EthC
Mega Poster
Id be up for it totally and yeah it seems there is a lot of new stuff and a few new creds to get, also I checked and flights seem decently cheap so I'd deffo be up for that!
CF Lives 2019 Ideas Topic
- Thread starter Serena
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Rollercoaster David
Mega Poster
if we do end up in the movie park/ dusseldorf / phantasialand area for ghosterforce, then there's always this: https://www.grusellabyrinth.de/ which looks rather good. Also a good alpine coaster nearby.
How would people feel about Finland over August Bank Holiday maybe? Flights are £90 return at the mo. Allows time for Taiga to open.
The trouble with visiting parks that all have big new coasters opening next year is getting the timing right. We don't want to arrange something then be spited. We also don't want to visit Phantasialand in summer and spend half the day queueing for FLY. So with that in mind, it can result in quite an unbalanced calendar - Lives shunted into the tail end of the year to ensure spite-free trips.
Also, bare in mind that the Lives will be centred on what works best as a big group. Poland went well because it was simple. 2 parks over a weekend with fairly short drives. Adding alpine coasters / loads of parks / big drives / other activities into the mix is something I'd be wary of now.
The trouble with visiting parks that all have big new coasters opening next year is getting the timing right. We don't want to arrange something then be spited. We also don't want to visit Phantasialand in summer and spend half the day queueing for FLY. So with that in mind, it can result in quite an unbalanced calendar - Lives shunted into the tail end of the year to ensure spite-free trips.
Also, bare in mind that the Lives will be centred on what works best as a big group. Poland went well because it was simple. 2 parks over a weekend with fairly short drives. Adding alpine coasters / loads of parks / big drives / other activities into the mix is something I'd be wary of now.
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EthC
Mega Poster
I'm more then happy with that idea with Finland and I will totally be up for that and yes I'd rather do a Winterraum for phantasialand so I know Fly will be open as it gives me less cred anxiety
Rachel
Coaster MILF
I like the Finland idea, I just couldn't commit to the August Bank Holiday just yet, but date-dependent i'd definitely be up for that.
Phantasialand Wintertraum yes, i've been wanting to do that for ages.
I know there's not much happening in the UK next year, but what about taking Mushroom's idea of Thorpe/Chessie or anywhere in the UK really, and doing it in March/April as like a start of the season type thing? Encourages newbies and oldies to come along.
I'm not really sure what to suggest for Ghosterforce, Liseberg is a good idea but hasn't it normally been a couple of parks for GF? I'd possibly be up for Europa and some surrounding parks.
Phantasialand Wintertraum yes, i've been wanting to do that for ages.
I know there's not much happening in the UK next year, but what about taking Mushroom's idea of Thorpe/Chessie or anywhere in the UK really, and doing it in March/April as like a start of the season type thing? Encourages newbies and oldies to come along.
I'm not really sure what to suggest for Ghosterforce, Liseberg is a good idea but hasn't it normally been a couple of parks for GF? I'd possibly be up for Europa and some surrounding parks.
Howie
Donkey in a hat
^Love the idea of a Thorpe/ Chessie season opener in the Spring.
As for GhosterForce, I'm just gonna throw this out there: are we all agreed that RMC Robin Hood is a 'must do'? Good. And are we all agreed that FLY is a 'must do'? Good. Then why not do the Walibi Holland-Efteling-Toverland-Phantasialand run for GF again? I know it's been done before, but it didn't half go down well with the attending goons last time. 4 brilliant parks in a nice, convenient, linear route, multiple flight options, at least 2 fantastic Halloween events (do PHL do Halloween? That'll be 3 if they do then), 2 of 2019's most essential new creds bookending the trip, Fenix for those who don't have it yet. Plus Goliath, Lost Gravity, Joris, Baron, Taron, Troy... Bloomin good trip, that. Just sayin'.
As for GhosterForce, I'm just gonna throw this out there: are we all agreed that RMC Robin Hood is a 'must do'? Good. And are we all agreed that FLY is a 'must do'? Good. Then why not do the Walibi Holland-Efteling-Toverland-Phantasialand run for GF again? I know it's been done before, but it didn't half go down well with the attending goons last time. 4 brilliant parks in a nice, convenient, linear route, multiple flight options, at least 2 fantastic Halloween events (do PHL do Halloween? That'll be 3 if they do then), 2 of 2019's most essential new creds bookending the trip, Fenix for those who don't have it yet. Plus Goliath, Lost Gravity, Joris, Baron, Taron, Troy... Bloomin good trip, that. Just sayin'.
nadroJ
CF Legend
I'm throwing a weird one out there - but what about opening weekend at Blackpool? I know we tend to alternate the Blackpool years but it's open in Feb so a nice way to break up the off season a little earlier!
Also in terms of a Ghosterforce style thing, I'm currently planning something that looks a little like this:
Walibi Holland
Movie Park Germany
Phantasialand
Both Walibi and Movie Park have excellent Halloween events, and Walibi Holland and Phantasialand will have their new coasters open by then I reckon.
Also up for the Leipzig weekender if the timings are right!
I know we never like to do this because there's no guarantee the creds will all be open, but a Christmas trip might be fun too? Efteling, Phantasialand, Port Aventura and Europa Park are all viable options.
Also in terms of a Ghosterforce style thing, I'm currently planning something that looks a little like this:
Walibi Holland
Movie Park Germany
Phantasialand
Both Walibi and Movie Park have excellent Halloween events, and Walibi Holland and Phantasialand will have their new coasters open by then I reckon.
Also up for the Leipzig weekender if the timings are right!
I know we never like to do this because there's no guarantee the creds will all be open, but a Christmas trip might be fun too? Efteling, Phantasialand, Port Aventura and Europa Park are all viable options.
Howie
Donkey in a hat
That's not weird, that's genius - I love it! Early weekends at the Ples' are a great way to banish the off-season blues, and there's still a few basics <cough @DelPiero cough> who haven't ridden Icon yet.
And who knows, if it's cold enough, maybe Icon will have Ice on.
Boom. Here all week.
Mushroom
Goon of the Year
Oh come on! Not good enough, it would be 'Icecon' (Heck that could be the live name!)
Personally, I never want to do Efteling as a Live again. It didn't work in a big group with half the people moaning about the Fairytale Forest / everyone wanting to do different things. Plus they're getting creds the following year anyway. But yeah, maybe could do something like Phantasialand, Toverland, Walibi Holland for GF?
It's clear we will be visiting Phantasialand at some point next year, maybe we could put the time of visit to a vote? I am super keen on Wintertraum myself!
Just a warning, I went to Blackpool a few years ago during Feb half term and several big coasters and Valhalla were closed due to the cold.
It's clear we will be visiting Phantasialand at some point next year, maybe we could put the time of visit to a vote? I am super keen on Wintertraum myself!
Just a warning, I went to Blackpool a few years ago during Feb half term and several big coasters and Valhalla were closed due to the cold.
SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
Port Aventura is nice in the winter, everything is open as it's not as cold as everywhere else. It's still warm coat weather but just not as icy-cold feeling. Not as christmassy as Phant/Efteling though. Wintertraum is really good too, everything is usually open unless it unusually cold I think.
I'm liking the idea of keeping the sort of netherlands/germany area for ghosterforce as there's a lot to do round there that also incorporates spooky things. Then maybe do a couple of weekends ones further afield like Liseberg/Finland/Europa or something to fill in the rest of the year? I guess the main aims are to get Untamed (haha) and Fly on the agenda at some point during the year then the rest is either Taiga or whatever really.
From a personal standpoint I've not done Sweden, Finland or Europa but I also don't know how many trips I'll do, certainly in the first half of the year because of studenty things. Aiming to do some new parks next year if possible though. Blackpool is so much easier for me now so would be onboard for that idea.
I'm liking the idea of keeping the sort of netherlands/germany area for ghosterforce as there's a lot to do round there that also incorporates spooky things. Then maybe do a couple of weekends ones further afield like Liseberg/Finland/Europa or something to fill in the rest of the year? I guess the main aims are to get Untamed (haha) and Fly on the agenda at some point during the year then the rest is either Taiga or whatever really.
From a personal standpoint I've not done Sweden, Finland or Europa but I also don't know how many trips I'll do, certainly in the first half of the year because of studenty things. Aiming to do some new parks next year if possible though. Blackpool is so much easier for me now so would be onboard for that idea.
caffeine_demon
Strata Poster
Sounds a good idea! - I guess the plan would be linanmaki, powerland and sarkaniemi?
Spite is always a risk - I think poland would have worked well even without hyperion, as everything else was new to most of us, but I'd be a bit more wary of revisiting parks soon after a new cred.. (although atfer el toro, quassy and coney island spite, I'm used to it!)
I'm not a big fan of pure "cred runs", but 2 or 3 smal/medium parks can work pretty well, particularly on quiet days - Slagharen and Hellendoorn was good, mainly due to the late opening at hellendoorn.
MouseAT
Hyper Poster
I think we do need to try and maintain a bit more of a UK presence. As the number of UK lives has decreased and the number of European lives has increased, I can't help but feel the community has fragmented a bit.
Finland was a good laugh last time. I'd potentially be up for that, finances and annual leave permitting.
I agree. Every time the schedule has been over-packed or complicated, it's caused issues. Often the smaller parks with loads of "fun" stuff can be the best when it comes to a group - those of us on the 2013 Live will remember Fun Park and know exactly what I mean. I'm not opposed to doing a partial day at a smaller park on arrival or departure day so that we're not stressing about getting somewhere for opening, or staying until closing. We've done that before and it's worked fairly well.
If people are wanting to do cred runs of little, nearby parks, I think those need to be separate from the Live itself, and take place on days before or after the official Live. Everyone's conflicting schedules, weird meet-up times and miscommunication become really frustrating during Ghosterforce this year, and really soured my enjoyment of Toverland for a big chunk of the day. I'd rather not have a repeat of that.
On top of that, whatever happens, I think we need to be careful to have a plan and stick to it. I've been burned in the past when people's plans changed, and I'd already committed to travel/accommodation arrangements that didn't mesh with what was subsequently decided.
I would be very cautious of doing Walibi Holland during Halloween again. This year, the place was heaving, the park's full of bottlenecks, and it's not fun when everything has a minimum of a 90 minute queue. I have very little desire to go back there if it's anywhere near that busy.
I quite like the idea of early season Blackpool, but I think February may be a bit too early if it means half the park is shut. I think we need some guarantee that at least the majority of rides will be operating if we're going to arrange a Live there.
I like the idea of doing PA as an off-season Live. I know members have often visited during December in previous years, and I reckon it's be good to make a Live out of it.
Rollercoaster David
Mega Poster
I've been to Blackpool in early season in the past and apart from steeplechase not running all tracks, I think everything was open including Valhalla. Whether you'd want to ride Valhalla in February though is another question!
witchfinder
Giga Poster
Lots of great ideas here already that I can't really add to, other than agreeing that a UK Live is important community-wise for newer members in particular as not everyone can make the European trips. Personally I'd love a trip to the East Coast (PWH, Great Yarmouth and Clacton) as I need all those creds and I bet there's quite a few other newer members that do too. It wouldn't give us any amazing creds obviously but would be more of a focus on having some fun as a group I guess.
OK, so these are my thoughts not he whole Live situation at the moment, and what we can do to put some life into them. Serena is making some fantastic effort at the moment to try and keep these things alive (a-live?) but at the moment it feels like it's just her shouting at a brick wall because no-one else cares.
So, the first thing we all need to do is make a bit of effort. I'm as guilty as anyone, but we all need to band together and make the effort to actually turn up to these things. But, how do you make people excited for something like this when that excitement is waning? OK, few thoughts from me;
New Blood
Numbers are dwindling as old members move on to do their own thing or just lose interest, which is natural, but they're no longer being replaced by new people. The absolute key missed opportunity here is Social Media. Sorry, the forums are a ghost town, that's been true for a long time now. BUT, the Social Media groups are sooooo active. Every live should be hammered home on that CF Chat pages, on Twitter and Instagram. Out of interest I've started a poll in CF Chat to see what people from there would be interested, but with such a big user base you can guarantee that there's an untapped potential there which just doesn't exist on the forums. Other groups are still getting the turnouts so it's not that people aren't interested in these meet-ups anymore, they're just not interested in ours. This does link in to the whole social media piece overall but this is just a live topic so I'll leave that can of worms...
Local Lives To Build Community
Basically I 100% agree with the idea of doing a Thorpe/Chessington or Alton/Blackpool live to basically drum up the interest with the community. Get those people to a local live first, make it amazing, and get them hooked on the idea of Europe lives.
Fully Organised Trips
I know why we dropped the car hire we used to do where you could just sign up for a European live and be ferried around, but honestly, it's made them a bit **** now. Even as someone who's been going to Lives since he was a foetus, the idea of having to organise our own cars just makes me go - why would I bother when if I'm going to put that effort in I'd just go another time? Two options present themselves here;
1. A coach. This would be amazing, and take the responsibility off anyone. We'd have to get BIG groups, but if we're pushing to the Chat group I don't think there's any reason we couldn't quickly ramp up the numbers to the 50 or so you'd need to make this work. If that weird Team Karla group can get you coach travel to four parks across Sweden, Denmark and Germany for £150 a person and be making a profit, you'd be able to get a normal trip for a decent cost per person.
2. Go back to cars but A. Get big cars (everyone on the Germany October 2015 trip will remember the fabulous minibus!) B. Give the drivers a real reason to drive. Give them free **** like accommodation etc. Buy them the fancy insurance. so they don't have to worry. Don't expect it, reward it. C. You have to swap who's in your car. Sorry, that means everyone.
Properly Leverage the CF Name For Perks
It's the era of the social media influencer - and the RCDB Facebook page are getting paid to post photos of rides now. With the massive follower base we have on Social (incl. YouTube) we would easily be able to negotiate some sweet perks for a big group. Even if it was something like half price entry you're quickly balancing out the cost from the coach to make the overall trip cheap still.
Film Them
OK, this would take someone that's not me cause lord knows I hate filming **** - but make vlogs. @nadroJ is churning out great vlogs for her channel, if it's just for Lives there's no reason we can't do the same with the amount of us on here. Then you've got something to show people that weren't there exactly why they were missing out and make them want to come to the next one.
For me that probably translates in 'real life' to a schedule something like (edited because I realised Serena's list was better so I'm gonna basically agree);
April - Thorpe/Chessington
June - Alton/Blackpool
July - Walibi Holland/Bobbejaanland/Walibi Belgium
October - Liseberg OR what about Spain - the Madrid parks do good events then head up to PA?
October - A UK Ghosterforce - where though is a question I do not have an answer to. Possibly even a niche, scare attraction meet up at Tulleys or Xtreme or similar? Or I can vouch Tayto have a great event [/plugplug], will have +2 for most people (3 if you've never been) and is easy. There's a couple of other scare events in Dublin you could tie it in with as well for a two-nighter. But then going to Ireland kind of negates the point of doing a UK Ghosterforce...
December - Phantasialand
That's my thoughts for now - be interested to see what people think. Quick note specifically aimed @Serena - don't take this as me saying I don't think you're doing enough or anything, you're doing an amazing job at keeping something in these, and know you'll have had a lot of these thoughts yourself - but I also know what you're up against and that it can't just be a one woman effort - so I want to be able to offer support.
So, the first thing we all need to do is make a bit of effort. I'm as guilty as anyone, but we all need to band together and make the effort to actually turn up to these things. But, how do you make people excited for something like this when that excitement is waning? OK, few thoughts from me;
New Blood
Numbers are dwindling as old members move on to do their own thing or just lose interest, which is natural, but they're no longer being replaced by new people. The absolute key missed opportunity here is Social Media. Sorry, the forums are a ghost town, that's been true for a long time now. BUT, the Social Media groups are sooooo active. Every live should be hammered home on that CF Chat pages, on Twitter and Instagram. Out of interest I've started a poll in CF Chat to see what people from there would be interested, but with such a big user base you can guarantee that there's an untapped potential there which just doesn't exist on the forums. Other groups are still getting the turnouts so it's not that people aren't interested in these meet-ups anymore, they're just not interested in ours. This does link in to the whole social media piece overall but this is just a live topic so I'll leave that can of worms...
Local Lives To Build Community
Basically I 100% agree with the idea of doing a Thorpe/Chessington or Alton/Blackpool live to basically drum up the interest with the community. Get those people to a local live first, make it amazing, and get them hooked on the idea of Europe lives.
Fully Organised Trips
I know why we dropped the car hire we used to do where you could just sign up for a European live and be ferried around, but honestly, it's made them a bit **** now. Even as someone who's been going to Lives since he was a foetus, the idea of having to organise our own cars just makes me go - why would I bother when if I'm going to put that effort in I'd just go another time? Two options present themselves here;
1. A coach. This would be amazing, and take the responsibility off anyone. We'd have to get BIG groups, but if we're pushing to the Chat group I don't think there's any reason we couldn't quickly ramp up the numbers to the 50 or so you'd need to make this work. If that weird Team Karla group can get you coach travel to four parks across Sweden, Denmark and Germany for £150 a person and be making a profit, you'd be able to get a normal trip for a decent cost per person.
2. Go back to cars but A. Get big cars (everyone on the Germany October 2015 trip will remember the fabulous minibus!) B. Give the drivers a real reason to drive. Give them free **** like accommodation etc. Buy them the fancy insurance. so they don't have to worry. Don't expect it, reward it. C. You have to swap who's in your car. Sorry, that means everyone.
Properly Leverage the CF Name For Perks
It's the era of the social media influencer - and the RCDB Facebook page are getting paid to post photos of rides now. With the massive follower base we have on Social (incl. YouTube) we would easily be able to negotiate some sweet perks for a big group. Even if it was something like half price entry you're quickly balancing out the cost from the coach to make the overall trip cheap still.
Film Them
OK, this would take someone that's not me cause lord knows I hate filming **** - but make vlogs. @nadroJ is churning out great vlogs for her channel, if it's just for Lives there's no reason we can't do the same with the amount of us on here. Then you've got something to show people that weren't there exactly why they were missing out and make them want to come to the next one.
For me that probably translates in 'real life' to a schedule something like (edited because I realised Serena's list was better so I'm gonna basically agree);
April - Thorpe/Chessington
June - Alton/Blackpool
July - Walibi Holland/Bobbejaanland/Walibi Belgium
October - Liseberg OR what about Spain - the Madrid parks do good events then head up to PA?
October - A UK Ghosterforce - where though is a question I do not have an answer to. Possibly even a niche, scare attraction meet up at Tulleys or Xtreme or similar? Or I can vouch Tayto have a great event [/plugplug], will have +2 for most people (3 if you've never been) and is easy. There's a couple of other scare events in Dublin you could tie it in with as well for a two-nighter. But then going to Ireland kind of negates the point of doing a UK Ghosterforce...
December - Phantasialand
That's my thoughts for now - be interested to see what people think. Quick note specifically aimed @Serena - don't take this as me saying I don't think you're doing enough or anything, you're doing an amazing job at keeping something in these, and know you'll have had a lot of these thoughts yourself - but I also know what you're up against and that it can't just be a one woman effort - so I want to be able to offer support.
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Stone Cold
Mega Poster
The Leipzig weekender is definitely something I'm interested in, I've been thinking about a 3-4 day trip into that area for a while.
I also like the idea of Wintertraum, but I'd go to Phantasialand any time! For GF, I wonder if we'd only get the best out of a trip if we did it midweek. Crowd-wise Toverland and Walibi Holland were both disgusting, and it'd be good to avoid that if possible. Having said that, my annual leave is too precious to use on bloody Halloween events, so I wouldn't listen to my own advice!
As for America, if I was to go to America, I'd want to do a two week trip to make the most of the flights, but I appreciate organising a two week live could be a big logistical challenge!
I also like the idea of Wintertraum, but I'd go to Phantasialand any time! For GF, I wonder if we'd only get the best out of a trip if we did it midweek. Crowd-wise Toverland and Walibi Holland were both disgusting, and it'd be good to avoid that if possible. Having said that, my annual leave is too precious to use on bloody Halloween events, so I wouldn't listen to my own advice!
As for America, if I was to go to America, I'd want to do a two week trip to make the most of the flights, but I appreciate organising a two week live could be a big logistical challenge!
I actually think if you got the numbers, a big two week America trip wouldn't be the worst thing to organise.
You'd have to run it like a TPR trip, with a coach and group bookings on everyyttthing, but it wouldn't actually be that bad.
It'd just be a case of getting the numbers, and for that you'd need a lot of new blood! But, if we went hard at it building up the base again here in Europe, it wouldn't be too long until that was in scope.
You'd have to run it like a TPR trip, with a coach and group bookings on everyyttthing, but it wouldn't actually be that bad.
It'd just be a case of getting the numbers, and for that you'd need a lot of new blood! But, if we went hard at it building up the base again here in Europe, it wouldn't be too long until that was in scope.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
As someone who's lurked on the forums for years and has been keen to get on a CF live, I'd love a UK south live, be that Thorpe/Chessington, Paulton's, Tulleys or whatever. It's purely selfish reasons (easy for me to get to), but I'm not keen on going on a European trip with people who I haven't met, so it's a great way to break that barrier down. I imagine there's a few others in similar shoes too tbf
My opinion on anything else counts for very little I guess, but the idea of Finland, Leipzig and Phantasialand Winteraum all sound interesting to me.
My opinion on anything else counts for very little I guess, but the idea of Finland, Leipzig and Phantasialand Winteraum all sound interesting to me.
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