Howie
Donkey in a hat
It all began way back on the Monster Raving Goony Party, last year's triumphant Sweden run:
"This has been awesome" we said, "where should we go next?"
"Quite fancy Phantasialand in the new year" said @Mushroom , "I need to get on FLY, plus, y'know... Phantasialand in the winter!"
Just an idea to begin with, but just like a tiny acorn growing and flourishing into a mighty oak, this idea rooted firmly, sprouted lush green shoots and blossomed into a beautiful shrub of Happiness.
I think I may have been one of the first to jump on board. "I'm in" I said.![Man raising hand :man_raising_hand: 🙋♂️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f64b-2642.png)
I have unfinished business with Phantasialand, see. My first and only trip there was over 5 years ago and to be honest, apart from Taron, nothing much really pumped my 'nads. I mean, it was good... but I just didn't quite gel with the place somehow. I found it a bit brash, a bit in-your-face, a bit... artificial, y'know? I don't want elevator lifts on my rapids rides. I don't want laser infused disco rooms on my ancient Africa-themed log flumes. And I like my theme parks to have trees.
But, I can see why people dig it and with the addition of Rookburgh I felt it was time to give the place another shot.
Other goons quickly followed suit and before we knew it, eight of us were fully on board - there was me, Mush, Mouse, Mat (mousemat?
), Liz, Sue and two fresh faced newbies, Emily and Emma.
Not surprisingly, as the number of attendees grew, so did the additional park days: "Why don't we make a weekend of it and do Efteling too?" someone said. "Sure, why not?" was the unanimous verdict. I mean, that's a no brainer, right? Winter Efteling and Wintertraum at Phantasialand go together like peas and carrots.
And look.. what's this? Plopsaland is open too, maybe we could go there on the Friday? Well, y'all know my feelings on The Ride To Happiness, no way in hell I was gonna pass that up.
And so, FLY into the New Year was born, and what a resounding success it was too. 3 countries, 3 amazing parks, 800ish miles, some truly world class creds, pancakes, pizzas, ping-pong, beer a-plenty, mystery meat snacks, car chases, donkey baiting... the list of shenanigans goes on. Some of us even got to play 'hide the sausage'.
Lot of talk on the forums at the moment about it being the end of an era, no more CF Lives as we know it and sure, it makes for some depressing reading but fear not, dear reader, for the spirit of the CF Live lives on. As has already been mentioned in Serena's opening post on the Thorpe Park Live thread, this isn't just a forum, this is a place where lifelong friendships have been forged, adventures have been shared, memories have been made and the desire to keep on credding with a like-minded bunch of idiots is alive and well. Although the numbers were fewer, this felt every bit as awesome, good-natured and downright daft as an official CF Live ever was. We even made a video!
(Well, when I say 'we', I mean 'Emily'):
In fact, can I just leave it there? Surely that tells you everything you need to know? What.. no? You want actual opinions and stuff?
Oh go on then. But it won't be an exhaustive account of exactly what we did, what we ate, when, how long we waited and how many times we went to the toilet (clue; we're all old, so lots) and I didn't take many photos either so I'll just give a general overview and then other attendees can chip in with their own thoughts and pictures. You might even get a vlog or two...
Day 1, Plopsaland de Panne.
Did you know Plopsaland is only 30 minutes away from Calais? Soooo easy to get to from the tunnel. Literally drive off the train straight onto le motorway, hang a left into Belgium and boom, Plopsaland! As a channel tunnel virgin I was shocked at how quick, easy and faff-free it all was. Safe to say I'm a tunnel convert now. If I lived down south I'd be on it all the time, probably mincing over to the Benelux every other weekend.
There were six of us to start with, plus a last minute +1 in the form of Dr Dave. Sadly, @witchfinder aka Captain Comorbidities, declared himself too old to attempt all 3 parks so he and Emma would join us later that evening. That left me, @MouseAT and @Libby_Liz in the Mushmobile with Emily and @Mysterious Sue in Emily's bananamobile (so called because it's very very yellow).
It seems that Plopsaland like to make sure Ride To Happiness is fully warmed up before letting people on it and as such, it rarely opens with the park at 10am. Oh well, just enough time for the newbies to rattle off a couple of the +1's then, starting with the Dragon powered coaster (it was alright) and a quick lap of Heidi.
Named after my dog*...
![20221216_184418.jpg 20221216_184418.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22471-fa76c7e0fe0038feb19b40b03f19db1b.jpg)
... Heidi: The Ride is actually a pretty solid woodie, despite being one of the smaller GCI's out there. Fun, action packed little layout. Better than Wicker Dude I'd say, but obviously not as wild as the big boys, Troy and Wodan.
*Heidi (the dog) has fully recovered from her ear operation last year, by the way.![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
At that point we spotted RTH going round with people on it so we hot-footed it over to, what I think, is the best coaster in Europe. Bloody love this thing I do!
![Screenshot_20230114-181216_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-181216_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22483-98168c8e917bdc774f4c43cded35b9a0.jpg)
Note the blue sky and bright sunshine, temperatures ranging from about 10 - 14°C, not bad for early January eh? Maybe this global warming malarkey isn't so bad after all?![Thinking face :thinking: 🤔](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f914.png)
![Screenshot_20230114-181426_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-181426_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22484-69873767810ab9e2e11a9e82bca0f514.jpg)
The stunned silences and gawping, open-mouthed looks of astonishment on the brake run told me that The Ride To Happiness had done its job but, having had 17 laps on the thing in a single day last April, I knew it had more to give. More laps followed, both then and later in the day and sure enough, subsequent rides were wilder, faster and spinnier. One lap in particular was probably the most insane ride I've ever had on it - me and Mouse were sat in an unbalanced car at the front of the train and holy crap... it was mental! We both swore lots! On another lap, me and him just spent the entire circuit dancing to the onboard audio! Soooo good!
Yeah, for me at least, this is the best coaster in Europe. Previously I couldn't decide between this or Helix but after having ridden both in the last year I think RTH just wins out. It's absolutely fantastic! And of course, clockwork robot lady is still sexy as Hell.![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
![Screenshot_20230114-212437_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212437_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22494-4308ab127a1e29a1d51f13193a3f046b.jpg)
Congratulations to Liz for making it her 500th cred.![Clapping hands :clap: 👏](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44f.png)
![Clapping hands :clap: 👏](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44f.png)
![Clapping hands :clap: 👏](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44f.png)
![Screenshot_20230114-175247_Messenger.jpg Screenshot_20230114-175247_Messenger.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22482-c2de7d89dc1d3a90c46af40a85230880.jpg)
Now if I'd had my way, we'd have spent the rest of the day simply riding RTH over and again. That's the thing with Plopsaland - it's a lovely park with decent theming and a nice, balanced selection of coasters and attractions, but since the addition of Happiness, literally every other ride in the park has now been relegated to 'filler' status. However, there were newbies among us and so, dutifully, we did the mopping up thing.
Why take a path, when a rope bridge will do...
![20230106_140026.jpg 20230106_140026.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22490-597bc468b72f455a90c42f413dbe81c0.jpg)
... especially if there's a slide at the other end:
![Screenshot_20230114-175001_Messenger.jpg Screenshot_20230114-175001_Messenger.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22491-52ba9d035b11962c3a96d168509d1b06.jpg)
We +1'd Anubis, the roller skater, the Zierer and the super-splash. To be fair, Anubis (and Heidi The Ride, now you mention it) are both worthy of more than a casual +1 if we're being honest. Anubis is a cracking little Gerstlauer with a real gut-punch of a launch. Fun layout too. Definitely worth a few rerides if the wait times allow it.
![Screenshot_20230114-212139_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212139_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22493-1a4d97b9c1cd6778b683c43be8a7e329.jpg)
![Screenshot_20230114-212710_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212710_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22495-8bd77c85fc747f1ee6532c3733231479.jpg)
![Screenshot_20230114-212012_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212012_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22492-95112cd7eba42ba0e0656d442cdf2062.jpg)
We also did the Disk-O and the Forest of Plop (world's slowest boat ride) and minced about in the farmyard for a bit looking at pygmy goats and oversized hairy chickens.
![Screenshot_20230114-204655_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-204655_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22487-6c2b451c0dbb489bf19b13592bea673c.jpg)
![Screenshot_20230114-204822_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-204822_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22488-ed5737cc4b9a3aa7d329b10171c99291.jpg)
And of course, no visit to Plopsaland is complete without saying hi to @witchfinder 's pig. It's become something of a pilgrimage these days, if you visit this park you simply have to come and pay homage to witchfinder's pig. Tradition demands it.
![20230106_151457.jpg 20230106_151457.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22489-ff9f4797931bf55b23277aa1a39f18f9.jpg)
And so, after a couple more laps on Ride To Happiness, we decided to call it a day. We'd been up since 4am and poor Mushroom still had a near 4 hour drive to Bruhl to do that evening, bless him.
Hopefully some of the other goons will chip in with a few more thoughts and pictures soon enough.
Phantasialand is up next.![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
"This has been awesome" we said, "where should we go next?"
"Quite fancy Phantasialand in the new year" said @Mushroom , "I need to get on FLY, plus, y'know... Phantasialand in the winter!"
Just an idea to begin with, but just like a tiny acorn growing and flourishing into a mighty oak, this idea rooted firmly, sprouted lush green shoots and blossomed into a beautiful shrub of Happiness.
I think I may have been one of the first to jump on board. "I'm in" I said.
![Man raising hand :man_raising_hand: 🙋♂️](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f64b-2642.png)
I have unfinished business with Phantasialand, see. My first and only trip there was over 5 years ago and to be honest, apart from Taron, nothing much really pumped my 'nads. I mean, it was good... but I just didn't quite gel with the place somehow. I found it a bit brash, a bit in-your-face, a bit... artificial, y'know? I don't want elevator lifts on my rapids rides. I don't want laser infused disco rooms on my ancient Africa-themed log flumes. And I like my theme parks to have trees.
But, I can see why people dig it and with the addition of Rookburgh I felt it was time to give the place another shot.
Other goons quickly followed suit and before we knew it, eight of us were fully on board - there was me, Mush, Mouse, Mat (mousemat?
![Thinking face :thinking: 🤔](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f914.png)
Not surprisingly, as the number of attendees grew, so did the additional park days: "Why don't we make a weekend of it and do Efteling too?" someone said. "Sure, why not?" was the unanimous verdict. I mean, that's a no brainer, right? Winter Efteling and Wintertraum at Phantasialand go together like peas and carrots.
And look.. what's this? Plopsaland is open too, maybe we could go there on the Friday? Well, y'all know my feelings on The Ride To Happiness, no way in hell I was gonna pass that up.
And so, FLY into the New Year was born, and what a resounding success it was too. 3 countries, 3 amazing parks, 800ish miles, some truly world class creds, pancakes, pizzas, ping-pong, beer a-plenty, mystery meat snacks, car chases, donkey baiting... the list of shenanigans goes on. Some of us even got to play 'hide the sausage'.
Lot of talk on the forums at the moment about it being the end of an era, no more CF Lives as we know it and sure, it makes for some depressing reading but fear not, dear reader, for the spirit of the CF Live lives on. As has already been mentioned in Serena's opening post on the Thorpe Park Live thread, this isn't just a forum, this is a place where lifelong friendships have been forged, adventures have been shared, memories have been made and the desire to keep on credding with a like-minded bunch of idiots is alive and well. Although the numbers were fewer, this felt every bit as awesome, good-natured and downright daft as an official CF Live ever was. We even made a video!
(Well, when I say 'we', I mean 'Emily'):
In fact, can I just leave it there? Surely that tells you everything you need to know? What.. no? You want actual opinions and stuff?
Oh go on then. But it won't be an exhaustive account of exactly what we did, what we ate, when, how long we waited and how many times we went to the toilet (clue; we're all old, so lots) and I didn't take many photos either so I'll just give a general overview and then other attendees can chip in with their own thoughts and pictures. You might even get a vlog or two...
Day 1, Plopsaland de Panne.
Did you know Plopsaland is only 30 minutes away from Calais? Soooo easy to get to from the tunnel. Literally drive off the train straight onto le motorway, hang a left into Belgium and boom, Plopsaland! As a channel tunnel virgin I was shocked at how quick, easy and faff-free it all was. Safe to say I'm a tunnel convert now. If I lived down south I'd be on it all the time, probably mincing over to the Benelux every other weekend.
There were six of us to start with, plus a last minute +1 in the form of Dr Dave. Sadly, @witchfinder aka Captain Comorbidities, declared himself too old to attempt all 3 parks so he and Emma would join us later that evening. That left me, @MouseAT and @Libby_Liz in the Mushmobile with Emily and @Mysterious Sue in Emily's bananamobile (so called because it's very very yellow).
It seems that Plopsaland like to make sure Ride To Happiness is fully warmed up before letting people on it and as such, it rarely opens with the park at 10am. Oh well, just enough time for the newbies to rattle off a couple of the +1's then, starting with the Dragon powered coaster (it was alright) and a quick lap of Heidi.
Named after my dog*...
![20221216_184418.jpg 20221216_184418.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22471-fa76c7e0fe0038feb19b40b03f19db1b.jpg)
... Heidi: The Ride is actually a pretty solid woodie, despite being one of the smaller GCI's out there. Fun, action packed little layout. Better than Wicker Dude I'd say, but obviously not as wild as the big boys, Troy and Wodan.
*Heidi (the dog) has fully recovered from her ear operation last year, by the way.
![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
At that point we spotted RTH going round with people on it so we hot-footed it over to, what I think, is the best coaster in Europe. Bloody love this thing I do!
![Screenshot_20230114-181216_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-181216_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22483-98168c8e917bdc774f4c43cded35b9a0.jpg)
Note the blue sky and bright sunshine, temperatures ranging from about 10 - 14°C, not bad for early January eh? Maybe this global warming malarkey isn't so bad after all?
![Thinking face :thinking: 🤔](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f914.png)
![Screenshot_20230114-181426_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-181426_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22484-69873767810ab9e2e11a9e82bca0f514.jpg)
The stunned silences and gawping, open-mouthed looks of astonishment on the brake run told me that The Ride To Happiness had done its job but, having had 17 laps on the thing in a single day last April, I knew it had more to give. More laps followed, both then and later in the day and sure enough, subsequent rides were wilder, faster and spinnier. One lap in particular was probably the most insane ride I've ever had on it - me and Mouse were sat in an unbalanced car at the front of the train and holy crap... it was mental! We both swore lots! On another lap, me and him just spent the entire circuit dancing to the onboard audio! Soooo good!
Yeah, for me at least, this is the best coaster in Europe. Previously I couldn't decide between this or Helix but after having ridden both in the last year I think RTH just wins out. It's absolutely fantastic! And of course, clockwork robot lady is still sexy as Hell.
![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
![Screenshot_20230114-212437_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212437_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22494-4308ab127a1e29a1d51f13193a3f046b.jpg)
Congratulations to Liz for making it her 500th cred.
![Clapping hands :clap: 👏](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44f.png)
![Clapping hands :clap: 👏](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44f.png)
![Clapping hands :clap: 👏](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f44f.png)
![Screenshot_20230114-175247_Messenger.jpg Screenshot_20230114-175247_Messenger.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22482-c2de7d89dc1d3a90c46af40a85230880.jpg)
Now if I'd had my way, we'd have spent the rest of the day simply riding RTH over and again. That's the thing with Plopsaland - it's a lovely park with decent theming and a nice, balanced selection of coasters and attractions, but since the addition of Happiness, literally every other ride in the park has now been relegated to 'filler' status. However, there were newbies among us and so, dutifully, we did the mopping up thing.
Why take a path, when a rope bridge will do...
![20230106_140026.jpg 20230106_140026.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22490-597bc468b72f455a90c42f413dbe81c0.jpg)
... especially if there's a slide at the other end:
![Screenshot_20230114-175001_Messenger.jpg Screenshot_20230114-175001_Messenger.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22491-52ba9d035b11962c3a96d168509d1b06.jpg)
We +1'd Anubis, the roller skater, the Zierer and the super-splash. To be fair, Anubis (and Heidi The Ride, now you mention it) are both worthy of more than a casual +1 if we're being honest. Anubis is a cracking little Gerstlauer with a real gut-punch of a launch. Fun layout too. Definitely worth a few rerides if the wait times allow it.
![Screenshot_20230114-212139_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212139_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22493-1a4d97b9c1cd6778b683c43be8a7e329.jpg)
![Screenshot_20230114-212710_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212710_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22495-8bd77c85fc747f1ee6532c3733231479.jpg)
![Screenshot_20230114-212012_Facebook.jpg Screenshot_20230114-212012_Facebook.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22492-95112cd7eba42ba0e0656d442cdf2062.jpg)
We also did the Disk-O and the Forest of Plop (world's slowest boat ride) and minced about in the farmyard for a bit looking at pygmy goats and oversized hairy chickens.
![Screenshot_20230114-204655_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-204655_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22487-6c2b451c0dbb489bf19b13592bea673c.jpg)
![Screenshot_20230114-204822_Photos.jpg Screenshot_20230114-204822_Photos.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22488-ed5737cc4b9a3aa7d329b10171c99291.jpg)
And of course, no visit to Plopsaland is complete without saying hi to @witchfinder 's pig. It's become something of a pilgrimage these days, if you visit this park you simply have to come and pay homage to witchfinder's pig. Tradition demands it.
![20230106_151457.jpg 20230106_151457.jpg](https://coasterforce.com/forums/data/attachments/22/22489-ff9f4797931bf55b23277aa1a39f18f9.jpg)
And so, after a couple more laps on Ride To Happiness, we decided to call it a day. We'd been up since 4am and poor Mushroom still had a near 4 hour drive to Bruhl to do that evening, bless him.
Hopefully some of the other goons will chip in with a few more thoughts and pictures soon enough.
Phantasialand is up next.
![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)