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The Great Trip Recap!! Part Two
151 Plays23 days ago
The entire gang is back together again finally, with even more trip recaps! Bryant goes through his full Europe trip, including a stop at Energylandia and a long-awaited visit to the Coaster365 Zadra plaque. Plus he got an extra special surprise at Europa Park—Jenn! Jenn goes over her stops at Emerald Park and Schwaben Park, where she may have a new Talon at Dorney Park? We also answer so many listener questions about all of our European experiences and takes!
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Transcript
Introductions and Reunion
00:00:00
Speaker
You are listening to the Inverted Creative Podcast. I'm Allison. I'm Brian. And I'm Jen.
00:00:17
Speaker
For the first time in over two months, the gang is all back together again. waing We're all here. We're actually all here. Yes.
00:00:29
Speaker
Don't be too excited. It really has been two months. Like, I looked it up earlier. I think it was like mid-May since the three of us have been together. Oh my gosh. It's crazy it's been that long. I'm so happy that we're all back together, guys.
00:00:45
Speaker
And it almost wasn't the case because you weren't sure if you could make today's recording. yeah go be je We made it work. We did. My family's in town right now and today's our last day here.
00:00:58
Speaker
so I had to make sure I had a little time with them. Yeah, definitely. It's very sweet of you to schedule it, because, yeah. and need i needed see I needed you to chime in on my ah thoughts of all these European parks, most of them that you have already been to. Oh, I'm going to have some thoughts, I'm sure.
Travel Tales and Engagement
00:01:15
Speaker
Wait, now I'm chiming in I'm going to really expose myself right now, but I was in i was in Germany. um You were in what? wife I know, crazy. I'm never in Germany. What the heck are doing?
00:01:27
Speaker
why't you let me know? I did not listen to the last episode yet because I got back two days ago and I'm not alive yet. did You didn't talk about Fantasialand yet, right? No. So Brian has not talked about any of his year of trip yet.
00:01:42
Speaker
Oh, heck yeah. Sorry, guys. I love that you were all on this journey with me because I just, for a second when he started to say something, I panicked that I missed Fantasialand. Oh, no. God, no.
00:01:53
Speaker
Okay. All right. No, I just talked about Colorado and Utah, and Allison talked about UK. Oh, I forgot about your Colorado. My entire trip, really. really be For whatever reason, I was thinking you were going to do half of your Europe trip last.
00:02:07
Speaker
Okay. All right. got but The way that you said like your thoughts about parks and stuff, I was like, oh, no, no, no, no. Did I miss? Did I miss? We would never have talked about that without you. No way.
00:02:19
Speaker
Oh, good. Oh, and then Allison, like, ah engaged or something. Yeah, that too. Something happened, yeah. Rocks. Yeah, some rocks. You got a rock looking at rocks. Yes. Nice new rock while looking at very old rocks.
00:02:32
Speaker
Yeah, when she sent me the picture, I, like, I told Joey, and Joey was like, oh, oh my gosh, they're at, like, whatever park today, like, where did they do it? And I was like, i don't know, it's some rocks.
00:02:43
Speaker
And then I sent picture, and he was like, Jen! Jen!
00:02:49
Speaker
You had heard of Stonehenge before, right? I did. like And I knew they were iconic rocks. i didn't know the name of them. I was like, oh, no, there are some rocks.
00:03:00
Speaker
little bit, a little bit. But yeah, um I think we should get going because I'm going to personally try to beat Allison's time of two and a half hours of our last episode.
Trivia and Injury Updates
00:03:10
Speaker
ah I had a lot to say.
00:03:13
Speaker
And I need to get to bed because I still work tomorrow. We might end up having a part three just to... Oh my god. Just to recap the recaps? Yes. ah Trivia. Next episode.
00:03:26
Speaker
okay Too busy recapping. You know what? The trivia will be about the recaps. So make sure you all listen. There we go. yeah You gotta listen, Jen. Wait, I did have trivia one of the last episodes but it was really bad trivia and I don't remember what I asked.
00:03:43
Speaker
ah Oh well. Very rarely I get to answer a trivia question. but it It was a bad trivia question. It was all of my trivia questions. It was something accessibility related.
00:03:56
Speaker
Yeah. I guess. I don't know. I don't know. Speaking of that, I still am limping a little bit. But otherwise, I'm doing alright. Yay.
00:04:08
Speaker
it's just It's just the annoying period now. like I'm fine. It's just like I want um want to run again. Yeah, you'll get there. Still a few months away from running, but whatever. I can at least go to parks and do anything I want this point.
00:04:24
Speaker
Except run. Except run.
European Amusement Park Adventures
00:04:28
Speaker
Anyway, where should we start? I also went to Europe. I may have referenced that a few times over the last few months.
00:04:35
Speaker
The trip happened. It went... pretty perfectly maybe a few little issues here and there based on some of the questions i saw i might actually tell a story about something that almost didn't go right um but no it was phenomenal ah it was the trip that i had been dreaming about since i became an enthusiast in 2018 so seven years in the making um Obviously, I'll tell you all about pretty much every credit that I wrote, every part that I went to.
00:05:07
Speaker
If you watch my YouTube Code for 365 channel, I've already, at this point, have three videos out. I believe Legendia and Energylandia is coming out later today, if you're listening listening to this live at 6 a.m. on Monday.
00:05:24
Speaker
Alex, I know you do.
00:05:28
Speaker
But, and Allison, feel free to chime in whenever you'd like. Okay. I took off from Boston, landed in Brussels, Belgium. I did rent a car, and that's all. So I will talk about my dis my transit decisions later, because I know we have a question about that.
00:05:46
Speaker
um Very, very jet-lagged. um Had to pay way more for insurance than I thought I needed to, because they didn't accept the one I bought through Expedia, which was fun. ah So that was the first like minor issue, but thankfully...
00:06:02
Speaker
Nothing happened until the end of the trip. Drove up to Amsterdam. And it was my first ever time in the Netherlands. First ever time in Amsterdam. This is already kind of a month ago now. So my foot, while better, it was still definitely sore.
00:06:18
Speaker
Just being as jet lagged as I was. I didn't get to walk around Amsterdam as much as I would have liked. But my God, that is a beautiful city from what I've seen. Like all the canals...
00:06:30
Speaker
Jen, I know. I can see you like, like yeah, I need to get there badly. I know. It's been like my dream city to go to since I was little. Very, very gorgeous. It's always good when I can't really compare it to another city I've been to.
00:06:45
Speaker
It's just Amsterdam. Yeah. Gorgeous. But the reason I went to the Netherlands, or Amsterdam in specific, because park number one, about an hour away from Amsterdam, Wallaby, Holland.
00:07:00
Speaker
Which, obviously, if you've watched my YouTube video, I had a great day. um I know a lot of I'm glad I started with Wallaby Holland. Because it's definitely more of an amusement park versus a theme park.
00:07:15
Speaker
I've heard some people say it's actually not the nicest park. I really liked it. I think people would say, I guess it used to be owned by Six Flags.
00:07:26
Speaker
I still think it was better than most Six Flags parks that I've been to. Outside of, like, obviously Fiesta, Magic Mountain, maybe even over Georgia. But I still had a great time.
00:07:38
Speaker
You can kind of tell the Six Flags influence on that A little, yeah. I mean, you got, like, you know, your your carnival games with your big stuffed animals and... you know top 40 music playing or whatever the top 40 in the netherlands was at the time the goliath of it all yeah but that has one of the best roller coaster lineups out there their top six is actually like so well-rounded i did start with the brand new 2025 which have learned dutch is apparently
00:08:15
Speaker
which i have learned in dutch is apparently Joy. i don't know. I've heard even the Dutch people like it's a stupid name.
00:08:26
Speaker
I don't feel as bad making fun of it if they do also think it's dumb. A lot of people were like kind of trashing it a little bit saying, oh, it's not that good. I really I thought it was great. It's obviously not like one of the best RMCs if you compare it to the Ibox ones.
00:08:42
Speaker
But from a Raptor, I liked it better than Jersey Devil and Wonder Woman at Magic Mountain. Not as good as Fiesta Texas Wonder Woman. But it was just really creative layout.
00:08:54
Speaker
My hot take was the chill side is better than the thrill side. From what I've heard, that's not really a hot take. It's not, no. Because they market that to the general public. They only call it thrill because there's inversions.
00:09:08
Speaker
But they didn't like tamper the thrills of the chill side at all. there's still It's still like a 95-foot drop. There's still great airtime. Fantastic speed in the front row. Yeah, and I feel like like I'm not a big fan of the Raptors because of the track connections, and I feel like the inversions are really where you feel them.
00:09:27
Speaker
So like yeah no I would agree that probably the chill side is way better. That's a fair take. and I think the one complaint, and I guess it's from Europeans that probably have never been on Raptors, you definitely feel the connections.
00:09:39
Speaker
yeah I'm just like now used to that, riding Raptors, so it's not a big deal for me. But I guess if you haven't ridden you can say, oh, that's where it's rough. Yeah, I hyper fix the track connections. I can't enjoy myself.
00:09:54
Speaker
Same, honestly. The fact that you can hear them and you can feel them under you at the same interval, it drives me crazy. cannot enjoy those rides.
00:10:07
Speaker
You guys probably might not like Yoi then. Yeah. it's Because you definitely feel like they're so fun otherwise. But yeah I just find myself hyper fixating on it so much.
00:10:20
Speaker
That's fair. That's fair. It's definitely not one of my favorite RMCs, but I thought it was a really fun attraction. think I gave it like high eights on my scale. Then i went over to Goliath, the Intamin Mega Coaster.
00:10:34
Speaker
Definitely one of those old school, old school early 2000s Intamins. A lot of Superman the ride in that. lot of the ride of Steels as well. Ride of Darien Lake and Six Facts America.
00:10:45
Speaker
It looks like Millennium Force. It didn't ride like Millennium Force at all. Because it actually had airtime. And good forces on the helix. um What are your thoughts about Goliath?
00:10:56
Speaker
Allison, I know it's been, what, three years for you? Yeah, I only got one ride on it, so I don't really remember it super well. and Okay. It's a good time. It's a good time.
00:11:07
Speaker
I preferred other coasters in that park, I'll say that. Yes, yes. um Then I rode Eat My Dust, which is their new semi-new 2023 Zimperla Family Coaster. Very cute theming.
00:11:21
Speaker
Then it was time for Untamed.
00:11:25
Speaker
This is when I officially felt like I was back to riding roller coasters again, getting back on an amazing RMC. Now, in your group, Allison, people were like low on Untamed, right? Except for you.
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much. Which is crazy because that ride is the insane. No, that's a Grinland. That's one the best RMCs. Is that one one of the smaller ones? Is that the one that people say is like twisted timbers, but better?
00:11:52
Speaker
If they say that, they're accurate because that's exactly what I thought. Yeah. I feel like, yeah. Okay. So it's it's a slightly longer ride. I feel like it does have those really violent, you know, ejector airtime moments, but the layout's a little more drawn out, like has amazing wave turns.
00:12:11
Speaker
I just think it was a really unique layout for an RMC. The people that say all RMCs are the same didn't feel that with Untamed. Really, really, you know, its own layout.
00:12:22
Speaker
The second half, like it's better than the first half. The way it comes into the station is crazy. Maybe the most violent, I don't know what hill. There's one hill. It might be the most violent ejector moment on any RMC.
00:12:34
Speaker
I don't know which one. Do you know which one I'm talking about? It's like right before, think it's two hills before before the last inversion. I'd have to watch a POV again. Yeah. I like hearing that though, because I feel like RMCs, for me, the ones that I've ridden are like really, really chaotic and fun at the beginning. And then they do kind of tend to like for compared to some rides, not that bad, but compared to like, I don't know, they still slow down a little bit towards the end.
00:13:03
Speaker
So it's nice to hear that the second half is a lot better. Yeah, no, it just speeds into the break run. And then like it has a slow, it's not really that slow, but it's a Zero G roll inversion and then actually has in one more airtime hill like you think you're finishing you're not finishing Really really creative layout and that was after one ride. i ended up getting four rides total think once in the back twice in the middle once towards the front all amazing great station like the color scheme pretty unique track for RMC I Left that ride thinking it might be in my top ten spoiler. It's not anymore
00:13:45
Speaker
But it's definitely in my top six RMCs that I've ever been on. And I've been on 23 RMCs now, which is freaking amazing. Yeah, know the that station is a vibe for Untamed.
00:13:57
Speaker
I love it so much. It's awesome. It's a greenhouse. i like It has some like ah its own soundtrack, too. It's like you're leaving leaving the station, which is cool. Amazing, amazing RMC. Amazing attraction.
00:14:08
Speaker
Agreed. Then I went over to Lost Gravity, the Mach Big Dipper, the first Mach Big Dipper. That one surprised me. That was really fun.
00:14:21
Speaker
Good airtime, great drop, especially on the on the wing seat on the left. Just a cool little fun layout. like I thought it would be shaky. It's not shaky.
00:14:34
Speaker
Doesn't make you dizzy. Great airtime moments. Really, really creative layout. I do remember having some really good airtime. Yeah. And you see the layout like, oh, this is just going to kind of be inversion based.
00:14:48
Speaker
And usually not my thing. No, I was wrong. Everything mixes very, very well with Lost Gravity. And the queue is so much fun. Oh, yeah. and I love the ah dual paint scheme.
00:15:00
Speaker
That was not just one color. So I'm like, yeah, Yo is great, Goliath's great, Untame's great, Lost Gravity's great. Oh my god, this park is awesome. Of course, I'm always i'm on the high of it's my first park in Europe, so I was going to probably love it no matter what park I went to.
00:15:14
Speaker
Let's see, I rode their Kids Coaster, Draco. Speed of Sound may be my first disappointment, because if you don't know, it has a little more effects, kind of like Jolly Rancher Remix or Hershey. They've got their own soundtrack.
00:15:30
Speaker
It's actually a tunnel as you go up backwards. Um, I thought Jolly Rancher remix is so much better. Like they, they did a better job with the theming there. It was just like lights in the tunnel and semi catchy song. And then it was a boomerang.
00:15:46
Speaker
It was closed and I was there. So I don't have that one.
00:15:50
Speaker
Actually, that just means you'll get it next time you go. So I shouldn't be laughing. I don't know when I'll go back. Fair. We'll see. That'd be a plus four for me right now. When I go back there. Oh, right, because Eat My Dust wasn't open.
00:16:03
Speaker
yeah Then I was on to Express Platform 13, their Vekoma launch coaster. But it's not just a Vekoma launch coaster because it's the same exact ride as Rock and Roller Coaster at Walt Disney World and I guess Avengers at Walt Disney Studios. But that ride doesn't matter.
00:16:20
Speaker
ah Awesome. It was so weird riding that layout outdoors after having done it so many times over my life. I said in my video, I was still playing Aerosmith in my head. I i just had to.
00:16:36
Speaker
Envisioning where like the Hollywood sign was and the donut. It was great. And like, honestly, no different than Rockin' Roller Coaster. Mostly smooth.
00:16:47
Speaker
A few janky moments here and there. Mostly smooth. What do you mean no different? You think Rockin' Roller Coaster's rough? Yes. The last like three or four years, that thing, poof, poof,
00:17:02
Speaker
No, no. i don't even really ride it anymore. Avengers was rough in Paris. That was also rough. That was terrible. very rough
00:17:11
Speaker
It's a shame. What was that, Jen? It's a shame because they're so fun. but They are fun. down Then I got part completion, a perfect 10 for 10 with Condor.
00:17:23
Speaker
The original Vekoma SLC, which I have heard horror stories about. Like it's the worst SLC ever. Your thoughts, Allison?
00:17:34
Speaker
It's pretty low for me, but I've been on others that are worse, I think. Question for you. what Do you remember the restraints? No, but I could pull up pictures of it, probably. Because they are now, I don't know if they were when you were there, they're the best restraints now. I don't think they were the best restraints.
00:17:52
Speaker
So those are new. Okay. It wasn't great, but it it was tolerable. I have been on worse SLCs, and I guarantee you the best restraints helped big time there.
00:18:04
Speaker
Not for Six Flags America. No. It made it worse. So huge success. 10 for 10. Four rides on Untamed. I think I did three rides on Yoy.
00:18:18
Speaker
Great day. Great way to start the trip. And then it was on to day two. Barely, like, this was... I'm usually somebody that likes to split sightseeing with parks when I'm away.
00:18:29
Speaker
This was just like, I need to hit as many parks as I can because it's been so long. So, next day, still in the Netherlands, went to Efteling. Shockingly, the one park that I now have over both of you.
00:18:45
Speaker
Which is very rare. yes I'm so jealous. now Efteling... What's happening here? Oh, we're getting the... ah No, no.
00:18:57
Speaker
ah Wait, what is it? I'm just sharing. Is that Joey? Joey wrote Condor 222 times for a fundraiser.
00:19:08
Speaker
What is is wrong with this guy? And that was when it was the older strengths. That explains a lot, actually. I was going to say.
00:19:19
Speaker
We'll get to Joey later. That, that. Anyway. You guys are talking about Condor, and this is all I can picture in my mind. This photo of him on the Condor train at like 18 years old with the
00:19:37
Speaker
Freaking psycho. Anyway. ah Yes, please. Efteling. Efteling. I am a theme park fan over a rollercoaster enthusiast. Always. I had high expectations going in and they were exceeded.
00:19:53
Speaker
That is one of the best parks in the world. i made a little rant. I hated that it closed at six. I wanted to spend 12 hours there at least. The roller coasters, I mean, that's like, I think I even said third nature to everything that they have there.
00:20:11
Speaker
Real quick, Baron 1898, my favorite themed dive coaster by far. That ride is freaking amazing. The pre-show, the sound effects, awesome. It's not as good of a ride as, say, a Sheikra and a Griffin for me, but as a whole attraction, that is the best dive coaster in the world.
00:20:30
Speaker
We also did Joris Endadroc, the dueling GCI wooden coaster. Really, really like that thing for its small stats. Good airtime. Really good interactions with the other train.
00:20:41
Speaker
Smooth. Theming in the station, fantastic.
00:20:48
Speaker
I'll get to another GCI. I don't know if Joris was my favorite. We'll see. We'll see. Oh, ah man, let's see. Genji's perk up so much.
00:20:58
Speaker
Uh-huh. Especially after her Instagram story today. yeah Right. I actually, like, did not... So, I've gone into Efteling really, really spoiler-free. There's not much I know about that park, and I did not realize they have a GCI. but Oh, wow. Should I not talk as much, then?
00:21:15
Speaker
No, it's ah it's fine. You're not talking in depth anything that I, ah so far, like, don't really The things that have spoilers, I will not spoil. Yeah, that's what... I figured you're not going to spoil things. I know a rough idea of a lot of the rides...
00:21:30
Speaker
um Yeah, I wouldn't say the fact that they have a Dueling GCI is a spoiler. That's just yeah you not researching it. Yeah, I just didn't look it up. but um But also there are two.
00:21:42
Speaker
Baron is closed, and then there's something else big that's closed when I'm there. Oh, no. Yeah. Not Dance Macabre, I hope. No, not Dance Macabre. We'll get to that.
00:21:54
Speaker
Let's see. Python is their Vekoma loop and corkscrew. It is the smoothest old steel coaster I have ever been on. Oh, wow. So, I guess, apparently, so shout out my friends Harry, David, and Julie.
00:22:08
Speaker
Amazing family from the UK. Spent the whole day with them at Efteling. ah And in Poland. But ah they took me around Efteling. It was fantastic. Yeah, and Harry had said, I guess they retract Python like 10 years ago.
00:22:20
Speaker
And it's just... unbelievably smooth for that type of model.
00:22:26
Speaker
Viljende Hollander, which is the Flying Dutchman, as I've learned in my comment section. Their water coaster, amazing. That is everything I wish Journey to Atlantis at SeaWorld was.
00:22:37
Speaker
The theming is unbelievable. Really fun layout. Good splash, not soaking splash. Perfect, perfect water coaster. Vogelrock is their indoor Vekoma coaster from like 1989.
00:22:51
Speaker
Maybe the best front entrance of all time. Have you seen that bird? Look up Vogelrock entrance. It's absurd.
00:23:01
Speaker
And here are two people that i've not have not watched my video yet, clearly. I got through part of it. I think literally I watched some of it last night and then I was so tired I fell asleep. Wow.
00:23:13
Speaker
Wow. I was so tired it's not something about your video. ah then I am not watching a video on Efteling. I'm so sorry. Oh, yeah. Fair for that. That's true. Yeah, you haven't been. That's true.
00:23:24
Speaker
Yeah, I am not watching. I have been mostly spoiled free of this park. I will not be going. I've been so pouty about Epic, so I can't judge you for not watching Efteling. Yeah.
00:23:35
Speaker
See, like Epic, I don't. That's fine. s Spoil all Epic for me. That's okay. But do not spoil Efteling to me. Got it. Noted. And then my two first two missed credits was their mock-powered dueling coaster, Max and Mortz.
00:23:52
Speaker
Whatever. They're powered coasters. But then we got the Dark Rides. Dan's Macabre. Here is every detail you need to know about Dan's. No, I'm only kidding.
00:24:08
Speaker
yeah It's a must in Europe. Forget Efteling. That's a must-do in all of Europe. Insane. Look it up if you want to know what it does. but Holy shit.
00:24:22
Speaker
There's one. ah Ride of town, Allison. I did it last week, too. I'm off my game. I'm off my game.
00:24:34
Speaker
Listen, that ride deserves that phrase, alright? Thanks.
00:24:39
Speaker
Let's see. We also have Symbolica, another incredible dark ride. Do not miss it. Drumflucht, another incredible dark ride. Do not miss it.
00:24:51
Speaker
They have so many dark... They had another one that was closed, Fata Morgana, which I guess is like a pirate's ride, I've heard. Yeah. was closed. Fata... Yeah. Did you do Villa Volta?
00:25:04
Speaker
what ah No. What? Not to Villa Volta. I've heard it's the weakest dark red. Was I led astray? Maybe, but like, don't you have a Houdini at your Six Flags? Isn't it New England that has the other one? Yeah. Oh, is it a Madhouse?
00:25:19
Speaker
It's like that, but a lot better. was just about to ask if they have a Madhouse there. Yeah, it's the same ride system. They're both the Six Flags Houdinis and Villa Volta are the same Vekoma ride system.
00:25:31
Speaker
But um apparently it's like way better than Houdini. I only did one madhouse on this trip. ah I'll get to it. Villa Volta is apparently, that's one of the other ones that are closed while I'm there. I'm very upset about it.
00:25:46
Speaker
I have an obsession with madhouses, so. You are? right that I have an obsession with madhouses. Because they're so good. They are. They're so good. But, um yeah, that closes the day I land the Netherlands for refurbishment. brutal.
00:26:02
Speaker
No. Guess you just have to go back. Oh, man. o darn. Then, thankfully, I had time to walk through the fairy tale forest. Holy. I probably saw like a third of it.
00:26:16
Speaker
It's huge. And then it was time. I did eat. We did eat at this pancake restaurant, which was amazing. Insane. Did you did you think it was like you thought it was absolutely worth the time out of the park to go there?
00:26:31
Speaker
It's in the park, yeah. It's right near... ah Yeah, but i mean like taking an hour to go eat there? um okay So we went at like 3 p.m. So there was nobody there. So we were probably in and out in like a half hour. It wasn't that bad.
00:26:45
Speaker
Oh, okay. And the service was like super quick. Yeah, I've heard amazing things about it. And I really want to go and try it. But at the same time, I'm like, if that park kind of closed for me. Yeah, I mean, that's not a one-day park. Like, that's absolutely two- to three-day park.
00:27:03
Speaker
You will not see and everything if you only go one day. Yeah. Even if it's like an extended hour. Like, I guess ah they're open 10 to 10 now. Even then, you need you need multiple days for Efteling.
00:27:14
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, for sure. Okay. And especially for you, Jen, like, that is a park like Europa to vibe at. um Yeah, I do think that there's a really good chance that we're go to spend two days there. Excellent, yeah. Right now, yeah, we're between two days in Amsterdam and two days at Efteling, and I really think the two days at Efteling is probably where we're going to lean.
00:27:41
Speaker
That is absolutely one of the very, very rare parks that I could see myself not riding a single thing and still having an enjoyable day.
00:27:53
Speaker
Unbelievable vibes. Cannot recommend Efteling enough. Holy crap. like It's so good. um Let's see. Then day three. I'm trying to think if anything event will happen in between. Nope, just driving.
00:28:08
Speaker
ah And probably some McDonald's.
00:28:12
Speaker
Wait, did you have um Dutch McDonald's? I did. Did you have the chicken and waffles with the stroopies on them? What? No. I'm sorry, what? It's a chicken with stroopy them?
00:28:25
Speaker
Well, that sounds divine. Right? And they have a stroopy McFlurry? oh the rice cream machines work there?
00:28:35
Speaker
Most McDonald's work in Europe, so probably... Yeah, they have rules there.
00:28:42
Speaker
What's amazing about European McDonald's is you eat it and you don't feel disgusting after. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Their ingredients are just not what we whatever we put in it.
00:28:52
Speaker
Unless you get far too excited. Yeah, I ordered like $30 of McDonald's for myself. to like I literally landed in France last time I went, and I ordered like $30 worth of McDonald's for myself. And I thought I was going to die. like I felt like I was going to explode.
00:29:10
Speaker
You gotta. You gotta it when you're in Europe at least once. Then we went to day three, Wallaby, Belgium. We kind of already went over it. Last week, we talked about how amazing Kanda is.
00:29:25
Speaker
And I'll admit, now, I don't know if I mentioned this last episode, where like after I wrote Untamed, after I wrote Kanda, like, okay, let's rank it right now.
00:29:36
Speaker
And then as I went on the trip, I'm like, I got to stop this. Because recency bias is just always going to be a factor. I'm always going to think, oh my god, that's the best roller coaster ever. So i if if I don't know if anyone asked where I'm ranked ranking things. I am not even thinking about my rankings until like October, November.
00:29:55
Speaker
And then reassessing. I don't think anybody asked specifically. Well, screw No, I'm only kidding. I'll admit some coasts on my trip as hot like my initial opinion.
00:30:07
Speaker
It's dipping a little bit and some are rising a little bit. Cond is rising. Yeah, I keep thinking of which ride do I miss the most? Yeah, Condas. And for me, it's Conda.
00:30:20
Speaker
I'm not going to give any like spoilers away, but like Conda is 1000% in my top five of the trip. And definitely in my top 15, if not 10 overall.
00:30:35
Speaker
Incredible. Just then add the station, add the music, add the airtime. ah Everything about Conda is perfect. I don't even care that it brews the crap out of my leg.
00:30:47
Speaker
Sign of a good ride. Oh, yeah. yeah Let's see. what what We talked about Turbine. was amazing. Luke Grew. and You liked it more than and I did.
00:30:58
Speaker
Yeah, think so. Pulsar. Thought of Jen because it's the same ride as Aquaman, which we rode over Texas.
00:31:07
Speaker
What else is in that park? Mecladon. Mecladon we talked about. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. One of the best family coasters in the world.
00:31:20
Speaker
Let's see. I do want to, oh, Vampire, the SLC. Not bad. No. Tolerable. I'm going to give an inverted creative exclusive here.
00:31:31
Speaker
Ooh. Since we talked about, well, the Belgium enough last episode. So, in my video, which is coming out, it's already out. I say that, oh, i Cobra, they're,
00:31:44
Speaker
Become a Boomerang was closed around 3 o'clock when I was there. I'm like, alright, I'll see if it's open when i leave the park. In the video, I say it actually didn't reopen.
00:31:58
Speaker
That was a lie. It did reopen. But I purposely didn't ride. Because I was at 578 credits. I knew there were 2 at Legendia and 19 at Energylandia.
00:32:13
Speaker
Meaning if every credit was open there, I'd be at $599 going into Phantasialand. If I had ridden Cobra and everything was open, that means 600 would have been the final ride at Energylandia.
00:32:28
Speaker
And there's no way I wanted to wait for Hyperion or Zadra until I rode everything there.
Sightseeing in Brussels
00:32:34
Speaker
So I purposely did not ride Cobra so I could line up 600 perfectly at Phantasialand.
00:32:40
Speaker
To be fair, you could have skipped one of the many, many crappy coasters at Energylandia. Shout out James Larson that he would not have allowed that. Oh, fair. And i there's no i had to get I had to complete the gauntlet there.
00:32:54
Speaker
We'll get to that pretty soon. Wallaby Belgium, um I would push it over Wallaby Holland for the best Wallaby. Yeah, I agree. You agree? Yep. Pretty a park.
00:33:05
Speaker
um I'd say Holland's overall lineup is better roller coasters but they have belgium has the best coaster of the two sorry untamed you're close or you're not condo then it was time oh then kind of another spoiler here um in my original announcement video i said day four is gonna be probably bobby on land in belgium
00:33:36
Speaker
While at Efteling, I was toying like, oh, this is such a good park. And I've heard Toverland is also a really beautiful park. Maybe I skip Bobby Island and go to Toverland. But my foot was in so much pain at the end of Albie, Belgium.
00:33:54
Speaker
I'm like, and the thought of just like not setting an alarm, not going anywhere the following day was so appealing. I said, okay, you know what? No parks.
00:34:04
Speaker
parks. and I'm so happy I did because it was a much needed rest day. i did get to actually sightsee. I went into Belgium. I saw the Atonium. Have you seen, have you, know what that landmark is?
00:34:16
Speaker
I saw it from the plane. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah. There's a picture I took from the plane coming in, and like I can distinctly see that. It's just such a cool... It's like their Eiffel Tower. It's this like unbelievably wild at like giant atom, essentially, that you can go into.
00:34:31
Speaker
They have all these like cool like futuristic like sensory exhibits and in each of like the balls. Really, really cool. And then I went downtown to check out the...
00:34:42
Speaker
I forget the actual name of It's like their main town square. Unbelievable architecture. Just complete 360 around you. Huge fan of Brussels. Very happy I had at least one sightseeing day.
00:34:55
Speaker
But this was the second most part important
Poland Park Experiences
00:35:00
Speaker
part of the trip. Because the next day, someone I know by the name of Megan, who was maybe my wife, finally joined me in Europe.
00:35:10
Speaker
She landed in Brussels. Credit to her, she did two flights, met me at Brussels Airport, and and then got on a third flight where we went to Krakow, Poland, where the real fun began because we had met this huge, huge group.
00:35:28
Speaker
Actually, sorry, that was in Energylandia. We did Legendia first, where we met our friends Barbara, who from Czechia, and her amazing husband, Lucas, and also our friend Harrison, who was from Perth, Australia.
00:35:43
Speaker
So really, I schedule everyone's scheduled this trip based on the two of them jokingly saying we should get just Barbara and Harrison. We should just get together in Europe this summer.
00:35:58
Speaker
And Harrison was like, he's a huge Iron Maiden fan. And they were playing in London. And Barbara was like, hey, while you're in London, let's go to Anagolandia in Poland as a joke.
00:36:09
Speaker
And that turned into a total of 13 people ah going to Poland during this time. That's crazy. So it was just the five of us at Legendia.
00:36:21
Speaker
Popped in real quick. Obviously, you got to ride a let coaster. Legendia as a whole, I actually kind of like the park. It's really charming. Yeah, I agree. real Nice little layout, like perfect circle around the lake.
00:36:33
Speaker
We rode their Soket double loop. Which is shockingly not my first Soquette double loop because there's one in Columbia that I rode. This one was a lot better.
00:36:44
Speaker
Did you do the backwards car? I did not. Megan and Harrison did. It's so bizarre. I'm like, no, I'm i'm good. i want I want to survive the day. But they said it wasn't that bad.
00:36:56
Speaker
No, it really wasn't. The worst part about that is the zero leg room. Yeah, yeah, there's no room. and then But then let coaster. heard a lot about Let Coaster. Low key, one of the best underrated roller coasters in Europe.
00:37:12
Speaker
And i realize like it's fantastic. Intense as all hell. Oh my god, I was not expecting how intense that ride is. I don't gray out too much.
00:37:23
Speaker
little bit on that thing. Great mix of airtime, positive forces. Fantastic drop, especially in the back row. like how you go through the station, the then version.
00:37:36
Speaker
i I think we got four rides on it. I'm probably not as high on it as others have it. It's probably outside my top 25. And probably closer to 50 and 25. But obviously a very, very good coaster.
00:37:54
Speaker
Allison, I don't believe I've ever heard your thoughts about that coaster. I mean, I really like it. i don't remember where I have it ranked. I grayed out every single time after the first drop. but I would, it's like a hard ride to marathon, not even marathon, like re-ride.
00:38:11
Speaker
re Yeah. Just it's re-ride rideability. Hey, a lot of like, uh, I threw a five in it. Like after two rides, I'm like, I might need a little break here, which that, you know, that, that factor does for least for me, drop it in my rankings a little bit. I'm, you know, we're also old, so, you know, that doesn't help.
00:38:30
Speaker
Two of us are. Jen's getting up there. I'm getting up there. I'm getting there. But no, I'm very thankful we stopped in. we all They also had a really fun shooter that we did.
00:38:44
Speaker
um But then it was time to get in the car and drive to Energylandia. We drove right down right down that middle. Literally, we're driving by Zadra as it's going down the drop. well As we're playing the Energylandia soundtrack. Guys, if you don't know Energylandia soundtrack is, look it up right now.
00:39:02
Speaker
top five most addicting theme park songs. know and' It'll be in your brain for like five days. three Probably only to be topped by a song that Jen will be talking about later. I was going to say, you better not say it's going to top that one.
00:39:16
Speaker
i say Like I said, we mentioned, we met up with 13 people. I mentioned Harry, Julie, and David that were at Efteling. They were also at Poland. We met up with Taylor and Sarah and Matt, which was awesome.
00:39:30
Speaker
We met up with James Larson, as i already mentioned, his son Blake. Huge group. I don't think I'm forgetting anybody. We randomly saw Tom's brother there. That was random. I didn't realize he was there then.
00:39:43
Speaker
you Who? He's everywhere all the time. That's true, yeah. Tom's brother from Tom and like tommy Kelly. Really? long hair. Yeah, okay. Looks absolutely nothing like Tom. No. Yeah.
00:39:56
Speaker
I honestly thought the whole, like, Tom's brother thing was, like, a joke. going to be so honest. I thought... He's a mysterious fellow, that's for sure. So it's not that far off. Yeah, they just, like, don't look alike at all in anything. So I really just thought it was a joke.
00:40:11
Speaker
but Yeah, crazy, crazy group. um That night, we started with Hyperion. That was our first ride.
00:40:23
Speaker
And I've heard a lot of conflicting reports. Oh, it's actually super rough. No, it's actually one of the best coasters in Europe and everything in between.
00:40:32
Speaker
Whole group takeover, we had phenomenal ride. Unbelievable. I could sense a little shake. According to James, that was like one of his best rides. And he's, for those of that don't know, James Larson, he is an American. He has been to Energalandia in Poland, remind you, 13 times in his life.
00:40:53
Speaker
And in his life, i that's like the last four years. I think he calls him one of his home parks. He's bought a season pass before. Yeah. Like multiple times. He is the American ambassador to Energylandia.
00:41:07
Speaker
No debate.
00:41:11
Speaker
So yeah, Hyperion was amazing. Of course, I started my Kanda comparisons. Which Intamin was better? think it's Kanda still. Maybe. I don't know. I still don't know. I don't know. I said I wouldn't rank.
00:41:23
Speaker
ah we proud yeah you can compare you don't have to rank you can compare that's that's good point uh let's see we rode their first of two family vakoma family boomerangs which was interesting we rode viking yeah the sbf visa spinning wild mouse with over the shoulder restraints that sounds awful why it's very awful why
00:41:52
Speaker
I'm spoiling a line I told Taylor for his vlog for Coasting Through Europe. And I said, you know the acronym for your series? That's what I just got on Viking.
00:42:02
Speaker
but I will say, I think they there's more padding than there used to be for your head. Doesn't help that much. If there was ever a one and done, get the credit.
00:42:15
Speaker
It's Viking. But if you're with a group, it can be fun. Well, yeah. When you're with a group, like, the pain becomes part of the journey. Correct.
00:42:27
Speaker
Because everyone's just laughing at how absurd it is. Yeah. yeah I agree. And then you watch the next car come in knowing what you just experienced.
00:42:37
Speaker
Then I'm i'm probably going to screw up my order here. Then it was on Zadra. And for those that don't know, have we mentioned the plaque? I think we've mentioned the plaque before.
00:42:50
Speaker
um Yeah, I think so. It was my first time seeing it live. So, you know Taylor and Sarah went ahead because like, OK, we got to record your first reaction. And then I didn't know at the time James was behind me, like recording me as I was walking up.
00:43:05
Speaker
It was surreal just seeing it in person for the first time. Like I'm so far away from home and there's a coaster three six five like thing right outside of one of the best coasters in the world.
00:43:21
Speaker
like I wanted to like literally pick it up and like hold it like a trophy. ah Yeah, i definitely get teary-eyed, I'll admit. ah Don't blame you? And the fact that ever you know some of my best friends in the world were surrounding me, my wife was there, it was perfect.
00:43:36
Speaker
like Absolutely perfect. And then we rode Zadra and... No, I'm only kidding.
00:43:46
Speaker
Did it live to the Cooster Madness champion? I imagine. If I'm like, yeah, the ride sucks. It's overrated. I finally learned that the joke, or not the joke, the... I can't talk right now.
00:44:01
Speaker
The reports of how long that queue was. yeah It's real. That's absurd. And try doing that recovering from a torn Achilles.
00:44:13
Speaker
Like, up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs, long pathway, upstairs, long pathway, down the... Why? Why? and hyper I didn't mention Hyperion's queue. That's absurd too.
00:44:23
Speaker
It's like a freaking NASCAR track getting up there. All the way up and then all the way right back down and then you can see where the gate is. My two days in Angelania, 25,000 steps both days.
00:44:35
Speaker
yeah with which With healthy feet, that would have been painful. ah I'm glad I took that day off. I would have died in day two. Zadra is insane.
00:44:48
Speaker
Everyone that hypes it up it's It's kind of like Untamed. It's kind of its own um RMC because it's not about airtime, airtime, airtime. It's way more like elongated.
00:45:01
Speaker
The elements are more drawn out. The stall is unbelievable. When there is airtime though, my God, has it hit.
00:45:12
Speaker
Fantastic quick inversions. The power of that thing is unbelievable. Don't know where it's ranked. I will say it's not number one.
00:45:23
Speaker
And probably not top five.
00:45:28
Speaker
Which might disappoint some people. But it's freaking amazing. And shout out our friend Harrison. It was his first ever RMC. Really?
00:45:38
Speaker
Oh my goodness. That's kind of crazy. they're gonna Coaster Studios is going to post it at some point. His reaction is so genuine. It's incredible.
00:45:49
Speaker
Oh my God, I would give anything to go back and ride my first RMC again. It's so special to get to experience with someone. The fact that he did on Zatra. like Unreal.
00:46:02
Speaker
And we're seeing him. So he's he's insane. He just went to Europe. He's now going to do a huge US tour. He's going like Knott's, Silverwood, Cedar Point, Dollywood.
00:46:18
Speaker
He's like matt like New England, the king's domining he's getting like going from zero arm seats to like over 10 in like a month. it's Wild.
00:46:31
Speaker
Yeah. So yeah, great, great moment for all of us. Just a phenomenal group day. think we wrote a brisk ah business for the first time as well. I love that thing. i loved I liked how the first half is underwhelming because then you're like, eh, this is going to be okay. And then the second half just like hits.
00:46:49
Speaker
So good. Beautiful area. Oh, my God. I love maybe one of my favorite like track colors is that like teal. So freaking good.
00:47:01
Speaker
I won't. Those are really funny. Yeah. Coaster Studios story about their lodging. but That's theirs to tell if they want it. We had a fun dinner that night at ah Western Camp.
00:47:14
Speaker
We also stayed at these like amazing like like houses. They're called like Scandinavia houses that like overlook Hyperion. Barbara had stayed in there before recommended.
00:47:25
Speaker
They were unbelievable. Day two of Energylandia is when umm like, all right, James, this is why I wanted you here. I vowed my first visit to Energylandia, you have to be here because we got to do the gauntlet.
00:47:40
Speaker
For those that know, there are 19 credits at Energylandia, which I think is currently the most roller coasters of any park in the world.
00:47:48
Speaker
I cannot believe how many kids rides there are. It's what? 10 to 12 of the 19 are family to kiddie coasters? Every model you can think of. s SPF Visa, Wacky Worm, uh...
00:48:05
Speaker
Two family Vekoma boomerangs. Ridiculous. And it was semi-busy, but we got it done. I'm not going to go credit for credit. I will say the ah SLC, Roller Coaster Mayan, second best l SLC that I've ever ridden outside of Great Nor'easter at Maurice Pierce.
00:48:25
Speaker
Actually a good RMC. Sorry, good SLC. Too many acronyms. Literally, though. ah Let's see.
00:48:37
Speaker
Oh, Speed. The water coaster. So I mentioned our friend Matt. I'm sure if you watch Coaster Studios, you know who Matt is. He's essentially their number three. He has like... I don't know if it's a legit fear.
00:48:53
Speaker
The man hates water. Especially water attractions. He does not do them. We all peer pressured him. You have to ride Speed with us.
00:49:06
Speaker
And he... Credit to him. He agreed. we had We had such a big group, we had to do two boats. And I'm i'm like walking as close to Matt as I can. just i wanted to be on his boat to see his reaction. ah And that's actually a really fun water coaster. I'd never done like that huge elevator lift before.
00:49:27
Speaker
And guess of the ten of us, who got the most wet?
00:49:33
Speaker
Perfection. Perfection. He was a trooper. um Then we rode Hyperion like two or three more times. We rode Zadra I think a total of five times. Yes, I did. The magic gate was not open.
00:49:48
Speaker
I walked that queue every time.
00:49:52
Speaker
um Unbelievable day. Like it two days. like perfect The weather was perfect. like I got some amazing shots of Zadra. um Wonderful, wonderful group.
00:50:05
Speaker
So much fun. Probably, well, had two main highlights of this trip, as as we'll we'll get to. That was definitely one of them.
00:50:17
Speaker
ah We had this amazing barbecue that night. like David and Lucas manned the grill. We had all these hot dogs and hamburgers and like so much food. ah So good.
00:50:30
Speaker
Energylandia, worth the trip.
00:50:34
Speaker
Any thoughts for you, Allison, about your Energy Lady experience? I miss it. It's been three years, right? Yep. And, you know, the two coasters that we saw under construction while we were there finally opened.
00:50:49
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I didn't talk about ah Sweet Valley. Yeah. Yeah. Fun little, um not little, it's actually really, really long, ah Mine Train, Choco Chip Creek. They still have not finished some of the theming.
00:51:01
Speaker
it's just I think they're trying to build a mountain and it's just like a steel frame.
00:51:07
Speaker
And then they have like another kiddie coaster there. like ah Vekoma Calypso. It's actually really smooth and fun. Beautiful, beautiful area. I wish... Anagelania definitely has an identity issue.
00:51:21
Speaker
And I hope they start building more lands. Especially towards the front of the park. ah kind of Make it more of a well-rounded park. At least theming.
Phantasialand Challenges and Triumphs
00:51:32
Speaker
um Then next up, we went back to Brussels, rented another car. um So we got back at... Oh, here we go. Our first only real frustration of this whole trip.
00:51:49
Speaker
So originally we were supposed to get into Brussels at like 2 or 3 p.m. Like months ago. they And they changed the flight like three months ago to land instead at like 8.30
00:52:03
Speaker
And we were, of course, going to start the two-hour drive to Fantasialand. Ideally get there that night. This flight change meant, yeah let's just pick up the car and stay near the airport.
00:52:18
Speaker
And we'll drive to Fantasialand the next morning. Which was fine. The park technically opened at 9. We got there a little after 10. Checked into Charles Lumberg, which is the hotel right near Flye.
00:52:31
Speaker
And when I say right near, I mean as close to touching it as you can possibly get. I'll get to Charles Lindbergh later. But the rides opened at 10. So we essentially got there for opening.
00:52:44
Speaker
As you remember, I said if I hit every credit in Poland, I'd be at 599. And because we were staying at Charles Lindbergh, I'm like, we're making fly 600. Let's let's go And Fly was closed.
00:52:57
Speaker
And it had been closed for like two days. There was something wrong with the lift the launch. So immediately I'm like, no, look I can't miss Fly.
00:53:08
Speaker
Sorry, Jen. I know. I miss Fly, but it's fine. so be fair, you're you'll yeah you go to Germany enough now these days.
00:53:20
Speaker
That's true. So
00:53:24
Speaker
I'm like, well, this ain't great. Well, thankfully, there's another pretty bucket list coaster that I can make 600 named Taryn, which I've heard some some good things about from one Allison over here.
00:53:38
Speaker
So we get to Taryn around 1030. Wait is posted 70 minutes. And this is starting a theme because we looked at the board.
00:53:50
Speaker
Pretty much every roller coaster, 50, 60, 70 minutes. Like, oh, boy, it's not good. We'll wait 70 minutes. That's fine. yeah First ride, we we didn't want to do single rider.
00:54:01
Speaker
It's my 600th. I wanted Megan there.
00:54:05
Speaker
Two hours later, we get on the ride. Not 70 minutes. Two hours. Tied for the longest I've ever waited for anything. I think opening year of Test Track in 1997. This is my record.
00:54:22
Speaker
ah Thankfully, we did get the front row. So that that was cool for 600. Taron was really, really fun.
00:54:33
Speaker
Great. The theming is unbelievable. Really good. Two or three like solid airtime moments. The launches are great. I think it was the first of the big bucket list coasters that did let me down a little bit.
00:54:49
Speaker
It definitely has its slow points. And i think you know I think Maverick is the comparison, at least as far as the roller coaster type. Maverick's, it's pure speed throughout the entire layout. I thought that's what Terran was.
00:55:06
Speaker
And it's not. Do you agree, Allison? I like it more than Maverick, but that's just me. I love it because of the theming and the soundtrack more than Maverick, like as a package. But as a coaster itself,
00:55:21
Speaker
I think I like Maverick more. Yeah. Without anything else, just coaster to coaster. I would definitely agree. I was expecting a little more. It's um it's still an insanely fun roller coaster.
00:55:36
Speaker
But there were like, and I think I said this in the video and I hate saying it again. There were parts that felt cheetah huntish. Mm. Ooh. Mm.
00:55:49
Speaker
That's an example. Okay, let's let's let's go. Let's get to the next launch already. Especially like the elements right before the second launch. like It's not moving at all. like
00:56:02
Speaker
But it's still amazing. Obviously, the theming makes it. I'm still very, very happy. I'm perfectly fine with that being my 600. Klugeheim, amazing.
00:56:15
Speaker
Like, oh my god. Anyway. I love Klugeheim. ah yeah I've heard. I've heard. So it's now 1230. We needed food. We didn't have much of a breakfast. So we stopped and got some pizza right near Taryn.
00:56:30
Speaker
Then it's like, okay, everything is still super long wait. Like, we'll just go to Black Mamba because Fly was still closed. Black Mamba's posted 80 minutes.
00:56:43
Speaker
And that was unfortunately accurate. 80 minutes. So by the time we're done eating, by the time we walk to Black Mamba, by the time we're done waiting and riding, it's almost 3 o'clock.
00:56:57
Speaker
The park closed at 6, and we had ridden coasters. Easily the least productive day I have ever, start to a day that I've ever had.
00:57:09
Speaker
I know I texted Allison. Did i talk to you that day, Jen? I think I might have, right? No, because... I don't know. Yeah, no.
00:57:21
Speaker
Definitely texted Sarah and Taylor. Just... Being an emming, and I don't mean the manufacturer. Just...
00:57:30
Speaker
Just ranting at... And Megan, of course, you know, she was feeling it too, but mostly me, to be fair. I was just like, I've been waiting for seven years to go to this park.
00:57:43
Speaker
And... It was miserable. Like the first four to five hours was just absolutely miserable. I felt so bad getting your texts. And for people, some people said Fantasia lands ah a one day park, if not a half day park.
00:58:00
Speaker
I am so happy. I did not listen to you because if that was my only day, would have been devastated. Yeah, it wasn't. We did go there two days. Thank God.
00:58:11
Speaker
i My thought process was the day before we went, it was 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Like, no joke. The insane heat wave day. And it dropped, like, to 75 for us the next day.
00:58:25
Speaker
So I'm thinking that everyone that was planning on going Wednesday, that that hot day, just went the next day. So it was like ah a double crowd. That had to have been it. Because it was a Thursday. It's not like it was it wasn't a holiday. It wasn't a weekend. It was a random Thursday. And it was...
00:58:40
Speaker
shoulder to shoulder slammed and think like, Oh, you like you and Taylor and Sarah were like, Oh, this is so weird. Like this is not normal. I'm like, you're sure. Cause I'm this sucks.
00:58:54
Speaker
But anyway, Megan, God bless her heart. I waited in a 35 minute line just to get fast passes.
00:59:04
Speaker
Um, we bought two, we used it for another ride on Taron. And I think maybe Colorado Adventure or something.
00:59:16
Speaker
Which, by the way, Colorado Adventure, let's talk about that, Ryan.
00:59:21
Speaker
Best mind train in the world. It's a really good consensus. Yeah, it's really good. Unhinged. I didn't realize. I knew it was long, but my God, it's long.
00:59:33
Speaker
Yeah. There's like three distinct sections. and there i get And I didn't know there was like. indoor portion and like there's some theming and that ride was great so good and isn't it could just be like misremembering but doesn't it have some cool like interaction with the boomerang no uh you're thinking of taron probably i am thinking of taron okay interacts with uh chiapas oh i was like i know it interacts with something i love it
01:00:07
Speaker
We did ride Rake as well this day, which is the family of the Cone Boomerang. um Great. like It's crazy how well it fits in with Taryn. Same track color. like As I'm like filming Taryn, I'm like, wait, is that Taryn's track is that Rake's track?
01:00:21
Speaker
and It was Rake's track. Or Rike, however you pronounce it. Which apparently they all it all opened together, so I guess that makes sense. Yeah. Let's see. We did one side of Whinge's.
01:00:36
Speaker
I love the tricks that ride does. It's so fun. It's so creative. Yeah, it's such like a silly little ride. I really enjoyed it too. I won't spoil anything, but it's not your typical spinner.
01:00:49
Speaker
We did Crazy Bats. which Did you find my glasses on Crazy Bats? I did not, unfortunately. Wow. That was only my second VR coaster.
01:01:02
Speaker
It's definitely like you could tell it's one of the older rides there because the theming is a little cheaper compared to everything else about Fantasia Land. But it was still a fun ride. I didn't realize how long that thing was. I thought we were doing like three laps and was like, no, you're actually on there for like three minutes and it's all one track, which was wild.
01:01:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's how I felt, too. I remember like halfway through, I was like, oh, my God, this thing ever going to end so long, like for no reason.
01:01:34
Speaker
Crazy. And then thankfully, as we're walking back to our hotel, Fly did reopen. And a benefit for staying at Charles Lindbergh is you get fast passes, skip the lines for Fly each day or there too, which is really cool.
01:01:51
Speaker
So we used that, got our first rides on Fly. That is definitely... Actually, Jen, do you know anything about Fly? like ah Not really, other than like seeing it. Okay.
01:02:02
Speaker
And i know the launches because like I can really see the launches. I'll say then. um I love that thing. I know Allison will disagree, but that is the best roller coaster at Phantasy Land.
01:02:14
Speaker
I do not blame you for thinking that. It's the whole Rookburg area. Obviously, a little biased because we stayed in Rookburg. That's where the Charles Dunberg Hotel is. I kid you not.
01:02:26
Speaker
Your bed in your room is five feet from Fly's track. Through the wall, over the balcony, Fly's track is right there. The whole hotel surrounds the track.
01:02:40
Speaker
You get full access to all the balconies, the observation tower, the shots, the views you get a Fly from Charles Lemberg is magical. It's so good.
01:02:53
Speaker
So yeah, um I think I'll will always have a connection to fly just for for staying there. um i think I should mention like how good of a deal staying at least at Charles Lindbergh. I'm sure the same as for Hotel Matamba and Ling Bao.
01:03:08
Speaker
But I think it was like 500 US dollars for one night. Two park tickets for both for everyone in our party. So both me and Megan.
01:03:22
Speaker
full complimentary dinner full complimentary breakfast and skip the lines for fly each day you're there and you get access to the bar 1919 which is literally again right under fly jen found out they do flights there they absolutely do flights there the only bad part is that fly wasn't going because the park was closed as we were at the bar yeah um We had a better night, but because of the start to that day, we did not do anything but coasters day one.
01:04:01
Speaker
Again, we just did coasters, missed out on all the other stuff, i would have been heartbroken. Thankfully, we did do not a day two. So much better.
01:04:14
Speaker
Complete redemption. Everything was like 30 minute wait or less. perfect weather we took our time we did the swings with like the fountains that almost touch your feet we did the chocolate mouse dark ride which was very very cute oh i forgot about that it's so cute the guns are like icing like the but icing what don't know what they're called the icing bags yeah yeah yeah um i liked it's very uh toy story midway mayhem or whatever you call it um
01:04:48
Speaker
Excellent. Excellent. Got the other side of Wingses. I didn't realize that it's like busted boat ride that I think used to be a shooting thing like so isolated from the rest of the park.
01:05:05
Speaker
Like kind of near Wingses. Did you even know that existed? No. there's There's a whole boat ride and like the it's like a hiking path almost around this lake. think I've heard about the hiking path at least.
01:05:18
Speaker
Yeah, it was so random. Like, nobody's there. It's so peaceful and quiet. Did that. You could tell it needs some some serious ah maintenance. Is it called River Quest?
01:05:30
Speaker
No. maybe River Quest is the rapids. yeah Hello, I didn't even know they had rapids. It's so good. Oh, we'll get there. Speaking of the water rides, Chiapas...
01:05:45
Speaker
Outside of roller coasters, if you had to ask me what my favorite ride at a park is, it's probably a flume. I grew up on Splash Mountain. I love flumes. And Chapa's, Splash Mountain will always be my zero flume.
01:06:00
Speaker
Chapa's is my favorite after that. What a freaking party that ride is. did you Have you both been on it? No.
01:06:11
Speaker
haven't done choppers yet oh no because it was december so i was not oh that's true and that didn't stop us it's yeah no i was not it was freezing that day i was not going to get what no it's it's a soaker that's what not a soaker it's uh it definitely gets you wet that is for sure yeah so i unfortunately missed it um but Oh, must next time.
01:06:40
Speaker
I don't care how cold it is. Yeah, we rode it when it was like 38 degrees. so Nice. I'm surprised it was even open. Yeah, same. Yeah, couldn't do it. It's so much fun. We did do River Quest.
01:06:54
Speaker
That surprised me. I was not expecting that feature. I don't want to say it. That thing is wild. i have Everything about that ride is wild.
01:07:05
Speaker
Not as much of a soaker for as Chappas. I guess the it's seat dependent. you You can get soaked if you're in the right seat. Thankfully we were not. Oh, I think our whole boat got soaked. ah Just because like the boat is articulated.
01:07:18
Speaker
So a lot of through in places it should not. um Crystal Tower. Is that what it's called? No. That's the one at Glenwood. Mystery Castle?
01:07:29
Speaker
Oh, Mystery Castle. Mystery Castle. Whoa. That thing is fun. you You guys have all been on it? Yep. Okay, so it's a drop tower, but like a very unique drop tower where it's technically it's not a tower. it's You're against the walls of this very tall castle. There's like six different mechanisms.
01:07:52
Speaker
Everybody goes up at once. Obviously, the music's really creepy. It gets you a terrified mood. Pitch dark, but then like the lights come on as you're at the top.
01:08:04
Speaker
And you see other trains fall before you. So it's like... I think it's... Does it not have different ride cycles, too? It's not just a straight fall, right?
01:08:17
Speaker
Isn't it drop? I think so, yeah. And i apparently it's a longer cycle later in the day. Okay. At least Taylor said that. We rode at, like, two. So I don't know if that was still the early part of the late part.
01:08:34
Speaker
i don't know i i loved it we both megan and i both really loved it it's so fun yeah um we rode colorado adventure again we definitely rode taron i think a total three times fly think we got a total of four or five rides because we waited a few times and then we also used our fast passes um Here's the thing, like I love flying coasters, especially flying dinosaur in Japan for their intensity.
01:09:01
Speaker
Fly is not intense. It's just pure fun. Like you, it's the greatest, like the truest sense of a flying coaster, flying feeling that I've ever felt in an actual coaster.
01:09:15
Speaker
The way you're going all over Rookberg. I'm sorry, Jen. I'll stop. I'll make it there eventually. Amazing. Thank God for that second day because the negative opinions of Fantasialand, not that it was the park's fault, that were forming because of that brutal start completely went away. And now it's one of my favorite parks of all time.
01:09:38
Speaker
One of the most beautiful parks I've ever been to. i didn't talk about Black Mamba yet. Holy crap. That's a fantastic invert. How did I forget about Black Mamba? That's an incredible invert.
01:09:50
Speaker
I think... Strip away theming on any invert. Probably still take Mantu and Pyrenees in Japan. Black Mamas probably third as a pure coaster.
01:10:06
Speaker
Add all the theming in that area. All the trenches. The station. The pure beauty that surrounds you.
01:10:16
Speaker
I think it's my favorite invert. It's definitely up there for me. ah um Amazing. Coaster in itself, I think it's that and Talon are my two favorite inverts.
01:10:28
Speaker
They're at Dorney Park. Yeah. It's on a 24. Oh, okay. But yeah, the, um, a black Mamba is just absolutely incredible. It does like everything that I want in an invert.
01:10:45
Speaker
It's incredible. Yeah. Kobe Bryant Talon was ridden by Bryant. Yeah, Kobe Bryant Talon was ridden by Bryant. Love it. And that that whole like African area.
01:10:57
Speaker
like All those little streets are are so good. Yeah, it's a beautifully themed area. Everything about everything about that park. There isn't one section. I guess thing a s near that boat area.
01:11:08
Speaker
I even like the little fantasy section. like the The design of the building was I thought was really pretty. Oh, I know what section you're talking about, I think.
01:11:20
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't think anything poorly of it. Yeah. ah Worth the hype. It's worth the hype. I want to go back there for Wintertron now.
01:11:35
Speaker
Allison, do you like Fantasia Land? It's okay. It's only my favorite park in the world. Yeah, I get it. And then then it was time to go to Europa Park.
Surprise Reunion and Secret Trips
01:11:51
Speaker
About a three and a half hour drive, four hour drive from Fantasialand. And I knew i was meeting again with our friend Barbara, who I think a few weeks prior was like, I'm going to take a silly bus trip and meet you guys at Europa.
01:12:05
Speaker
I'm like, yes, let's go. And then we knew we were meeting Joey. First time meeting Joey in person. Obviously, we have recorded a podcast together.
01:12:17
Speaker
So i always knew it was going to be you know me, Megan, Barbara, and Joey. Joey messaged me a week before. Hey, you guys are still coming, right? And I'm like, oh, yeah, of course.
01:12:29
Speaker
So um we should get dinner after the park. Jen can't be there. but And it was July fifth So she's like, let's kind of, quote, celebrate July 4th for her and eat at this west this new Western resort.
01:12:48
Speaker
They have this huge American buffet. he's dating an American. He needs to celebrate of July in an American place. There we go. And he sends me like the reservation for people, the time, and he's like, are you good? And I'm like, yeah.
01:13:03
Speaker
Can't wait, man. Let's go. so Megan at some point earlier in the week threw out the idea like, wouldn't it be funny if like Jen was there?
01:13:14
Speaker
And I'm like, that would be crazy. But then remembered the reservation that Joey had sent me saying four people. And I'm like that right there, completely like I was dead set.
01:13:29
Speaker
Jen's not showing up.
01:13:32
Speaker
He made a reservation for four people. So we get to Europa, we meet Joey and Barbara in the parking lot. Just them two. It's the four of us, we walk in. We start walking to Eurostat Can-Can Coaster, the Epcot ball.
01:13:48
Speaker
And Barbara was like, hey, you and Megan should take a picture. Like there's an inside joke where we like point at the at the ball with our mouth open. All of a sudden this this figure just pops in between us.
01:14:05
Speaker
It's effing Jen.
01:14:08
Speaker
Out of nowhere. i had freaking clue.
01:14:15
Speaker
Allison, you knew. Pretty much everyone knew. I did not keep a secret. I told everyone. Barbara knew. Everybody knew. Well, well done.
01:14:26
Speaker
You did it. like there i had Other than Megan just throwing it out there, i'm like, no, but at the reservations before. Apparently that was before he hit confirm. Yeah. he just simply changed it to five.
01:14:39
Speaker
um allt All time moment at a park. Forever. I'm really proud of myself. you got i And here's the thing.
01:14:51
Speaker
As you'll talk about, you went to Europe. days prior and purposely didn't post anything just so we wouldn't know yeah i was so nervous you were gonna text me at like a weird time and like me not answer which like i don't know i probably i what what are the odds that i answer anyway a good point good point but like i was so nervous you were gonna like text me at a weird time and i wasn't gonna answer and you were gonna know i was in europe
01:15:22
Speaker
Like, one of the biggest surprises of our lives. you You see our reaction. Megan was freaking out. I was freaking out. like Perfect.
01:15:32
Speaker
Executed to perfection. i was and you would And I didn't say, like, you were saying for months, like, oh, maybe I'll try to meet you guys. And be like, oh, the flights are too expensive. The timing's not going to work.
01:15:44
Speaker
And I think like a few weeks before, you like, no, it's definitely not going to happen. You had a work event come up. Yeah. Something like that. I had like admitted defeat. And then all of a sudden one day I was sitting at my computer and I don't even remember what I saw.
01:15:58
Speaker
But it was like, someone mentioned Dublin. And I was like, wait, Dublin's usually really cheap to fly to. And that's how I feel. Like, that's the only way I could get a flight within budget. Because I was able to find a $400 flight to Dublin and then get to Stuttgart for like $100.
01:16:16
Speaker
So, because my budget was very strict. I was like, under $550 or I will not be going. um And that got me to Stuttgart under that budget.
01:16:28
Speaker
So. Well, I, my voice needs a break. I'm sure you all are sick of me yapping. So I think it's time for Jen. Guess what guys? She also went to Europe. Yeah. I also went to Europe.
01:16:40
Speaker
Although um my trips to Europe look a little bit different these days. I spend 90% of my time at Europa park. um So I started my trip by, as I just said, I stopped in Dublin. I had about 12 hours in Dublin.
01:16:57
Speaker
um My friend David, flew in from, like, London area, and we went to Emerald Park. So, first, I was not expecting, Emerald Park, like, comes with my Europa Park pass.
01:17:13
Speaker
So, i was kind of like, yeah, I get, like, a handful of tickets with my Europa Park pass, and Emerald Park is one of them. Oh, that's awesome. I didn't know that.
01:17:25
Speaker
Yeah, but that and Efteling.
01:17:30
Speaker
Me and Parkland was used with the same head shape. One a year. It's like such an odd thing. There's a couple other parks too, like some in the UK and stuff, but those are the two that like I would find use for. it So I was like, oh, I have 12 hours. i have a free ticket to Emerald Park. My friend David is coming because originally I was going to rent a car and drive. And then I realized that where, yes, I can drive stick shift, I did not know if my left hand would understand how to navigate like putting the car in so my friend David came he drove us to Emerald Park and we got everything done in that park it was pretty easy rained for like an hour or two which for Ireland that's really a fantastic day
01:18:22
Speaker
um It did not rain much at all. We got every attraction in, um starting with the wooden coaster, the Chuchulin?
01:18:34
Speaker
I also do not know how to pronounce it still. Kukulin? Kukulin. I think that's right. holen one of them I don't know. Alex is somewhere screaming at us. Yeah, I don't know how to pronounce it.
01:18:47
Speaker
It was fun. The inversion... is comical like I don't understand how we can call it an inversion but they call it an inversion whatever that's a little comical it's long like it might be the longest wooden coaster other than the beast I've ever been on like it just felt like it just went forever um As you guys know, I'm like not really the biggest fan of boarding coasters. So I wasn't.
01:19:18
Speaker
It's fine. It's not one I'm going to rave about. However, i will rave about, you know how on some, like some parks will do those boxes where they put the phones that are like smashed.
01:19:34
Speaker
Okay. So I have a picture that I took on my film camera. Okay. They had one of those boxes. So this ride is celebrating its, like, 10-year anniversary. So twenty twenty five it's 2025. That's 2015.
01:19:48
Speaker
This box was full of phones. And I swear there were, like, one of those brick Nokias in there. When you look at the phone selection in this box, like, there isn't a phone that's newer than, like, 2005. And I was like, where did they get these phones from?
01:20:03
Speaker
Like, I need to know where they found them. Probably somebody's like old collection. They're like, Hey, can we fake all these phones that have broken?
01:20:13
Speaker
Yeah, literally. Like they just smashed a bunch of really, really old phones, but not like there's an iPhone that I swear was like my first iPhone I ever had in there. Like it was crazy.
01:20:26
Speaker
Um, so I really liked that. yeah. I'm trying to like go through the flight school, the theming on the flight school ride. and Absolutely incredible. I thought it was so cute.
01:20:38
Speaker
It was adorable. Yeah. And the dino ride. Like what? The animatronics, the theming, the ride vehicle.
01:20:50
Speaker
The unexpected water ride.
01:20:54
Speaker
Yes, pretty much. Um, it was pouring rain for us, though, so... Oh, okay. I didn't get that. I kind of forgot about it, as you said it, and then it took me a second to click because I was literally soaking wet.
01:21:07
Speaker
Everything was a water ride for you. Yeah, literally. But then, because we were soaking wet, we did get on the log flume?
01:21:17
Speaker
I think it's a log flume? I have trust issues. don't know. Um... Am I, can do either of you, like you've been there, but Brian, do you care much about spoilers at this party? No, i'll go for it, yeah. Okay.
01:21:31
Speaker
This log plume, you think you're done, you do a pretty big drop and it brings you to a section. it looks like you're gonna leave. They send you backwards down a pretty big drop, soaking wet.
01:21:42
Speaker
And we're not even at the biggest drop. I was a level of wet that I have not been on a log flume in a very long time. was like, I literally backwards one destroyed me.
01:21:56
Speaker
love it. I was so angry.
01:22:02
Speaker
But it was really cool. It was really fun. It's like themed to Vikings, I think. um I liked it.
01:22:12
Speaker
time I'm missing one. Oh, yeah. i'm a good one yeah Well, I'm saving the best for last. okay um So I'm actually missing two. um Yes, we have Visa Spinner.
01:22:28
Speaker
If you have not seen it, Brian, you have to go look it up. It is like award-winning, number one best-themed SPF VISA think I've ever seen. It was the cutest thing ever. It's incredible. It is so cute.
01:22:40
Speaker
i A ladybird loop? Yes. It is the cutest thing. There's like giant mushrooms and like... I think like worms.
01:22:51
Speaker
Are they worms all over? I can't remember. I don't even remember. ah but Oh my gosh. I was like, I love this SPF visa just because it's the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Like, who designed this?
01:23:05
Speaker
SPF visa? No. Oh, they're ladybugs. That was dumb of me. They're ladybugs all over flowers. Yeah, there that was dumb.
01:23:19
Speaker
um Okay, now on to like Not yet. Nafiana Force. Because there's also a boomerang. The boomerang was pretty fun.
01:23:29
Speaker
Like, I honestly thought it was kind of forceless, but and interacted with Nafiana Force really well, which I thought was cool. Like, they had a lot of moments like you were going through Nafiana Force.
01:23:44
Speaker
um So, very pretty. Not necessarily the most thrilling um boomerang, but very cool. um But yeah, that brings us to Nafiana Force, which I went into this park thinking nothing.
01:24:02
Speaker
Like, if I'm being honest, I was like, I'm just here because I have a free ticket. I think Nafiana Force tops every B&M hyper I have ever ridden. i loved that ride.
01:24:17
Speaker
but like It might be one of my favorite roll roller coaster types. I want more of them. i like We don't have enough of them to really like have what I think could be more thrilling versions of them, which I'm sure we'll eventually get to.
01:24:33
Speaker
But like it had such a good mix of elements. So much air time. I wasn't expecting any air time at all. So much air time. On an invert.
01:24:44
Speaker
On an invert. Everyone says that.
01:24:48
Speaker
This one, though, like, I get in fights all the time having air time. Talon has a little pop here and there. This has, like, legitimate air time. It's, like, insane.
01:25:00
Speaker
Ooh, does this get a Talon name? cause Or does it have to be b and um No, right now I still only do B&Ms. Okay. Yeah, we haven't made it there. B&Ms and ones when people annoy me by saying they're not telling. Okay.
01:25:18
Speaker
But yeah, so that ended being like one of my favorite rides that I've ever done. It was such like an underdog for me. I wasn't expecting it. The theming was good.
01:25:29
Speaker
The ride itself was good. i loved it. The first time I ever did, like, I haven't done very very many like new generation Vekomas. So I think that might add to it too. But Vekoma really slaps at this point. Like, oh God, yeah, it's,
01:25:46
Speaker
incredible what they've done it's crazy to me to see how far that they've progressed while we're watching other manufacturers like stand still and or decline like their quality is just getting better and better and better it's insane and to think that i used to like Like, the first thing out of my mouth when people talked about Six Flags America or Elitch Gardens, I'd be like, why would I spend money to go ride a Vekoma?
01:26:17
Speaker
Like, well and now I would be, like, running at the door to ride Vekoma. So, all right. There's my fangirl moment.
01:26:29
Speaker
Yeah, Vekoma and Mach. it's It's their decade. Yeah, they're taking over everything. i will give it to RMC too. RMC is also doing some fantastic things, I think.
01:26:40
Speaker
But I feel like they're on such a different level. Like, what they're doing is a little more unique. Yeah, I mean, I'd give RMC the if we're talking decades. yeah It's Vekoma and Mok in the 2020s.
01:26:52
Speaker
I don't know. but Vekoma and Mok are really doing their thing right now, though. Alright, well that gets me through MWD Park. um Oh, we watched a really cool bird show too. My friend David got hit in the face by a bird's wing.
01:27:07
Speaker
they were like um have to sit They were like, keep sitting. Do not move. Do not move. And he didn't move. And the bird, they warned us, the bird likes to fly close. And the bird literally just slapped him in the face with his wing. It was great.
01:27:20
Speaker
Incredible. It was great. So, um yeah. I really enjoyed that park. I highly recommend it. 10 out of 10. Then it brought me to Stuttgart and right near Stuttgart, it's like 30 minutes away, 40 minutes away, Schwaben Park.
01:27:41
Speaker
For anyone who does not know, what is at Schwaben Park? That is the home of the chicken coaster. So I did finally get to ride the chicken coaster. I have never been more excited for anything in my life.
01:27:55
Speaker
Joey was like very visibly not entertained with me.
01:28:01
Speaker
Are you playing the song? I don't know if it comes through in the podcast, but.
01:28:08
Speaker
Kind of, but not really. we can't get like copyrighted for this, right? but i have no All the money we make. Yes. All zero dollars. Yeah, all the zero dollars. We're just going to wait for the the drop.
01:28:24
Speaker
but but but but Okay.
01:28:30
Speaker
Alright, so... Incredible. It's like, it's such a silly little rollercoaster, but why is it themed so well? Like... My only complaint, though... I do have a complaint.
01:28:43
Speaker
I have a pretty big one. How do you pay to have a song that goes that hard, and then they barely played it? It was like... Everything was walk-on at the park, but it was literally playing at, like, volume two in the queue.
01:28:59
Speaker
Yeah, that that needs to be... i need speakers up that tower, and I need to listen to that song the entire ride. The same with Hummel Brummel. Like, two really banger songs,
01:29:14
Speaker
and it's not played anywhere at the station. Just put some speakers throughout the ride. I don't even need on-ride audio. Just play it in the area. Like that song is literally why people go there.
01:29:25
Speaker
Yeah, literally.
01:29:28
Speaker
am. I feel like I'm in kind of a minority, though, because I did kind of like the park outside of those. Like I thought it was really charming. Yeah, Sarah and Taylor said it was like one of their most like unexpected hits and of whatever year they went there.
01:29:42
Speaker
Yeah, they had this bob cart. They call it bob cart. And it's like you're in like a little bobsled that's powered and you power it yourself. That was super fun. I've seen video of that. Yeah.
01:29:53
Speaker
Yeah, it was very fun. um They used to have Sarah and Taylor told me to go find this boat ride. And Joey also was like, oh, my God, there's a boat ride. Except they drained the boat ride.
01:30:05
Speaker
And now it's the exact same thing that it used to have in the middle. Like it was just a really silly, simple one round thing. and now you just walk through the boat track.
01:30:17
Speaker
What? That's so weird. It was so funny. Like, and you can see the like, um, the water mill that like operated it, like still there. And they just kind of like put board over the loading area.
01:30:35
Speaker
and, like, it was it was a very weird experience. It was very clearly an old ride.
01:30:43
Speaker
So, yeah, we walked through that. Hummel Brummel is also, like, a killer ride. That thing was so fun and silly and, like, I actually, I think we ended up No, we did not because we got to re-ride the chicken coaster. But Hummel Brummel, like, we rode that like four or five times. It was so much fun.
01:31:06
Speaker
And it has like a little control thing. So you can like control your speed, which is pretty cool. It's the B ride, right? Yeah. That one also has a killer song. That's funky.
01:31:18
Speaker
But it was very unique and it was just fun. um Their other ride was just kind of like a kiddie ride. It was fine. If I'm being honest, it kind of felt like... It kind of felt like... Like, maybe it was just mentally, but I was like, I feel like this one's gonna just fall apart.
01:31:36
Speaker
Like...
01:31:39
Speaker
Now, I think we should also now make the point that this at the same time you're riding the chicken coaster, this is also the same day Allison is hitting 700 on the same exact coaster in Long Island.
01:31:53
Speaker
Yes. yeah Probably the same time of day, too, right? No.
01:32:08
Speaker
That's still crazy though, because there's what? Probably like four of those models around the world. Four with one opening soon, I think, at Connyland. Yeah. And what are the odds that we both are on the same model? Both doing like bucket list rides for ourselves.
01:32:24
Speaker
Yeah. In the cheesiest ways. Yeah.
01:32:29
Speaker
Yeah. I also did indeed find that Schwaben Park has like one place where you can purchase beer.
01:32:40
Speaker
Oh, and I almost forgot the most important part. On the way out of Schwaben Park, there is a vending machine where you can purchase fresh eggs and pasta. We did indeed purchase fresh eggs.
01:32:56
Speaker
That's actually funny. Did you eat the eggs? um We forgot to eat the eggs. We still have them, but we did indeed forget to eat the eggs.
01:33:08
Speaker
But I bought them. So that's what counts, right? Yeah. And then we also like the same day we went to Silver Lake City Resort because it was the 4th of July. And even though we were celebrating the 4th of July the next day with Brian and them, Joey still needed a 4th of July experience.
01:33:29
Speaker
I made him wear tacky Old Navy America shirts at 12 and Park. Right. um He did match me. He immediately took them off when we got back to Europa Park. um But we went to Silver Lake City and had some beers there since it's American themed and we barbecued.
01:33:49
Speaker
Which was pretty nice. Very nice. Yeah. A very American thing. The only thing we were missing was like having fireworks and blowing off your hand.
01:33:58
Speaker
Accurate. Accurate. Yeah, but then that brings me to the surprise. Yeah, I think that brings us back to the timeline of when Jen popped out of nowhere. Wait, actually, actually, we have one more thing, because we had this plan to surprise Brian, and in this plan, I could not be anywhere near the parking lot. So Joey drove me to the front of the park, and then he was going to the parking lot to go meet everyone.
01:34:26
Speaker
So... I was like, I could hide and be really prepared and whatever. I said, or I could just lap the basement dino ride. So I rode Madame Frodezyk like three times.
01:34:40
Speaker
And then I was like, okay, they look like they're walking from the parking lot now. Now I'll go hide. So before we get to the part where I surprised Brian, I rode the basement dino ride three times.
01:34:54
Speaker
So. Which the basement Dino Red is, I did not realize, was underneath Can-Can. Yeah. Even when we rode, I didn't realize we were underneath Can-Can.
01:35:06
Speaker
Yeah, it's like on the base level of Can-Can. It's like crazy. And apparently it was like no one really knew it was going to be opening and there were people like constructing it.
01:35:18
Speaker
for like over a year and then all of a sudden it just like opened under can can and everyone like can can was operating the whole time and no one even noticed anything was happening under it that's funny yeah very cute ride very beautiful ride it's one of my favorite dark rides ever it's so good but then it was time for the five of us now
Europa Park Highlights
01:35:38
Speaker
unexpectedly um first ah ah first up we did can can eurosat that ride's freaking amazing the the First off, Europa and their spiral lifts is hilarious.
01:35:50
Speaker
How many spiral lifts they have. um Yeah, they're crazy. like The fact that they were even developed is kind of crazy to me. like Oh, yeah. They're so odd.
01:36:01
Speaker
The way the music works with that ride is so good. And just the little... like but It was like Rockin' Roller Coaster meets Space Mountain. because it's like It's not as intense as Rockin' Roller Coaster. Also, we did not start with Can-Can Coaster.
01:36:15
Speaker
Yes, we did. No, we didn't. Yes, we did. 100%. Because we were right there. I feel like I remember walking right by it to go to the one that starts with a ve no we wrote that like 6th or 7th or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:36:35
Speaker
I did not realize that. Because then after Can Can is when i think only Joey, Megan, and I went to Silver Star. Yeah. i don't need a mint B&M in my life at a mock park.
01:36:47
Speaker
That, so for everyone that may, that hasn't happened yet, but it's like, oh, you're just loving every European coaster. You're thinking it's better than it is. After I got off Silver Star, really on the break run of Silver Star, I'm like, that's probably my least favorite B&M hyper.
01:37:05
Speaker
Yeah. Man, that did nothing for me. Nothing. Especially like just in a park full of such good attractions to have that.
01:37:16
Speaker
not Yeah, seriously. And there's no theme. It's a park is's literally a parking lot coaster. Doesn't really fit the vibe of Europa at all.
01:37:27
Speaker
It's such an odd choice. Yeah, the airtime was very limited. Yeah. There was one good moment coming off the break run that was really good.
01:37:38
Speaker
for I think it's the second tallest B&M hyper after Shambhala. And like you're just you just stay in your seat on that drop. Yeah, it doesn't do a lot. Did you agree, Allison?
01:37:51
Speaker
Yeah, i found it very mid-tier. The second half was definitely the better half. There's some weird transitions towards the end. Yeah. I do like when it goes to the walkway.
01:38:04
Speaker
that bypasses the parking ladder that comes in. um And it kind of like dives down right next to the entrance of the park. And it's really wooded and cool. I like that little section. But just because it's in a really cool and over, like it feels like you're in a forest for a second. It's kind of cool. Okay. Yeah, I can see that.
01:38:25
Speaker
But other than that. Other than that, it was one and done. Yeah, we only rode once two days. Let's see. Then we rode, I want to say, Poseidon, which is one of two water coasters they had.
01:38:38
Speaker
Super long ride. Great theming. It was fun. Didn't get too wet. Then I want to say we rode Cassandra, their madhouse, which they insisted we ride.
01:38:53
Speaker
I was so excited to get you guys to ride. I loved it, but I also hated it because... I will have you know, though, that I did indeed, like, I was, like, wall-sitting the whole end of that ride. So i I protected myself, and then I stared at you guys and waited for your reaction.
01:39:11
Speaker
Hated that. I won't spoil it. Just ride Cassandra. Very good Madhouse. Fantastic. I mean, at this point, i don't think the order matters. Maybe we did Muramir.
01:39:24
Speaker
<unk>ir And that ride's amazing. I think I rode, yeah, we rode together for the first time, Jen. Yeah, i't love Yeromir. It's so fun. The soundtrack's amazing.
01:39:36
Speaker
The longest lift hill of all time. It's just a dance party up the lift hill. It's a dance party. Also with the, like, turning, like, the vehicle spinning up the lift hill, it's just such a vibe.
01:39:49
Speaker
And the rocket ship, yeah. I loved it. so long, too. like I love how long you're just s spinning up there. like you Waving to yourself in like the mirror of those buildings is fun. We got the backwards ride pretty much the whole way, which was incredible.
01:40:05
Speaker
Megan was not as much of a fan, I think, of the ending of it as I was. It is pretty rough once you get to the break run.
01:40:14
Speaker
I loved Euromir. It's just such a unique ride. Like... Oh, nothing like it. You can't get that anywhere else. Nothing like it.
01:40:25
Speaker
We're going to wait for the the big guy until the end. So real quick, Woden. I still don't know what I think about Woden. We wrote it twice, once on each day.
01:40:37
Speaker
i thought it was a very odd layout for a GCI.
01:40:42
Speaker
Really, really, like it's it's a powerful little thing. It's not really an airtime machine. Like, I'm not going crazy, right?
01:40:52
Speaker
No, I wouldn't say it's good energy. lot of quick transitions. Good speed. It's definitely speed in, like, poppy laterals. Yeah. I think I did say it was my... I have ah my... I call them the vaunted four GCIs of Mystic, Thunderhead, Prowler, and Texas Stingray.
01:41:15
Speaker
Those are still my four favorite GCIs. I think Woden's after that. I think that's fair because it is unique and I do love that feeling of speed. and just its it's It is an out control feeling.
01:41:27
Speaker
It is a little on the short side. Yeah, i I think I like Woden so much because on top of the speed, I feel like you don't know where it's going to go. like No matter where you sit, like the layout is so weird that everything is a surprise.
01:41:41
Speaker
Even that first drop, like the way the first like the angle of the first drop and where it drops into is like Why? Like, who made this ride?
01:41:53
Speaker
Very unique layout. Yeah, it was wild. Good job, DCI. It's very unexpected. It's such a good ride. and Yeah, we're going to push two and a half hours again.
01:42:05
Speaker
Blue Fire, um i will admit, after my first ride, I was underwhelmed. The launch is good.
01:42:15
Speaker
The last inversion. the As Jen said, the OG Mosasaurus roll. So good. Fantastic. It's so good. But Brian, were you the person that kept saying to me that that's better than the Mosasaurus roll? Because I'm still ready to fight. No, that was Barbara.
01:42:31
Speaker
I was going to say, whoever's saying I'm still ready to fight. Yeah, she's wrong. Barbara, you're wrong. yeah No, it's a fantastic conversion. It's no Mosasaurus roll. But then after the launch, between the launch and that inversion, that is a whole lot of sleepiness for me.
01:42:49
Speaker
um I did, after our second ride, realize it was the first big mock. Big prototype ride, lot of clones. So I'm like, I should respect it a little more.
01:43:00
Speaker
Did lead to, was kind of an iconic ride in that aspect. But it's fine. It's fine. Let's talk some Arthur.
01:43:16
Speaker
Heck yeah! So, first off, as an attraction, I mean, it's a coaster. It's a tough count for me.
01:43:27
Speaker
I count it, but it's it's way more of a dark ride. So beautiful. So relaxing. Loved every second of it.
01:43:39
Speaker
We have talked on the podcast before, i believe, Jen, you described ah a certain part of that ride. Why I needed to ride twice, because I think I had tears in my eyes from laughter for ah good 30 seconds after that.
01:43:57
Speaker
It's... why? It's wild on a children's ride. And it's not, it okay, so um there's multiple, every line is, for Americans, extremely offensive for a children's ride.
01:44:15
Speaker
Yeah, we even like, didn't process it. Snoop Dogg, guys, it's Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre on a kid's ride. That's all I'll say.
01:44:25
Speaker
It's insane. And then I didn't realize until this last trip that also the line, because I was so caught off guard by the first word. And technically, like, the second word, because they say it twice.
01:44:37
Speaker
But they also say the F word. Yep. I didn't catch that until this time. And I know the song, and I know what the words are, but I just was so caught off guard by the other two. the of a sudden, this one, I was like, and they say the F word?
01:44:53
Speaker
The way you're just, like, greeted like that.
01:44:58
Speaker
oh my god it's honestly the most iconic area on any ride ever swear it's just complete it's such a 180 from the rest of the theme of that ride yeah it like doesn't even fit into the ride which i get it like kind of fits into the movie apparently i've never seen the movie but it's just so random Anyway, I loved Arthur.
01:45:21
Speaker
Wrote it twice. Actually, maybe three times. Three times. I think three times, Yeah, because we were waiting for you on the second day. not yeah Arthur's great. Okay, we got to get through. other coasters are there before we get to you-know-what?
01:45:38
Speaker
Bah. Bah coaster was fun. Bah. We finally did Josephina's. It happened. to me We had our beer. We had our schnitzel. It was perfect.
01:45:52
Speaker
Are there pictures of that moment yeah that I haven't seen? okay I literally sent it to you, I think, as soon as I took it. Oh, I need that picture, too. send it after we've been Yeah, like I get the appeal. i get the appeal yeah That's where the peacefulness and the vibes of Europa Park shine.
01:46:11
Speaker
Yeah, it's... It's a very special park when you take those smaller attractions into account. um Let's see. Matterhorn Blitz. That was the bobsled. That was actually really fun.
01:46:25
Speaker
That's actually not the bobsled. Oh, that's the chicken coaster. Yeah. Literally, Boban is the bobsled. Boban, yeah. ah Oh, Alpine Expressen.
01:46:37
Speaker
Cool little power coaster. Yeah. The fact that they rebuilt it after the fire. Impressive. We did not do Atlantica Super Splash. That was a miscredit. And we did not do Pegasus, which is just a family coaster.
01:46:52
Speaker
Pegasus is actually a lot of fun. oh wait We didn't get the credit. Yeah, it is a lot of fun. It had a really long line, though. um Yeah, it did. Yeah, we said we were going to come back to it. like It probably had 40-45 minute line when we were looking at it.
01:47:07
Speaker
Oof. Yeah, so we were like, oh, we'll come back and... Yeah, just never. We were prioritizing other things, which is fine, because ah let's talk some dark rides. If you don't know, there's five million dark rides at Europa.
01:47:20
Speaker
Paraton in Bavaria. Yeah. Holy crap, gorgeous. I know Joey doesn't think so. That was my favorite. It's so beautiful.
01:47:33
Speaker
It's beautiful, but it isn't a Basement Dino ride. Basement Dino ride was really fun.
01:47:40
Speaker
I already said it was beautiful. Yeah, but how do you call pirates of a basement dino ride? How many times are you going to say basement dino ride? Well, every moment of my life because I can't pronounce the actual name of the ride and Taylor was like... So, I call it basement dino ride because Taylor... The first time I went, Taylor texted me and said, Oh, we're doing the VR Can-Can coaster. You should go ride the dinosaur ride in the basement.
01:48:08
Speaker
And I was like, There we And then I just asked some random person. I was like, what is the dinosaur ride in the basement? they're like, Madame Frodo. And I was like, oh.
01:48:20
Speaker
It's a forever dino basement ride. It's not basement dino ride. um The knockoff felt like Haunted Mansion. and Whatever though that ride is. and Oh, I can't say the name of It's so good.
01:48:34
Speaker
So is, what is it, Snorri? the like the The octopus? Snorri Torrin, yeah. That was excellent. That was probably my second favorite. Oh, no, I just said Dino Basement Ride was. Yeah, Snorri's a really good dark ride, too. It's so cute and fun.
01:48:50
Speaker
Let's see, there's the Italian, like, like the the loved one. but Oh, yeah, Pico de Mundo? there it is.
01:48:59
Speaker
I'm probably missing another one, but... There's the Elsa one. I don't know the name of it. Oh, God, the Elsa. The ride that was made in, like, 1872? Yes. It literally is, like... I think it's, like, an opening day ride, and, like, it's very clearly an opening day ride.
01:49:16
Speaker
um it was Europa Park is beautiful. Holy crap. Like, one of the best... Maybe the best park in the world. I get it. I officially get it. I'll now go back and listen to you and and Nate talk about it.
01:49:28
Speaker
Um... No more spoilers. yeah But anyway, Voltron. ah Four rides. Front row, back row. I think row three.
01:49:41
Speaker
Maybe two in the back.
01:49:45
Speaker
Especially after my front row ride on the wing seat on the right side. Hit the brake run.
01:49:53
Speaker
I started to think and question things. I think as enthusiasts we all have those rides where you're like Is it? Was it? i don't know.
01:50:05
Speaker
It might be.
01:50:09
Speaker
And I still don't know the answer to that question. But da I'll try not to i'll try it not ah swear this time. But holy, you know what? Oh my God.
01:50:21
Speaker
That is a
01:50:25
Speaker
I want to quote Sarah, but I can't. A certain dream we have. ah That's what it is for enthusiasts. but but Everything you want.
01:50:37
Speaker
Airtime. Hang time. Launches. Theme. Interacting with other trains. Positive forces. Great inversions.
01:50:48
Speaker
It has everything. It has everything. The write-ups are okay. Yeah, especially at Dutch. Yeah. All right, all jokes aside, Joey's literally the mayor of Europa Park.
01:51:04
Speaker
He knows everybody. It's insane. Yeah. it's And he flirts with everyone. He does flirt with everybody. He flirts with everyone ever. Yeah, no, the way... that loved that part, that's for sure.
01:51:17
Speaker
Yeah. another the way man that that that man is loved to that part that's for sure ah
01:51:25
Speaker
The queue with ah like the lightning show. yeah the Tesla coils. The Tesla coils. The little tricks it has.
01:51:35
Speaker
It's absolutely like i that that man and like... That part just didn't have a budget. like I swear. They just walked in and they were like, we're going to do this. And whatever you need to do to get it done.
01:51:49
Speaker
And that's what we got. Mock cooked so hard with that. And it's great. like It doesn't have one like necessary, like, that's the moment. Like, hope like there it like it had just had it's perfectly flows together.
01:52:02
Speaker
It's a complete package. Complete package. 100%. one hundred please And coaster-wise, I feel like it's one of the only coasters outside of Gwazi that I feel like is just consistently, like every element is good.
01:52:17
Speaker
There's not a moment of dull, except for the stall, which is perfectly how it should be. Like there is not a, it doesn't even slow down. It doesn't anything.
01:52:29
Speaker
It's an enthusiast-like variety pack. Yeah. Even in the turntable, like even though you're stopped, And everything because of the like anticipation of what's going to happen and then it yeah it just like even that doesn't feel like a slow moment like yeah it and everyone that says oh it's rough.
01:52:56
Speaker
I rode four times. Like I said, every row. maybe obviously didn't ride every train. I couldn't find any roughness. So they did do a ton of things from the first like month to fix the roughness that made it a lot better, but especially this last trip.
01:53:13
Speaker
Apparently, they've done even more to the wheels. That's good. And this last trip in all of the... I was there for two weeks, and in the whole two weeks, I only had one ride where I was like, that that was rough.
01:53:25
Speaker
Um, so I'm, I think they're slowly as the trains are going out for maintenance, um, like making the improvements they have to do. But like this last trip, there wasn't really a not smooth train on the track. Like they were all very smooth.
01:53:43
Speaker
Yeah. Phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal day, phenomenal trip, phenomenal people. Well worth it, Jen. Thank you for for planning it. It definitely made it even that much better.
01:53:55
Speaker
Yeah. He's happy to be there. Oh, yeah. Amazing. But anyway, we got to go. We got to pick this up here. ah Megan and I then drove to Luxembourg that night.
01:54:10
Speaker
Just to get the country credit. just ah So we were... I was looking for things to do at Luxembourg. And there's a apparently this like really kind of two-mile walkway. You can see the whole city.
01:54:23
Speaker
And my stupid American brain was like, I'm just going to GPS this this walkway and I'm sure we're going to see parking on the way there. Little did I know, downtowns of European cities, parking isn't really a thing.
01:54:41
Speaker
So I'm following the GPS and all of a sudden we are driving down these insanely narrow streets that were meant for people and only people. One car can fit.
01:54:54
Speaker
I'm freaking out. I'm like, i should we should not be here right now. We get to the walkway. It's literally the start of the walkway, in but like there's no place to park. it's just That's where you walk.
01:55:09
Speaker
Somehow we got out of there. We turned around. i'm like, well if you see a car, follow it. That's how we're going to get out of this. It was like a literally a maze. Disaster.
01:55:20
Speaker
um But we did not get in an accident. I think we went to McDonald's for dinner. We had Luxembourgish McDonald's. Oh, yum. Anyway, but that was on the way to our last park.
01:55:34
Speaker
pa Whoa. our last park. Is it Boston coming out? Yeah, apparently. Back to Belgium. We had to go to Plops Land. Had to get on Ride to Happiness.
01:55:48
Speaker
Amazing way to end real quick. They got three kitty rides. We also met our amazing friend, Sam. We had a great day with her. Fantastic. Um, three kitty rides. We did those real quick. We did the flume, which was fun.
01:56:01
Speaker
Um, Heidi, which is basically ah very similar layout to white lightning at fun spot. Fun coaster. I think I might like white lightning a little more. The the airtime was a bit stronger.
01:56:15
Speaker
Still a fun ride. Anubis is essentially Daredevil Dive. Yep. Except instead of a vertical lift, it's a launch. Ooh. The launch is way better.
01:56:27
Speaker
agree. The rest of the ride, eh. It's still so not my title. Yeah. But the launch was amazing. like insane Insanely punchy. Actually a good launch.
01:56:39
Speaker
Nobody cares about about
Celebrating Milestones and Anniversaries
01:56:40
Speaker
those rides, though. They care about Ride to Happiness. Maybe the most hyped coaster of any ride before I rode. Ever.
01:56:52
Speaker
That ride is so mental.
01:56:58
Speaker
he yeah You need to ride it to experience why that ride is as magical as it is. Time traveler is forever ruined. Outside of the drop, the drop's still amazing.
01:57:11
Speaker
From the theming to the music, that Jojo roll, that is the best Jojo roll the world. The fact it's different on every single row, every single seat.
01:57:24
Speaker
You don't know where you are on that ride, what element's coming up next. The launches were, they hit different depending on what seat you're on.
01:57:35
Speaker
Sensations you can't experience on any other coaster.
01:57:41
Speaker
We rode it. i don't marathon coasters. Four, maybe five is my max. We rode it eight times.
01:57:52
Speaker
Unheard of number for me and for Megan too.
01:57:56
Speaker
Yeah. ah Once again, you're thinking on the break run a little bit. And once again, I still don't know.
01:58:06
Speaker
that movie ah yeah I get the hype. The hype was met.
01:58:13
Speaker
i will so my only It's not a complaint that there is more out of control experiences based on the row than some other rows. I will say that.
01:58:25
Speaker
okay What a beautiful coaster. Amazing. Yeah, you gotta get there. yeah you got to get there Allison, where I forgot where you have it. like
01:58:40
Speaker
Top 15? It might be in my top 10. Better be in your top 10. To be fair, that the day that we were there, it was very cold and windy. So we did not get those life-changing rides on it.
01:58:55
Speaker
That's true. I remember you saying that. That's right. I think it was life-changing. I was running one train that day, too, I think. Yeah, that's not good. ah Yeah, no, it was amazing. Finally, that was the end of the trip.
01:59:07
Speaker
We went back. We actually did some sightseeing in Ghent, Belgium. Beautiful city. My goodness. um We're very happy that we did we got to do that. We had some Belgian waffles by the river.
01:59:19
Speaker
It was great. Now, um something did, again, almost happen as we dropped off our rental car, but I think it's time to go to the questions. Unless, Allison, you want to go over, see your point. and I can do super, super quick recaps.
01:59:34
Speaker
You know, not as exciting as Europe, but I have since done a couple more trips. We did a quick little trip up to Cedar Point mostly for Top Thrill 2 and to finally get on Siren's Curse.
01:59:45
Speaker
Ooh. Top Thrill 2 was on early entry, which I don't think a lot of people there realized. So we got on it twice in about 20 minutes.
01:59:55
Speaker
God, that thing is so good. I love it so much. Yeah, okay. and i think we ended up riding it a third time later in the day. ah We actually met up with Mikhail. Mikhail. Yes, I did see that.
02:00:06
Speaker
so Very exciting. We got to get that together and yet we did a Siren's Curse. we i think we waited like an hour right at Official Park Open. Accidentally got back row. They just assigned us back row before we even said anything.
02:00:22
Speaker
I may have my own report of that ride ah next episode. Maybe. When? When? At the time of recording, um Sunday.
02:00:36
Speaker
Interesting. going to be getting another new credit as well. New 2025 credit. Yeah. um Yeah, Siren's Curse, we did it back row. The Tilt is a very odd sensation.
02:00:50
Speaker
You hang there for quite a while. ah Very good ride. Good airtime. Whippy inversions in there. And the onboard audio, if you've not heard about it, is incredible.
02:01:03
Speaker
Okay. i I will not say more. i could I could hear it on the trains going by while we were in line. And I'm like, ooh, that's going to be good.
02:01:14
Speaker
And it was. Okay. Okay. um We had a very chill day that day. don't remember what else. I legitimately do not remember what else we did. If we did anything else.
02:01:25
Speaker
Millennium? think we did Millennium. Me.
02:01:31
Speaker
Millennium. I don't know. Millennium. I know we didn't do Maverick. Didn't do Vengeance.
02:01:39
Speaker
I can't think of anything else we did. and gro Yeah. um So yeah, very chill day. And then yesterday, so my family has been in town. ah My family that lives in Florida.
02:01:51
Speaker
So my mom, my sister, and niece have been in town for the last week. And yesterday we went to Kings Island. um My niece is somewhat getting into roller coasters. Let's go.
02:02:02
Speaker
ah Kind of. ah She has been on cheetah hunt. She likes cheetah hunt. Um, Iron Gwazi... Yes, did on Taryn. Huh? I'm only kidding.
02:02:13
Speaker
Oh. Um, Iron Gwazi might have, uh, broken her a little bit, and she absolutely hated Iron Gwazi. No! And she, yeah, everything everything is a comparison Iron Gwazi now.
02:02:26
Speaker
Uh, she's only 10. She's pretty young. That's funny. Yeah, that's, uh... But we did... did we do? We started out with Backlot or Queen City or whatever it's called now.
02:02:39
Speaker
um And then she did Diamondback. She did not like Diamondback. Oh, no. her Her rating scale is like two thumbs up is very, very good. Two thumbs down is very, very bad. I think she gave that one one thumbs down.
02:02:51
Speaker
Okay, okay. um Spent a little bit of time in the water park. And by that, I mean they did the water park while I sat on a Bench. or Not a bench, but a chair. And just laid down and napped in the sun.
02:03:05
Speaker
It was nice. um We ended up doing... She loved Racer. Two thumbs up two thumbs up for Racer. this fine um And then the biggest shock, she did Orion.
02:03:19
Speaker
And put her hands up on the first drop. She still did not enjoy it. i was going to say, was that also a thumbs down? because It was a two thumbs sideways. In the middle.
02:03:34
Speaker
But she did it. i was very proud. was very proud of Coaster Antti.
02:03:39
Speaker
mystic she did not do mystic oh so she went and got a henna tattoo at one point and then me and mike and then john mike met us there very briefly we went and did mystic right after it was pouring rain fun it was running very fast oh yeah i bet we hit the brakes i'm like yep mckinney does not need to ride that absolutely not that's fair but you know it was nice to have them here at the home park yeah it's awesome
02:04:05
Speaker
all right we should get in questions if we want to break i have one more little thing we don't have to get into it really big but europe park did have their 50th ever once once a year they do a midnight opening called the summer knox party and this year they're doing it twice and they did the 50th anniversary so i have a bunch of stuff special stuff all throughout the park that day on Main thing is that we were supposed to be able to ride Voltron at night. However, we waited an hour in the queue, an hour and 15 minutes and the launch just like over one of the launches just like completely overheated.
02:04:40
Speaker
They tried to launch the train like multiple times and it just was not moving. So we ended being evac'd from the queue. oh at 1.30 in the morning. Joey, what are you doing?
02:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, what's that? Joey, we did get to watch Joey on the first launch, like, evacuating people. and that's kind of funny. And everyone was yelling to him because, as we discussed, he knows everyone at Europa Park.
02:05:02
Speaker
Yeah. So everyone in that queue knew him. every Everyone knew immediately it was him. They were, like, yelling up to him. It was it was very funny. um He was, like, interacting with the line from the launch.
02:05:15
Speaker
It was, like, different videos. It was very funny. Yeah, as he would. He was flirting with the whole entire crowd from behind the screen on the first launch. so um However, the biggest thing to note is, like... It was a great day.
02:05:29
Speaker
It was a fantastic day. my ah My biggest thing that I thought was hysterical is... I walk into the park on the day before. So Friday, like the weekend beginning.
02:05:42
Speaker
And as I walk out of Italy and into France... There's just a time traveler car.
02:05:50
Speaker
saw the pictures of that pop up. Just randomly in the middle of Europa Park. He's just chilling there. i was like, brother, what are you doing? That is random as hell. What?
02:06:00
Speaker
Yeah. They ended up like the next day, it became like a little like mock museum type thing. Oh, I guess that makes sense. I completely forgot the mock. On Friday, it didn't really have any descriptions. So there was just a random like car to time traveler in the middle of Europa Park. okay I was like, this is incredible, but it made everyone like and everyone was they had all these announcements that were like, there's a special thing happening at 11. Stay tuned, like whatever. It was fireworks that like launched from all throughout the parks.
02:06:33
Speaker
They were beautiful. However, because the time traveler car was there, everyone was like, Oh my god, they're announcing your own year. Oh my god.
02:06:44
Speaker
They got an extreme spinner too. Jesus. Oh my gosh. they That park would be unstoppable. That park already is kind of unstoppable, but that park would be unstoppable. well um But yeah, I ah just wanted to point that out because I thought it was really funny.
02:07:02
Speaker
I just I walked into the park and I like triple took and I was like, why is this here? It's time travel here. Yeah. Very random. Very funny.
02:07:15
Speaker
Um, all right, well, now I think we can get into the questions. All right, first up, we got Sarah from Coaster Studios, and she asks, uh, I'm assuming this is for Jen, how would you advise someone to tell a friend it's nice to see them in Dutch?
02:07:31
Speaker
I would not listen to me. Oh, no, no? Oh, okay. Yeah, so, um... A very short version of the story is I told Sarah how to say a not appropriate phrase, thinking she would say it to Joey and only Joey.
02:07:50
Speaker
And then she said it to someone else. Classic. So it was only supposed to be. I told her that the phrase was only to be used with close friends.
02:08:03
Speaker
thinking that she would say it to joey and he even confirmed he said yeah yeah yeah this is a greeting that you say both it you both were in on it yeah because i did text him immediately when i told her i told him or like when i told her what it meant but yeah so um we both told her it was for close friends but she ended up like she ended up saying it very very loudly in belgium the dutch speaking part of belgium and it was very funny it honestly was like one of the best pranks i've ever pulled in my life you're fire this is the last month with uh screwing with us i know i really i don't know how i'm gonna top this month don't know
02:08:47
Speaker
all right um next we have barbara she said why is zadra brian's new number one Well, shout out Barbara. this This is the Barbara that we were with at Europa and Energylandia.
02:09:01
Speaker
Zadra is my number one RMC in Poland, that is for sure. ah
02:09:08
Speaker
a It's great. I will, with confidence, I think i actually already said this, um it will not be my number one.
02:09:17
Speaker
Excellent. Phenomenal. Top of my rankings for sure. It's not number one. Sorry, Barbara. And you know this. You know this. Is it her number one?
02:09:28
Speaker
It is definitely her number one. ah figure yeah I I'll make the call. I'll put it over Hyperion. It's close.
02:09:41
Speaker
I disagree. I don't blame you if you put Hyperion over Zadra. They're very close. But I didn't put Hyperion over Zadra. Fair. Very fair.
02:09:51
Speaker
Mullet Chicken Coaster. We talked about the Chicken Coaster. That was little he said was Chicken Coaster? Heck yeah, Chicken Coaster. So this is a question from last week from Solo Coaster that Allison and I already answered for, or at least me, for Colorado.
02:10:06
Speaker
um What was the most unique coaster you rode?
02:10:11
Speaker
um Um... I guess Ride of Happiness. I guess it's like Time Traveler. Euromir. Euromir.
02:10:23
Speaker
Definitely.
02:10:25
Speaker
Fly is up there too. There's a lot of unique coasters in Europe.
02:10:31
Speaker
I could even say something like Arthur. Yeah, I usually say like Arthur and then Euromir is a great answer too. Would it be Wilde Hilda for you, Jen?
02:10:43
Speaker
um I was actually thinking like Hummel Brummel because I don't know of another one of that model at all. I've never seen that ride. I actually don't know what it is. And I probably should have looked it up.
02:10:57
Speaker
Oh, that's a good random roller coaster. Gotham City Escape. Hell yeah. Yeah, it's, um, look it up. It's like a very, very random ride. It was super fun. It had a lot of, like, really cool elements and it was really unexpected.
02:11:12
Speaker
Does it spin? No, but it just kind of, like, you control it with a level, lever the middle. clever in the middle um the speed and it just like hits those turns really well its it was just really unique and fun I've never written anything like it
02:11:33
Speaker
oh it's by Vegan but also not Fianna Force for me because I don't even know is there even another one of those like more thrilling yeah Trip Show has one okay yeah but there isn't really many of them right they're pretty new
02:11:52
Speaker
Very new. Suspended thrill coaster. There are two. There you go.
02:11:59
Speaker
Yeah, so that one's up there for me, too. Solo coaster also, just for you, Jen. Europa Park ranking. Does that mean they're roller coasters? there were like There was no elaboration.
02:12:12
Speaker
Yeah. Alright, this is speed ranking. So number one is Josephina specifically with a beard. ah um Two is Basement Dino Ride, three is Voltron.
02:12:24
Speaker
oh
02:12:27
Speaker
Fight me. Okay, I might. Fight me. I have not done the Basement Dino Ride yet. Okay, well, that's your loss. Well, I'm sorry. There were multiple days where I would be working in the park and I'd be like, I can take an hour break. And I'd just go ride. There were like at least three days where the only thing I did in the entire park all day was walk around and ride basement dino ride.
02:12:52
Speaker
Like, even... Your new talent. It's so good. So, Get a tattoo. I would say those three. I'm also...
02:13:04
Speaker
don't know, I think maybe Woden.
02:13:08
Speaker
Cassandra? No. Okay. Can-Can?
02:13:16
Speaker
I'm trying to think. There's too many rides in the park. Euromir? Oh, did I not say that? Can-Can? Then Euromir, I guess. Okay. I don't know what I said and what I didn't say at this part point, but I think you have the idea.
02:13:31
Speaker
That's, like, the top... are in there. But also, like, and we and we said that Bluefire is like a snore fest, but I actually have to go back and say honorable mention to that launch because I think it might be the snappiest launch.
02:13:49
Speaker
Fair. It's a very snappy and surprising point launch. The first time I wrote it, I was, like, expecting Copperhead Strike, and I hit my head so hard. Although the the backwards launch on Voltron is pretty good, too.
02:14:02
Speaker
Yeah, that one is pretty good as well. But yeah. Okay. Yeah. I think that's, I think that's the general gist. I forget what I said already. So I don't know. It made sense. Don't worry. It's close enough.
02:14:15
Speaker
Yeah. Basement Dino ride is number two. That didn't make sense. But anyway. All Next question from Ethan to start, which you kind of did cover this a little bit, but for Bryant, what was your reaction to seeing the Zadra plaque for the first time?
02:14:28
Speaker
Amazing. Yeah. We did talk about it. and It's on video or will be on video. So you will get to see. i think her Well, it's on Twitter already. Yeah, you got ja yeah Larson. on Under my pinned tweet, I think it's the first reply from James. so So wholesome seeing that video.
02:14:47
Speaker
Yeah. Also, side note, how ah close was my recreation to it? Oh my God, it's it's spot on. It's insane. Yeah. Cool. I haven't seen it in person since I made it. Oh yeah, no, it's the same thing.
02:15:02
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. and then Jen is currently ah playing with Ahsoka, it looks like. Yeah, she got treats. We also, we talked about the reaction of the rollerballs on the same day.
02:15:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, Jen had said, ah or Ethan had asked, for Jen, what was your reaction to finding out you and Allison rode two different rollerballs on the same day? Yeah, so I actually did not know that that was a rollerball. Like, I did not know they were the same model, and then the next day I woke up and you posted it, and I was like, oh my god, this is incredible. Yeah.
02:15:35
Speaker
ride it's weird it's very weird but fun it's fine all right next next one we had a three-parter from ah chris for bryant better overall collection of coasters that you did on your trips asia or europe only including the coasters that you did on each continent um for sure europe i mean Asia was... I mean, I only did Japan.
02:16:01
Speaker
Japan's just way more top-heavy. Like, the big three of Hakugei, Jinneka, and... Flying Dinosaur. But there's also like, a lot of like Coasters we rode in Japan, too.
02:16:15
Speaker
Whereas Europa... Europa. um so I'm just stuck on Europa. Europe. There's just... There's so much. And so much that that's good. mean, there's them yeah you get your wrestle season Boomerangs, too, but... Or to Boomerang in Energylandia.
02:16:32
Speaker
Yeah. That's true. true That's good point. Arguably... eight to nine coasters or that I rode in Europe, I could toy with top 25, which is ridiculous. It's like a third of my, more than that, of my top 25.
02:16:51
Speaker
Might have been changed in this trip. So no, the answer is Europe.
02:16:56
Speaker
All right. For Jen, if Talon at Dorney Park had to be sent over to Europe, what coaster would you want in exchange for it that would also fit Dorney's lineup? Euromir.
02:17:08
Speaker
Okay. yeah Would that really fit in the... Well, the whole thing is like Dorney Park's charm is just kind of like old school and uniqueness.
02:17:20
Speaker
So having older model that's never really had another model. So like, I don't know. Like having an older, unique model that you won't see anywhere else I think fits Dorney's personality.
02:17:37
Speaker
I'm trying to imagine just like those towers in Dorney. And also Chris says, Allison, congratulations. Thank you. What for? I don't know. Who knows? Yeah, sincerely, thank you.
02:17:51
Speaker
Nope, getting rock at the rocks. All right. We are deep in the throes of wedding planning already. I have to go to bed. and i we have to wake up in less than six hours. Oh, my God.
02:18:02
Speaker
We got, what, five more questions? Yeah. Alright, we're gonna speed roll these ones. We have Wes next. What was the hidden gem i unexpected surprise of the trip? This one's more for you too right now.
02:18:15
Speaker
I just had an answer. um Crap.
02:18:20
Speaker
Abyssus. okay Everything else, I mean, I've talked about like, even like Colorado Adventure, I thought would be great. It was. Black Mamba, thought would be great. It was. Obviously all like the huge bucket list rides.
02:18:33
Speaker
Abyssus, I thought would be just okay, and I actually really liked it. There we go. Yeah, for me, it was Nafiana Force. Absolutely.
02:18:44
Speaker
The coma supremacy. Yeah.
02:18:49
Speaker
That's true. Not to Lost Gravity, too. That was unexpected. Yeah. I also will have to say Hummel Brummel. I know I already said it, but I i was going into thinking Wilde Hilda was going to be like the goal, and Hummel Brummel was the highlight of that park. um lama la la mom um mom What are your favorite Europa park? Dark Rides. Oh, God. That's not... know answered.
02:19:17
Speaker
I think that's well answered. Basement Dino Ride! Oh yeah! I said Piraten and Bavaria. We
02:19:30
Speaker
um this we already answered that one, right? The community's hype? Yeah, I'll have it on more for you two. Mostly for Bright. Keith asked which park coaster exceeded the community's hype.
02:19:45
Speaker
Exceeded the community's hype. And which didn't. I'll sadly, again. was going to say, i know your answer for didn't. Only because I thought it like it was definitely going to make my top 25 in Taron.
02:20:00
Speaker
And it's probably not my top 25. It's in my top 50. It's still amazing. I cried. I thought it was like, oh yeah, that's easy top 25, and it was not.
02:20:12
Speaker
As far as Park, where did I go? Um...
02:20:19
Speaker
I don't They're all great. was going to say, my end I don't even remember what I said last week, but Wallaby, Belgium. Fair. Yeah, that's fair. That's my expectation. Yeah, that's fair. I didn't really talk. I was surprised at, like, Plopsaland's a nice park, but it's all kiddie stuff.
02:20:37
Speaker
Yeah, like it's a kid's park with right to have you. Why? it's ah It's a very, like, airy force feel. It's like, why is this coaster here? Yep.
02:20:51
Speaker
um i guess i've lost we are at row four rides if you want to read that one row four rides we could do a whole episode on this honestly yeah row four rides i'm hold on i'm lost it's the very last question on the first page
02:21:18
Speaker
reading Anyway, as someone who's planning their first Europe international coaster trip for next year, I'd love to hear about the planning process, choosing trains or rental cars. What do you do with your luggage if not renting a car?
02:21:30
Speaker
Anything you regret? Any travel advice to give in general? um At least for me, this trip, i we did mostly do rental cars. um I did take public transit when I went into Brussels and Amsterdam.
02:21:44
Speaker
I think it all depends on where you're going and how convenient each mode of transportation is. I know for me, flying into Brussels, I looked into, hey, how do I get to Wallaby Holland using public transit?
02:21:59
Speaker
And it was a two-hour drive of the car. I want to say it was like four and a half hours taking trains, and it was like seven or eight different switches. and I'm like, I got limited time. I can't do that.
02:22:13
Speaker
for You said for Holland or Belgium? So I flew into Brussels, but Wallaby Holland was my first park. I wasn't sure which Wallaby you were talking about. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure it was easier to get to Wallaby Belgium.
02:22:24
Speaker
Yeah, it was not difficult. Yeah. I would say, like, before you go, just Google. Google Maps. like I love how there's both a driving and a public transit option.
02:22:38
Speaker
Compare the times. Compare the prices. I'd say if... It's a mostly direct route and it's only a little bit more time. Probably go with public transit. It's cheaper overall.
02:22:51
Speaker
But if it's a headache to get there and a car is the easier option, obviously you have more freedom, more convenience with the car, um then go with that option.
02:23:02
Speaker
I know in Japan, don't rent a car. Take public transit. It's the best public transit in the freaking world.
02:23:11
Speaker
you're if They apologize if you're late by like two minutes. Europe reliability, not as much. Japan, do not rent a car. No way.
02:23:22
Speaker
For the luggage question, I can actually speak to that one a fair amount because we did not have a car for a lot of things. um A lot of European airports and like major train stations have luggage lockers.
02:23:37
Speaker
um They might not be in like an easy to find area but they do exist ah we use the ones at Brussels airport we dropped our stuff off there and then went to Wallaby Belgium ah last trip we used the ones at like the Zurich train station those are handy um less so in London where we had to do a luggage drop at the airport and we paid like 12 pounds per bag or something like that they did not have handy storage lockers yeah a lot of places like in Europe do have lockers like that and it's very very convenient
02:24:12
Speaker
And real quick before we go, and I know Persona 9 314 has like amazing topics. Are you okay with saving that for next episode just at the beginning? Sure. Okay. Because it it's a lot of good discussion points there.
02:24:24
Speaker
Yes. um ah So quick, Ruffalo Rides mentions regret. So now my final story. We drop off the rental car.
02:24:35
Speaker
Everything went fine. Everything went fine. And we're ready to leave, go to the terminal. And the guy's like, did you guys get in an accident? And we're like, no.
02:24:48
Speaker
like, oh, there's there's a little dent in the license plate. And we're like, what are you talking about? So we go up front. I think if I flicked the license plate with my finger, it would have caused more damage than what he was showing us.
02:25:08
Speaker
So we're thinking either, like, it it was like a five degree slight bend in the license plate. We're thinking it happened in a pre you previous rental and they didn't notice it because it was that, like, insignificant.
02:25:24
Speaker
Or someone maybe slightly touched us backing up but out of the parking space. my It's not a regret because they were going to charge us, like, 350 euros or something crazy. at this.
02:25:38
Speaker
Thankfully, we went back and complained, like, there's nothing here. And then another guy went to check it and like, oh, yeah, that's nothing. Like, don't worry about it. So thankfully, what could have been a regret was not.
02:25:50
Speaker
My point is, and this is probably a standard rule for any rental cars, take pictures of every side of that car before you pull it out of the lot.
02:26:03
Speaker
Because i I'm willing to bet that bend in that plate was there before we picked it up. So that's my advice for rental cars.
02:26:14
Speaker
okay Because they might try to screw you. Yep.
02:26:21
Speaker
um that All right, guys. Persona9314, we will get to your question next week or two weeks from now. I'm sorry we keep pushing it off. I know. Well, that it's a sign of a good question because it's important to answer.
02:26:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to have us talking and i um and dead at this point. No clue what our next episode will be. We got to figure that out. Yeah. Well, I'll have some trip reports from Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland.
02:26:52
Speaker
Oh yeah, I forgot I'm going there soon too. Little Alpin Fury, little Siren's Curse, maybe Top Thrill 2, knock on wood. Hey, uptime has been phenomenal. heard, yeah that's what scares me. And I also might go back to ah Michigan's Adventure. Well, actually, I know I'm going back to Michigan's Adventure, so.
02:27:08
Speaker
Nice. Yeah.
02:27:12
Speaker
It's done. It's done. are big the The trips we've been talking about for months that we didn't think Jen was going to be on. um I knew she was going to be on them. Yeah, you did. I knew I was going to be there.
02:27:26
Speaker
But we did it, guys. We did it. Made it through the summer, our big trips. yeah Five hours of content later. God. Yeah, if we get off in the next minute, I'll break two a half hours. I love you guys. You're the best.
02:27:39
Speaker
I'm so glad to have all three of us. Yes, we're back. Yeah. All right. That brings us to the end of the episode. Think inverted.
02:27:52
Speaker
Think inverted. And we will see y'all next time. Bye, guys. Woo!