Forbidden Rush | USA CF-Live | Trip Reports
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LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Part 3- NYC
So when we got the hotel at like, two in the morning after Six Flags New England, one of our hotel rooms was given away. That was just the beginning of a series of bad luck events for us! I ended up bunking with AJ and Jordan though, which ended up being fine
. I think the funniest part of the night was when me and AJ went to get spare bed sheets from another room that we assumed would be empty, and we caught someone fapping <3
When we got up in the morning we thought everyone would be gone because us three had made the decision to have a bit of a lie-in and meet them at Coney when we got up. Instead, they were all there, and we found out that two of the cars were towed. </3 After a bit of faffing while we tried to figure out where the cars were, we decided to just go to Coney Island and worry about the issues later.
When I stepped off the subway, there was this on the pole to greet me:
Even though I was falling asleep for most of the subway journey, I did manage a few pictures.
I always find warning signs like these kinda funny.
AJ and his fab friend!
We had a good laugh at the man who had plastic wrap on his head.
It was still raining by the time we got to Coney Island, and nothing looked like it was running. Sure enough, it wasn't, and they said it was going to be closed all day. We were gutted, and our long subway ride was for nothing! Spited out of six creds!
Since we had nothing else to do, we got something to eat. Low and behold, the choices were Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, or Subway. We all split off, and I ended up getting a SUBWAY </3 hahaa.
We also saw this in the station and had to take a picture of it:
Thankfully the day looked up after the Coney Island fail, and we made our way to Battery Park where we'd start our long walk across the city. Unfortunately, Sue and the Swedes had to go get the cars so they didn't join .
They had a nice memorial thing to the victims of 9/11
And we also seen the Statue of Liberty from a distance. I had already been up it before so I didn't really care that it was so far away.
When we were walking to Ground Zero, we saw what we assume was a government official or something, in a procession of cars.
I had been to Ground Zero before, but so much had changed since my last visit. Last time I was there was in 2007 and it was mostly just a big hole in the ground.
They've also made progress on the Freedom Tower thing.
The fountains were actually really nice and added to the somber mood of the place.
After visiting the memorial we went into the little museum, which had a sad video, merch, etc.
We then had a bathroom break, which had a queue longer than most queues we had for roller coasters on the trip, haha!
There was a fab ketchup bottle in the middle of a park.
We also walked by the Brooklyn Bridge and some funky building.
Then we saw more buildings!
We then took a break in a park, where we were convinced people were filming the opening to a porno .
The Empire State Building was somewhere along our route as well. We didn't go up, but the admision was kind of pricey anyway. It had gone up over ten dollar in the past few years!
Toys R' US and Times Square were next up.
The Ferris Wheel was amazing, but there was an E.T. themed cart on it, which did not impress.
They had massive packs of Nerds, but I bought Nerds Rope instead, and polished two off in the span we were in the store, haha.
We MINCED into the Barbie house while everyone else waited downstairs because they are party poopers .
Kate Middleton Barbie!
When we got outside, there was a guy trying to sell us comedy tickets, as well as an anti-semitic Elmo screaming things to the public. Of course, Richard was instigating with the comedy dude .
DO NOT BUY LEAPFROG! IT'S MADE BY INTERNATIONAL JEW, MICHAEL MILTON!
We lost Dan in Times Square, and he never retured, so we ended up going to the NYC merch shop and then to Carnegie's Deli. I also donated to a peachy deaf mute and then made everyone else feel obligated to donate <3
We stopped in M&M world on the way to the deli!
I just need the one in Orlando to complete the set! </3
I ate the most expensive grilled cheese sandwich of my life, but to be fair it was really cheesy and we also got free pickles.
AJ got the Woodie Allen
Me, Jordan, and AJ split a massive piece of the best cheesecake I have ever had, and still couldn't finish it all!
Then we went back to the hotel and chilled in the lobby for a bit before going to bed!
The End!
So when we got the hotel at like, two in the morning after Six Flags New England, one of our hotel rooms was given away. That was just the beginning of a series of bad luck events for us! I ended up bunking with AJ and Jordan though, which ended up being fine
. I think the funniest part of the night was when me and AJ went to get spare bed sheets from another room that we assumed would be empty, and we caught someone fapping <3 When we got up in the morning we thought everyone would be gone because us three had made the decision to have a bit of a lie-in and meet them at Coney when we got up. Instead, they were all there, and we found out that two of the cars were towed. </3 After a bit of faffing while we tried to figure out where the cars were, we decided to just go to Coney Island and worry about the issues later.
When I stepped off the subway, there was this on the pole to greet me:
Even though I was falling asleep for most of the subway journey, I did manage a few pictures.
I always find warning signs like these kinda funny.
AJ and his fab friend!
We had a good laugh at the man who had plastic wrap on his head.
It was still raining by the time we got to Coney Island, and nothing looked like it was running. Sure enough, it wasn't, and they said it was going to be closed all day. We were gutted, and our long subway ride was for nothing! Spited out of six creds!
Since we had nothing else to do, we got something to eat. Low and behold, the choices were Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, or Subway. We all split off, and I ended up getting a SUBWAY </3 hahaa.
We also saw this in the station and had to take a picture of it:
Thankfully the day looked up after the Coney Island fail, and we made our way to Battery Park where we'd start our long walk across the city. Unfortunately, Sue and the Swedes had to go get the cars so they didn't join
.
They had a nice memorial thing to the victims of 9/11
And we also seen the Statue of Liberty from a distance. I had already been up it before so I didn't really care that it was so far away.
When we were walking to Ground Zero, we saw what we assume was a government official or something, in a procession of cars.
I had been to Ground Zero before, but so much had changed since my last visit. Last time I was there was in 2007 and it was mostly just a big hole in the ground.
They've also made progress on the Freedom Tower thing.
The fountains were actually really nice and added to the somber mood of the place.
After visiting the memorial we went into the little museum, which had a sad video, merch, etc.
We then had a bathroom break, which had a queue longer than most queues we had for roller coasters on the trip, haha!
There was a fab ketchup bottle in the middle of a park.
We also walked by the Brooklyn Bridge and some funky building.
Then we saw more buildings!
We then took a break in a park, where we were convinced people were filming the opening to a porno
.
The Empire State Building was somewhere along our route as well. We didn't go up, but the admision was kind of pricey anyway. It had gone up over ten dollar in the past few years!
Toys R' US and Times Square were next up.
The Ferris Wheel was amazing, but there was an E.T. themed cart on it, which did not impress.
They had massive packs of Nerds, but I bought Nerds Rope instead, and polished two off in the span we were in the store, haha.
We MINCED into the Barbie house while everyone else waited downstairs because they are party poopers
.
Kate Middleton Barbie!
When we got outside, there was a guy trying to sell us comedy tickets, as well as an anti-semitic Elmo screaming things to the public. Of course, Richard was instigating with the comedy dude
.
DO NOT BUY LEAPFROG! IT'S MADE BY INTERNATIONAL JEW, MICHAEL MILTON!
We lost Dan in Times Square, and he never retured, so we ended up going to the NYC merch shop and then to Carnegie's Deli. I also donated to a peachy deaf mute and then made everyone else feel obligated to donate <3
We stopped in M&M world on the way to the deli!
I just need the one in Orlando to complete the set! </3
I ate the most expensive grilled cheese sandwich of my life, but to be fair it was really cheesy and we also got free pickles.
AJ got the Woodie Allen
Me, Jordan, and AJ split a massive piece of the best cheesecake I have ever had, and still couldn't finish it all!
Then we went back to the hotel and chilled in the lobby for a bit before going to bed!
The End!
caffeine_demon
Strata Poster
one minute I was right behind you, the next, you'd all disappeared! I was knackered by then and decided to go back to the hotel! (where I had yet another subway!!)
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
We all kept our eyes out while we were on the bleachers since it's a bit of a vantage point, but trying to find someone in Times Square really is a needle in a haystack
.
Youngster Joey
Strata Poster
^That's a HUGE understatement. To quote my father "It's like trying to find a gay jew in Texas"
Almost impossible
Almost impossible
caffeine_demon
Strata Poster
I finished my online trip report!!
http://dansdashtocedarpoint.blogspot.co.uk/
if you just want to see Kennywood:
http://dansdashtocedarpoint.blogspot.co ... in-to.html
and cedar point:
http://dansdashtocedarpoint.blogspot.co ... point.html
http://dansdashtocedarpoint.blogspot.co.uk/
if you just want to see Kennywood:
http://dansdashtocedarpoint.blogspot.co ... in-to.html
and cedar point:
http://dansdashtocedarpoint.blogspot.co ... point.html
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ Can't believe you called Panda Express "poor"! I was kind of upset we didn't ride the madhouses either because I do love them, but at least in the case of the one at Great Adventure, it's certainly not on par with Hex! Also can't believe you preferred Twister to Phoenix! I really didn't mind Six Flags America to be honest, I know most people think it is a dump but it's really not that bad in my opinion. It's not great, but certainly not the worst I've been to, despite having my plastic hair pick confiscated And AJ having his bandana taken, ahaha, as if he's part of some hardcore gang . The only bit I found horrible was the area near Superman and Batwing.
Your photos of the Red Carpet Inn bring back bad memories, haha. So many spiders, and so many STAINS </3 I think I would have preferred cockroaches to spiders, to be honest
Nice report, Dan!
I was kind of upset we didn't ride the madhouses either because I do love them, but at least in the case of the one at Great Adventure, it's certainly not on par with Hex! Also can't believe you preferred Twister to Phoenix! I really didn't mind Six Flags America to be honest, I know most people think it is a dump but it's really not that bad in my opinion. It's not great, but certainly not the worst I've been to, despite having my plastic hair pick confiscated And AJ having his bandana taken, ahaha, as if he's part of some hardcore gang . The only bit I found horrible was the area near Superman and Batwing.Your photos of the Red Carpet Inn bring back bad memories, haha. So many spiders, and so many STAINS </3 I think I would have preferred cockroaches to spiders, to be honest
Nice report, Dan!
Anyone else still struggling to keep up with the influx of photos and reports? I've not even got around to updating my CC yet!
On another note, does anyone have any pictures of the birthday cake I/we recieved during the meal after Great Adventure? I've got some decent pics of the meal, but when the cake came out, I was occupied and couldn't get any.
On another note, does anyone have any pictures of the birthday cake I/we recieved during the meal after Great Adventure? I've got some decent pics of the meal, but when the cake came out, I was occupied and couldn't get any.
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
^ Yeah, when they all started coming in on Facebook I eventually just gave up
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
I don't think I took any photos the day of Great Adventure, so I'll skip that report. I think my camera just chose not to read them or screw the files up or something, which is a bummer, but oh well. In a nutshell, El Toro was closed and we were all sad, Ka is not as good as Dragster, Bizarro was better than I remembered it being, as was Nitro. I was happy that I got a few creds despite having been there already, and I was sad the park hours were so lame .
Dorney and Knoebels
After waiting for everyone to arrive and using the very cramped bathrooms, we were off to ride Phoenix. We all queued for the front car because that is obviously the best place on the coaster! Everyone seemed to like it, except Ciall who decided to throw a hilarious hissy fit because he was't prepared for the amount of airtime it produces.
It was a group decision to get the other creds first and have our exclusive tour of Flying Turns before reriding Phoenix, so we headed off to the Haunted Mansion and Black Diamond. I had been on the Haunted Mansion before, but it was so much better than I remembered it being! Oh yah, and on the way over to Black Diamond, there was a peachy little corn cob statue.
Despite being a cred in a shed, I quite liked Black Diamond. It reminds me of the Gold Mine thing at Blackpool, because even though it was sort of crap as far as coasters go, it was still fun with some good theming thrown in.
After Black Diamond, it was time for the Haunted Mansion.
By the following photo, I'm sure you can guess who was the only person unimpressed by it!
Next up was Twister, which I was never a fan of and still am not.
After some more bag antics with Ciall's bag, we rode the kiddie coaster, which is fab as always and Andre's armss flailing around gave me a good laugh .
Then it was time for our tour of Flying Turns!
We got to sign some wood!
The tour went on a little bit longer than expected, but it was still really awesome and I am grateful they allowed us the chance to have that rare look at Flying Turns. I did learn a lot too, since I really didn't know anything about the coaster except that it's taking so damn long to construct!
After a great barbecue lunch and some awesome ice cream (coming from someone who doesn't even like ice cream), we whored Phoenix for the rest of the time we had there.
Once our unlimited rides expired at 2PM, we were off to Dorney where I was gonna hit my 300th cred!
Hello, Talon! I had always wanted to ride it, and it also has one of my favourite colour schemes of all time. It became my 300th coaster (pretty sure, I think I may have miscalculated and it might have been Hydra, but I'm fairly confident it was Talon).
Possessed was up first on our list of creds to get! It was awful and the holding brake made the worst sound ever.
It does have an amazing logo though!
Stinger decided it would be a spiteful cow.
Since it was gonna be closed for the rest of the day, we saw some ducks and went over to Steel Force and Thunderhawk.
I enjoyed Steel Force more than I expected to, especially considering how bad its counterpart is at World's of Fun, but Thunderhawk was a bit gross. We did try to trick some of the oncoming riders (Sue and Kim) into thinking it was going to be spectacular, but I don't think they bought it! I used the opportunity of waiting to take a photo with Jerry!
I was then reunited with Demon Drop, which scares the crap out of me but I rode it anyway!
Poor Andre got spited with his big shoulders!
Then, we rode Hydra, which wasn't nearly as bad as people say despite being a little bit forceless and a bit shaky. It was still a fun ride though, and I think some of us rerode it more than we rerode Talon.
I was eager to get my 300th on Talon, but not before posing for a picture by the sign!
It was definitely a good invert with good rerideability, but it wasn't mindblowing by any means. Still, better than my 100th (Raging Bull) and 200th (X:NWO) coasters!
We only had two creds left, which were the wild mouse and the kiddie cred. The kiddie cred was in Planet Snoopy, so off we went.
It was so painful for a kiddie credit, but that made it kind of hilarious. Watching people's reactions was great!
The Wild Mouse cars were JOKESS .
Some weirdos decided they wanted to ride the rapids and the chute-the-chute, even though it was really chilly outside! We got them with the water cannons though!
As if not wet enough, they then went on the rapids which got them even more soaked.
We then rerode a few things, such as Talon, Hydra, and Steel Force, as well as riding the Whip and both sides of the S&S Tower (well, some of us).
After a long day, we were all pretty hungry so we went to TGI Fridays, which had horrible service but decent food. I think myself, Jordan, and AJ ordered enough food to feed an African village. <3 Poor Rach had to go to the hospital though </3 We didn't get to our hotel until pretty late, but it was a fab one with a huge mirror and really comfortable beds.
The end!
.Dorney and Knoebels
After waiting for everyone to arrive and using the very cramped bathrooms, we were off to ride Phoenix. We all queued for the front car because that is obviously the best place on the coaster! Everyone seemed to like it, except Ciall who decided to throw a hilarious hissy fit because he was't prepared for the amount of airtime it produces.
It was a group decision to get the other creds first and have our exclusive tour of Flying Turns before reriding Phoenix, so we headed off to the Haunted Mansion and Black Diamond. I had been on the Haunted Mansion before, but it was so much better than I remembered it being! Oh yah, and on the way over to Black Diamond, there was a peachy little corn cob statue.
Despite being a cred in a shed, I quite liked Black Diamond. It reminds me of the Gold Mine thing at Blackpool, because even though it was sort of crap as far as coasters go, it was still fun with some good theming thrown in.
After Black Diamond, it was time for the Haunted Mansion.
By the following photo, I'm sure you can guess who was the only person unimpressed by it!
Next up was Twister, which I was never a fan of and still am not.
After some more bag antics with Ciall's bag, we rode the kiddie coaster, which is fab as always and Andre's armss flailing around gave me a good laugh
.
Then it was time for our tour of Flying Turns!
We got to sign some wood!
The tour went on a little bit longer than expected, but it was still really awesome and I am grateful they allowed us the chance to have that rare look at Flying Turns. I did learn a lot too, since I really didn't know anything about the coaster except that it's taking so damn long to construct!
After a great barbecue lunch and some awesome ice cream (coming from someone who doesn't even like ice cream), we whored Phoenix for the rest of the time we had there.
Once our unlimited rides expired at 2PM, we were off to Dorney where I was gonna hit my 300th cred!
Hello, Talon! I had always wanted to ride it, and it also has one of my favourite colour schemes of all time. It became my 300th coaster (pretty sure, I think I may have miscalculated and it might have been Hydra, but I'm fairly confident it was Talon).
Possessed was up first on our list of creds to get! It was awful and the holding brake made the worst sound ever.
It does have an amazing logo though!
Stinger decided it would be a spiteful cow.
Since it was gonna be closed for the rest of the day, we saw some ducks and went over to Steel Force and Thunderhawk.
I enjoyed Steel Force more than I expected to, especially considering how bad its counterpart is at World's of Fun, but Thunderhawk was a bit gross. We did try to trick some of the oncoming riders (Sue and Kim) into thinking it was going to be spectacular, but I don't think they bought it! I used the opportunity of waiting to take a photo with Jerry!
I was then reunited with Demon Drop, which scares the crap out of me but I rode it anyway!
Poor Andre got spited with his big shoulders!
Then, we rode Hydra, which wasn't nearly as bad as people say despite being a little bit forceless and a bit shaky. It was still a fun ride though, and I think some of us rerode it more than we rerode Talon.
I was eager to get my 300th on Talon, but not before posing for a picture by the sign!
It was definitely a good invert with good rerideability, but it wasn't mindblowing by any means. Still, better than my 100th (Raging Bull) and 200th (X:NWO) coasters!
We only had two creds left, which were the wild mouse and the kiddie cred. The kiddie cred was in Planet Snoopy, so off we went.
It was so painful for a kiddie credit, but that made it kind of hilarious. Watching people's reactions was great!
The Wild Mouse cars were JOKESS
.
Some weirdos decided they wanted to ride the rapids and the chute-the-chute, even though it was really chilly outside! We got them with the water cannons though!
As if not wet enough, they then went on the rapids which got them even more soaked.
We then rerode a few things, such as Talon, Hydra, and Steel Force, as well as riding the Whip and both sides of the S&S Tower (well, some of us).
After a long day, we were all pretty hungry so we went to TGI Fridays, which had horrible service but decent food. I think myself, Jordan, and AJ ordered enough food to feed an African village. <3 Poor Rach had to go to the hospital though </3 We didn't get to our hotel until pretty late, but it was a fab one with a huge mirror and really comfortable beds.
The end!
My camera got screwy with my GAdv photos too funnily! It wasn't until I was uploading them to FB that I realised half were missing. I done a file recovery on the memory card and located the buggers! Urgh, cameras!
I've been slacking and badly with these. I keep looking at the photos and wishing I had the time to type up all the reports to remember how amazing it was!
I have some time now and need something to cheer me up, so I'll continue with:
Day 2 - Six Flags New England
We were staying about half hours drive from New England, but I still woke up stupidly early even after the very long day the day before! I think it was a combination of jet lag and excitement that the trip was finally under way!
Anyway...
We left the hotel and headed for the park. It's just on the state line between Connecticut and Massachusetts and Ciall really wanted his picture taken with a sign saying Connecticut. So we stopped and done that.
On the other side of the road was something I've been looking forward to riding for a very long time! Really ever since I'd heard how good it was...
We entered the car park, paid the astronomical parking fee, applied the sun cream and got the worlds most laziest bus to the entrance!
Walk up the M&M stairs...
and see this on the other side of the bridge!
I've heard lots of things about Six Flags parks and their operations. Having never been to one, I didn't really know what to expect! I was also quite annoyed to find out that they had scheduled a Summer Kick off concert on the day we were there, with artists I actually knew like Carly Rae Jepsen and Flo Rida.
We entered the park and with a few stray food and drink items removed from our bags we proceeded into the park.
We needed to get our season passes processed too! €59 is an absolute bargain if you ask me for what it covers! However, I did wonder how long it was going to take to process 11 season passes baring in mind how long it takes at Merlin parks.
Pleased to say that despite the fact the line was out the door, all 11 were sorted in 15 minutes! Merlin take note of this!! With our information already entered, all we needed was the photo. You manually enter your details if you haven't done it online, then go to a desk, have the photo taken and viola, one pass!
Amazed at how quick it was, we were soon on our way to our first ride of the day! Because of how much of an unreliable POS GIB's are, we done that first!
New for 2012 and from SFMM, it was also my first GIB! I was expecting something hideous, but it wasn't actually that bad.
It was quite smooth, the holding brakes are one strange thing, especially looking directly at the floor, completely vertical.
I enjoyed the ride, all until I had to get off the thing! Hit my chin off the silly bar in the middle of the restraint, then managed to sustain some sort of friction burn/graze on the very top of my leg having got it caught trying to get off! It later turned into a bruise and graze which is STILL there! >.<
Our next stop was to be the Boomerang right next door to the GIB! On our way over to said machine, Peter correctly said that out of the 5 coasters we had so far rode on the trip, 3 of the coasters had been Boomerangs!
Joy!
It wasn't actually too bad for a Boomerang, but simply another +1 for the old count! I managed to get on a train straight away which meant I could go and invest in water because it was stiflingly hot for half 10 that morning!
Next on the list was Pandemonium! A Gerstlauer spinner and the first of its kind for me! Managed to share a car with a rather large lady and thought we were in for a pretty decent spin! However, this didn't happen and only light spinning happened!
Moving our way around the park, next was the Rapids! These looked very good! Spoilt only slightly by the fact that there was no way you could move around to avoid waterfalls thanks to a seatbelt and a safety bar!
Half the fun is trying to get away from the fountains.
With the heat though, it wasn't actually that bad and they were very wet! Some of the better rapids out there for sure!
Carrying on around this little area of the park, we noticed Catapult, the only other S&S Squirrel in the world! I sat this out thinking it looked if possible more vile than Slammer.
I'm glad I did as this was the first ride we discovered the LOVELY ride ops that work at New England! Lindsey was clearly there to try and hurt has many people as possible by stapling them to a point of not being able to breathe!
Very glad I didn't bother with this one! Her name was first on the list of staff members that are the reason behind why SF parks are so disliked!
This was next door, so we rode this next!
A classic old American woodie, what could possibly go wrong here?! Oh EVERYTHING!
The ride was firstly running 1 train when we got in the queue! WHY on a day when they know it's going to be busy because of the bloody concert, I'll never know!
Anyway, we get in the station, only for it to stop running with no explanation of why! They were in fact adding the 2nd train on as they queue was becoming far too long on 1 train op!
They add the 2nd train on, and some 10 minutes later send it out on a test cycle. Now loading recommences and on the 1st train!
2nd train returns, and the 1st goes. 2nd train sits empty and goes out empty again. Repeat this process 6 time! By which time, we'd just got on!
We'd spent 20 minutes outside, the 30 in the **** station!
And the experience with the staff on that ride doesn't end there! Mason, who was the worst member of staff I have ever encountered at a theme park! He was checking the left side of the train, racing his colleague on the right to get it done the quickest.
He achieved this by pulling the seatbelt as much as it would go, then push the restraint into you so violently it hurts then have the delight of hitting me on my chest with his hand and head with lanyard!
Not impressed!
The ride experience had been hampered by that experience in the station. The ride itself was actually quite good and enjoyable. Nice airtime, quite smooth and a good layout. Shame about the staff!
It was time for lunch now! This was the first experience of just how plus sized everything in America seems to be! A ceaser salad, chips & onion rings set me back $12 (reasonable actually) but couldn't finish more than half of it for the size!
Time was started to tick by now and still had over half the park to do! There was also a storm forecast for 4pm which would probably mean everything shut down whilst it was passing through!
We done the Kiddie coaster first which we created a queue for! A surprisingly little forceful coaster, but no more than a +1 for the old count.
We were heading over to Bizarro, but got Thunderbolt out the way first! The queue was of a reasonable size and moved considerably quicker than I thought it would for 1 trip op!
We could see people heading down to the concert area as it was fastly approaching 3 when the gates opened for it!
Thunderbolt was actually a really good little woodie! Not rough in the slightest, forceful and some nice pops of airtime!
The sky was starting to darken and with an hour to go before the forecast storm would hit us, we swiftly moved over to Bizarro! Finally, the 1 coaster in the whole park most of us had been looking forward to riding!
We dropped our bags off in the lockers which wasn't as much of a faff as I thought it was going to be! Probably as there was so many of us with bags, we could shove them in a couple of lockers and be done!
As soon as we entered the queue, got hit with queue jumpers who seemed insistant of getting past us! We weren't having none of it! They tried, and failed! Security guards that should stop this sort of thing happening and placed on high chairs over the queue and when we called Jose over he didn't seem to give a flying **** about it and retreated back to his chair!
Member of staff #3 that makes SF parks so bad!
The queue was around 40 minutes when we got in it! However, bang on 4pm, the rain started and the ride shut down as did everything else in the park.
Happily, we were in the covered bit of the station, so it didn't bother us too much! Lots of people left the queue which meant we moved further into the queue and out the wet.
It wasn't raining as much as we thought it was going to, however, it was the thunder and lightning that closed the ride.
Within half hour, the rain had subsided and the park started moving again.
We were almost in the station when the ride re-opened. Another 15 minutes and we had all managed to get on and on the back car of the ride!
Oh Intamin you do make some joyful coasters <3
Bizarro was full of win. Epic amount of airtime, smooth as a babies bottom and lot of speed and force! So good <3
We made a plan to get all the bigger coasters done just incase another storm was to pass over us and cause us more delay!
So with that in mind, we headed over to Batman having finally felt an adrenaline rush from Bizarro and a kick of much needed enthusiasm and energy! A B&M was the only way of adding to this!
This was to be my first floorless as well so I was quite looking forward to getting on it. We dumped our bags once again in a locker and headed for the queue! It was walk on!
The ride was pretty bland for a B&M, just a fun little ride really. But nothing to really write home about. I enjoyed it though!
Right next to Batman is Mind Eraser, the first of the SLCs that would grace us with their existence!
I don't find SLCs that bad if I'm honest, I find if I brace myself in one position with my head on one side of the restraint, it doesn't hurt!
With that in mind, Mind Eraser wasn't actually that bad a coaster! Not the best, but not the worst SLC out there either!
I sometimes find that they can actually be quite a forceful coaster and quite enjoyable when you remove the head banging from the situation!
We now only had 2 coasters to get and the park was done!
We decided to do the Tivoli Large next in the form of Catwoman's Whip. It was just another +1 coaster and nothing special at all!
The queue however did provide some nice photos of Bizarro which'll help to break this block of text up!
So our last coaster of the park was Gotham City Guantlet: Escape from Arkham Asylum! Or the ride with the longest name: in the world!
It's a bog standard Wild Mouse!
Just incase you want to impress your friends at NE, there are plenty of these signs on all the rides, just incase!
It was your average Wild Mouse and nothing else really to say about it other than that!
So that was all the coasters done! In all, the only real thing worth re-riding or even making a return visit for would be Bizarro. Because it is epic!
So for the rest of the night, it was time to re-ride that!
The first ride we had was another back row ride which was yet again another brilliant ride on it! The airtime is brilliant and the ride audio really helps to build up a good feeling and excitement about the ride! It really is just brilliant!
We ended up faffing a little after that ride! With a toilet break, a look in the tat shop and waiting for Dan to get off his front row ride!
We lost Ciall and Jer who had gone around for another ride, it was at this point that Ciall ended up being hit by some silly queue jumping women, but at least this time the security did kick them out the queue.
By now night was coming and so night rides could happen. We got back in the queue for Bizarro and the heavens opened once again!
However, this was just rain and no storm, so they kept it open!
It was time to get a ride on it at the front. Although we did end up getting queue jumped by Carly and some other performers from the concert! I think Ciall nearly may actually have had an orgasm at the time :lol:
The rain was throwing it down, but I wasn't going to let that stop me!
When we got on, we could see how wet the seats and restraints were and that this was going to be some ride!
Sure enough, it was! OMG, the speed, the airtime, the rain, the pitch black darkness just made it one incredible experience and a rather moist one at that!
Rain was pouring down my face and it was like needles, but it was A MAZ ING!
Have to thank Tay for lending me your hoodie though, I was a little cold after coming off it! The picture of us drowned rats needs to show its face soon!
It was now time to head for the exit and onwards to New York. But first it was time to wander around the tat shop! The quality of the tat in American parks is epic and no wonder I came home an extra 7 kilos of tat!
So that was NE! The park isn't brilliant and the staff are pretty vile. Bizarro is really the only reason to return. A good day never the less and properly showed what American parks are like; lots of coasters and not much else!
Us drowned rats then headed for Wendy's where we ended up having crappy drive through food before heading to NY!
Things were only going to head downhill from here as we approached the joyful city of New York!
To be continued..
And continue...
So Day 3 - New York
You know things are going to take a turn for the worse when Wendy's is involved and sure enough things took a particular nose dive!
Rich's car arrived at the hotel just before 1am, the drive had been long, but uneventful. We arrived, parked the car on the corner, unloaded the car and headed in the hotel/hostel.
We got in to find one of the rooms had been given away because of the lateness of our arrival, meaning we were stuck with 3 rooms, and 2 beds in 2 other rooms.
Deciding to wait for the others to sort this out, we sat and waited. The bloke at the hotel did point out to us that if we left our car there, it wouldn't be there later! Nice man told us this just in time as when Rich moved the thing, the tow truck was at the end of the road.
We waited a good hour, gradually falling asleep, before the other car arrived. When it did, the rooms were sorted and a measly 4 hours of sleep was next!
The room was the most basic thing ever, bunk bed and a sink! Nout else, but it served its purpose! It was also handy that their were two bathrooms on our floor when Sue occupies one for the best part of 45mins!
Good morning New York!
I ended up going downstairs early and abusing the free wi-fi at the hotel while the others sorted other bits out.
It was then we realised we were missing two quite significant things; the cars!
Me, Peter, Ciall, Rich and Sue wandered around a few blocks to see if we could find Sue's car - it was a mystery as to where it was parked. Nothing surfaced. The Swedes car was sadly the one Rich had seen being towed as he got that one out the way!
We retired back to the hotel, now 2 cars short and no idea where the hell they were! We needed internet, so I grabbed my tablet and started work!
Some time later we had some phone numbers and addresses of the 4 tow pounds in NY, a few phone calls later, we realised they hadn't been processed and to try later!
Giving up, we headed out for Coney Island, it was pissing it down and not very nice out, but we still headed down.
We jumped on the Subway and was there in about 50 minutes.
We arrived pretty much on the 12 opening time, but it was dead!
Things didn't look good at all, it was just eerily quiet. We checked the opening times and it did say 12pm, but no movement. There was some grumpy wet staff hanging around the main entrance into the Luna Park part who said it wouldn't be opening at all today because of the weather.
So we gave up with that! Moral was generally low after the late night, cars and the weather.
We got some food from the Subway station and then headed back into New York. Most annoyingly, the weather gradually improved as we headed away from Coney Island, but the resulting no, we're not opening at all just made us think **** it on making a return visit!
So the rest of the day was to be spent sightseeing in New York.
We got the Subway to Battery Park for the Statue of Liberty, by the time we got there, the weather had improved and now umbrellas weren't required.
I had no desire to see the Statue of Lib up close, so seeing it from Battery Park was as good as I wanted it to be!
Maybe on a return trip to New York, I'll go to the Island, but on this trip, seeing it was good enough.
We continued to wander around near Battery Park and came across the Sphere that once used to stand in the plaza of the WTCs before the fatal day.
In the distance, you could see the progress on the new towers.
With New York being so vast and everyone having different things that we wanted to do, we made a plan and stuck with it. The plan pretty much involved wandering around New York and going to Ground Zero, seeing the Empire State, Brooklyn Bridge and Times Square with a bit of other stuff on the way.
We walked away from Battery Park and headed in the general direction of Ground Zero.
The construction of the new towers really does dominate the skyline around that area, but it was great to finally see this for myself. It was very eerily quite all around the area considering you're right in the heart of New York!
For Ground Zero there is now a 9/11 Memorial area for people to go in. The queue was a little insane, but it had to be done.
The Memorial is an outdoor area that has been dedicated to the victims of 9/11 but incorporated into the new build area as well.
It was one of those really moving moments when you stand there are realise what happened there 11 years ago and how far it has come since.
Two pools are the main focal point of the memorial, one for each of the Towers. The pools represent each tower and are where they once stood. Names are engraved around each one to remember those that were taken on the day.
You are standing in this complex, there is complete silence all around with the occasional noise escaping from the construction that's going on all around you.
Moving on from the pools towards the exit now. There is a small gift shop and museum that you exit into. There is a timeline that runs around the wall that ran through the series of events on the day. A video was also played from those people who lost loved ones on the day.
I don't think I was the only one really quite moved by what was there. It was very difficult to try and hold it together. Seeing it for yourself is something different to hearing about it.
The museum had a fair amount of stuff on display that had been recovered from the wreckage. This included money, forms of ID, wedding rings, helmets (see above) and wallets.
We moved onwards then. That experience had really moved me, but it's something that I was so glad we done!
We next ended up in the worlds longest queue for the toilets! I think me, Jordan & Taylor stood for a good 20 minutes in the queue! Women!! >.<
When we eventually got out of Burger King, we started the rest of our walking tour around the city taking in the sights and the atmosphere!
The first thing we came across was Brooklyn Bridge. Not really wanting to get much closer to it than we were, we all settled for photos similar to this:
There were so many funky shaped buildings in NY, like this one:
There were also important buildings like this:
And notable buildings like this one:
We continued walking in the general direction of the Empire State before we stopped for a sit down in a park!
I love that in American, Wi-Fi is everywhere - including in parks, so we could try and find something out about the cars. We still hadn't heard back from Sue or the Swedes and were beginning to get a little worried.
Still no luck in either, so we continued onwards thinking if they needed our help, they would've called by now.
We decided against going up the Empire State as it had gone up a ridiculous amount since others had last been to the city. On my return, I will go up me thinks to see the full city! But not on this trip.
So instead of that, we headed for Times Square, the last place we wanted to see before calling it a day of sightseeing.
We walked a little more, me now getting sick of being asked by Americans where I got my pants from!! It had happened a fair amount by now! Tip, don't wear American star and stripe jeans when walking around NY!
So we hit Times Square:
We had a wander into Toys'R'Us because it's so big and has the wheel inside it!
We left the shop into the arms of an Elmo ranting about not buying Leapfrog products and some guy trying to sell us Comedy night tickets.
We headed up towards the far end of Times Square.
We sat on the steps from a while taking in the area. It was so amazing, you don't actually know where to look!
We wandered into the tat shop! How much I <3 NY stuff can you actually buy?! Well the answer is lots! I ended up with shot glasses and a snow globe!
We'd lost Dan who had wandered off. Thankfully, he managed to get my number from Sue and contacted us, he was on his way back to the hotel! Relief!
We were having dinner at Carnegie Deli, so we wandered up to that. Got side tracked on the way by M&M world. Lots of M&Ms, shot glasses and shoe laces were purchased before going up to the Deli.
I have to say, the Deli looked very impressive, but seriously the food was DIRE! (Well what I had was!)
A chicken salad 'sandwich' if you can call it that, looked like something I feed my cat which had then been thrown back up! It was vile, horrid texture and taste!
The cheesecakes did look epic! But the one spoonful I had was very heavy! Couldn't have eaten more than that! Was quite glad to get out of there!
By now, we'd finally heard from Sue and the car's had been found and released at a cost of $185 per car! Damn!
Despite the fact the day started off really badly, it turned into a really good day! I loved New York and can't wait to go back one day! It was also nice to do something cultural as part of a big CF trip. I saw all of what I wanted to and really enjoyed taking a break from coasters and get ready for the rest of the trip!
It was also by now that the dreaded ear ache had started to appear on me, which would hinder the next two days of the trip...
So Day 3 - New York
You know things are going to take a turn for the worse when Wendy's is involved and sure enough things took a particular nose dive!
Rich's car arrived at the hotel just before 1am, the drive had been long, but uneventful. We arrived, parked the car on the corner, unloaded the car and headed in the hotel/hostel.
We got in to find one of the rooms had been given away because of the lateness of our arrival, meaning we were stuck with 3 rooms, and 2 beds in 2 other rooms.
Deciding to wait for the others to sort this out, we sat and waited. The bloke at the hotel did point out to us that if we left our car there, it wouldn't be there later! Nice man told us this just in time as when Rich moved the thing, the tow truck was at the end of the road.
We waited a good hour, gradually falling asleep, before the other car arrived. When it did, the rooms were sorted and a measly 4 hours of sleep was next!
The room was the most basic thing ever, bunk bed and a sink! Nout else, but it served its purpose! It was also handy that their were two bathrooms on our floor when Sue occupies one for the best part of 45mins!
Good morning New York!
I ended up going downstairs early and abusing the free wi-fi at the hotel while the others sorted other bits out.
It was then we realised we were missing two quite significant things; the cars!
Me, Peter, Ciall, Rich and Sue wandered around a few blocks to see if we could find Sue's car - it was a mystery as to where it was parked. Nothing surfaced. The Swedes car was sadly the one Rich had seen being towed as he got that one out the way!
We retired back to the hotel, now 2 cars short and no idea where the hell they were! We needed internet, so I grabbed my tablet and started work!
Some time later we had some phone numbers and addresses of the 4 tow pounds in NY, a few phone calls later, we realised they hadn't been processed and to try later!
Giving up, we headed out for Coney Island, it was pissing it down and not very nice out, but we still headed down.
We jumped on the Subway and was there in about 50 minutes.
We arrived pretty much on the 12 opening time, but it was dead!
Things didn't look good at all, it was just eerily quiet. We checked the opening times and it did say 12pm, but no movement. There was some grumpy wet staff hanging around the main entrance into the Luna Park part who said it wouldn't be opening at all today because of the weather.
So we gave up with that! Moral was generally low after the late night, cars and the weather.
We got some food from the Subway station and then headed back into New York. Most annoyingly, the weather gradually improved as we headed away from Coney Island, but the resulting no, we're not opening at all just made us think **** it on making a return visit!
So the rest of the day was to be spent sightseeing in New York.
We got the Subway to Battery Park for the Statue of Liberty, by the time we got there, the weather had improved and now umbrellas weren't required.
I had no desire to see the Statue of Lib up close, so seeing it from Battery Park was as good as I wanted it to be!
Maybe on a return trip to New York, I'll go to the Island, but on this trip, seeing it was good enough.
We continued to wander around near Battery Park and came across the Sphere that once used to stand in the plaza of the WTCs before the fatal day.
In the distance, you could see the progress on the new towers.
With New York being so vast and everyone having different things that we wanted to do, we made a plan and stuck with it. The plan pretty much involved wandering around New York and going to Ground Zero, seeing the Empire State, Brooklyn Bridge and Times Square with a bit of other stuff on the way.
We walked away from Battery Park and headed in the general direction of Ground Zero.
The construction of the new towers really does dominate the skyline around that area, but it was great to finally see this for myself. It was very eerily quite all around the area considering you're right in the heart of New York!
For Ground Zero there is now a 9/11 Memorial area for people to go in. The queue was a little insane, but it had to be done.
The Memorial is an outdoor area that has been dedicated to the victims of 9/11 but incorporated into the new build area as well.
It was one of those really moving moments when you stand there are realise what happened there 11 years ago and how far it has come since.
Two pools are the main focal point of the memorial, one for each of the Towers. The pools represent each tower and are where they once stood. Names are engraved around each one to remember those that were taken on the day.
You are standing in this complex, there is complete silence all around with the occasional noise escaping from the construction that's going on all around you.
Moving on from the pools towards the exit now. There is a small gift shop and museum that you exit into. There is a timeline that runs around the wall that ran through the series of events on the day. A video was also played from those people who lost loved ones on the day.
I don't think I was the only one really quite moved by what was there. It was very difficult to try and hold it together. Seeing it for yourself is something different to hearing about it.
The museum had a fair amount of stuff on display that had been recovered from the wreckage. This included money, forms of ID, wedding rings, helmets (see above) and wallets.
We moved onwards then. That experience had really moved me, but it's something that I was so glad we done!
We next ended up in the worlds longest queue for the toilets! I think me, Jordan & Taylor stood for a good 20 minutes in the queue! Women!! >.<
When we eventually got out of Burger King, we started the rest of our walking tour around the city taking in the sights and the atmosphere!
The first thing we came across was Brooklyn Bridge. Not really wanting to get much closer to it than we were, we all settled for photos similar to this:
There were so many funky shaped buildings in NY, like this one:
There were also important buildings like this:
And notable buildings like this one:
We continued walking in the general direction of the Empire State before we stopped for a sit down in a park!
I love that in American, Wi-Fi is everywhere - including in parks, so we could try and find something out about the cars. We still hadn't heard back from Sue or the Swedes and were beginning to get a little worried.
Still no luck in either, so we continued onwards thinking if they needed our help, they would've called by now.
We decided against going up the Empire State as it had gone up a ridiculous amount since others had last been to the city. On my return, I will go up me thinks to see the full city! But not on this trip.
So instead of that, we headed for Times Square, the last place we wanted to see before calling it a day of sightseeing.
We walked a little more, me now getting sick of being asked by Americans where I got my pants from!! It had happened a fair amount by now! Tip, don't wear American star and stripe jeans when walking around NY!
So we hit Times Square:
We had a wander into Toys'R'Us because it's so big and has the wheel inside it!
We left the shop into the arms of an Elmo ranting about not buying Leapfrog products and some guy trying to sell us Comedy night tickets.
We headed up towards the far end of Times Square.
We sat on the steps from a while taking in the area. It was so amazing, you don't actually know where to look!
We wandered into the tat shop! How much I <3 NY stuff can you actually buy?! Well the answer is lots! I ended up with shot glasses and a snow globe!
We'd lost Dan who had wandered off. Thankfully, he managed to get my number from Sue and contacted us, he was on his way back to the hotel! Relief!
We were having dinner at Carnegie Deli, so we wandered up to that. Got side tracked on the way by M&M world. Lots of M&Ms, shot glasses and shoe laces were purchased before going up to the Deli.
I have to say, the Deli looked very impressive, but seriously the food was DIRE! (Well what I had was!)
A chicken salad 'sandwich' if you can call it that, looked like something I feed my cat which had then been thrown back up! It was vile, horrid texture and taste!
The cheesecakes did look epic! But the one spoonful I had was very heavy! Couldn't have eaten more than that! Was quite glad to get out of there!
By now, we'd finally heard from Sue and the car's had been found and released at a cost of $185 per car! Damn!
Despite the fact the day started off really badly, it turned into a really good day! I loved New York and can't wait to go back one day! It was also nice to do something cultural as part of a big CF trip. I saw all of what I wanted to and really enjoyed taking a break from coasters and get ready for the rest of the trip!
It was also by now that the dreaded ear ache had started to appear on me, which would hinder the next two days of the trip...
caffeine_demon
Strata Poster
Curses to missing out on m and m world!! I <3 peanut butter mnms!
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
Love your reports so far, Rach! I have to get back to doing mine as well. I really think the NYC day turned out better than most of us were expecting it to after the mishaps of the night before and the morning. I expected it to piss down all day and for everyone to be gross and grumpy after Coney, but I think for the size of the group we had, we did everything that everyone wanted to, so yay. It was definitely different to do something like that with CFers, as the only other time I really did anything cultural with a large group of us was in Italy, and I really did enjoy it!
^ It was certainly one of the best days! It was just so nice wandering around and seeing some of the sites! NY <3
So then, another weekend, another day...
Day 4 - Great Adventure
I woke up that morning with a head splitting ear ache and just hoping that the Neurofen I had drugged myself up with would remove it from my system. But anyway, as well as waking up that morning thinking that, it was also OMG, Great Adventure!!
So we loaded up the cars and headed out of New York and onwards to New Jersey! I've wanted to go to GAdv for so long because of Ka and Toro, so I was just a little bit excited!
Getting out of New York was a bit of a ball ache, but we soon got out and the Manhattan skyline was just a distant memory! We're heading south and hopefully for some better weather!
So we drove and drove a bit more and soon enough arrived at the park! What is quite weird is despite the fact that the park hosts a 456' coaster, you can't see it until you're in the bloody car park!
We parked up, and headed into the park! The car park overlooks the vast majority of the park, so you can see pretty much all the creds before you're in the park!!
We had lost the Swedes and spent a good 20 minutes waiting for them to arrive! When they eventually did, we headed straight into the park! The opening hours were not in our favor with the vast amount of creds that there were to obtain!
Instead of heading to Superman which would be the logical thing to do if you get there for opening, we headed towards Nitro and that end of the park!
My first impressions of GAdv were very good, the park looked like people actually care about it unlike the other SF parks we went to!
So then Nitro would be our first cred of the day, a good hour after arriving! Nitro would also be my first B&M hyper which I was quite excited about!
We all headed for the back row as this is supposedly where the coaster rides the best! I love the clamshell restraints, there's so much room!
After sticking my stomach out to stop the restraint coming down further, we departed the station! Slid back in the seat and there was a huge amount of space between me and the bar!
Nitro was a huge surprise, the airtime is plentyfull and there's some great forces! It was a really enjoyable coaster and one of the biggest surprises on the whole trip! <3
Sitting next door to Nitro is Batman! This would also be my first of the Batman clones out there and had heard that they are surprisingly forceful!
Not feeling like having my intestines sucked out (I wasn't feeling 100% anyway this day..) I rode the front!
And I thought Nemesis was forceful! Well in comparison to Batman, it isn't! Even on the front the forces could be felt strongly!
It was yet another good little coaster that packed a good punch! And that's coming from someone who isn't the biggest B&M fan!
So so far so good, 2 good B&Ms ticked off, but it was clearly all about the Intamins here
We decided to leave the other creds in the area until later! They were indoor and so we left them just incase the heavens opened! It did look like it possibly could!
So we headed for the rest of the park. We decided to get Superman over and done with now. The queue was quite burdenous as the dispatching isn't as efficient as what it is on Air! The queue, however, still did move and at quite a good pace considering...
When we got in the station, I must've seen at least 3 people do the dreaded walk of shame!
I wasn't the biggest fan of Superman. Air is certainly the better of the flyers!
That pretzel loop is not one of my favourite elements at all! It does just feel like a elephant has decided to take up residence on your chest for the time you're flying through it! After that, the rest of the ride just dies off and nothing special at all!
We saw something we didn't like whilst queuing for Superman, it would appear that El Toro was very much shut! This did not make us happy AT ALL!
We took a look at Green Lantern's queue and decided to give it a miss and come back later. So instead, we headed over to the far side of the park and in the general direction of Ka!
We dumped the bags in the lockers and headed into the queue! Really, the only place to ride this beast was at the front, so we all queued for that!
I'm very pleased to say that despite the dire staff at NE, the staff here are wonderful! They caught someone queue jumping and quickly directed him out the queue and gave him a good talking to! It's nice to see that some parks actually do care and will kick people out when it does happen!
I was so looking forward to this, and after about a 20 minute queue we were on! What an incredible ride! The launch is so powerful it properly takes your breath away! I didn't like the face wobble though due to the speed and wind involved! It was a funny sensation!
It climbs that top hat so bloody quickly that you only have a second to catch your breath before falling back to earth promptly!
Being an Intamin fan and an accelerator fan, this was amazing! Gutted we only got to do it once as it was fab <3
Amazing <3
We called lunch next as hunger was paramount! We had some good old fashioned park food with chips and kebabs! Not the best in the world, I'll be honest!
Time was ticking on, so we headed for the next cred! This would be Rolling Thunder! Carefully constructed right next to the ever spiteful El Toro....
Rolling Thunder also spited us of 1 cred as it was only running 1 side! I'm actually quite glad of that as it wasn't very nice at all and very rickerty!
Why are most of the woodies in America destined to try and make you hurt as much as possible?! It didn't help the ear ache at all!
We then saw this...
:cry:
We swiftly walked away from it and headed for Bizarro! Another floorless of the trip and probably the one I was most looking forward to riding!
The queue was quite nice to us actually! So we were on pretty quickly! But it is just a big free for all in the station! Most of the queue you spend in the bloody station!
They were running 3 trains and the stacking was quite substantial!
I was pleasantly surprised by Bizarro, it is no where near as good as it's same-named coaster at NE, but good nonetheless!
The speakers and audio do add quite a nice element to the ride, but does help when they are both working!
Time was really against us now and we still had creds to get! So so many creds and not a fat lot of time to do them all!
We done the Mine Train next which was thankfully walk on! All is going well until that silly airtime hill which tries to cripple you! That was simply another +1 for the old count!
We got the cable car back over to the other side of the park by Nitro and Batman for the indoor coasters there! The rain had held off all day, so we decided now was a good time to get these out the way!
Skull Mountain was to be our first stop!
It was a fairly decent indoor coaster with a good amount of speed! But nothing really else to write home about! It was certainly one of the better indoor coasters I've been on!
Next up would be The Dark Knight coaster! And my only experience with the usual kind of staff SF employ! The pre show is quite good and then you make your way into a small queue to get on the coaster!
I actually quite enjoyed it, there's a lot more speed to it than other Wild Mouse coasters! There's no whipping around the corners trying to bruise your sides either!
My only complaint would be the bloody staff member stapling me so much that the restraint was as far down as it could possibly go even without a human being inbetween the seat and the restraint! Breathing is something I like to be able to do!
They asked us if we wanted a re-ride, we declined in favor of breathing again!
Time was really against us now, we still had Green Lantern to get and then hopefully some re-rides! So we headed over to Green Lantern!
Jerry bag ladyed and settled himself in for a nice long wait! Only for the coaster to be walk on!
I was very much surprised by Green Lantern! For a stand up, it's very very smooth and doesn't try to rape you of any vital organs! It is also very forceful! I came off with jelly legs from the forces!
A very enjoyable coaster and another that surprised me! It's a shame that none of the others are as good as what that one is!
We still had 45 minutes until park close, so decided on some re-rides! I really wanted to go back on Ka, so headed over there! Only to find it had just done an Intamin and gone down!
Instead of that then, we headed back over to the other side of the park and to Nitro where the rest of the group were!
It was as good as the first ride, if not slightly better! We were going to go around for another go, however, the ops had closed the ride before 6 so no more rerides for us!
We exited the park via the tat shop! There was an obscene amount of shot glasses in there and I ended up leaving there with 7 different Great Adventure ones! But I do love my shot glasses <3
I really enjoyed GAdv despite the fact that Toro spited! There were some good surprise coasters like Nitro and Green Lantern and Ka blew me away!
The staff were so much nicer, there was clearly a lot of care in the park which is something that was lacking in the other 2 we visited!
A return visit is certainly in order, and probably next year!
So we headed for our hotel near Dorney!
As it was Peter's birthday, we went out to an Italian for a meal! That place was amazing! The food was great, the staff were awesome. There was also a lot of food and I don't think anyone could manage to eat everything! But it was so bloody nice!
Then there was Ice Cream cake which was even better despite there being no room for it!
We headed back to the hotel! I spent some time on my tablet and hoping that my ear ache which had now got a point of being unbearable would subside over night! Sadly I was wrong...
To be continued...
So then, another weekend, another day...
Day 4 - Great Adventure
I woke up that morning with a head splitting ear ache and just hoping that the Neurofen I had drugged myself up with would remove it from my system. But anyway, as well as waking up that morning thinking that, it was also OMG, Great Adventure!!
So we loaded up the cars and headed out of New York and onwards to New Jersey! I've wanted to go to GAdv for so long because of Ka and Toro, so I was just a little bit excited!
Getting out of New York was a bit of a ball ache, but we soon got out and the Manhattan skyline was just a distant memory! We're heading south and hopefully for some better weather!
So we drove and drove a bit more and soon enough arrived at the park! What is quite weird is despite the fact that the park hosts a 456' coaster, you can't see it until you're in the bloody car park!
We parked up, and headed into the park! The car park overlooks the vast majority of the park, so you can see pretty much all the creds before you're in the park!!
We had lost the Swedes and spent a good 20 minutes waiting for them to arrive! When they eventually did, we headed straight into the park! The opening hours were not in our favor with the vast amount of creds that there were to obtain!
Instead of heading to Superman which would be the logical thing to do if you get there for opening, we headed towards Nitro and that end of the park!
My first impressions of GAdv were very good, the park looked like people actually care about it unlike the other SF parks we went to!
So then Nitro would be our first cred of the day, a good hour after arriving! Nitro would also be my first B&M hyper which I was quite excited about!
We all headed for the back row as this is supposedly where the coaster rides the best! I love the clamshell restraints, there's so much room!
After sticking my stomach out to stop the restraint coming down further, we departed the station! Slid back in the seat and there was a huge amount of space between me and the bar!
Nitro was a huge surprise, the airtime is plentyfull and there's some great forces! It was a really enjoyable coaster and one of the biggest surprises on the whole trip! <3
Sitting next door to Nitro is Batman! This would also be my first of the Batman clones out there and had heard that they are surprisingly forceful!
Not feeling like having my intestines sucked out (I wasn't feeling 100% anyway this day..) I rode the front!
And I thought Nemesis was forceful! Well in comparison to Batman, it isn't! Even on the front the forces could be felt strongly!
It was yet another good little coaster that packed a good punch! And that's coming from someone who isn't the biggest B&M fan!
So so far so good, 2 good B&Ms ticked off, but it was clearly all about the Intamins here
We decided to leave the other creds in the area until later! They were indoor and so we left them just incase the heavens opened! It did look like it possibly could!
So we headed for the rest of the park. We decided to get Superman over and done with now. The queue was quite burdenous as the dispatching isn't as efficient as what it is on Air! The queue, however, still did move and at quite a good pace considering...
When we got in the station, I must've seen at least 3 people do the dreaded walk of shame!
I wasn't the biggest fan of Superman. Air is certainly the better of the flyers!
That pretzel loop is not one of my favourite elements at all! It does just feel like a elephant has decided to take up residence on your chest for the time you're flying through it! After that, the rest of the ride just dies off and nothing special at all!
We saw something we didn't like whilst queuing for Superman, it would appear that El Toro was very much shut! This did not make us happy AT ALL!
We took a look at Green Lantern's queue and decided to give it a miss and come back later. So instead, we headed over to the far side of the park and in the general direction of Ka!
We dumped the bags in the lockers and headed into the queue! Really, the only place to ride this beast was at the front, so we all queued for that!
I'm very pleased to say that despite the dire staff at NE, the staff here are wonderful! They caught someone queue jumping and quickly directed him out the queue and gave him a good talking to! It's nice to see that some parks actually do care and will kick people out when it does happen!
I was so looking forward to this, and after about a 20 minute queue we were on! What an incredible ride! The launch is so powerful it properly takes your breath away! I didn't like the face wobble though due to the speed and wind involved! It was a funny sensation!
It climbs that top hat so bloody quickly that you only have a second to catch your breath before falling back to earth promptly!
Being an Intamin fan and an accelerator fan, this was amazing! Gutted we only got to do it once as it was fab <3
Amazing <3
We called lunch next as hunger was paramount! We had some good old fashioned park food with chips and kebabs! Not the best in the world, I'll be honest!
Time was ticking on, so we headed for the next cred! This would be Rolling Thunder! Carefully constructed right next to the ever spiteful El Toro....
Rolling Thunder also spited us of 1 cred as it was only running 1 side! I'm actually quite glad of that as it wasn't very nice at all and very rickerty!
Why are most of the woodies in America destined to try and make you hurt as much as possible?! It didn't help the ear ache at all!
We then saw this...
:cry:
We swiftly walked away from it and headed for Bizarro! Another floorless of the trip and probably the one I was most looking forward to riding!
The queue was quite nice to us actually! So we were on pretty quickly! But it is just a big free for all in the station! Most of the queue you spend in the bloody station!
They were running 3 trains and the stacking was quite substantial!
I was pleasantly surprised by Bizarro, it is no where near as good as it's same-named coaster at NE, but good nonetheless!
The speakers and audio do add quite a nice element to the ride, but does help when they are both working!
Time was really against us now and we still had creds to get! So so many creds and not a fat lot of time to do them all!
We done the Mine Train next which was thankfully walk on! All is going well until that silly airtime hill which tries to cripple you! That was simply another +1 for the old count!
We got the cable car back over to the other side of the park by Nitro and Batman for the indoor coasters there! The rain had held off all day, so we decided now was a good time to get these out the way!
Skull Mountain was to be our first stop!
It was a fairly decent indoor coaster with a good amount of speed! But nothing really else to write home about! It was certainly one of the better indoor coasters I've been on!
Next up would be The Dark Knight coaster! And my only experience with the usual kind of staff SF employ! The pre show is quite good and then you make your way into a small queue to get on the coaster!
I actually quite enjoyed it, there's a lot more speed to it than other Wild Mouse coasters! There's no whipping around the corners trying to bruise your sides either!
My only complaint would be the bloody staff member stapling me so much that the restraint was as far down as it could possibly go even without a human being inbetween the seat and the restraint! Breathing is something I like to be able to do!
They asked us if we wanted a re-ride, we declined in favor of breathing again!
Time was really against us now, we still had Green Lantern to get and then hopefully some re-rides! So we headed over to Green Lantern!
Jerry bag ladyed and settled himself in for a nice long wait! Only for the coaster to be walk on!
I was very much surprised by Green Lantern! For a stand up, it's very very smooth and doesn't try to rape you of any vital organs! It is also very forceful! I came off with jelly legs from the forces!
A very enjoyable coaster and another that surprised me! It's a shame that none of the others are as good as what that one is!
We still had 45 minutes until park close, so decided on some re-rides! I really wanted to go back on Ka, so headed over there! Only to find it had just done an Intamin and gone down!
Instead of that then, we headed back over to the other side of the park and to Nitro where the rest of the group were!
It was as good as the first ride, if not slightly better! We were going to go around for another go, however, the ops had closed the ride before 6
so no more rerides for us!
We exited the park via the tat shop! There was an obscene amount of shot glasses in there and I ended up leaving there with 7 different Great Adventure ones! But I do love my shot glasses <3
I really enjoyed GAdv despite the fact that Toro spited! There were some good surprise coasters like Nitro and Green Lantern and Ka blew me away!
The staff were so much nicer, there was clearly a lot of care in the park which is something that was lacking in the other 2 we visited!
A return visit is certainly in order, and probably next year!
So we headed for our hotel near Dorney!
As it was Peter's birthday, we went out to an Italian for a meal! That place was amazing! The food was great, the staff were awesome. There was also a lot of food and I don't think anyone could manage to eat everything! But it was so bloody nice!
Then there was Ice Cream cake which was even better despite there being no room for it!
We headed back to the hotel! I spent some time on my tablet and hoping that my ear ache which had now got a point of being unbearable would subside over night! Sadly I was wrong...
To be continued...
So to continue...
Day 5 - Knoebels, Dorney Park & the bloody hospital
Well rather than that ear ache subsiding which I had hoped it would, it got a lot lot worse over night. By now, I had no feeling in the left side of my head and the pain in my ear was substantial!
Despite this, I jumped into Sue's car and headed for Knoebels. It was a fairly hefty drive seeing as we were staying nearer to Dorney.
I didn't feel too bad now that we were moving and me not wanting to let it bother me.
We eventually got to Knoebels and the weather was starting to look up, so we applied the suncream and headed in!
We got our reduced price wristbands for the 4 hours we were going to be there, had a bit of faff with toilets (invest in these Knoebels, they aren't very nice) and tickets before making our way onwards.
The park itself is lovely, so much care and attention goes into it! I do like the signs like this that just show how much the water actually rises when it floods! I'm glad we didn't go then!
Our first stop was to be Phoenix. I know this is very highly rated, so I did wonder why! I can see why it gets the hype it does, but it didn't do anything for me at all!
The airtime is clearly what it is all about as without the seatbelt you have quite a substantial amount of room to move around! However, for me, this was it! The ride is smooth and given the headache/earache I had that day, it was a welcome change!
It is good, just no where near top 10 material.
Our next stop was to be a cred in a shed! Black Diamond is a pay upfront attraction rather than included in the wristband price.
When we got there, it was a little broken, however, they soon got it up and going. The history behind the ride is very fascinating.
It only just counts as a cred. I don't know if I'm missing something, but it wasn't very good at all! It was nice to sit down for a while though without anything to challenging going on around me! It was simply just another +1, but only just!
There was a train outside Black Diamond, we had a climb on that!
We done the Haunted House style thingy next. It was a very good one actually, but still left me a bit confused as to why so many people love it so much! It is probably one of the better ones out there, but it's still a bit crap!
I was really starting to feel ill by now, but I didn't want to let it bother me until it got unbearable!
Our next stop was to be Twister.
It was a walk on which actually most things were that day! It was quite rough and shakey! If I'd been feeling 100% I probably would have really liked it! But considering I wasn't, it made me feel a lot worse with the brain rattle!
It was ok, I would've liked to give it another go, but not with worsening health, one ride was enough!
We just had the one more coaster to ride before it was time to have a mooch around Flying Turns.
Kozmos Kurves or whatever it was called was simply another +1 with a few too many laps for my liking! Certainly a nice little attraction for the kiddies though!
Time had caught up with us and now it was time to see what Flying Turns was looking like! The ride is of a lot of interest to me, so it was a nice chance to have a good walk around it. I love how willing Knoebels are to showcase the ride to enthusiasts. It really is a masterpiece of what they have created.
I really do hope that they do eventually manage to get it open regardless of how long it actually takes to do it!
Before I post a shed load of photos from it, I'd just like to say thanks to Jerry for talking to the staff and arranging it and the staff at Knoebels for allowing us to have a look around and at such short notice. I think we all appreciated it, and it's not something you get to do a lot.
The guy giving the talk was exceptionally friendly and giving lots of information. I just wish I could have concentrated on what was actually being said, but I was really struggling by now just to put one foot in front of the other...
We also got to sign the goon board of enthusiasts!
The tour was a very good insight into the work behind Flying Turns. It was brilliant to be able to do something like that! I look forward to seeing Jerry's video when I'm actually able to concentrate on what is being said.
We broke for lunch now. Feeling very ill, I had sugar from a Pepsi and water to try and keep me going. I really just did feel so ropey.
I happily volunteered to bag lady whilst Phoenix re-rides were taking place.
I nestled my self on a table for a good 45 minutes and didn't move, just trying to get even a little bit of energy back!
When it reached 2pm, it was time to leave and head for Dorney. By now I was starting to feel a little bit better. Getting out of the sun and sitting down was valuable to keep me going through to Dorney!
So we headed out to Dorney. Another 2 hour drive back the way we came was in order. Soon enough we saw this:
We got there, we had about 4 hours of ride time left before the park closed at 8. Plenty of time to nab all the credits and ride some of the other stuff!
This was also the first of the Cedar Fair parks of the trip.
We had a bit of faff with tickets and taking photos before heading to the far side of the park to start on the coasters.
Stinger, the new for 2012 ride at the park was clearly very broken and with no hope of opening anytime that day or for the next couple. Bloody Vekoma...
So instead of the Vekoma, we had an Intamin of joy!
This was to be my first Impulse coaster! I have to say, being an Intamin and a launch fan, this was actually a lot of fun. It is repetitive, but it is fun!
Not only is the ride fun! But the logo is EPIC!
We headed around the park, our next stop was to be Steel Force. Which also happens to have a very good logo as well!
Blackpool should take note, this is how to do a hyper if not Intamin! Very smooth, some nice floater airtime and just generally fun!
Our next stop on our coaster tour of Dorney was to be Thunderhawk! It had clearly been retracked in some places and according to those that have ridden it before was much smoother!
It wasn't actually too bad! There was no brain rolling around in my head which I really didn't need any of anyway!
Quite enjoyable!
Everyone else decided to do Demon Drop! I thought better of it, which is a bit of a shame seeing as I love 1st Gen drop towers! Just didn't think I could withstand it, a decision well made I think.
Instead, I took pictures of the rest of the group on it!
The next stop around the park was to be Hydra! Now, I'd heard a lot of stuff about this coaster in relation to it not being very good.
I actually really enjoyed it! The jojo roll was a particular favourite part of the ride. I can see why it gets the negative reviews it does. It's not too forceful, it's a little rough around the edges, but nothing unbearable.
A fun little coaster!
The next one on the list was to be Talon! Hadn't heard many spectacular reviews about this. A front row ride was in order for me!
I once again was very surprised by it! A very fun inverter, has just enough forces and the occasional pocket of airtime which is a little unheard of on an invert!
Another very fun coaster!
There were just the two creds left to get now! The kiddie and the Wild Mouse! This is where things took a big turn for the worse with me! Standing was becoming a struggle as was walking. I just felt so lousy and wanted a good sit down!
The kiddie was first!
This was simply another +1 for the ever growing count now. A few too many laps again and with a very aggressive final corner!
We headed straight over to the Wild Mouse! I think we ended up waiting about 15 minutes, the longest queue in the park that afternoon!
It was once again just a bog standard wild mouse!
I was now glad that all the coasters were done, which meant I could get the best cred in the park Bench: The Ride!
There was a lady on one of the stalls there that was really fascinated by all our different accents from all over the country whom had never heard a English accent other than a London one! She seemed to like mine and we had to the same name! Joy...
I now invested in Bench:The Ride.
My mind goes a bit from here. Talon was re-rode.
Then there was madness in terms of riding the Splash Boat and the Rapids which resulted in a large amount of unacceptable wetness!
More re-rides were in order on Hydra, then we headed over to Steel Force, but got side tracked by the tat shop!
Tat was purchased and then I must've spent a good half hour curled up in a ball on the wall outside Possesed waiting for the rest of the group who had gone to do their own thing to appear back.
When we all met up, we headed for the exit. Got distracted once again by another tat shop before actually heading out the park. We were heading for TGIs when things fell apart for me!
---
I knew I needed to see someone, but wouldn't accept it. I didn't want to ruin anyone elses trip but I knew I needed antibiotics to make me feel better!
I knew I couldn't handle TGIs or any food for that matter. That's when it all crumbled.
I really cannot thank everyone enough for their support, it meant and still means a lot to me. I also saw the comments on Kim's FB status which made me smile - so thanks to those guys as well! <3 And Joey for phoning!
Jerry in particular was a star and thank you so much for taking me to the hospital, it was greatly appreciated. My parents are just as appreciative too, so they say thanks too!
The whole situation was just weird, going to a hospital in another country is just odd and scary, thankfully the guys there were amazing and they got straight to the point. You never think it will happen to you until it does!
I had a fever, with a temperature of around 40 degrees and an ear infection! The antibiotics done the trick and I was out within 2 1/2 hours. After multiple tests (including my first blood test I remember) and lots of poking around in my ears, I was free!
Again, thank you to everyone on the trip for being so understanding, it really does mean a lot!
If anybody reading this decides to not get travel insurance for trips like this, please think twice. For a simple blood test, pee test and a diagnosis, that hospital bill came to $1900 which is roughly £1230! Thankfully, I don't have to pay out because of the insurance!
To be continued one day...
Day 5 - Knoebels, Dorney Park & the bloody hospital
Well rather than that ear ache subsiding which I had hoped it would, it got a lot lot worse over night. By now, I had no feeling in the left side of my head and the pain in my ear was substantial!
Despite this, I jumped into Sue's car and headed for Knoebels. It was a fairly hefty drive seeing as we were staying nearer to Dorney.
I didn't feel too bad now that we were moving and me not wanting to let it bother me.
We eventually got to Knoebels and the weather was starting to look up, so we applied the suncream and headed in!
We got our reduced price wristbands for the 4 hours we were going to be there, had a bit of faff with toilets (invest in these Knoebels, they aren't very nice) and tickets before making our way onwards.
The park itself is lovely, so much care and attention goes into it! I do like the signs like this that just show how much the water actually rises when it floods! I'm glad we didn't go then!
Our first stop was to be Phoenix. I know this is very highly rated, so I did wonder why! I can see why it gets the hype it does, but it didn't do anything for me at all!
The airtime is clearly what it is all about as without the seatbelt you have quite a substantial amount of room to move around! However, for me, this was it! The ride is smooth and given the headache/earache I had that day, it was a welcome change!
It is good, just no where near top 10 material.
Our next stop was to be a cred in a shed! Black Diamond is a pay upfront attraction rather than included in the wristband price.
When we got there, it was a little broken, however, they soon got it up and going. The history behind the ride is very fascinating.
It only just counts as a cred. I don't know if I'm missing something, but it wasn't very good at all! It was nice to sit down for a while though without anything to challenging going on around me! It was simply just another +1, but only just!
There was a train outside Black Diamond, we had a climb on that!
We done the Haunted House style thingy next. It was a very good one actually, but still left me a bit confused as to why so many people love it so much! It is probably one of the better ones out there, but it's still a bit crap!
I was really starting to feel ill by now, but I didn't want to let it bother me until it got unbearable!
Our next stop was to be Twister.
It was a walk on which actually most things were that day! It was quite rough and shakey! If I'd been feeling 100% I probably would have really liked it! But considering I wasn't, it made me feel a lot worse with the brain rattle!
It was ok, I would've liked to give it another go, but not with worsening health, one ride was enough!
We just had the one more coaster to ride before it was time to have a mooch around Flying Turns.
Kozmos Kurves or whatever it was called was simply another +1 with a few too many laps for my liking! Certainly a nice little attraction for the kiddies though!
Time had caught up with us and now it was time to see what Flying Turns was looking like! The ride is of a lot of interest to me, so it was a nice chance to have a good walk around it. I love how willing Knoebels are to showcase the ride to enthusiasts. It really is a masterpiece of what they have created.
I really do hope that they do eventually manage to get it open regardless of how long it actually takes to do it!
Before I post a shed load of photos from it, I'd just like to say thanks to Jerry for talking to the staff and arranging it and the staff at Knoebels for allowing us to have a look around and at such short notice. I think we all appreciated it, and it's not something you get to do a lot.
The guy giving the talk was exceptionally friendly and giving lots of information. I just wish I could have concentrated on what was actually being said, but I was really struggling by now just to put one foot in front of the other...
We also got to sign the goon board of enthusiasts!
The tour was a very good insight into the work behind Flying Turns. It was brilliant to be able to do something like that! I look forward to seeing Jerry's video when I'm actually able to concentrate on what is being said.
We broke for lunch now. Feeling very ill, I had sugar from a Pepsi and water to try and keep me going. I really just did feel so ropey.
I happily volunteered to bag lady whilst Phoenix re-rides were taking place.
I nestled my self on a table for a good 45 minutes and didn't move, just trying to get even a little bit of energy back!
When it reached 2pm, it was time to leave and head for Dorney. By now I was starting to feel a little bit better. Getting out of the sun and sitting down was valuable to keep me going through to Dorney!
So we headed out to Dorney. Another 2 hour drive back the way we came was in order. Soon enough we saw this:
We got there, we had about 4 hours of ride time left before the park closed at 8. Plenty of time to nab all the credits and ride some of the other stuff!
This was also the first of the Cedar Fair parks of the trip.
We had a bit of faff with tickets and taking photos before heading to the far side of the park to start on the coasters.
Stinger, the new for 2012 ride at the park was clearly very broken and with no hope of opening anytime that day or for the next couple. Bloody Vekoma...
So instead of the Vekoma, we had an Intamin of joy!
This was to be my first Impulse coaster! I have to say, being an Intamin and a launch fan, this was actually a lot of fun. It is repetitive, but it is fun!
Not only is the ride fun! But the logo is EPIC!
We headed around the park, our next stop was to be Steel Force. Which also happens to have a very good logo as well!
Blackpool should take note, this is how to do a hyper if not Intamin! Very smooth, some nice floater airtime and just generally fun!
Our next stop on our coaster tour of Dorney was to be Thunderhawk! It had clearly been retracked in some places and according to those that have ridden it before was much smoother!
It wasn't actually too bad! There was no brain rolling around in my head which I really didn't need any of anyway!
Quite enjoyable!
Everyone else decided to do Demon Drop! I thought better of it, which is a bit of a shame seeing as I love 1st Gen drop towers! Just didn't think I could withstand it, a decision well made I think.
Instead, I took pictures of the rest of the group on it!
The next stop around the park was to be Hydra! Now, I'd heard a lot of stuff about this coaster in relation to it not being very good.
I actually really enjoyed it! The jojo roll was a particular favourite part of the ride. I can see why it gets the negative reviews it does. It's not too forceful, it's a little rough around the edges, but nothing unbearable.
A fun little coaster!
The next one on the list was to be Talon! Hadn't heard many spectacular reviews about this. A front row ride was in order for me!
I once again was very surprised by it! A very fun inverter, has just enough forces and the occasional pocket of airtime which is a little unheard of on an invert!
Another very fun coaster!
There were just the two creds left to get now! The kiddie and the Wild Mouse! This is where things took a big turn for the worse with me! Standing was becoming a struggle as was walking. I just felt so lousy and wanted a good sit down!
The kiddie was first!
This was simply another +1 for the ever growing count now. A few too many laps again and with a very aggressive final corner!
We headed straight over to the Wild Mouse! I think we ended up waiting about 15 minutes, the longest queue in the park that afternoon!
It was once again just a bog standard wild mouse!
I was now glad that all the coasters were done, which meant I could get the best cred in the park Bench: The Ride!
There was a lady on one of the stalls there that was really fascinated by all our different accents from all over the country whom had never heard a English accent other than a London one! She seemed to like mine and we had to the same name! Joy...
I now invested in Bench:The Ride.
My mind goes a bit from here. Talon was re-rode.
Then there was madness in terms of riding the Splash Boat and the Rapids which resulted in a large amount of unacceptable wetness!
More re-rides were in order on Hydra, then we headed over to Steel Force, but got side tracked by the tat shop!
Tat was purchased and then I must've spent a good half hour curled up in a ball on the wall outside Possesed waiting for the rest of the group who had gone to do their own thing to appear back.
When we all met up, we headed for the exit. Got distracted once again by another tat shop before actually heading out the park. We were heading for TGIs when things fell apart for me!
---
I knew I needed to see someone, but wouldn't accept it. I didn't want to ruin anyone elses trip but I knew I needed antibiotics to make me feel better!
I knew I couldn't handle TGIs or any food for that matter. That's when it all crumbled.
I really cannot thank everyone enough for their support, it meant and still means a lot to me. I also saw the comments on Kim's FB status which made me smile - so thanks to those guys as well! <3 And Joey for phoning!
Jerry in particular was a star and thank you so much for taking me to the hospital, it was greatly appreciated. My parents are just as appreciative too, so they say thanks too!
The whole situation was just weird, going to a hospital in another country is just odd and scary, thankfully the guys there were amazing and they got straight to the point. You never think it will happen to you until it does!
I had a fever, with a temperature of around 40 degrees and an ear infection! The antibiotics done the trick and I was out within 2 1/2 hours. After multiple tests (including my first blood test I remember) and lots of poking around in my ears, I was free!
Again, thank you to everyone on the trip for being so understanding, it really does mean a lot!
If anybody reading this decides to not get travel insurance for trips like this, please think twice. For a simple blood test, pee test and a diagnosis, that hospital bill came to $1900 which is roughly £1230! Thankfully, I don't have to pay out because of the insurance!
To be continued one day...