AFPfamily 1.0: Report

From: Carol Willis <carol@lspace.org>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pratchett
Subject: AFP does Chessington - AFPfamily 1.0
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 08:08:53 +0100
Message-ID: <34276B05.671A@lspace.org>

And Lo it came to pass that on Sunday 21st Septemeber a large throng of
people decended on Chessington World Of Very Long Queues for the express
purpose of having a good time - that of course was the 17,000 folks on
an outing from British Telecom against whom the small huddle of people
from afp were almost un-noticable - unless you wanted to sit down in one
of the coffee stops :-)

At approx 9.30 Tap and myself (complete with assorted children) arrived
at Chessington South Entrance - argued for a bit and then decided to ask
one of the folk with a radio if there was another entrance - the answer
was yes and we were informed that at least those folks who'd come by
train would be there - so we set off on foot to  meet the merry throng.

The throng were assembled by the North Gates, so we joined up and at
about 10.30 tackled the cash desk and made our way in to the theme park.

The first stop was the toilet block - well we did have kids with us, and
then it was straight to the nearest vendor of coffee and chocolate
icecream for breakfast. 

>From there we ventured into Calamity Canyon where we waited for about
half an hour to ride the Runaway Minetrain and discussed the fact that
queueing seemed to ba a national passtime - Simon Callan suggested a
theme park devoted entirely to the art with different types of queue -
Dale decided a Barbeque was his favourite sort.

>From there we split up, Hamster and Kayla went to Toytown so the smaller
kiddies (Hamster and Kayla) could go on the flying elephants.  Dale and
myself joined the incredibly long queue for the Rameses Revenge - which
was suitably fun.  Having enjoyed our ride we trundled through to
Toytown where the Hamster & Kayla had almost made it to the front of the
queue.  

Next it was off to the Terrortomb - another long wait (broken by the
sight of Duck Man's cousin, Turtle Man) ensued before the afpers
re-surfaced and demanded feeding.  Luckily we were right next to the
pizza place so food was had and the quote file continued to grow.

We did try getting a ride on Dragon River, but the queue there was much
too long, so we ambled through the park stopping for the girls to ride
on the Carousel and David to be turned into a clown, and headed over to
Professor Burps Bubbleworks.  Some getting wet happened at this point,
but not much.

We ventured a look at the Vampire - decided we'd be queueing all day if
we waited there, and headed off for more coffee - not in the Black
Forest Chateau however, but in the Alpine Spa.  

The next stop was the OBChocolate visit to Cadbury Castle - which is
where we first sighted the Rock N Roll Nun!  Much spending happened,
followed by much munching.  The final ride of the day was a trip over
the Animal Lands, where we saw Penguins, Seals, assorted Ungulates and
Meerkats and failed to see Lions, Tigers, Snowleopards or Gorillas.

And that was the end of our Grand Day Out - cos everything was closing -
especially the Reptile House.  So we said our goodbyes and headed for
home.

The scariest/worst ride of the day was the trip home - two flat tyres,
no phone, and the nearest service station a good couple of  miles away -
but we did eventually make it back, later than advertised, but in one
piece.

Many thanks to Afp's Universal Uncles - (and Aunts) who kept the
monsters entertained even when the queues were very very long and
boring.

Herebe a few of the Quotes:

"He has to get his leg over to get a good grip" - Carol, about the
Hamster

"Did you get that hat from the back page of the Independant Magazine?"
Rock'n'roll Nun, to Thomas Pratchett.

"So you just fart in a bottle of juice then"  Dale - about the
Bubbleworks

"You could be Uncle Prat" - Kayla, to Thomas

"At least we now have proof that Hamster can get his leg over" - Carol

- I'm sure Hamster will be along to complete the set shortly, until then
I return you to your normal service.....

Carol (looking forward to Cadbury World next year)

-- 
Carol Willis                    http://www.afawcett.demon.co.uk/carol/
BroomCon Organdiser          http://www.afawcett.demon.co.uk/broomcon/

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