ACE European Coaster trip???

I just recieved the new issue of Rollercoaster, and read the 2nd part of the ECO trip review, and I have to say it sounded awesome!! Will there be another one next year, I would be really interested in attending. Anyone on these boards who went care sharing their thoughts about their trip???

If you had read the entire magazine, you would have read that a trip of that size will probably never happen again.

Do a search for Sean F.'s trip reports on here. He did a day-by-day account of the trip that was out of this world.

While there may never be a trip of that size again, someone is running a European coaster trip almost every summer.

bigboy said:
Do a search for Sean F.'s trip reports on here. He did a day-by-day account of the trip that was out of this world.

Bigboy,

Thanks for the mention. As far as another official ACE trip to Europe next year, sad to say, it isn't going to happen. Usually the ACE international trips happen every 6 years or so. However, I have a very good hunch that the next internaition trip will happen by 2006, and I think it will be a big one.

If you care to read the trip reports I wrote, below are all the links.

-Sean

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25307
(The Start)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25326
(CWoA & London)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25353
(Thorpe Park)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25374
(FL & LV)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25401
(PL & BPB)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25428
(BPB & SCAD)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25456
(Alton Towers)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25482
(AT & DM)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25497
(Oakwood)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25520
(DL & Rotunda)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25542
(SFB)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25586
(Efteling)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25624
(SFH)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25651
(Heide Park)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25674
(Holiday Pk)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25695
(Europa)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25728
(Park Asterix)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25748
(Disney Paris)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25767
(Paris Fair)

http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=25795
(The End)
*** This post was edited by Sean Flaharty 8/31/2003 5:20:30 PM ***

Thanks a lot for the links, Sean. By now you are probably sick of hearing this,but once again, great TR's, all among the best I've read. So many coasters there are just so unique, especially Euro-Mir. They all sound great.

I've read almost half of Sean's Euro TR's so far and have to say it sounds like a blast! Wish I could go...maybe down the road sometime in the future. Great job Sean.

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Nashville needs a theme park!

Thanks guys! I am glad you like them. I just read them again recently. When I was writing them, I didn't really read them in the sense of someone that wasn't on the tour.

I finally got around to reading them as if I hadn't written them and it was fun thinking back on those memories. I have a lot of the stuff mentioned in those reports in my raw footage so I always have that too look back on as well.

-Sean

I have a less detailed perspective on my site:

http://www.bannister.org/coasters/trips/200207-odyssey/index.htm

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http://www.bannister.org/coasters/

I had my face stuck in the magazine the day it came, to the point of not hearing my husband talking to me, which prompted him to pick it up and read later.

I'd already read all of Sean's TR's before and plan to use them as a guide for my trip to the UK. I have a friend working in London for the next two years, so I'm hoping to impose and use London as my "base camp"

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

sean how much did the trip cost? with airfare, park entrance and hotel stays.

if you dont want to post publically, could you email me? ryan@eightdotthree.net

/ --------------------------------------
http://www.eightdotthree.net

I did only the first week, and my overall costs were right around $2000. I got a steal on the airfare at $650 (for the summer months, that was cheap, especially since it was upgradable to business class both ways ;) ), but by the time you added in the tour, food and souvineers not included in the tour package, etc., you were looking at a nice sum.

Of course, it COULD have been done cheaper -- I went out for nice meals when I had a chance, bought shirts and/or trinkets at every park, hit the London Eye, drank more beer (especially Guiness) and hard cider than was necessary, and so on.

--Greg, who's feeling too lazy right now to dig up the URLs for his own trip reports...

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?" -- Londo Mollari, Babylon 5
*** This post was edited by GregLeg 9/2/2003 2:30:29 PM ***

what was included in the tour package?

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http://www.eightdotthree.net

Ground transportation (tour bus), park admissions, hotels, some meals (what that meant varied by host park), and a t-shirt.

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?" -- Londo Mollari, Babylon 5

I got by on quite a bit less. I don't have the exact figure right now but I basically didn't eat much beyond the provided meals, and I went to bed at night instead of going out (I was exhausted after alll...)
-R

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http://www.bannister.org/coasters/

eightdotthree said:
sean how much did the trip cost? with airfare, park entrance and hotel stays.
if you dont want to post publically, could you email me? ryan@eightdotthree.net
/ --------------------------------------
http://www.eightdotthree.net

No problem.

I think I spent around $3,000. That was for everything. I didn't spend much on souvineers and I didn't go out a whole lot after each night.

I could have done the trip cheaper if I had flown in and out of London rather than in to London, and out of Paris. That airfare ticket could have been around 50% cheaper but for various reason, I decided to fly out of Paris.

The trip was worth every penny, and then some. If the trip was to be redone in exact fashion, and cost even more, I would do it in a heartbeat.

CpLady,

I remember you saying something about using my reports a year or so ago.Thanks. That means a lot.
Did you ever get those printed out? If not, I could send you a CD. Just e-mail me.

-Sean

I did about as much as Sean did as well, since we were together for most of the trip. Going out at night was kept to a minimum except for Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and London. I didn't buy much in the way of souvenirs at all and ate (and drank! ;)) what the park provided us.

All in all I believe I spent about $2000 or so including the plane ticket (which was only $280 because I had $800 worth of comps on Delta).

This was for both weeks as well. Definitely a STEAL with all the planning that had to go into something of this magnitude! Tim Baldwin is a planning genious. :)

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You suck big time.

Agreed. Too bad Tim said he doesn't want to do that again. (Although I suspect that even if he doesn't do it all, his expertise will be called upon again in the future)

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?" -- Londo Mollari, Babylon 5

Just got my ACE mag, and it sounds like it turned out to be as much fun (if not more) than when it was initially announced....hopefully, I'll be able to make it there in '04 or, more likely, '05...

Extra extra extra EXTRA extra ride time sounds like *almost* too much....LOL....:)

GregLeg said:

drank more beer (especially Guiness) and hard cider than was necessary, and so on.
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MMMMMM, Guiness! Is there a differance between it here and there?

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Signature will be closed today. Sorry for the inconveinance.