ukstitch
<font color=deeppink>I'm not sure I'm quite your a
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Day 3 was our day away from DLRP, because we had planned to visit Parc Asterix today, as I wanted to sample the other coasters in the region and having visited DLRP roughly yearly for the past 6 years, Parc Asterix was long overdue a visit 
Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures at Parc Asterix, but I'll add in those that I can.
We woke up at about 8ish and grabbed some breakfast from the trail hut as usual. After breakfast, we started the drive at about 9ish back towards CdG airport and on to Parc Asterix. We reached Parc Asterix (PA) at about 9:45, so we were slightly early according to their official opening hours, although by the time we'd got everything together and walked to the gates (not a long walk really - certainly shorter than the walk from the DLRP car parks to gates) it was about 10, so they were letting people in.
We paid the entry fee (I forget how much it cost but the adult and child prices quoted on their website are €39 for adults and €27 for children) and headed through the gates. The English language abilities of the people working in the ticket booths was promising, so we had no problems with our basic grasp of the French language.
Once through the gates, we headed straight for the equivalent of city hall (labelled Accueil if I remember rightly) and asked about a disabled access pass. They were very good and after a while, produced a card which allowed us to head through the ride exits in just the same way as in DLRP. The language here was also generally very easy.
Once we were through the gates, we walked down the street which stretches out from the gates in a similar way to Main Street. Just like Main street, there is a large focal point at the end of the street - in the case of PA, there is a large mountain which Le Grand Splatch (one of the park's water rides) runs around.
Once we had walked down the street, we decided to head left initially. As we walked for a while, we noticed that the park seemed to contain some nice theming touches here and there, which although not quite up to the same standards as Disney, were still very good.
We carried on round and eventually came upon a water rapids (Romus et Rapidus), so we decided that we'd give them a try. We took the pass up the exit and showed it to the staff on the ride platform and they instantly let us through and showed us to our boat. The ride was quite enjoyable. It felt faster paced than the rapids in any of the UK parks I've visited (Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Drayton Manor, Chessington) and seemed quite "bumpy" in places, as well as producing a couple of decent splashes. Unfortunately, the extra pace meant that the ride was over quite quickly, but it was still enjoyable.
After the River Rapids, we carried on round the park and came upon one of the larger roller coasters (Gouderix).
I joined the queue, while the others went off for a walk around the path which winds its way underneath the ride. I found Gouderix to be fairly enjoyable, but it's something I could only ride once. Gouderix is quite a different ride to anything found in DLRP as it is both higher and has many more loops (7 in total) than anything found in DLRP. Unfortunately, while the layout of the coaster was very enjoyable and different from anything I've been on before, it has not aged well at all and so gives you quite a headache in places - far worse than space mountain or even Indiana Jones. I can only hope that SM does not age as badly as Gouderix has, especially as they share the same manufacturer.
Gouderix was also the first experience we had of the PA platform queuing rules - there are none. For those people who, like me, practically eat and sleep coasters, this is the perfect system as it means that you simply join the queue which forms in front of your chosen seat and you are then guaranteed that seat. On the other hand though, this also means that there is quite a large number of people on the platform at any one time and it can get quite congested and confusing.
After Gouderix, I met back up the others who had found a small picnic area just down from the Gouderix break run. We then decided to head around to Tonerre de Zeus (TdZ), so I wasn't going to complain as this was the ride I had been looking forward to since not long after I knew we would be able to visit.
Brief explanation here: TdZ is a roller coaster made purely of wood (well, apart form the rails the train runs on if you wish to be pedantic). It has no loops and is about the height of Gouderix. To the uninitiated, the track layout suggests that it could be something a little more intense than BTM, but nothing too bad.
Wrong! After a slow climb up the lift, the train goes round a corner and then it drops down the full 100ft or so drop and then doesn't appear to slow down what so ever until you reach the very end of the ride it felt that fast. I thoroughly enjoyed it which is usually indication that the ride is not for the faint hearted. There were lots of little bumps and twists which caught me by surprise. I have to admit that being my first foray into the world of wooden roller coasters I didn't really know what to expect, but I wasn't expecting it to be as fast and consistently fast at that) as it was.
Unfortunately for DLP, I think this has to take the place as my favourite coaster I've ridden any where, beating out even the mighty BTM which I love a lot.
After TdZ, we headed back round towards the other side of the park, where decided to ride the park's log flume (Menhir Express). This ride was quite surprising in a couple of places both in the speed that it travelled along the channel and more so in the first drop, which after dropping the full height, it switched briefly onto a metal track and came back up and over a small bump before hitting dropping back down slightly again to hit the water.
After the log flume, we wanted to try the other major water ride (Le Grand Splatch). This ride features a large boat which basically floats gradually along a channel for a while, before eventually dropping down reasonable sized drop. The ride was fairly enjoyable and doesn't get you as wet as a lot of the water rides with splashes that size do.
With the two water rides out of the way, We headed back round for a ride on Trace du Hourra, a strange little coaster which runs around it's track without any rails to guide it, in the fashion of a bobsleigh. This was, again, a fairly quick coaster and quite thrilling, although a number of brakes throughout the course stopped it from being too extreme.
We continued round the park, passing through the craft area at the back of the park, which made a welcomed change to look at. This included things such as a person making stone carvings from a small slab, so it fits in well with the general theming of the park.
This emerged on the other side of the park, so we headed round towards the front of the park again, looking for lunch.
There are a number of food outlets are around the park, which serve a range of different foods from a quick burgers to a longer table service type meal. We chose to take the quick and cheap option, which was ok, but nothing special.
After our lunch, We decided that we wanted another go on the log flume, so took a second trip round that as well.
At this point, our day was gradually drawing to a close, so we headed back round the park towards TdZ, because I wanted to give it one more ride before we left. On the way, we passed the Cauldrons (think tea cups), so went on those. The cauldrons seemed to spin much quicker than the DLRP teacups, which to me is a good thing
Feeling a little dizzy from the cauldrons we once again walked on around the back of the park. This time, we walked past the oxygenarium ride, which looked like a fairly reasonable water slide in a rubber ring.
Oops. We all went on it and it seemed fine as it went up the lift. Once we hit the first bend, however, the ring we were sat in started to spin extremely quickly (way faster than the cauldrons) and didn't actually stop spinning like this until we hit the water at the bottom. Once you reach the water, there is then a rather sedate float along the water for a while, which is much needed as it allows you to get your bearings again and it stops you from feeling too dizzy by the time you come to getting off the ride. Thrill ride chickens beware, this ride is not for the faint hearted, despite what it may look!
Finally, we headed back round towards TdZ so I could have my last ride of the day. This time, I chose to ride at the very front this time, as this is traditionally the tamest part of the coaster.
Once we got off, I snuck back off down towards the TdZ entrance what really was my final ride. After queuing for about 3/4 hour, I chose to make use of the Parc Asterix queuing rules by queuing for the very back row. I was not disappointed. TdZ from the back row is a completely different ride to TdZ at the front, with a lot more intensity, especially on the first drop. Once the train started down the first drop, I found that I was a good few inches out of my seat and remained that way until the train reached the bottom of the drop. A few other bumps in the track caused me to be removed from my seat for a moment and the ride seemed to never lose its speed until the very end of the ride. Riding it from the back firmly placed it as my favourite coaster of the holiday and possibly of all.
After my 3rd trip round TdZ, we headed back to the car and made the drive back to DLRP. We headed straight to Ludwig's for dinner, which we enjoyed and it wasn't too busy because we went at the same time as the OUAD parade.
After our meal, we had a walk around the shops in the village which took up some time, before then heading into the Disneyland park to finish the evening off. As it was later than we usually arrived back at the park, we chose to take our spot for Fantillusions straight away, just as it started raining. After it rained for a little longer, they announced that Fantillusions had been cancelled, so everybody headed out of the parks.
We, on the other hand, chose to head around towards Frontierland for our one and only ride on BTM in the dark. I have to agree with some of the others on this board, that BTM is a much better ride in the dark, although I couldn't help but feel that it was quite tame - I must have still had the experience of TdZ in my memory because I'd never felt it particularly tame before and especially not at night.
Once we exited BTM, we headed round towards main street slowly. As we headed towards the Frontierland gate, we heard the Candlabration music, so we headed round to the front of the castle so we could watch. When we got there, we found that there were very few people left in the park, so we were able to take a spot which was reasonably central and right at the front (on the rope). This proved to be the best view of the fireworks we had all holiday and it wasn't at all affected by the clouds and slight rainfall which was happening at the same time.
Once the fireworks finished, we headed back to the car after another long day, which was made more tiring by the heat of the weather throughout the day.
Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures at Parc Asterix, but I'll add in those that I can.We woke up at about 8ish and grabbed some breakfast from the trail hut as usual. After breakfast, we started the drive at about 9ish back towards CdG airport and on to Parc Asterix. We reached Parc Asterix (PA) at about 9:45, so we were slightly early according to their official opening hours, although by the time we'd got everything together and walked to the gates (not a long walk really - certainly shorter than the walk from the DLRP car parks to gates) it was about 10, so they were letting people in.
We paid the entry fee (I forget how much it cost but the adult and child prices quoted on their website are €39 for adults and €27 for children) and headed through the gates. The English language abilities of the people working in the ticket booths was promising, so we had no problems with our basic grasp of the French language.
Once through the gates, we headed straight for the equivalent of city hall (labelled Accueil if I remember rightly) and asked about a disabled access pass. They were very good and after a while, produced a card which allowed us to head through the ride exits in just the same way as in DLRP. The language here was also generally very easy.
Once we were through the gates, we walked down the street which stretches out from the gates in a similar way to Main Street. Just like Main street, there is a large focal point at the end of the street - in the case of PA, there is a large mountain which Le Grand Splatch (one of the park's water rides) runs around.
Once we had walked down the street, we decided to head left initially. As we walked for a while, we noticed that the park seemed to contain some nice theming touches here and there, which although not quite up to the same standards as Disney, were still very good.
We carried on round and eventually came upon a water rapids (Romus et Rapidus), so we decided that we'd give them a try. We took the pass up the exit and showed it to the staff on the ride platform and they instantly let us through and showed us to our boat. The ride was quite enjoyable. It felt faster paced than the rapids in any of the UK parks I've visited (Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Drayton Manor, Chessington) and seemed quite "bumpy" in places, as well as producing a couple of decent splashes. Unfortunately, the extra pace meant that the ride was over quite quickly, but it was still enjoyable.
After the River Rapids, we carried on round the park and came upon one of the larger roller coasters (Gouderix).
I joined the queue, while the others went off for a walk around the path which winds its way underneath the ride. I found Gouderix to be fairly enjoyable, but it's something I could only ride once. Gouderix is quite a different ride to anything found in DLRP as it is both higher and has many more loops (7 in total) than anything found in DLRP. Unfortunately, while the layout of the coaster was very enjoyable and different from anything I've been on before, it has not aged well at all and so gives you quite a headache in places - far worse than space mountain or even Indiana Jones. I can only hope that SM does not age as badly as Gouderix has, especially as they share the same manufacturer.
Gouderix was also the first experience we had of the PA platform queuing rules - there are none. For those people who, like me, practically eat and sleep coasters, this is the perfect system as it means that you simply join the queue which forms in front of your chosen seat and you are then guaranteed that seat. On the other hand though, this also means that there is quite a large number of people on the platform at any one time and it can get quite congested and confusing.
After Gouderix, I met back up the others who had found a small picnic area just down from the Gouderix break run. We then decided to head around to Tonerre de Zeus (TdZ), so I wasn't going to complain as this was the ride I had been looking forward to since not long after I knew we would be able to visit.
Brief explanation here: TdZ is a roller coaster made purely of wood (well, apart form the rails the train runs on if you wish to be pedantic). It has no loops and is about the height of Gouderix. To the uninitiated, the track layout suggests that it could be something a little more intense than BTM, but nothing too bad.
Wrong! After a slow climb up the lift, the train goes round a corner and then it drops down the full 100ft or so drop and then doesn't appear to slow down what so ever until you reach the very end of the ride it felt that fast. I thoroughly enjoyed it which is usually indication that the ride is not for the faint hearted. There were lots of little bumps and twists which caught me by surprise. I have to admit that being my first foray into the world of wooden roller coasters I didn't really know what to expect, but I wasn't expecting it to be as fast and consistently fast at that) as it was.
Unfortunately for DLP, I think this has to take the place as my favourite coaster I've ridden any where, beating out even the mighty BTM which I love a lot.
After TdZ, we headed back round towards the other side of the park, where decided to ride the park's log flume (Menhir Express). This ride was quite surprising in a couple of places both in the speed that it travelled along the channel and more so in the first drop, which after dropping the full height, it switched briefly onto a metal track and came back up and over a small bump before hitting dropping back down slightly again to hit the water.
After the log flume, we wanted to try the other major water ride (Le Grand Splatch). This ride features a large boat which basically floats gradually along a channel for a while, before eventually dropping down reasonable sized drop. The ride was fairly enjoyable and doesn't get you as wet as a lot of the water rides with splashes that size do.
With the two water rides out of the way, We headed back round for a ride on Trace du Hourra, a strange little coaster which runs around it's track without any rails to guide it, in the fashion of a bobsleigh. This was, again, a fairly quick coaster and quite thrilling, although a number of brakes throughout the course stopped it from being too extreme.
We continued round the park, passing through the craft area at the back of the park, which made a welcomed change to look at. This included things such as a person making stone carvings from a small slab, so it fits in well with the general theming of the park.
This emerged on the other side of the park, so we headed round towards the front of the park again, looking for lunch.
There are a number of food outlets are around the park, which serve a range of different foods from a quick burgers to a longer table service type meal. We chose to take the quick and cheap option, which was ok, but nothing special.
After our lunch, We decided that we wanted another go on the log flume, so took a second trip round that as well.
At this point, our day was gradually drawing to a close, so we headed back round the park towards TdZ, because I wanted to give it one more ride before we left. On the way, we passed the Cauldrons (think tea cups), so went on those. The cauldrons seemed to spin much quicker than the DLRP teacups, which to me is a good thing
Feeling a little dizzy from the cauldrons we once again walked on around the back of the park. This time, we walked past the oxygenarium ride, which looked like a fairly reasonable water slide in a rubber ring.
Oops. We all went on it and it seemed fine as it went up the lift. Once we hit the first bend, however, the ring we were sat in started to spin extremely quickly (way faster than the cauldrons) and didn't actually stop spinning like this until we hit the water at the bottom. Once you reach the water, there is then a rather sedate float along the water for a while, which is much needed as it allows you to get your bearings again and it stops you from feeling too dizzy by the time you come to getting off the ride. Thrill ride chickens beware, this ride is not for the faint hearted, despite what it may look!
Finally, we headed back round towards TdZ so I could have my last ride of the day. This time, I chose to ride at the very front this time, as this is traditionally the tamest part of the coaster.
Once we got off, I snuck back off down towards the TdZ entrance what really was my final ride. After queuing for about 3/4 hour, I chose to make use of the Parc Asterix queuing rules by queuing for the very back row. I was not disappointed. TdZ from the back row is a completely different ride to TdZ at the front, with a lot more intensity, especially on the first drop. Once the train started down the first drop, I found that I was a good few inches out of my seat and remained that way until the train reached the bottom of the drop. A few other bumps in the track caused me to be removed from my seat for a moment and the ride seemed to never lose its speed until the very end of the ride. Riding it from the back firmly placed it as my favourite coaster of the holiday and possibly of all.
After my 3rd trip round TdZ, we headed back to the car and made the drive back to DLRP. We headed straight to Ludwig's for dinner, which we enjoyed and it wasn't too busy because we went at the same time as the OUAD parade.
After our meal, we had a walk around the shops in the village which took up some time, before then heading into the Disneyland park to finish the evening off. As it was later than we usually arrived back at the park, we chose to take our spot for Fantillusions straight away, just as it started raining. After it rained for a little longer, they announced that Fantillusions had been cancelled, so everybody headed out of the parks.
We, on the other hand, chose to head around towards Frontierland for our one and only ride on BTM in the dark. I have to agree with some of the others on this board, that BTM is a much better ride in the dark, although I couldn't help but feel that it was quite tame - I must have still had the experience of TdZ in my memory because I'd never felt it particularly tame before and especially not at night.
Once we exited BTM, we headed round towards main street slowly. As we headed towards the Frontierland gate, we heard the Candlabration music, so we headed round to the front of the castle so we could watch. When we got there, we found that there were very few people left in the park, so we were able to take a spot which was reasonably central and right at the front (on the rope). This proved to be the best view of the fireworks we had all holiday and it wasn't at all affected by the clouds and slight rainfall which was happening at the same time.
Once the fireworks finished, we headed back to the car after another long day, which was made more tiring by the heat of the weather throughout the day.
