nadroJ
CF Legend
^RUN AWAY *girlish screams*
Right, on with day 2, or day 1 of the official Live at Toverland!
I'd been to Toverland before in November 2009 and the whole time I was there I couldn't help thinking how much we NEEDED a Live at this place, so when it was finally decided I knew it was going to be a bloody good day =]
It was Queen's Day on the Saturday we went and if this were England that would mean a public holiday which in turn would mean a nightmarishly busy park. But in Holland it means everyone stays home and gets drunk which means WE get to whore the coasters and kiddie stuff <3
When we arrived we were early so had to wait outside the glass doors whilst the grotesque park mascot teased us from inside. Once we got in there was much faffage over how much the bloody tickets actually were to get in! I think it ended up only being 18euros or something ridiculously cheap so happy times were had. We'd been making jokes about how Toverland looks like Homebase or similar from the outside so I was laughing when we got into the entrance to be greeted by the smell of plywood hehe =]
The first shed is full of cheaper looking kiddie climby stuff and flat rides and things. It's funny how much the theming improves the further you delve into the park. That's not to say the first shed is crap, but it's much more like a standard Wacky Warehouse (or whatever the one YOU used to go to as a kid was called) sort of thing, just some climbing frames and inflatables in a box. Still, you can imagine what the sight of said things does to CFers and as soon as we were through the door we were scrambling up the pyramid slidy thing, it was much fun.
After this I think we did the wand house, which I absolutely LOVE! It's basically like those things in a shed at Paulton's Park where you press buttons and animatronics come to life, except you have a wand and swish it at things to makes stuff happen. There were many Harry Potter jokes =]
After this we minced over to the kiddie cred, which I am always quite impressed with. Vadge sat in front of me and was making me laugh every time she giggled hysterically at the bell dinging as we went around the track XD I always feel like they could at least send the train around again, there wasn't a queue and it's not the longest thing in the world. Whatever, it's ok for a kid's rollercoaster.
There were still some flats and dinghy slides to do in Shed1 but we saved them for later and made our way through the the tunnel to Shed2, where the theming begins to get awesome <3 I really like the little tunnel, it's really magical and feels like you're walking through to a magical fairy world or something, yay! And it has that lovely theme park water smell =]
I think we went on the boring bobsleds next. They're really misleading as you go straight into a tunnel and they play soundtracks of people screaming/yodelling and it makes you think 'Oh my god this is going to be so awesome!' Then you exit the tunnel and realise how slow, boring and damn uncomfortable the thing is to ride. Whoever designed it had a really bad misconception of the length of people's arms, you have to spend the whole ride hunched over just so you can push the lever all the way down!
After this I believe the Booster Bike happened. For someone who loves launchy things as much as I do it's weird to admit how much I HATE this pieces of crap. They just don't do anything, the launch is lackluster, the restraints are uncomfortable and they're just generally a bit pants. I did however get to ride the front which was a bit of a plus and I suppose I should note the theming of the station. It's got giant leaves and vines crawling and wrapping all around it which looks fairly cool. I don't know if they could have gotten differently themed trains though because the motorbikes don't really make sense with the rest of the general theme of Toverland.
I think after this we finally went over to Troy (TROY!). I absolutely adore the extensive theming and landscaping in front of the ride. The little islands and water features are a really nice touch and manage to turn this beast of a coaster into quite a lovely feature to the park. The massive Trojan horse also makes for a great photo op ;] (I'm sure you've all seen it by now). Similarly to when I visited in November there wasn't much of a queue to speak of and so we all hopped straight on. I headed straight for the back, remembering how superior it was to the front from when I last rode it =] It's funny how in the station, there is an extra queue line for the back row but not one for the front row, it seems they're catching on ;] Anyway, what can I say about Troy? It really is awesome. It's fast, unrelenting, forceful and yet massively re-rideable. I'm sure everyone who went would agree that you could quite happily sit on the thing all day and not get bored, it's truly something wonderful. And the theme song is awesomely non-fitting to the nature of the coaster, makes me laugh every time =]
After this we walked over to the rope course only to find out that it didn't open until 12, so we faffed about on all the outside play area stuff. There's lot of water-based fun plus ziplines, which are my favourite! Now would be a good time to mention that the weather was glorious! I don't know why we even bother reading weather reports before we go, they're never right. Thunderstorms my arse!
*Goes and checks Nic's report to see what we did next*
Ohhhhh yeah, the flog lume! It's one of the better log flumes I've been on, the last drop is a lot higher than you first think. We were going to attempt a fat boat until we realised there weren't enough fatties, so we did Vadge boat instead which consisted of me, Maddie, Vadge and Sue. 75% of this boat prefer girls ;] Anyway, the log flume is pretty cool, with some awesome theming and fun little surprises. You don't get too wet either, which is always a plus for someone like me =D
After this we went and messed around on the massive indoor climbing frames. Roller slides ftw <3 The rope bridgey things you have to climb to get up to them are a bloody nightmare though, they're such an effort to climb up I was completely knackered by the time I made it to the top!
We then went and had lunch which mainly consisted of chips COVERED in sauce </3 I will never understand the Netherland's love for all things sauce-based, they're literally obsessed. Gross. After lunch we decided to return to the glorious sunshine outside and enjoy an ice-cream. I got far too excited about the fact that there were cola flavoured Calippos, they were lush <3
Troy happened some more as well as a pretty cool looking pirate ship (anything themed to Scorpions gets love from me <3) and then ventured back inside to do some more of the weird stuff, this time the Fun House happened. There was turntable pile-up, Aj fell on his head after failing at going 360 on the rotating tunnel thing and more slides =]
We all then went on the dinghy slides which are always fun and faffed around on some more of the inside climbing frame stuff before finally getting to go back outside and attempt the high-ropes course.
It really didn't look as hard as it was. The first section was obviously a text of how good you were and therefore whether you would be able to carry on. I found it really difficult, got to the middle and almost gave up after a massive wobble. Once I'd conquered the first section however the next few were fine. One hell of a work-out though!
Once we'd all jumped down from the high-ropes and recovered we then headed back over to Troy for some whorage. We also did the porn ponies (these are seriously the most pointless ride eve, I don't get it?) and a few people re-rode the Booster Bike.
It was an awesome day at Toverland, definitely tons more fun avec CF. I was really thankful for the lovely weather though as it meant we could really make the most of all the cool outside water play areas and things. I don't see why we couldn't have something similar over here in the UK, it's weather proof and everything!
After Toverland we went and did the epic mini-golf at the most awesome campsite I've ever seen. If I'm honest I as a little bit let down by the golf, the theming was good but I'd got it into my head that all of it would be underground and it would be a completely immersive experience. However there were parts where you could see the 'outside world' and it sort of ruined the effect a bit. Some of the little interactive things were cool and the last hole was pretty impressive =] Oh, and I won, yay <3
Right, on with day 2, or day 1 of the official Live at Toverland!
I'd been to Toverland before in November 2009 and the whole time I was there I couldn't help thinking how much we NEEDED a Live at this place, so when it was finally decided I knew it was going to be a bloody good day =]
It was Queen's Day on the Saturday we went and if this were England that would mean a public holiday which in turn would mean a nightmarishly busy park. But in Holland it means everyone stays home and gets drunk which means WE get to whore the coasters and kiddie stuff <3
When we arrived we were early so had to wait outside the glass doors whilst the grotesque park mascot teased us from inside. Once we got in there was much faffage over how much the bloody tickets actually were to get in! I think it ended up only being 18euros or something ridiculously cheap so happy times were had. We'd been making jokes about how Toverland looks like Homebase or similar from the outside so I was laughing when we got into the entrance to be greeted by the smell of plywood hehe =]
The first shed is full of cheaper looking kiddie climby stuff and flat rides and things. It's funny how much the theming improves the further you delve into the park. That's not to say the first shed is crap, but it's much more like a standard Wacky Warehouse (or whatever the one YOU used to go to as a kid was called) sort of thing, just some climbing frames and inflatables in a box. Still, you can imagine what the sight of said things does to CFers and as soon as we were through the door we were scrambling up the pyramid slidy thing, it was much fun.
After this I think we did the wand house, which I absolutely LOVE! It's basically like those things in a shed at Paulton's Park where you press buttons and animatronics come to life, except you have a wand and swish it at things to makes stuff happen. There were many Harry Potter jokes =]
After this we minced over to the kiddie cred, which I am always quite impressed with. Vadge sat in front of me and was making me laugh every time she giggled hysterically at the bell dinging as we went around the track XD I always feel like they could at least send the train around again, there wasn't a queue and it's not the longest thing in the world. Whatever, it's ok for a kid's rollercoaster.
There were still some flats and dinghy slides to do in Shed1 but we saved them for later and made our way through the the tunnel to Shed2, where the theming begins to get awesome <3 I really like the little tunnel, it's really magical and feels like you're walking through to a magical fairy world or something, yay! And it has that lovely theme park water smell =]
I think we went on the boring bobsleds next. They're really misleading as you go straight into a tunnel and they play soundtracks of people screaming/yodelling and it makes you think 'Oh my god this is going to be so awesome!' Then you exit the tunnel and realise how slow, boring and damn uncomfortable the thing is to ride. Whoever designed it had a really bad misconception of the length of people's arms, you have to spend the whole ride hunched over just so you can push the lever all the way down!
After this I believe the Booster Bike happened. For someone who loves launchy things as much as I do it's weird to admit how much I HATE this pieces of crap. They just don't do anything, the launch is lackluster, the restraints are uncomfortable and they're just generally a bit pants. I did however get to ride the front which was a bit of a plus and I suppose I should note the theming of the station. It's got giant leaves and vines crawling and wrapping all around it which looks fairly cool. I don't know if they could have gotten differently themed trains though because the motorbikes don't really make sense with the rest of the general theme of Toverland.
I think after this we finally went over to Troy (TROY!). I absolutely adore the extensive theming and landscaping in front of the ride. The little islands and water features are a really nice touch and manage to turn this beast of a coaster into quite a lovely feature to the park. The massive Trojan horse also makes for a great photo op ;] (I'm sure you've all seen it by now). Similarly to when I visited in November there wasn't much of a queue to speak of and so we all hopped straight on. I headed straight for the back, remembering how superior it was to the front from when I last rode it =] It's funny how in the station, there is an extra queue line for the back row but not one for the front row, it seems they're catching on ;] Anyway, what can I say about Troy? It really is awesome. It's fast, unrelenting, forceful and yet massively re-rideable. I'm sure everyone who went would agree that you could quite happily sit on the thing all day and not get bored, it's truly something wonderful. And the theme song is awesomely non-fitting to the nature of the coaster, makes me laugh every time =]
After this we walked over to the rope course only to find out that it didn't open until 12, so we faffed about on all the outside play area stuff. There's lot of water-based fun plus ziplines, which are my favourite! Now would be a good time to mention that the weather was glorious! I don't know why we even bother reading weather reports before we go, they're never right. Thunderstorms my arse!
*Goes and checks Nic's report to see what we did next*
Ohhhhh yeah, the flog lume! It's one of the better log flumes I've been on, the last drop is a lot higher than you first think. We were going to attempt a fat boat until we realised there weren't enough fatties, so we did Vadge boat instead which consisted of me, Maddie, Vadge and Sue. 75% of this boat prefer girls ;] Anyway, the log flume is pretty cool, with some awesome theming and fun little surprises. You don't get too wet either, which is always a plus for someone like me =D
After this we went and messed around on the massive indoor climbing frames. Roller slides ftw <3 The rope bridgey things you have to climb to get up to them are a bloody nightmare though, they're such an effort to climb up I was completely knackered by the time I made it to the top!
We then went and had lunch which mainly consisted of chips COVERED in sauce </3 I will never understand the Netherland's love for all things sauce-based, they're literally obsessed. Gross. After lunch we decided to return to the glorious sunshine outside and enjoy an ice-cream. I got far too excited about the fact that there were cola flavoured Calippos, they were lush <3
Troy happened some more as well as a pretty cool looking pirate ship (anything themed to Scorpions gets love from me <3) and then ventured back inside to do some more of the weird stuff, this time the Fun House happened. There was turntable pile-up, Aj fell on his head after failing at going 360 on the rotating tunnel thing and more slides =]
We all then went on the dinghy slides which are always fun and faffed around on some more of the inside climbing frame stuff before finally getting to go back outside and attempt the high-ropes course.
It really didn't look as hard as it was. The first section was obviously a text of how good you were and therefore whether you would be able to carry on. I found it really difficult, got to the middle and almost gave up after a massive wobble. Once I'd conquered the first section however the next few were fine. One hell of a work-out though!
Once we'd all jumped down from the high-ropes and recovered we then headed back over to Troy for some whorage. We also did the porn ponies (these are seriously the most pointless ride eve, I don't get it?) and a few people re-rode the Booster Bike.
It was an awesome day at Toverland, definitely tons more fun avec CF. I was really thankful for the lovely weather though as it meant we could really make the most of all the cool outside water play areas and things. I don't see why we couldn't have something similar over here in the UK, it's weather proof and everything!
After Toverland we went and did the epic mini-golf at the most awesome campsite I've ever seen. If I'm honest I as a little bit let down by the golf, the theming was good but I'd got it into my head that all of it would be underground and it would be a completely immersive experience. However there were parts where you could see the 'outside world' and it sort of ruined the effect a bit. Some of the little interactive things were cool and the last hole was pretty impressive =] Oh, and I won, yay <3