huge amounts of floaty airtime and face distorting forces at the bottom of each swing. Opinion was divided throughout the group when it came to Flip Flop vs Eagles claw but I'm in the Eagle's Claw camp.

The only disappointing aspect of the day was that we only did the Skate Karts once and the children who pushed in front of us.

Overall, an excellent weekend!
 
CGM said:
First of all, it was brilliant to meet you all, most of you for the first time. It's the most fun weekend I've had in ages and I'm already looking forward to the next opportunity I get to go on a meet. It's always a bit odd to come back here and to be able to associate what was previously a faceless username with a real individual that you've actually met. I'm sorry if I came across as a little strange but it's because I am, I've come to accept that now. Anyway, you were all excellent company, I hope to see you all again at some point.
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You didn't come across strange at all! Most interesting and charming, I thought. And very knowledgable about coasters, which is always a plus. Looking forward to seeing you on your next meet! :)

Anyway, bit late, but here is my high'n'lowlight!

Highlights
The Ultimate (times eight)
Meeting new people - Hayden and the Meakins!
Getting a rollback on Mingingland's Dragon Coaster
FIVE new creds!
Mumbo Jumbo not being as bad as I feared. It's actually... quite... good.
Waking up a confused WillG by breaking into his room
The staggering intensity of Whirlwind
All the new audio at LWV!
Flip Flop
Giggles with Zoe aka CupCakeMonster
Topless starflyer and Ultimate
Getting a few unexpected re-rides on Velocity, which I'm still a big fan of
Dinner at Harvester was nice
Mingingland's dino animatronics

Lowlights
Mingingland in general
Hero not being open
Not getting on Lost River Ride
The food at Lightwater, both price and quality
Twistosaurus and Zooom! both being appalling
Kumali having seriously decreased in quality since my last ride
There being no bacon
Mingingland staff driving - bang!
Horsebox

WillG said:
PS: Sam, you've not got a pair of my black trousers have you? I don't seen to have brought them home, so either you're wearing them, or, more likely, they're in stupid Bradford. Not the end of the world, I'll replace them today.
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Yes, and a pair of boxers haha! Both have been washed, and are ready to return to you on your next meet :)
 
Sam said:
Giggles with Zoe aka CupCakeMonster
Topless starflyer and Ultimate
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Hahaha, 'SHE'S NOT EVEN EIGHTEEN!'; I'd forgotten about that bit, the banter between you three was one of Flamingo's redeeming features.
Glad to hear my trousers live as well, I've not missed them in this heat! :)
 
Oh god, been rummaging through my computer and found this old thing that I never got around to posting. A bit late I admit, but ummm, better late than never?

I started the day at a fairly reasonable time, given the 1 hour distance between Flamingoland and my home, resulting in us, somehow being the first there. Luckily my brother managed to recognise some of you lot, or else we would have been stood outside the entrance all day long.

We rode Mumbo Jumbo first, which I do love apart from that stupid hang time which as you may have guessed I have learnt to hate, I like the faster roller coasters over slow inverting roller coasters (yes call me strange if you have to, I’m used to it by now, and this won’t be the last time you will, I assure you). After that, we were on to Flip Flop (as the later arrivals rode Mumbo Jumbo), which as much as I like the quirky theming with the water bursting out of funnels, and a beached shark included, oh and not to forget the silly little forehead-rests on the restraints, I find the ride itself extremely nauseating, this I find not during the actual sequence, but in the slowing down at the end. Then we met those later arrivals and all bundled into the Kumali queue, resulting in a few murmured introductions, something about Pirelli tyres and I’m sure a lot of other nonsense that I wouldn’t want to bore you with. I think the general consensus of Kumali was simply “Ow”, for some it was the head, for me personally it was my shoulders and my back. Then we took a wander around the front of the park, passing Hero (in test mode) as we went, which was still causing Mark to be absolutely flabbergasted by the Health and Safety in Yorkshire. Then, onto Zooom! Which continued to spark discussions all day, with it’s ridiculous number of vowels, and strange need for punctuation within the name. The ride itself was immensely underwhelming, to the point that I think the most satisfied rider was Will, whose satisfaction was down to purely gaining yet another credit. What’s next? Ahh Velocity, on which I think I suitably astounded Will, with my claims of the roughness being at a minimal level, to which I got a reply which consisted of the words ‘personal airbags’, and I was no longer trusted as an accurate judge of roughness, especially after claiming my ride on Furius Baco was fairly smooth.

Lunch was spent in a dark place where we ate sandwiches that to Will’s misery did not contain Bacon, enough of that and we’ll move onto Little Monsters, by far the best ride in the park for me, it is thrilling and intense beyond all levels, and was only improved by the fact that the UV light made everyone’s teeth glow, and Will’s look of utter disgust and underwhelmment (not sure that’s a word, but ummm, ahh well) throughout the entire ride. After this we moved onto the new area which goes by the name of ‘Dino-stone park’, which contains a few ‘exciting’ Zamperlas. Twistosaurus was our first port of call, on which we had frankly beautiful renditions of ‘We love you Roland, we do’ and ‘Should have bought a Mack’. We had a particularly memorable moment on Dino Roller when a train packed of fully grown ‘children’ caused the train to struggle up the lift hill and roll back into the station, where we were then reprimanded and told that we had to have one-per-car. Pterodactyl was particularly amusing for me, as all but Will and I managed to find a seat, we were preparing to wait in the queue when the ride assistant informed us there was a seat free, so as Will had been left to sit on his own a number of times I opted to take the seat myself and laugh at him being alone again. On sitting in my seat Sam decided to follow suit of a previous (not too bad looking) rider and take his top off and then proceeded to ask me to follow his example, after a shout of “SHE’S SIXTEEN!” from Hayden whilst I was still laughing at the request, a sheepish looking Sam then apologised. Half of us then decided to have a go on Sky Flyer where I amused both Hayden and the half that had remained on the ground by screaming the words “I’m going to die” for the entirety of the ride. After an attempt to go on The Lost River Ride we saw the queue and decided to head off to eat instead.

The evening meal at the Harvester was an eye opener for me, as I had never dined at a Harvester before. The moments that stood out for me were Sam and Will ringing us to inform us all that they were going the wrong way and after 5 postcodes being created by us all we finally googled to find the correct postcode so they could join us for what turned out to be a delightful meal. I recall commenting on Sam’s brother-like abilities much to the amusement of Will and finally when Sam and I decided to share a sundae, this turned out to be buying separate sundaes and giving them to others to finish off.

The next day dawned and Lightwater Valley was next on the Menu. Me and my brother had arrived, and although I had added a few from the meet on Facebook, I had neglected to get their numbers and we realised fairly quickly that we would have no idea where they were, it turned out that someone had overslept. After waiting… a while for everyone to arrive my brother left me to sit on a bench by myself looking like a loner whilst he went to greet everyone. Once everyone had arrived and I had grumped a suitable amount of time, we began the rides.

Raptor attack seemed to be the first port of call and was, as Raptor attack generally is, quite a calming little ride with dinosaurs eating professors featured. Then, I don’t think anything would do but a quick ride on The Ultimate, where I decided to go for a safe start to the day of gripping on, and the photo of my ‘flame hair’ amused Mark greatly. A few more rides of the Ultimate did feature, especially at the end of the day when we re-rode a couple of times, and throughout the day I gradually worked up the courage, firstly beginning with no hands but eventually got to the point of no hands and eyes closed, which is amazingly fun, but I had a few bruises for a week or two. The Pirate area impressed a fair few and we took a couple of goes on The Black Pearl which consisted of a few yelps and screams from me on one side and laughter from everyone else on the other side over the amusement of my ‘hair time’ (I blame John for starting that). Lunch was well… It could be worse, the offering at Lightwater Valley I have to admit is fairly poor, and I feel I made the best choice I could by opting for the chicken nuggets which admittedly could have been much worse.

After trying the chair swings and having a good old chat about Eurovision, we headed up to Eagles claw for a run around from the exit, back into the queue line a couple of times and then, THEN we headed to the highlight of the day for me, Eagle’s Creek Farm! Oh my god, it was beyond brilliant, the entire ride I was dancing to the frankly brilliant and amazing tune that I do not under any circumstances have on my phone.

I did learn a few things from this trip. My brother’s username CGM are not merely initials, the Harvester in York is not posh enough to have a dispenser for both ice and water (they opted for ice instead) and finally, and most importantly I do believe, Animal dubstep does exist.
 
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