GF 666: Curse of the Omen - Trip Reports!
- Thread starter Slayed
- Start date
spicy
Giga Poster
Nice video Ollie! The part of us going down the drop on loggers made me laugh.
I only attended Thorpe, it was my first CF-live, was really fun and nice to finally meet alot of people!
Never wrote a trip report before
so here goes! No pictures though
Got to the park about 9.45 and I needed to meet with Ian to collect my AP entry ticket. I knew what some people looked like so I begun walking around seeing if I recognised anyone. I saw a group which I thought were from CF so I walked up to them and asked 'are you from CoasterForce?' and they looked at me like I was talking a different language :lol: Rather embarassing!
So carried on looking and eventually found Ben, which leaded me to Ian to collect the pass thanks guys. We then entered the park and me Neal and Leighton got a ride on Vortex before the meet.
So we then headed over to Crust for the meet and I spoke to a few people was fun meeting new people and then we headed over to Inferno for the first ride of the day was running really well.
We then did Detonator, rapids then had lunch. Me, Mushroom and Ciallkennet had KFC over some good old coaster talk.
We then did Loggers which was good fun. Then headed over to Slammer did that, then did Samurai then Colossus then Rush.
Then I had to leave early
Was really nice to finally meet alot of you and I had a good time.
I only attended Thorpe, it was my first CF-live, was really fun and nice to finally meet alot of people!
Never wrote a trip report before
so here goes! No pictures though Got to the park about 9.45 and I needed to meet with Ian to collect my AP entry ticket. I knew what some people looked like so I begun walking around seeing if I recognised anyone. I saw a group which I thought were from CF so I walked up to them and asked 'are you from CoasterForce?' and they looked at me like I was talking a different language :lol: Rather embarassing!
So carried on looking and eventually found Ben, which leaded me to Ian to collect the pass thanks guys. We then entered the park and me Neal and Leighton got a ride on Vortex before the meet.
So we then headed over to Crust for the meet and I spoke to a few people was fun meeting new people and then we headed over to Inferno for the first ride of the day was running really well.
We then did Detonator, rapids then had lunch. Me, Mushroom and Ciallkennet had KFC over some good old coaster talk.
We then did Loggers which was good fun. Then headed over to Slammer did that, then did Samurai then Colossus then Rush.
Then I had to leave early
Was really nice to finally meet alot of you and I had a good time.
Stone Cold
Mega Poster
To go back to the Vampire thing, let's assume it thought that the 1st train had gone onto the second lift hill, in which case, it would have released the next train from the first hill, but put the brakes before the second lift hill on to stop the 2nd train from leaving the block until it knew the 1st train had cleared the second lift hill. Had this have been the case, it would not have been possible at all for the 1st train to roll forward off the brake run as the system would have thought it was the secnod train trying to leave the block before the first train had cleared the lift.
A simpler way of thinking about it is that as soon as you get two trains in one block, if the 1st train "escapes" into the next block the system won't magically correct itself because it imagines there is only one train per block and thus won't stop a second train leaving the block.
My suggestion is that what was heard was the third train entering the final brake run, but it sounded different in the dark. As I was sitting on the front row of the second train, I think you might have heard me coming!
Anyway, GF6, easily the best GF to date, and the best UK live of the year. My trip report will follow at some indeterminate date in the future in the form of a PTR no doubt, but in the meantime instead of highlights and lowlights, have some thanks and no thanks.
Thorpe for sticking to their pre-booked policy and dare I say it, actually being operationally good for once: Thanks.
Mark for organising the days and not entering the costume competition because he would blatantly have won: Thanks.
Everyone who did vote for me in the costume competition: Thanks.
Ian for the multitude of glowsticks and everyone who donated their balls and sticks to the cause: Thanks.
Will.I.am for providing with hangover-curing Lucozade: Thanks.
John and Tanya for Lodge Room: Thanks.
Erol for arranging the ERT: Thanks.
Peter and Darren for being epic on the Swinging Ship: Thanks.
Rach fixing my camera: Thanks.
Rach breaking my camera in the first place: No Thanks.
Leighton for causing me to get a speeding ticket: No Thanks.
Martyn H: No Thanks.
The people on the Force side of the Pirate Ship who once again expected me to carry them: No Thanks.
Steven in that costume: No Thanks.
A simpler way of thinking about it is that as soon as you get two trains in one block, if the 1st train "escapes" into the next block the system won't magically correct itself because it imagines there is only one train per block and thus won't stop a second train leaving the block.
My suggestion is that what was heard was the third train entering the final brake run, but it sounded different in the dark. As I was sitting on the front row of the second train, I think you might have heard me coming!
Anyway, GF6, easily the best GF to date, and the best UK live of the year. My trip report will follow at some indeterminate date in the future in the form of a PTR no doubt, but in the meantime instead of highlights and lowlights, have some thanks and no thanks.
Thorpe for sticking to their pre-booked policy and dare I say it, actually being operationally good for once: Thanks.
Mark for organising the days and not entering the costume competition because he would blatantly have won: Thanks.
Everyone who did vote for me in the costume competition: Thanks.
Ian for the multitude of glowsticks and everyone who donated their balls and sticks to the cause: Thanks.
Will.I.am for providing with hangover-curing Lucozade: Thanks.
John and Tanya for Lodge Room: Thanks.
Erol for arranging the ERT: Thanks.
Peter and Darren for being epic on the Swinging Ship: Thanks.
Rach fixing my camera: Thanks.
Rach breaking my camera in the first place: No Thanks.
Leighton for causing me to get a speeding ticket: No Thanks.
Martyn H: No Thanks.
The people on the Force side of the Pirate Ship who once again expected me to carry them: No Thanks.
Steven in that costume: No Thanks.
Going back to the vampire thing again, the problem was that the 3rd (empty) train was already sat at the top of the 2nd lift hill when the 1st train that we were on reached the bottom of the lift - hence why we stopped in the brake segment just before the lift hill. The chain was moving to clear the 3rd train from the lift before our train could engage.
I can only assume that you hearing what you thought was the 2nd train was actually infact the 3rd train leaving the top of the 2nd lift hill (if this all makes sence ) The 2nd train was still in the station and the 3rd train was in the final brake run when the 1st train got to the top of the lift hill - you can tell this because we stopped at the top for a few seconds whilst waiting for the block in front of us to clear.
I could see all of this from the back row since we were stopped part way around the corner so had a clear view up the lift, and i'm sure those in the front row can back me up on this too.
I can only assume that you hearing what you thought was the 2nd train was actually infact the 3rd train leaving the top of the 2nd lift hill (if this all makes sence
) The 2nd train was still in the station and the 3rd train was in the final brake run when the 1st train got to the top of the lift hill - you can tell this because we stopped at the top for a few seconds whilst waiting for the block in front of us to clear.I could see all of this from the back row since we were stopped part way around the corner so had a clear view up the lift, and i'm sure those in the front row can back me up on this too.
Jake
Strata Poster
Peter said:Going back to the vampire thing again, the problem was that the 3rd (empty) train was already sat at the top of the 2nd lift hill when the 1st train that we were on reached the bottom of the lift - hence why we stopped in the brake segment just before the lift hill. The chain was moving to clear the 3rd train from the lift before our train could engage.
I can only assume that you hearing what you thought was the 2nd train was actually infact the 3rd train leaving the top of the 2nd lift hill (if this all makes sence
I could see all of this from the back row since we were stopped part way around the corner so had a clear view up the lift, and i'm sure those in the front row can back me up on this too.
Finally, someone with sense.
Thats all I have to say.
There's one moment from Chessie that I remember clear as day and have been giggling about all morning.
Big John attempting to boot that toy penguin, or "Melons" if you want his given name, into the elevated part of the Rameses Revenge queue line.
It was one of those moments that you catch out of the corner of your eye but carry on doing whatever you were doing.
I found myself starting to watch every kick. Each one more determined than the last, I could see it in his face. John was going to get that penguin over the rope barrier no matter how many attempts.
It was great, I was mesmorised, I wanted John to suceed! Melons unrelentingly plummeted towards the ground. It made Jake get up and take shelter under the bridge after the second near miss. It also twatted Martyn H a few times.
Every near miss was greated by the sound of 'ooh' and air being sucked in through the teeth.
John kept readjusting his position and power and people kept throwing it back to him so he could try again.
There was also a whispering intake of breath before each kick followed by the tension of expectation. Laughter bellowed out whenever Melons hit someone, or a kick or throw went askew.
There was an almighty cheer when John booted it up onto the queue line. John looked chuffed and everybody around (including the GP) giggled.
See, it's **** like that which made this Live so ntertaining. How often can you honestly say that you've seen a Yorkshireman repeatedly kick a large soft toy penguin up the arse?
Brilliant.
Big John attempting to boot that toy penguin, or "Melons" if you want his given name, into the elevated part of the Rameses Revenge queue line.
It was one of those moments that you catch out of the corner of your eye but carry on doing whatever you were doing.
I found myself starting to watch every kick. Each one more determined than the last, I could see it in his face. John was going to get that penguin over the rope barrier no matter how many attempts.
It was great, I was mesmorised, I wanted John to suceed! Melons unrelentingly plummeted towards the ground. It made Jake get up and take shelter under the bridge after the second near miss. It also twatted Martyn H a few times.
Every near miss was greated by the sound of 'ooh' and air being sucked in through the teeth.
John kept readjusting his position and power and people kept throwing it back to him so he could try again.
There was also a whispering intake of breath before each kick followed by the tension of expectation. Laughter bellowed out whenever Melons hit someone, or a kick or throw went askew.
There was an almighty cheer when John booted it up onto the queue line. John looked chuffed and everybody around (including the GP) giggled.
See, it's **** like that which made this Live so ntertaining. How often can you honestly say that you've seen a Yorkshireman repeatedly kick a large soft toy penguin up the arse?
Brilliant.
I felt right guilty up until I fixed it. I'm stupidly clumsy.Stone Cold said:
Even though I am clumsy, I can fix cameras that look as if the best place for them is the bin.Stone Cold said:
Rach is silly.
Anyway, while I have an hour spare (I should really be doing work, but fook it) here's the Thorpe report.
Surprisingly, we got up on time and were out of the hotel on time even with 3 people to get into costume and one to get ready normally. A moving traffic jam on the M25 was not wanted, nor were road maps that you have trouble reading when stuck in the back of a car.
We managed to get to Thorpe at around quarter past 9 and saw that some goons were already there. Names obviously don't need to be mentioned as it is pretty obvious who they are.
Mark and Marc then arrived while we were waiting in the AP queue. Mark looked amazing in his angel and demons costume. You could so tell how much time and hard work went into making that costume.
We had around 40 minutes to wait till gates opened and was quite surprised as to how little people were in the entrance area of Thorpe compared to previous years.
That 40 minutes went quickly and the queues for the turnstiles built up, but not drastically like in previous years.
I could see people buying tickets on the gate, but at silly rates, so while I was a bit pissed off that Thorpe hadn't completely stuck to their 'Strictly Pre Booking' system, I was happy they were getting more money out of them.
The gates opened and in we went, the staff member who was scanning APs took our pre booked tickets off us and I did hear her asking people for the pre booking confirmation. Well done Thorpe, sticking to what they say they are going to.
I didn't get searched by security, but some members did, so after a bit of a wait there, we headed into the park.
We still had at least 10 minutes till the advertised meet up time, so with Rush walk on, we walked onto it for a quick swing in the morning. A lot of us that went on said that this could be the only ride we got on like in previous years, however, we were all proven wrong!
I actually am really starting to enjoy Rush a lot more than what I have done in the past.
The few of us that went on Rush, then headed over to meet up where we found A-Kid and Beans already there.
The organizer then done some organising and it was at this point that I was asked to judge the costume competition. I happily agreed to and would like to thank Mark for the opportunity to do it.
Mark also posed for a fair few photos over the day as this report will likely show. He wanted lots of photos, so I hope we delivered them as like I've already said, his costume was awesome.
We had a surprise costume person this year in the form of Stone Cold as Hellboy. The red face paint needed re doing quite a few times over the day as Tanya found out.
This is where the clumsy accident of the day happened where I managed to drop and promptly break Stone Cold's camera. I felt guilty for the rest of the day.
Eventually, the rest of the group materialized bringing with them a few new faces. There has been a lack of new faces this year, so it was good to finally see some new people at a Live. Shame I didn't speak to any of you more.
We had a quick costume photo first before moving on to our first group ride of the day.
So we moved onto our first ride of the day, this was to be Inferno seeing as Stealth was as usual; closed.
Small queue of about 15 minutes was in order, this was considerably better than the 3 hour one in 2007 and happily, the queue really didn't get much higher than 40 minutes throughout the day.
Inferno was as good as I remember and with the added mist was fab. Even though I did get it weeing on me as it went through the tunnel.
We spent a while sat on the break run for some reason, but once that was over and everyone was off, Det was calling us.
So our second ride was Det. The queue was advertised at 15 minutes, which seemed about right till CF joined. As per usual, we made the queue.
Det was full of <3. The ops held us up there for a while pretending it was buggered and it just fell. Major airtime and major surprise. <3
While waiting for everyone to come off Det, Mark posed for more angel and demon photos.
Meanwhile, Neal managed to acquire a Brad shaped boob.
Our next ride was the Rapids that already had a full queue. But we knew that the queue would move, and move it did! We had about 30 seconds to get 8 people into one boat before it went. We managed it, and wet - we got! Silly tunnel.
After the Rapids, it was already time to break for our lunch break. I went to KFC which ended up being another avoid Goon session this time not allowing him any where near our tables.
Once KFC was consumed, I started to do the scores for the costume competition as we headed over to the Dome so that Mark and Big John could get a Walk About photo.
We headed over to Loggers for meet up where I completed my results for the costume comp and handed them over to Mark. I decided to sit out of Loggers as I didn't feel much like getting wet.
I benched: the ride with Tanya who was sewing Mark's costume back together. I decided that I'd felt guilty for breaking the camera long enough so found it out my bag and set to work trying to fix it.
It took me about 10 minutes to get the lens back into place and for it to start taking photos again. Eventually, it worked as good as new apart from the rather large dent in it. It worked: that was the main thing.
Now not feeling guilty, I put it back in my bag and got my own camera out.
Saw and orange trees, a fantastic combination.
By the time I had taken photos of Saw and fixed the camera, the group had got off Loggers. I gave the now not_so_broken camera back to its owner who seemed rather taken aback by the fact it was working.
After that, it was time for a slow moving Slammer queue. Slammer is always full of win and this ride was no exception. I love leaving the lap bar to support my weight as it rotates. Slammer <3
Vadge and 3 others used Vadge's spacker band to ride it, where it would've been quicker to just main queue. I caught them on the ride anyway.
While waiting for them to get of Slammer, goon tormenting took place. Lots of his ridiculous costume was removed and thrown around between the group. I did not get involved, but it was amusing.
The next ride was Samurai which I also sat out of. Slammer is enough for one day. So while we waited, I set up my camera for the group photo which was to be done outside Saw.
While waiting, I also took photos of things.
As well as rides, we have a fair few member photos too!
Eventually, after around half an hour, the group got onto Samurai.
After everyone had come off Samurai, it was time for the group photo before it got dark. Rather than using the steps (they're no longer there anyway) we decided that we should do the photo by Saw, so that, we done.
In case you missed them:
And we also got a costumer photo. Well done to those that actually looked at me!
Our next stop was Colossus. This also didn't have a long queue like last year. This one lasted around 45 minutes. I actually really enjoyed Colossus this year. And rather than waiting for another train, staff were asking for 2s. So me and Tom decided to use those seats to get on quicker.
It wasn't as rough as usual and was actually a lot quicker than usual.
By now, it was starting to get dark and it had gone 4pm, so the mazes had now opened meaning that the rest of the queues in the park were a bit smaller.
So we decided to do Rush, which only had a 15 minute queue. Cheers Vadge for letting me use your spacker band.
Toilet time followed before going back to meet to see the group just coming off.
Vortex was next and by this time, it was time to break out the small quantity of glow sticks we had for Thorpe. I sat out again and ended up sitting on the floor. Pins and needles are not a fun game when they make you fall over and squash Mark's foot!
Night photography was on the agenda. Tripod - it should've been used.
Mark was posing again for more photos in front of the lights.
We had a 20 minute break to grab some food or the toilet before meeting back up at Stealth for a go in the dark with priority passes that we had from opening day.
The main queue for Stealth was only 45 minutes and for Fright Nights that was quite surprising.
Before we rode, Mark and I worked out the scores for the costume comp. The top 4 or so were close, with the biggest gap being between 1st and 2nd place. And that was only 10 odd points.
Well done to everyone that dressed up and endured it throughout the day. The costumes were great this year, and I'm glad I got the opportunity to judge them. Cheers Mark!
So once that was done, it was time for Ian to distribute the fast passes for Stealth. Cheers to Peep for letting us have them to skip the queue, appreciated. And to those that couldn't ride due to there not being enough as well.
Stealth was absolutely fantastic in the dark! (There's an ORP to be uploaded in due course). I nearly managed to lose my glow sticks as the train came back down, but caught them just in time before they flew off my head.
The next ride would be Saw in the dark. And this was also to be the longest queue of the day and that was just over an hour. We had a great laugh in the queue graffitiing AJ, Will and Brad with fake blood.
I think the shop in the queue is a great idea despite it being near the end of the queue as you go into the building. It provided me with some much needed Sprite and others with chocolate. Good move Thorpe, I like it!
A few pig actors were wandering around the outside of the queue which was as Will said "worse underneath the pig". There really should've been a few more live actors to make it that bit better.
The rack scene was pretty amusing with Will shouting at them "No" whenever the one in the rack screamed "Help Me!"
Eventually, we got on the ride and I have to agree with those that say Saw is better in the dark. It was substantially better. I did complain a lot through the ride as I found it amusing and so did Will by the sounds of it!
Loved the fire affects on the Saw shop as well. I think the 2 pig actors that were at the exit could've been better placed and interact with guests a bit more as to me Saw: Live was just Saw.
By now, I was getting fed up of Thorpe as we had done all we wanted to. And I wanted a shower seeing as I was in a rush that morning. Thankfully, Tanya and Big John also had had enough. Stone Cold who drove us there (cheers!) had had a few drinks by now which left Tanya to drive us back to the Lodge.
That was by far the best day at Thorpe I've had with a large CF group. Great organisation by Mark and the park was behaving itself as well.
For me, the Thorpe day beat the Chessington day by quite a long way.
That has been the best GF I've been to (and I've now done 3) and would go as far as saying that that was the best Live of the year.
For the full Facebook album go here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3 ... ad9ee04af0
And I'll get the Chessington report up as soon as possible.
I only just got home late last night, so haven't been in here until now.
Anyway...
Yay for my first UK Live! I very nearly didn't make it thanks to about 3 hours sleep and way too much drink the night before, but soooooo glad I stopped being a fanny and dragged my arse to Chessington.
It was great to see a lot of people from the Denmark Live again, especially Ian, Mark and Marc, though I love all of you! Also great to see Furie and Vadge again, who I haven't seen for a while.
Fantastic to meet so many new people as well. It seems a bit horrible to name names when it was great to meet so many people, but **** it!
Jake and Erol: have had very little contact with outside the CF forums, but got on brilliantly with both of them throughout the day. Big love!
Ben and Kir: have chatted loads on msn for ever, for drunk hours at a time (on my part) in Kir's case, but had never actually met before. Ben, you're such a c@nt, I love you! Kir is lovely as well; thanks for taking my Dragon's Fury virginity. It was extremely special and not painful at all!
Anyway, since I'm back in the country for the forseeable future, I will definitely be making an effort to get to more Lives next year.
xxx
Anyway...
Yay for my first UK Live! I very nearly didn't make it thanks to about 3 hours sleep and way too much drink the night before, but soooooo glad I stopped being a fanny and dragged my arse to Chessington.
It was great to see a lot of people from the Denmark Live again, especially Ian, Mark and Marc, though I love all of you! Also great to see Furie and Vadge again, who I haven't seen for a while.
Fantastic to meet so many new people as well. It seems a bit horrible to name names when it was great to meet so many people, but **** it!
Jake and Erol: have had very little contact with outside the CF forums, but got on brilliantly with both of them throughout the day. Big love!
Ben and Kir: have chatted loads on msn for ever, for drunk hours at a time (on my part) in Kir's case, but had never actually met before. Ben, you're such a c@nt, I love you! Kir is lovely as well; thanks for taking my Dragon's Fury virginity. It was extremely special and not painful at all!
Anyway, since I'm back in the country for the forseeable future, I will definitely be making an effort to get to more Lives next year.
xxx
I can't do any work while I've got CF in mind. Come downs, they really are not welcomed! Nor can I do said work while I'm suffering from CF Flu as well. So have a Chessington report earlier than I thought I'd write it.
Tuesday morning, it was a long one. Me trying to be social and stay in one room until everyone went to bed worked this time, but for the first time since I've been hoteling with CF, I fell asleep at 1 in someone else's room and woke up half an hour later. Whoops.
When bed did happen, asleep times were disturbed for 15 minutes at 4am and as a result, Tuesday was a late one.
We eventually left the hotel at quarter to 10 when originally we wanted to be out at half 9. Being 10 minutes away, we thought this was not going to be a problem. A problem - it WAS. Stupid temporary traffic lights meant we didn't get to Chessie till about 25 past 10 and to make matters worse, we were parked in over flow.
We got through the turnstiles (or for me the staff with hand scanner) and off to the Greedy Goblin we went to meet up with people. Other people were going to be late as they were stuck in horrid traffic too, so the first ride was Sea Storm.
Stomach ache, I had one, so I sat out of Sea Storm and ventured to the nearest shop to purchase Fanta.
They had Icy Lemon, I have not seen this for ages so I brought one immediately! I then encountered a rather pleasant member of staff. Customer service - she was good at it! (Sorry college mode)
The latecomers had now arrived and everyone was off Sea Storm, so our next stop was Bubbleworks with what looked like a long queue before we joined it. This queue moved quickly, happily. MMF was given an inflatable gun, this meant I needed to watch my eyes.
Inflatable hats were also in attendance.
Bubbleworks was VERY wet. And not from the ride itself. The boat in front consisting of a Neal, Stone Cold, Tom and someone else thought it amusing to splash the water all over us. Wet, I was very! (Now I know where this cold may have come from) The jacket I was wearing was still wet when I got home Wednesday afternoon.
Vampire was next and had got an advertised queue time of 50 minutes which ended up being right! Lots of talking and taking photos happened during this queue. Was interesting talking to Ewan about Thorpe etc.
Eventually, we got on. Bang. Jolt. Ow. Jolt. Ow. Bang. was basically how this ride went. But it still is a fab ride. Love the tunnel bit with the lights. Great ride, shame about the jolts.
By this time, it was already time for lunch. Greedy Goblin it was! The menu there was not very Rach friendly (fussy eater and Emetophobia (google it)), so a plate of chips and coke was consumed. It was nom.
Lunch was amusing, everytime the waitress walked past with food, Big John would groan as she walked past. She was laughing everytime. She brought out our food before the rest of the CFers in there had got theirs and they ordered before us.
Once it had been eaten, we headed over towards Dragons Falls. Long walk - it was.
Got over there to see most of CF already assembled. It was faffle time as usual and this year there were lots of prizes donated from various people and places. For the first time, I won something.
Cheers to the person who brought the light purple Insane top, it's in the cupboard ready for wearing.
I didn't fancy Dragons Falls, so bloused. Was going to go on Tomb Blaster with Vadge and her spacker band, but it was down when we went over, so I ended up heading back to where everyone was sitting.
Photos, I took lots of them.
And now onto photos of members on the actual ride. I went and stood like a lonely goon by the first drop. Though I actually needed some time to myself, so this was a good opportunity.
With that being the last boat, I headed round to the end of the ride where there is the most perfectly placed fountain perfect for spiteage.
Next ride was Tomb Blaster. This had a silly slow moving queue so decided not to ride it in favor of sitting on a cold brick wall talking to people. It was at this point I realised how quiet I had been over the past 3 days and made me a bit upset. More time to sit on my own.
Some faff photos.
By this time, it was becoming dark again, so it was time to do the group photo in front of the cauldron by the flying Dumbos.
Pre group photo shots can always lead to amusing photos.
And here are the group photos incase you missed the larger versions on page 3.
Rameses was the next stop, but I also didn't really fancy doing this, so didn't bother. Rameses makes good light trails, but a tripod should've been used. This time gave me a good chance to blind people with the flash of death.
By now, it was dark enough for the vat of glow sticks to come out. With me already having enough, I didn't take any of Ian's but cheers for giving them out anyway. A bit of faffage occurred while everyone secured glow sticks to themselves and Ian gave out ball connectors which prompted lots of balls to be made.
Our next stop was to be Rattlesnake where everyone was still constructing their glow stick costumes in the queue. And some of us (me) were getting cramps in their hand from fixing too many together. Owch times.
This glow stick ball trebled in size as the night went on.
Rattlesnake - it is pretty at night, pretty good too.
Glow sticks = Happy CFers
After what a been a pretty dull day soon became eventful.
Our next ride and probably the best ride in the park was Dragons Fury. The queue weren't stupidly long, but I decided to sit out. Vadge asked me if I would like to use spacker band with her, so I did. Cheers.
Amazing ride in the day and even better at night! Got quite a good spin on it as well.
Vadge and her Vadge stick of glow sticks
Glow stick ball - it was growing, so much so we had to run around from our bench to see it.
This was the glow stick ball result 20 minutes later.
Our next stop after Fury was Buccaneer for the CF shouting. We had a boat to ourselves and the staff were really getting into the swing of things with us. Lots of COASTER FORCE was shouted resulting in lots of lost voices by the end of it.
Great ride and I can imagine how proud it makes Ian feel seeing a glowing boat of CFers shouting COASTER - FORCE at each other while lobbing glow sticks at each other.
Fantastic!
Mark agreed to doing a Glow Stick photo after Buccaneer and before we rode Vampire in the dark. So this was done. The location we done it in last year had been filled with lights and lockers annoyingly, so we had to find another place which was outside one of the Vampire signs.
This really made me glow seeing everyone glowing for the photos. Sadly, I couldn't be in this one so I could take the photo.
And incase you missed them (page 3 for bigger and better quality)
So once that was done, it was Vampire time. The queue was in roughly the same position as what it was when we rode in the day, but this time it moved quicker with lots of glow sticks and a lot more singing. Happy times - they are for everyone!
Fantastic way to end a fantastic year by lots of singing in the queue. It was at this point I knew that the byes would be the hardest for 3 years.
Vampire - it is AMAZING at night! Absolutely love the tunnel bit, so disorientating. I wanted to ride again, but the queue had closed. Luckily we had an Erol!
Once we had all exited the ride, it was time for the speeches by Ian and a rather quiet Mark. Without the hard work by Ian and Mark, this would not have happened, so I can't thank these 2 enough for this. You could see it was making Ian feel uncomfortable when it was 3 cheers time.
So after lots of 3 cheers time and "when I say COASTER, you say FORCE"
Ian announced that Erol had managed to get us a couple of laps on Vampire as a small ERT session. Mah00sive thanks to Erol and the staff at Chessington for this. Fantastic way to end the day with 2 laps of it without getting off.
It was now time to say the byes which I had been dreading since the start of the day. And still now, I hate thinking about it. Rather than doing the massive goodbyes outside the entrance, we done it in the middle of the park as some of us were in over flow.
Sad times, they happened. and soon enough it was time to leave and head our separate ways to the car parks.
It hit home hard on the way back to Ian's that night as to what a fantastic year it had been and more importantly what a fantastic Live it had been. Upset times, they happened. I think Ian noticed that something was wrong on the way home, but thankfully it was dark...
I don't think I hardly said a word the remainder of that night and on the way home Wednesday morning. I know I felt upset for the remainder of the trip, but I didn't want it to end
For the full Chessington album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3 ... 56317f50fa
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I'd just like to end by saying a massive thanks to everyone who has transported me, put me up and been at Lives and meets over the year for one of the most fantastic years ever! The start of the year was a hard time for me, but thankfully with the help of CF, I picked myself up and got on with it.
It still hurts now as I found out rather embarrassingly Tuesday night.
You're all ****ing awesome people though and great to be in the company of and here's to 2010!
If you ever need picking up, go to parks with CFers, if you ever want the best birthday imaginable, then go with CFers to a random place
Tuesday morning, it was a long one. Me trying to be social and stay in one room until everyone went to bed worked this time, but for the first time since I've been hoteling with CF, I fell asleep at 1 in someone else's room and woke up half an hour later. Whoops.
When bed did happen, asleep times were disturbed for 15 minutes at 4am and as a result, Tuesday was a late one.
We eventually left the hotel at quarter to 10 when originally we wanted to be out at half 9. Being 10 minutes away, we thought this was not going to be a problem. A problem - it WAS. Stupid temporary traffic lights meant we didn't get to Chessie till about 25 past 10 and to make matters worse, we were parked in over flow.
We got through the turnstiles (or for me the staff with hand scanner) and off to the Greedy Goblin we went to meet up with people. Other people were going to be late as they were stuck in horrid traffic too, so the first ride was Sea Storm.
Stomach ache, I had one, so I sat out of Sea Storm and ventured to the nearest shop to purchase Fanta.
They had Icy Lemon, I have not seen this for ages so I brought one immediately! I then encountered a rather pleasant member of staff. Customer service - she was good at it! (Sorry college mode)
The latecomers had now arrived and everyone was off Sea Storm, so our next stop was Bubbleworks with what looked like a long queue before we joined it. This queue moved quickly, happily. MMF was given an inflatable gun, this meant I needed to watch my eyes.
Inflatable hats were also in attendance.
Bubbleworks was VERY wet. And not from the ride itself. The boat in front consisting of a Neal, Stone Cold, Tom and someone else thought it amusing to splash the water all over us. Wet, I was very! (Now I know where this cold may have come from) The jacket I was wearing was still wet when I got home Wednesday afternoon.
Vampire was next and had got an advertised queue time of 50 minutes which ended up being right! Lots of talking and taking photos happened during this queue. Was interesting talking to Ewan about Thorpe etc.
Eventually, we got on. Bang. Jolt. Ow. Jolt. Ow. Bang. was basically how this ride went. But it still is a fab ride. Love the tunnel bit with the lights. Great ride, shame about the jolts.
By this time, it was already time for lunch. Greedy Goblin it was! The menu there was not very Rach friendly (fussy eater and Emetophobia (google it)), so a plate of chips and coke was consumed. It was nom.
Lunch was amusing, everytime the waitress walked past with food, Big John would groan as she walked past. She was laughing everytime. She brought out our food before the rest of the CFers in there had got theirs and they ordered before us.
Once it had been eaten, we headed over towards Dragons Falls. Long walk - it was.
Got over there to see most of CF already assembled. It was faffle time as usual and this year there were lots of prizes donated from various people and places. For the first time, I won something.
Cheers to the person who brought the light purple Insane top, it's in the cupboard ready for wearing.
I didn't fancy Dragons Falls, so bloused. Was going to go on Tomb Blaster with Vadge and her spacker band, but it was down when we went over, so I ended up heading back to where everyone was sitting.
Photos, I took lots of them.
And now onto photos of members on the actual ride. I went and stood like a lonely goon by the first drop. Though I actually needed some time to myself, so this was a good opportunity.
With that being the last boat, I headed round to the end of the ride where there is the most perfectly placed fountain perfect for spiteage.
Next ride was Tomb Blaster. This had a silly slow moving queue so decided not to ride it in favor of sitting on a cold brick wall talking to people. It was at this point I realised how quiet I had been over the past 3 days and made me a bit upset. More time to sit on my own.
Some faff photos.
By this time, it was becoming dark again, so it was time to do the group photo in front of the cauldron by the flying Dumbos.
Pre group photo shots can always lead to amusing photos.
And here are the group photos incase you missed the larger versions on page 3.
Rameses was the next stop, but I also didn't really fancy doing this, so didn't bother. Rameses makes good light trails, but a tripod should've been used. This time gave me a good chance to blind people with the flash of death.
By now, it was dark enough for the vat of glow sticks to come out. With me already having enough, I didn't take any of Ian's but cheers for giving them out anyway
. A bit of faffage occurred while everyone secured glow sticks to themselves and Ian gave out ball connectors which prompted lots of balls to be made. Our next stop was to be Rattlesnake where everyone was still constructing their glow stick costumes in the queue. And some of us (me) were getting cramps in their hand from fixing too many together. Owch times.
This glow stick ball trebled in size as the night went on.
Rattlesnake - it is pretty at night, pretty good too.
Glow sticks = Happy CFers
After what a been a pretty dull day soon became eventful.
Our next ride and probably the best ride in the park was Dragons Fury. The queue weren't stupidly long, but I decided to sit out. Vadge asked me if I would like to use spacker band with her, so I did. Cheers.
Amazing ride in the day and even better at night! Got quite a good spin on it as well.
Vadge and her Vadge stick of glow sticks
Glow stick ball - it was growing, so much so we had to run around from our bench to see it.
This was the glow stick ball result 20 minutes later.
Our next stop after Fury was Buccaneer for the CF shouting. We had a boat to ourselves and the staff were really getting into the swing of things with us. Lots of COASTER FORCE was shouted resulting in lots of lost voices by the end of it.
Great ride and I can imagine how proud it makes Ian feel seeing a glowing boat of CFers shouting COASTER - FORCE at each other while lobbing glow sticks at each other.
Fantastic!
Mark agreed to doing a Glow Stick photo after Buccaneer and before we rode Vampire in the dark. So this was done. The location we done it in last year had been filled with lights and lockers annoyingly, so we had to find another place which was outside one of the Vampire signs.
This really made me glow seeing everyone glowing for the photos. Sadly, I couldn't be in this one so I could take the photo.
And incase you missed them (page 3 for bigger and better quality)
So once that was done, it was Vampire time. The queue was in roughly the same position as what it was when we rode in the day, but this time it moved quicker with lots of glow sticks and a lot more singing. Happy times - they are for everyone!
Fantastic way to end a fantastic year by lots of singing in the queue. It was at this point I knew that the byes would be the hardest for 3 years.
Vampire - it is AMAZING at night! Absolutely love the tunnel bit, so disorientating. I wanted to ride again, but the queue had closed. Luckily we had an Erol!
Once we had all exited the ride, it was time for the speeches by Ian and a rather quiet Mark. Without the hard work by Ian and Mark, this would not have happened, so I can't thank these 2 enough for this. You could see it was making Ian feel uncomfortable when it was 3 cheers time.
So after lots of 3 cheers time and "when I say COASTER, you say FORCE"
Ian announced that Erol had managed to get us a couple of laps on Vampire as a small ERT session. Mah00sive thanks to Erol and the staff at Chessington for this. Fantastic way to end the day with 2 laps of it without getting off.
It was now time to say the byes which I had been dreading since the start of the day. And still now, I hate thinking about it. Rather than doing the massive goodbyes outside the entrance, we done it in the middle of the park as some of us were in over flow.
Sad times, they happened.
and soon enough it was time to leave and head our separate ways to the car parks. It hit home hard on the way back to Ian's that night as to what a fantastic year it had been and more importantly what a fantastic Live it had been. Upset times, they happened. I think Ian noticed that something was wrong on the way home, but thankfully it was dark...
I don't think I hardly said a word the remainder of that night and on the way home Wednesday morning. I know I felt upset for the remainder of the trip, but I didn't want it to end
For the full Chessington album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3 ... 56317f50fa
----
I'd just like to end by saying a massive thanks to everyone who has transported me, put me up and been at Lives and meets over the year for one of the most fantastic years ever! The start of the year was a hard time for me, but thankfully with the help of CF, I picked myself up and got on with it.
It still hurts now as I found out rather embarrassingly Tuesday night.
You're all ****ing awesome people though and great to be in the company of and here's to 2010!
If you ever need picking up, go to parks with CFers, if you ever want the best birthday imaginable, then go with CFers to a random place