| Archive for RCCGB FORUM Message Board for Members of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain to discuss club events and all things theme park related. |
| RobinA |
New Member (Nut)Hello to you all,I have just signed up for the forum board and sent my £27 off to become a fully paid up member of The Roller Coaster Club. My wife and daughter find it amusing at my age but that's their problem and I can take it. After spending 18 years kart racing, which is barmy, my age as finally got the better of me. (not quite a senior citizen (very PR - old age pensioner really) but the wrong side of 50. I been interested and fascinated by roller coasters, also quite apprehensive about them for a long time. I remember going to Alton Towers about 1984 and was determined to go on the Cork Screw. I queued for ages and achieved that. I then went on for the second time, which I found more scary as the 1st time I was going to go on what ever happened, but the second time I did not have to go on but did. I hope this makes sense to you. However, it was late in the day and eventually I went on 10 times. My son who was 10 at the time was not really bothered about it. Since then I have not been on many but always watched any programs to do with roller coasters, whether the making of them or the history of them. In the last few years I have been getting braver and on the holiday which I have just returned from (last week) I went to Alton Towers and Drayton Manor with my wife and daughter. Neither of them are the least bit interested in Roller Coasters so they hung around whilst I went on the coasters and I hung around whilst they went on the more gentle rides. At Drayton Manor my wife was very brave and went on Bertie the Bus in Thomasland and my daughters enjoyed the train rides being pulled by Percy and Thomas. At Alton Towers I went on Nemesis (I have been on Nemesis at Thorpe Park - 4 miles away - and really enjoyed it) and was impressed. I managed 4 times using the single rider queue. I went on Air which was also very different. Rita was very different and just as I got on it started to rain so got well soaked. When I got off it was still tipping down, so as I was already wet went on 2 more times. Not sure what to make of Spinball Whitzer and whether I liked it. Drayton Manor I managed to get on G-Force which is really strange at the start where you hang upside down as you are pulled up to the top of the coaster. I could not believe I would go on ShockWave. Standing up as you go upside down is totally mad but the queue was not too long after coming off G-Force and before I knew it I was being stapped into this contraption (what the hell am I doing, I thought) and off we went. Thoroughly enjoyed it and went for a second go. The only thing I would do differently is to avoid when all the school trips are going prior to the summe break as the number of youngsters was staggering. Queues during the day were in excess of 1 hours, sometimes longer, so I just made the most of the last hour before the parks closed. Reading earlier threads it appears you are a friendly lot which will be great. I do feel a little nervous about coming on my own as I won't know any one, I also find it is also hard to get to know other people, however there is the common interest in Roller Coasters to hopefully make it a little easier. Do many people come by themselves or do you come in couples or small groups. It was only by chance I found this site. I was looking for news about the chair lift fire at Alton Towers and came across the thread on this forum board. Regards, Robin |
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| Rogue |
Hi Robin
Welcome to the club and to the board! Great to hear about your experiences of Roller Coasters so far, hopefully through the club you will experience many more. Don't worry about coming to trips on your own as everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Majority of the time small groups are formed to go round the park and go on the rides, from experience you will never be short of someone to ride with. Hope to see you on a club trip soon 
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| RobinA |
Hi Bunnie,
Thanks for your reply. It's reassuring that you say small groups are formed, which sometimes make it easier to get to know other riders. Looking at what coming up, hopefully I will make the Alton Towers - Drayton Manor trip in October. Will look forward to that. Robin |
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| krusty_the_clown |
Hi Robin welcome to the board/club.
Andy normally arranges for people to be introduced to each other based on location and age. I wouldnt worry you wont be alone for long! Are you coming to Oakwood (our next trip) you should receive the information in your welcome pack. look forward to seeing you soon! Barry |
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| bradpeet |
Hi Robin
To answer your question directly, some people do come along to trips alone. (Me usually - although I disagree with your description of being the wrong side of 50  )
But it definitely is a friendly club, and as you say we all have a common interest Hopefully we'll see you at Alton Towers. Peter |
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| stevencaine |
Hi Robin welcome along as said by Rachel and Barry don't worry about coming to trips on your own you will make some great friends most people join this club on there own
I see you are from Addlestone just down the road from me then?
Glad to see you are going to try make Loopathon , i will see you there |
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| c anderson |
Do not worry about your age, there are lots of members over 50, but we do not act it, but we all enjoy ourselves. have fun and welcome to the club. | ||
| RobinA |
Hi Guys,
Thanks for all your replies, that puts my mind a rest a great deal. I also don't act my age, so my wife and daughter says, so it sounds like I will be in good company. Won't be able to make Oakwood as (duty calls) I am going to the Bristol Balloon festival that weekend. Look forward to the Loopathon. All the best. Robin |
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| stealth fan |
Welcome along Robin.
Hope to see you on a club trip in the near future
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| Nimmykins |
Hi Robin, welcome to the board.
You'll find yourself among kindred spirits and in the midst of a wide age range too. |
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| Happy Helen |
welcome to the board, Robin.
I am new to the club too as I did my first trip in 2007, Megaglow Mania and the atmosphere was amazing riding Megafobia in the dark. As other people have said everyone is very friendly. |
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| RobinA |
Hi,
You guys really are living up to your reputation of making new members feel welcome. Can't wait to meet up in October. Regards, Robin |
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| Rough Rider |
Hi Robin, and welcome to our crazy world of fun 
Reading between the lines Robin, it looks like you haven't ridden a "WOODIE"  ..............YET!!
If that's the case get on a plane to Texas, and go ride the "RATTLER"
(you guys just knew that was coming especially Pete )
On your first club trip be sure to introduce yourself. Ryan. "Rough Rider" |
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| stealth fan |
I think Ryan's post must hold the record for most amount of Smilies in one post
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| nemesis scribe |
Hello Robin and welcome to the club!!
See you on a club trip soon!! 
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| RobinA |
Hi Rough Rider,
Last year I went to Oakwood and went on Megafobia twice which was quite unique for me. Hopefully when I go again, with my new found bravado, I will enjoy it even more. The only other Wooden roller Coaster was the Wild Mouse in Blackpool, just a few years ago !! (England had not even won the World Cup at the time) and found that very scary. Looking forward to my next visit to the theme parks. Robin |
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| Coaster Police |
Hi Robin, welcome to the club!
Earlier you quoted... "Reading earlier threads it appears you are a friendly lot which will be great. I do feel a little nervous about coming on my own as I won't know any one, I also find it is also hard to get to know other people, however there is the common interest in Roller Coasters to hopefully make it a little easier. Do many people come by themselves or do you come in couples or small groups. It was only by chance I found this site. I was looking for news about the chair lift fire at Alton Towers and came across the thread on this forum board. " Have a look at our club website if you havn't already. That contains all the recent trip reports with pictures etc. and is good to see what fun we get up to when we're on club trips. Find it at www.rccgb.co.uk Again, welcome! Matt |
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| bluea61 |
Hi Robin, welcome to the board and the club. | ||
| Andy Hine MBE |
Welcome Robin,
I am pleased to say that your membership application has been processed and your welcome pack sent today. Hopefully you should receive it all tomorrow. I look forward to meeting you on a Club trip soon. Andy |
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| chewie |
Hi Robin,
and welcome to the message board and the club. When i joined there were certain rides i wouldn't go on, like Oblivion. Now there is pretty much nothing i won't ride. Theres a great bunch of people in the club and one in particular is great at getting you to do things you're not quite sure about, (Cheers Pete). Have fun Robin, i'm sure you will...And coaster on dude! |
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| RobinA |
Hi,
Received my membership number which is 2507. Spookily or coincidentally this is the day my form would have reached Coaster HQ (July 25th aka 2507). How sad am I to notice that. Robin |
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| ucozade6 |
Maybe a little late for a reply:)Hi Robin,Welcome to the club:) I myself joined this year and attend alone. The most nervous point being meeting up at the entrance to a theme park for the first time trying to work out who you are meeting up with. Loads of people will have shirts or caps with the RCCGB logo pasted all over them (as in the logo in the top left hand corner of this page). Everyone in the club is fantastic and really welcoming and talkative. It really has been one of the best decision I have made to join and I think you will absolutely love the experiances you get. By the end of the day you will know loads of people but I should warn of some side effects.... 1) Involuntary wooohooo and yaaay noises. 2) The desire to install a Nemis safety harness in your car (just me?) 3) The wish to explore strange new theme parks, seek out intelligent loops and boldly go where no sane person has gone before. Unforeunately by this point the later no longer applies
4) Have a strange fasination of Gorillas playing the drums. (I highly recomend the Blckpool Bash for that urge.) All in all, everyone one is brilliant and you will really enjoy the atmosphere and time spent with the group. Oh one last thing, you also get something thrown in with the group. It is called an ERS (Exclusive Riding Session). This is where we get to go on the rides as a club for an hour without the public. If you have not had to chance to this before, it is out of this world. Look forward to seeing you at Alton Towers, come and say high
Kind Regards David |
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| STEALTHYBUTBAD |
hiya,
Welcome to the club and forums ! We are a great bunch of people and u will find it very very easy to make friends in the club just like i have throughout the past 6 years of being a member of the club. Hope to meet u at a trip soon ! 
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| Auntie Murial |
Hi Robin,
Welcome to the forum, I look forward to seeing you on a club trip soon
Ianto |
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| RobinA |
Hi David,
Thanks for the welcome. Everyone has been great as you have found out. It is a big thing to come on your own (I can't get my wife, daughter or son to come on these rides) and to mix with a large group of unknown people but I feel a little more comfortable with all the messages I have received. The ERS's sound great as the worse thing is the amount of waiting around which we have do so this will be marvellous. I do spend a lot of time on Google searching for roller coaster articles and look out for any roller coaster programs on TV so I have been bitten by the bug. It was a shame I could not get to Oakwood but I had a prior engagement taking my wife and daughter to the Bristol Baloon Festival. I will also not be able to get to Hayling Island as I will still be on holiday at that time. I am looking forward to Alton Towers and Drayton Manor and will look out for you to say hello. Thanks to STEALTHYBUTBAD and Auntie Murial as well. Robin See you there. |
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| Nemesis Nick |
Hi Robin, welcome to the RCCGB. I've been a member since March 2005. My first ever Club trip was the Summer Bash in July 2005, which that year was at Funland Hayling Island, and in the afternoon I joined in wiht the baseball match, as well as riding Klondike, drop tower, log flume etc around Funland.
As Rough Rider spotted, you certainly love steel coasters, e.g. Nemesis at Alton Towers. The Club does do a trip to the USA, check out the report for this year's two-week USA trip on the main site. However I only read the report and looked at the pictures, I've never been on a USA trip and don't see myself ever going on one. You don't need to go to the USA to ride wooden coasters though. Come along to the Blackpool Bash next year at Pleasure Beach Resort Blackpool. If next year's programme will be the same as last year and this year, you'll have ERSs on Grand National and Big Dipper. You'll also be able to ride Wild Mouse (quite a rough woodie), and Zipper Dipper (a kiddie woodie in the Beaver Creek area, but adults can ride it). Since I joined in 2005, I attended the Blackpool Bash for the first time in 2008 and again in 2009, both times I thoroughly enjoyed it. Another Club trip where you get chance to ride a woodie is Mega-GLOW-Mania at Oakwood in Pemborokehire. They have an ERS on the woodie Megafobia after dark and people wear glow sticks to light it up. You missed this year's Mega-GLOW-Mania, that happened a fortnight ago on 8 August. Still there's always next year, it's usually the 2nd weekend in August. During my 5 years of membership 2005 to 2009, I've never attended Mega-GLOW-Mania for various reasons, nor have I ever been to Oakwood at any other time. So you're looking forward to the forthcoming trip to Alton Towers and Drayton Manor in October. That trip is called Loopathon, and you have a choice of doing Alton Towers only, Drayton Manor only or both days, which in turn determines the amount you pay. Hope you enjoy what will be your first Club trip. In 2005 and 2006, I did Alton Towers only, but not Drayton Manor. I was going to do Drayton Manor only in 2007, but for various reasons made an 11th hour decision not to go there and have my own long weekend in south Devon instead, thus I didn't attend either day of Loopathon in 2007. Nor did I attend either day of Loopathon last year. At present I'm not contemplating attending either day of Loopathon this year for various reasons, in which case I shalln't be able to meet you there. In the meantime the Club is doing a "meet at the park" trip to Funland Hayling Island on Saturday 12 September details here. That will be a trip where you just turn up and buy a half-price wristband on the day (I think you'll have to show your RCCGB card for that), as opposed to, for example, Blackpool Bash, Mega-GLOW-Mania, Loopathon where you have to book in advance (before the deadline) and receive a trip badge (in the case of Loopathon, you may get separate badges for each day if you book for both days). I'm hoping to go to Funland on Saturday 12 September, hopefully you'll be able to go to that and we can meet each other. |
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| RobinA |
Thanks Nick for your welcome and for whetting my appetite even more. It certainly sounds like everyone has a great time.
You are right at the moment that I like steel coasters, I particularly like the inversions and the speed, also the fact that they look very strong (I remember back in 1984 waiting nervously to go on the Corkscrew at Alton Towers how strong that the ride looked which gave me the confidence to go on it) The fact that wooden coaster appear to be less safe probably gives a heightened sense of trepidation which I assume appeals to many. I have been on Megaphobia at Oakwood last year and which I did enjoy, alhough you feel more open than on a steel coaster. With a steel coaster you are normally totally enclosed with an harness coming down over the top of you so you have something to hold tight to. Thorpe park will have no problem with me with my arms up in the air - arms are meant for holding on with not for waving about. Maybe when I have been on a few more the balance may move slightly towards the 'woodies'. I did go to Thorpe Park and went on Stealth. This took a great deal of courage as the reports about it was frightening. The first time launch was not too bad as I was firmly back in my seat and then going straight on at that speed was an unique experience for me, over the top and then when you go to come down that was TERRIFYING as you are feel you are floating and are falling out. Before you know it you were back in the station. I did go on again and because I had an idea what was coming I could enjoy (!!!) it more - hanging on for dear life of course. I went back again last Monday morning and went on 3 times - one after another - using the single person lane (there is sometimes an advantage to be Johnny-no-mates) I won't be able to make the Hayling Island trip as I am away on holiday until the Saturday, however, you may be pleased to know that I will be going to Great Yarmouth Pleasure beach on the previous Saturday or Sunday and to Pleasurewood Hills on the Wednesday. I did think about suggesting to my wife and daughter to go to Southend's Advenure Island on the Thursday or Friday but decided against it as I like my eyes the colour God intended. So we will be going to Swaffham and Wells-next-the-Sea (where 'Kingdom' is filmed) instead. It is highly unlikely I will be home on the Saturday but you never know. It's a shame I won't meet you at Alton Towers or Drayon Manor but hopefully will meet sometime next year. You mention a deadline for the Loopthanon - I assume this will be put on the website in plenty of time. Regards, Robin |
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| BAGuru |
A belated welcome to the Club
Say Hi when you're at Alton Towers.
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| bluea61 |
Hi Robin, You will get a trip invite in the post quite a few weeks before the trip and the deadline for booking will be on the form. There is usually plenty of time to decide!! |
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| streamers |
Hi Robin,
Don't worry about your age !! We are husband and wife and have been members since 1996. I'm 61, and my hubby was 70 YESTERDAY (23rd August) and I'm pleased to say that we can still keep up with the younger people -- plus -- we LOVE skycoasters and have done twenty of them !! A big welcome to the club -- I'm sure you'll love it as much as we do. Dennis & Sylvia. (AKA Streamers) |
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| Rough Rider |
Hey Dennis, If you are getting too old to look after the babies I would be quite happy to look after them for you
Happy birthday for yesterday Ryan (hi Sylv) |
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| streamers |
Hi Ryan
The Jags are doing very nicely thank you !! The 1936 SS saloon has just come back from the sprayers, and looks absolutely terrific. First time back on the road for 65 years. Have you applied for next years USA Trip ?? Regards, Dennis & Sylvia. |
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| RobinA |
Hi Dennis & Sylvia,
You are obviously very young at heart and this gives me hope for quite a few years, provided I don't fall of my perch in the meantime. See you soon. Regards, Robin |
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| streamers |
Let's hope you don't drop off that perch just yet !! Couldn't get to Oakwood for the club trip, (we do B&B ) but we may get to meet you at the Loopathon, when the season slows down.
Regards, Dennis & Sylvia. |