Madrid, PWM & PAM, 5-6 April 2014
- Thread starter Ian
- Start date
Day Two
Started the day with the ol traditional pre-theme park MacDonalds breakfast; then made our way to PAM (which included driving through a snazzy tunnel under the stadium - ooh! And dancing in the car, naturally.)
Met PAC outside the entrance and the friendly lady from PAM took us all in for ERT on Abismo (Hey, three acronyms in one sentence!) I was trying not to look at Abismo - the 150ft Skyloop, because I was a bit nervous.
Got on it, and found myself thinking: this is taking a really long time to get to the top for a Skyloop. Then, just as we turned upside down, it stopped. I could feel all the blood rushing to my head, then the train finally crawled through the inversion. I felt so relieved! The rest of the coaster was great, it's really nice to ride an extended Skyloop that does a bit more than the usual ones.
Then the coaster went all Sweet Valley High on us. Instead of catching the train at the top of the lift hill and lowering us back down, we rolled back and forth between the vertical lift and the little drop before the station. It was like a bonus pirate ship tacked onto the end of a coaster (I knew Abismo did more than the average Skyloop, but I was not expecting a flat ride at the end of it!)
In hindsight, I realise that this once in a lifetime experience had it all: a stomach-churning valley, a headache-inducing lift hill, rib-crushing-restraints and a moment of sheer-upside-down-terror. So I'm awarding it 10 MacDonald's stars
Christina, the manager from PAM, was so apologetic about Abismo and went above and beyond to make sure we were still going to have an amazing day. Her generosity was fab - ERT on Tarantula, free horror maze, free steak buffet - (well, the park's reputation was at steak, after all!) It was great to see how much they care about their visitors at PAM.
So, onto the worlds tallest Maurer Spinning Coaster - Tarantula. It was one of the better spinners I've ridden; it has a nice big drop into a horseshoe and a decent overall layout. I loved the spider station <3 budget Nemesis!
Jordan and I dashed off to meet Spongebob and Patrick, Patrick gave me a big hug. Then we rode the rapids, which were pleasant enough. Whilst riding, Sue coined the acronym 'C.W.A.' for 'complete wet arse', like CWoA without the 'of'!
Next up was my 200th cred, Vertigo - a Mack wild mouse where I'm pretty sure the mid-course brakes weren't working?! We flew around those corners and drops and I actually even got a bit of airtime. But it was nothing compared to the pleasure of a congratulatory hand shake with Ian From Coasterforce afterwards
The Gerstlauer Mine Train was next ("It's not your train, it's mine train!") I'm one of those highly rare Gerstlauer fans, so I was looking forward to this one. It was very short, and uneventful though.
Then it was time to splash out on a water ride. This Shoot The Chute had rock face themeing all the way around the supports, so I held a moments silence in memory of Dragon's Falls similar themeing at Chessington. Needless to say, we all got very wet.
Speaking of wetness, as we wandered around PAM, I started to realise how much Amanda Thompson would love this place. I counted a total of 14 fountains! It was a pretty city park indeed.
Everyone rode Tornado - the Intavert, but I was too hungry (I did struggle with this whole eating late in Spain thing) so I sat and watched peoples faces of 'meh' as they trundled around.
Then, the moment had finally arrived: it was time to visit Buffet The Hunger Slayer! The food was delicious, especially the chicken soaked in garlic butter, yum.
After we had eaten, Ian did the Faffle with the help of Nic and Conor as hilarious assistants. It was, as always, a great laugh and the PAC people got so into it! Fab times <3
Whilst some people braved the Starflyer, me and Darren horrified Nic with our idea of trying to do DisneyWorld in a one day cred run. Hmm, magical! Rode the 'It's a Small Budget World' boat ride, then did the horror maze, where Ian gave us a pre-show on the beams of his physical prowess, ooh!
This maze had rooms that were based on various horror films, ranging from The Ring, Silent Hill to Nightmare on Elm Street; some were done really well (notably the nurses from Silent Hill and Freddy Kreuger) but some were a tad predictable (chainsaw man).
There were plenty of jumpy moments though, and I admittedly spent the majority of the maze holding onto Ian in fear! This maze was far superior to the one me and Sue did in Parque Warner the day before, too.
Got spited by yet another log flume afterwards and couldn't be bothered to queue up to ride Tarantula again, so we spent our last moments at PAM filling Sue's bag with grass while she was in the toilet. (Sorry Sue!)
Then we did a quick Macarena, said our goodbyes to the wonderful people of PAC and headed back to the airport - where the fab Duty Free singing occurred! One of my fave jokes of the trip was returning to Darren's car, which was parked in B4 at the airport. "How are we going to remember where we've parked?" "Because we've been here B4!"
Madrid was one of those weekends that feels as though it's much longer than 2 days, because it was jam packed with fun. Thanks to Alex From PAC and Ian From Coasterforce for all your organising / hospitality, Conor and Darren for driving, and everyone for being such lovely company. As usual. <3
Started the day with the ol traditional pre-theme park MacDonalds breakfast; then made our way to PAM (which included driving through a snazzy tunnel under the stadium - ooh! And dancing in the car, naturally.)
Met PAC outside the entrance and the friendly lady from PAM took us all in for ERT on Abismo (Hey, three acronyms in one sentence!) I was trying not to look at Abismo - the 150ft Skyloop, because I was a bit nervous.
Got on it, and found myself thinking: this is taking a really long time to get to the top for a Skyloop. Then, just as we turned upside down, it stopped. I could feel all the blood rushing to my head, then the train finally crawled through the inversion. I felt so relieved! The rest of the coaster was great, it's really nice to ride an extended Skyloop that does a bit more than the usual ones.
Then the coaster went all Sweet Valley High on us. Instead of catching the train at the top of the lift hill and lowering us back down, we rolled back and forth between the vertical lift and the little drop before the station. It was like a bonus pirate ship tacked onto the end of a coaster (I knew Abismo did more than the average Skyloop, but I was not expecting a flat ride at the end of it!)
In hindsight, I realise that this once in a lifetime experience had it all: a stomach-churning valley, a headache-inducing lift hill, rib-crushing-restraints and a moment of sheer-upside-down-terror. So I'm awarding it 10 MacDonald's stars
Christina, the manager from PAM, was so apologetic about Abismo and went above and beyond to make sure we were still going to have an amazing day. Her generosity was fab - ERT on Tarantula, free horror maze, free steak buffet - (well, the park's reputation was at steak, after all!) It was great to see how much they care about their visitors at PAM.
So, onto the worlds tallest Maurer Spinning Coaster - Tarantula. It was one of the better spinners I've ridden; it has a nice big drop into a horseshoe and a decent overall layout. I loved the spider station <3 budget Nemesis!
Jordan and I dashed off to meet Spongebob and Patrick, Patrick gave me a big hug. Then we rode the rapids, which were pleasant enough. Whilst riding, Sue coined the acronym 'C.W.A.' for 'complete wet arse', like CWoA without the 'of'!
Next up was my 200th cred, Vertigo - a Mack wild mouse where I'm pretty sure the mid-course brakes weren't working?! We flew around those corners and drops and I actually even got a bit of airtime. But it was nothing compared to the pleasure of a congratulatory hand shake with Ian From Coasterforce afterwards
The Gerstlauer Mine Train was next ("It's not your train, it's mine train!") I'm one of those highly rare Gerstlauer fans, so I was looking forward to this one. It was very short, and uneventful though.
Then it was time to splash out on a water ride. This Shoot The Chute had rock face themeing all the way around the supports, so I held a moments silence in memory of Dragon's Falls similar themeing at Chessington. Needless to say, we all got very wet.
Speaking of wetness, as we wandered around PAM, I started to realise how much Amanda Thompson would love this place. I counted a total of 14 fountains! It was a pretty city park indeed.
Everyone rode Tornado - the Intavert, but I was too hungry (I did struggle with this whole eating late in Spain thing) so I sat and watched peoples faces of 'meh' as they trundled around.
Then, the moment had finally arrived: it was time to visit Buffet The Hunger Slayer! The food was delicious, especially the chicken soaked in garlic butter, yum.
After we had eaten, Ian did the Faffle with the help of Nic and Conor as hilarious assistants. It was, as always, a great laugh and the PAC people got so into it! Fab times <3
Whilst some people braved the Starflyer, me and Darren horrified Nic with our idea of trying to do DisneyWorld in a one day cred run. Hmm, magical! Rode the 'It's a Small Budget World' boat ride, then did the horror maze, where Ian gave us a pre-show on the beams of his physical prowess, ooh!
This maze had rooms that were based on various horror films, ranging from The Ring, Silent Hill to Nightmare on Elm Street; some were done really well (notably the nurses from Silent Hill and Freddy Kreuger) but some were a tad predictable (chainsaw man).
There were plenty of jumpy moments though, and I admittedly spent the majority of the maze holding onto Ian in fear! This maze was far superior to the one me and Sue did in Parque Warner the day before, too.
Got spited by yet another log flume afterwards
and couldn't be bothered to queue up to ride Tarantula again, so we spent our last moments at PAM filling Sue's bag with grass while she was in the toilet. (Sorry Sue!)Then we did a quick Macarena, said our goodbyes to the wonderful people of PAC and headed back to the airport - where the fab Duty Free singing occurred! One of my fave jokes of the trip was returning to Darren's car, which was parked in B4 at the airport. "How are we going to remember where we've parked?" "Because we've been here B4!"
Madrid was one of those weekends that feels as though it's much longer than 2 days, because it was jam packed with fun. Thanks to Alex From PAC and Ian From Coasterforce for all your organising / hospitality, Conor and Darren for driving, and everyone for being such lovely company. As usual. <3
MouseAT
Hyper Poster
Well, I'm late to the party here, but I suppose better late than never. It's taken me an age to get my act together and sort out photos, but they're done and online at last. Many of you have probably already seen these on Facebook, but for the benefit of everyone else, they're all on MyCF too:
http://www.coasterforce.com/my-cf/4421- ... lbumid=336
I'm going to focus primarily on the highlights, as doing a full report would take me far too long right now and I know I'd never get around to finishing it.
So, Parque Warner then. I'd say it looks a bit worn, and was pretty dead in terms of attendance (which is apparently normal for the park). It has a few great rides, and appears to have enough attractions to keep people occupied for a full day on park without being bored. We were a bit late arriving, and some of the rides such as the GIB, log flume and rapids were closed, so we probably didn't get the full experience. Operations are horribly inefficient, so queues are considerably longer than they should be, but with the park relatively empty it's more of an annoyance than a real problem.
Superman is an absolutely amazing floorless coaster, by far the best I've ridden and a definite top 20 ride for me. I think most other people have described it pretty well already, so I'm not going to repeat their comments. It's just a good solid all around ride.
Batman: The Ride is amazingly forceful, and is also IMO a top 20 ride. It's forceful enough that I'd not want to re-ride multiple times in quick succession, but on the other hand I made sure I got at least one re-ride before the end of the day, and might have tried to get an extra ride if we'd had more time on park.
Parque de Atracciones was an interesting park. I've heard mixed things about the park, including stories of poor operations and a tendency to close attractions if it's quiet or shows any signs or rain. We had a really warm, sunny day and the park was pretty busy, so we didn't have any real issues with rides being open (other than the initial downtime on Abysmo after it ran into "technical problems" during the ERT). The park really looked after us during the day, giving us all a special deal on food, fast passes, moving our ERT to Tarantula once Abysmo ran into issues and giving us all extra perks as an apology for said problems.
Operations were pretty slow in general though, so I would add that without the fast passes I could imagine the park being something of a pain on a busy day. I get the impression that we got to see the best of the park, and I don't think our experience was necessarily typical of what the average guest would experience on a similarly busy day.
I can't say I found any of the rides at Parque de Atracciones to be particularly amazing (although Tarantula was pretty good), but there's a decent enough set of attractions to keep people entertained for the day, and the park itself was absolutely beautiful. There are amazing views of Madrid and the surrounding area from the top of the Star Flyer, so if you've got a head for heights then it's well worth riding.
Our new found friends from PAC were amazing all weekend. They all seemed really friendly, seemed to be entertained by our humour and antics and seemed to really get the CF spirit of not taking things too seriously.
I have to add that once again it's the people that make a trip like this so amazing. Some of the most memorable moments include groups of people from CF chilling out, enjoying evening meals or having a laugh together whilst waiting for flights at the airport. I know there's been talk of trying to make sure that CF doesn't stagnate and become the same old faces, but when I think about the people who were with us for the trip I think it really goes to show that as long as people have a sense of humour and are ready to embrace the CF "have a laugh" mentality, they'll have a great time and feel as welcome as those who have been a part of the community for years.
In summary: What a fantastic weekend. Bring on the next Live!
http://www.coasterforce.com/my-cf/4421- ... lbumid=336
I'm going to focus primarily on the highlights, as doing a full report would take me far too long right now and I know I'd never get around to finishing it.
So, Parque Warner then. I'd say it looks a bit worn, and was pretty dead in terms of attendance (which is apparently normal for the park). It has a few great rides, and appears to have enough attractions to keep people occupied for a full day on park without being bored. We were a bit late arriving, and some of the rides such as the GIB, log flume and rapids were closed, so we probably didn't get the full experience. Operations are horribly inefficient, so queues are considerably longer than they should be, but with the park relatively empty it's more of an annoyance than a real problem.
Superman is an absolutely amazing floorless coaster, by far the best I've ridden and a definite top 20 ride for me. I think most other people have described it pretty well already, so I'm not going to repeat their comments. It's just a good solid all around ride.
Batman: The Ride is amazingly forceful, and is also IMO a top 20 ride. It's forceful enough that I'd not want to re-ride multiple times in quick succession, but on the other hand I made sure I got at least one re-ride before the end of the day, and might have tried to get an extra ride if we'd had more time on park.
Parque de Atracciones was an interesting park. I've heard mixed things about the park, including stories of poor operations and a tendency to close attractions if it's quiet or shows any signs or rain. We had a really warm, sunny day and the park was pretty busy, so we didn't have any real issues with rides being open (other than the initial downtime on Abysmo after it ran into "technical problems" during the ERT). The park really looked after us during the day, giving us all a special deal on food, fast passes, moving our ERT to Tarantula once Abysmo ran into issues and giving us all extra perks as an apology for said problems.
Operations were pretty slow in general though, so I would add that without the fast passes I could imagine the park being something of a pain on a busy day. I get the impression that we got to see the best of the park, and I don't think our experience was necessarily typical of what the average guest would experience on a similarly busy day.
I can't say I found any of the rides at Parque de Atracciones to be particularly amazing (although Tarantula was pretty good), but there's a decent enough set of attractions to keep people entertained for the day, and the park itself was absolutely beautiful. There are amazing views of Madrid and the surrounding area from the top of the Star Flyer, so if you've got a head for heights then it's well worth riding.
Our new found friends from PAC were amazing all weekend. They all seemed really friendly, seemed to be entertained by our humour and antics and seemed to really get the CF spirit of not taking things too seriously.
I have to add that once again it's the people that make a trip like this so amazing. Some of the most memorable moments include groups of people from CF chilling out, enjoying evening meals or having a laugh together whilst waiting for flights at the airport. I know there's been talk of trying to make sure that CF doesn't stagnate and become the same old faces, but when I think about the people who were with us for the trip I think it really goes to show that as long as people have a sense of humour and are ready to embrace the CF "have a laugh" mentality, they'll have a great time and feel as welcome as those who have been a part of the community for years.
In summary: What a fantastic weekend. Bring on the next Live!