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Purple Tips: 6 Terrifying Roller Coasters

Feb 18 2013

Purple Tips: 6 Terrifying Roller Coasters

What does it say about the human race that we are prepared to pay good money to scare the wits out of ourselves? We have our bodies thrown around the sharp corners, tunnels and twists at high velocity, while strapped in with little more than a glorified seat-belt. The adrenalin rush that each trip provides is surely addictive, and with coaster designers becoming ever more innovative in their sadistic desire to scare us half to death, the roller coaster stakes are higher than ever. Here are the world’s top six scariest roller coasters.

Shambhala image via @ Jodi Playa

Wind Shear at Divo Ostrov Amusement Park, Russia

This Russian roller coaster was supposedly designed to make its passengers throw up on themselves. Located at a theme park set deep into woodland, it spins, flips and rocks passengers in all directions for the ultimate stomach-churning effect (just make sure you don’t eat too much before boarding). The ride is one of Vekoma’s Waikiki Wave Super Flip rides (of which there is another in Mexico and one in Australia). The roller coaster can bend in all directions, allowing for diagonal twists and turns rather than just horizontal. One side of the ride moves in a clockwise direction, while the other moves in an anti-clockwise direction, meaning passengers are swung back and forth, hung upside down and tossed around in a vomit-inducing random fashion.

Batman The Ride at Six Flags, Georgia, USA

Batman The Ride has a particularly dark history. A teenager on a church trip was decapitated after entering a restricted area below. The 11-story-high ride was closed after the incident, but re-opened a few days later, only to take the life of a 58-year-old park worker in 2002, when he was in a restricted area while the coaster was operating. The man was kicked in the head by a passenger, who herself was hospitalised, though she ultimately survived the accident.

Shambhala at PortAventura, Spain

As well as being the tallest ride in Europe, Shambala is also the ride with the tallest drop (78m) and longest hyper coaster track (more than 1,650m). Its drop is enough to turn your stomach inside out and choose some of the other roller coasters around the world.

Formula Rossa at Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi

Formula Rossa is currently the fastest roller coaster in the world, reaching a staggering 240km per hour in less than five seconds. The velocity is such that passengers in the front seats are required to wear goggles to protect their eyes from the potential damage caused by a high speed impact with a flying insect.

Expedition Everest at Disney World, USA

This relatively new and relatively tame roller coaster at Disney’s Animal Kingdom still managed to kill a passenger, at least indirectly. A 44-year-old Florida man was unconscious when his cart pulled into the unloading station, and an employee and a park guest immediately tried to revive him. He was later pronounced dead, the victim of a heart attack, at a local hospital. Disney officials determined that the ride was operating normally when the man died. Maybe the surprise near the end of the coaster’s run startled him to death?

Cobra at Tivoli Friheden, Denmark

This amusement park in Aarhus, Denmark opened its new Cobra coaster in June of this year, only to shut it down eight days later after a section of track fell apart, sending a car off the rails and injuring four passengers. The ride’s now closed, as the park decides what to do: scrap it entirely or rebuild it. If it does re-open, we don’t think we’ll be signing up to ride it.

You Should Read… Top 10 Haunted Hotels

Purple Tips: Craziest Adventure Holidays

Jan 15 2013

We were well impressed with Felix Baumgartner’s jump, where the Austrian hurled himself out of a space capsule a whopping 24 miles up in the air. Well, when we saw Fearless Felix, we thought we’d like to have a go at it, here’s our run down of some crazy adventure holidays… If that’s what you’re into! Enjoy!

Image via @ LeahoNeill

Wife Carrying this is not strictly for husbands and wives, but each male competitor must carry a female teammate across a special obstacle track as quickly as possible. There are various techniques including piggyback, fireman’s carry or our personal favourite, Estonian style, where the wife hangs upside down, holding onto her husband’s waist with her legs over his shoulders. It started in Finland but is growing in popularity in the USA.

Zorbing Hop into an inflatable orb, (usually) made of plastic and you’ll be pushed down a nice gentle slope. Not really extreme, but included in this list for its level of unusualness. The first zorbing site was in New Zealand, but it’s spread globally (possible after its use in Gladiators!) and is a hit in Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic and Greece.

Chess Boxing A kind of hybrid sport, chess boxing was invented by a Dutch artist this is one of the craziest ‘adventure holidays’ you could ask for. It’s made up of eleven rounds – six of chess, each lasting four minutes and five rounds of boxing, each three minutes long. Participants have to be as good at boxing as they are at chess. It’s very popular in Berlin and London and growing in places like Los Angeles and Tokyo.

Image via @ Mike Warren

Cheese Rolling Take one massive wheel of cheese, throw it down Cooper’s Hill in the Cotswolds, and watch as competitors break arms, legs or teeth trying to catch it. As soon as the cheese is thrown a group of twenty or so participants leap down the steep hill and the first one to cross the finish line wins. The intensity of their injuries is a badge of honour in this case.

Extreme Ironing Not two words you would normally put together, extreme ironing combines the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt, with the white knuckle thrills of extreme outdoor activity. Thrill seekers attempt to iron on tiny mountain tops, in the middle of the M1, while skiing or snowboarding, and even while bungee jumping. From the Florida Quays, to the Netherlands to Australia, this is one sport you’ll be never get board of (wah wah.)

Limbo Skating One for the flexible only, we’re told this is the latest rage in India, where riders wear rollerskates and stretch eye wateringly low to pass under cars. This requires some serious strength and balance.

Volcano Surfing Yes, this is a thing. It is a fairly new sport having just been discovered/invented and sees surfers use a thin layer of plywood or a metal board to travel down a recently erupted volcano. Riders hike to the top and sit, slide or (attempt) to stand on the board all the way down. So far, we’ve only found evidence of this new sport in Nicaragua.

Camel Wrestling If you’re on holidays in Bodrum in Turkey, you have to check this out. After a camel beauty pageant, entrants (the camels) are set on each other to fight it out over a female. It’s actually strictly controlled to protect the animals taking part.

Bog Snorkelling Every year in Wales, crowds gather to watch competitions swim up a 133 metre stretch of bog water, filled with weeds and muck. ‘Nuff said.

Crocodile Bungee Jumping If you’re a bit bored of regular old bungee jumping then this will spice things up a bit. Already a bit of a hit in Oz, croco-bungee sees jumpers hop into water which is home to the snappy animals.

Image via @ JohnONolan

Cliff Diving Championed by Felix’s buddies at Red Bull, cliff diving is becoming more and more popular all around the world. Not for the faint hearted, this takes a lot of effort, training and dedication. Spectacular to watch, it’s one of our favourites. In the past few years alone there have been huge competitions in places like the Azores, Yucatan Mexico, the Aran Islands off Ireland, Athens, Greece and plenty more beyond.

A Night Less Ordinary: Hotel Kakslautten

Dec 07 2012

What’s the gimmick? Located amidst beautiful Lapland scenery in the vicinity if Urho Kekkonen National Park, Hotel Kakslautten offers their winter guests the chance to stay overnight in a futuristic glass igloo. Based on a groundbreaking idea and years of research and development, the unique, sci-fi-like glass igloos are a marvel of modern technology.

Why stay? Where else can you admire the amazing northern lights and the white Lapland scenery, all within the comfort of zebra-striped warm bed? Built from a special thermal glass, the temperature inside the igloo is always at a normal level and its special material also prevents the glass from not getting white frosted, keeping the view clear even when the temperature outside drops to under -30°C.

The wow factor: Every igloo is equipped with a toilet and luxury beds and the surrounding Igloo Village is also home to snow chapel and an ice bar, both built in every winter. Every evening a hot sauna and a refreshing ice hole are waiting for you at the igloo, where you can climb into bed and marvel at the star-studded night sky. Husky safaris, snowmobile safaris, reindeer safaris and ice-fishing trips are all available, as well as guided ski treks.

Village is open every year from December/January and until the end of April.

A Night Less Ordinary: Toilet Hotel Japan

Nov 23 2012

In this weekly series, we scour the world in search of the most weird and wonderful hotels. From cave hotels to converted prisons, capsule pods to underwater guestrooms, you can expect only the unexpected. This week, our number one choice is this Toilet Hotel Japan.

What’s the gimmick? Where else can one enjoy room service while on the toilet than in Japan? The Nakanoshima Hotel (a.k.a. the world’s worst honeymoon idea) is a small, but luxurious, fully functioning public bathroom. Located in downtown Osaka, fenced by two rushing rivers, this one-room facility boasts an ivory-sheeted bed, a stylish desk, fresh-cut flowers and a prominent opening in the wall marked with a male figure on the right and female on the left. Through this opening, a stream of citizens flow in hopes of emptying their bladders.

You should read: Top weird ways to travel on holiday

Why stay? Stay if the idea of waking up to a cleaner mopping up urine from the tiles is intriguing to you. This hotel is less a place to spend an uncomfortable night and more a piece of tongue-in-cheek public art. Crafted by Tatzu Nishi (the guy who put a room six storeys high in New York’s Columbus statue), the hotel is his celebration of the everyman’s commode. On the other hand, it is thoroughly disinfected and designed to be comfortable even though you can still hear people using the toilet in the other side of the wall.

The Wow Factor: Although this is the part in which we usually tell of high-class spas and ultra snazzy decor, this is a toilet for God’s sake, there’s not really much of a wow going on here…

You should read: A Night Less Ordinary : Boot Bed ‘n’ Breakfast

The chewing gum wall: World’s weirdest tourist attraction?

Nov 09 2012

Chewing gum is a bit yuck, right? WRONG! Well at least if you’re in Seattle, USA, where a wall absolutely plastic with the sticky stuff has become an unlikely tourist attraction.

In a place called Post Alley, you’ll find the Seattle Gum Wall. It all started in the 90s, when people who were bored waiting in line for tickets to the theatre starting sticking their used gum to the wall. When it started, they stuck coins on top of the gum, but that part of the ‘tradition’ died away, simply leaving the mangled plastic stuff behind.

Then the idea got even weirder. After theatre bosses organised for the wall to be scraped clean (twice) and the gum kept reappearing it became something of a city tourist attraction. In fact in 1999 local market bosses officially named it as something to see in Seattle.

Now you can find names written with gum, love hearts and even peace signs. It’s featured in a movie (Love Happens with Jennifer Aniston, if you’re really desperate to know) and has topped TripAdvisor’s Worlds Germiest Attraction list. Ireland’s Blarney Stone is its closest competition.

Worst Hotel in the World

Oct 30 2012

Usually in our series of weird and wonderful hotels from around the world, A Night Less Ordinary, we focus on the good ones. Or at the very least, the quirky ones. This week, we take a look at the hotel that is proud of its reputation as the worst hotel in the world!

Cheap, dirty, cold and poorly lit. Not the words you’d usually associate with somewhere you actually want to stay, but it seems to be working for the self-named ‘worst hotel in the world.’ Amsterdam’s Hans Brinker Budget Hotel has been (proudly) disappointing people for years.

It actually lists itself 15^th on its own places to stay in Amsterdam, well behind a friend’s couch, the back of a burned out car or an abandoned mine shaft. It does admit it offers slightly more comfort though than an unmarked grave (!!)

On its website, it already boasts that it’s been “proudly disappointing travellers,” offering slightly watered down beers, an elevator that almost never breaks down, a rusty bed and awkwardly shaped dormitories. But, with rates starting at just 22.50 it’s easy to see why people do still go through with it. Plus, if expectations are low it means that they’re usually exceeded!

So, we want to know what you think, would you be willing to spend a night in the world’s worst hotel, or does a night in jail sound more appetising? We’d love to know what you think in the comments below.

Just watch out for their terms and conditions… “Those wishing to stay at the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel, Amsterdam, do so at their own risk and will not hold the hotel liable for food poisoning, mental breakdowns, terminal illness, lost limbs, radiation poisoning, certain diseases associated with the 18^thcentury, plague, etcetera.”

A Night Less Ordinary: The Stanley Hotel

Oct 26 2012

A Night Less Ordinary: The Stanley Hotel

In this weekly series, we scour the world in search of the most weird and wonderful hotels. From cave hotels to converted prisons, capsule pods to underwater guest rooms you can expect only the unexpected. This week The Stanley Hotel in Colorado.

What’s the gimmick? Have you ever watched or read Steven King’s The Shining? If, so, then you’ll know all about this imposing and mysterious hotel! Well, in case you fancy some Halloween getaway this year just head for The Stanley, as, there, guests can also join the world-famous Shining Ball and the Murder Mystery Dinner for a super spooky experience.

You should read… Top ten most haunted hotels.

Why stay? Guests at this world-charm hotel have the chance to unwind amidst immaculate nature and admire the stunning views of the surrounding Rocky Mountains. What’s more, all rooms exude luxury and style, featuring sumptuous furnishing and fabrics. For more action and “fun”, just make a reservation for a tour on a spooky sojourn through time or get a psychic consultation from Madame Vera.

You should read… A Night Less Ordinary: Boot Bed ‘n’ Breakfast

The Wow Factor: All of the hotel rooms have had paranormal experiences reported, such as items moving from place to place or lights turning on and off. Guests staying on the fourth floor, might get to hear the children of long ago running up and down the halls, laughing and giggling. Sometimes sleeping guests will be tucked-in at night, as that was the duty for the nannies to perform for the young children.

You should read… A Night Less Ordinary: Dog Park Park Inn

While enjoying this historic hotel, keep in mind that you may possibly have an “extra” experience here, as it is not unusual for guests and staff to catch a glimpse of a ghost walking the lobby, or hear Flora Stanley still playing her beloved piano in the Music Room. However, there are never any reports of sinister or evil events happening here, because there are only happy ghosts at the Stanley Hotel!

Prices start from £143 a night. Click here for details.

A Night Less Ordinary: Hotel CasAnus Belgium

Oct 12 2012

What’s the gimmick? Well it’s pretty evident on first glance what the gimmick is. This is less a hotel and more a giant sculpture of a human intestine that someone just happens to have dumped a bed inside. Created by artist, Joep Van Lieshout, the ‘hotel’ is situated within the Verbeke Sculpture Park in Belgium.

You should read… Top weird ways to travel on holiday

Why stay? If you’re looking for luxury, do not stay here. However, if you looking for an unusual night to remember, it doesn’t get much more memorable than this.What sets Hotel Casanus Belgium apart is the sculpture park; there are some amazing creations to look at when you wake up and you’ll likely never overnight in anything like this again.

You should read… A Night Less Ordinary : Boot Bed ‘n’ Breakfast

The Wow Factor: The exhibition space does not aim to be an oasis. It is, according to the creators, “unfinished, in motion, unpolished, contradictory, untidy, complex, inharmonious, living and unmonumental, like the world outside of the museum walls.” Although you will find no lavish fixtures here, you will enjoy a “refreshing, unpretentious place to look at art and a subtle criticism of the art world”. And just in case you were wondering, there is a clean, comfortable double bed, an electric point, heater, shower and of course – a toilet.

Prices start from €120 per night.

You should read… A Night Less Ordinary: Dog Park Park Inn

Purple 10 Weird Things Found in Hotels

Oct 10 2012

Ever come back from holiday only to discover that you’ve left behind your favourite book, mobile phone or even your credit card at the hotel?? What about your prosthetic leg? Did you leave that too? You may be shocked, but that is one of these 10 weird things found in hotels Check the list to find out more..

1. Marriage License
What a way to start a marriage! The important new document was found by the cleaning staff in the Hyatt Regency Columbus. The certificate was quickly returned to the newlyweds. No word as to whether the pair has since left their wedding rings behind.

2. License Plate
In one of the rooms in Hyatt Regency Newport Hotel & Spa, in Goat Island, the maid came across a Connecticut license plate, which surprisingly, none of the guests ever attempted to reclaim.

3. False Teeth
The famous golf resort Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, Scottsdale has discovered a set of false teeth, while cleaning a guest-room bathroom. Luckily, the hotel was able to overnight the dentures back to their embarrassed owner.

4. A Wig
The next most common items left behind after false teeth are wigs. Not necessarily strange, though it does make you wonder how someone can forget something so crucial behind, especially if they checked in the mirror before leaving.

5. Prosthetic Legs
Socks and shoes are one thing to leave behind but an entire leg is a whole different story. Such was the case for one hotel staff member at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Quebec, who found the prosthetic limb after checking underneath one of the hotel beds.

6. A Shark
If you thought finding a tiger in your bathroom, a la Hangover was crazy, try finding a shark in your bathtub. That’s the surprise hotel cleaners at The Tivoli Marina Vilamoura in the Algarve faced when they found a weakened shark in one of the room’s bathtubs — swimming in tap water when it was in desperate need of salt water.

7. 6K in Cold Hard Cash
Leaving a tip for house cleaning is a customary practice. Leaving a zippered bag filled with $6,000 in cash? Not so much. Still, the exorbitant find by Jeanne Mydil, a house keeper at the Miami International Airport Hotel, wasn’t enough to tempt the mother of three. Mydil returned the money to her employers who then returned it to a missionary group.

8. A Bird
The Gran Hotel Bahia del Duque hotel in Tenerife once found a caged cockatoo in a room. The owners subsequently asked for it to be flown back to them in a private jet. Which makes you wonder: if they cared that much for it, why forget it in the first place?

9. Expensive car keys
Leaving car keys behind seems to be another common occurrence – but when you drive a Ferrari, it’s inexcusable. At the Hesperia Tower hotel in Barcelona a guest left behind the keys to their Ferrari Testarossa. Upon finding them the staff ran to the parking lot to check if the car was still there – it wasn’t It’s anyone’s guess how the guest got away without his car keys.

10. A baby
Forgetting your pet might be forgivable even if it happens to be a horse, but your own toddling flesh and blood? A forgotten baby earns the number one weirdest thing to forget in a hotel room title. In this instance it was a couple with way too much luggage who had to leave in separate taxis – a classic case of “But I thought you had the kid!?!”

Purple 10: Weird things stolen from hotel rooms

Oct 03 2012

It’s not just bathrobes that are ripe for the picking, people take all sorts from their hotel rooms… You’ve got to wonder, how did they hide some of these?

After a survey of 500 hotels, 95 percent say they’ve had items stolen by guests, and around one in every ten traveller will take at least one thing that doesn’t belong to them.

A piano like this was taken from the reception of a hotel.

Here’s the weirdest:

A grand piano. Yes, a whole piano was carted down the street by three people dressed in overalls who casually strolled by reception.
A stuffed boar’s head. A hotel in Birmingham went without its billiard room’s main feature, until friends of the shamed guest actually bought it from the hotel as a wedding present.
A Vegas Hotel said entire carpets had been cut and take from one of its rooms.
The sofa and a mini-fridge were taken from a five star hotel in Dubai.
A five star hotel in Madrid went without a whole mattress after a stay by one sticky-fingered guest.
Sex Toys, a hotel in Bath which offers kinky accessories as part of its package, says they often go walkabouts after visits from amorous guests.
Televisions. They have a tough time in hotel rooms, what with getting thrashed by rockers, they’re also one of the most stolen items.
One unfortunate hotel owner had their pet dog stolen! Who would do that!?
Every accessory from an Istanbul hotel room was taken, apart from the bed, the desk and TV, basically everything that wasn’t nailed down.
Miscellaneous: according to reports that have surfaced over the years, there are lots of other, hard-to-categories bits taken from rooms, including a medieval sword and a 4ft wooden bear. Sounds a bit Anchorman, doesn’t it?

Tag - weird and wonderful

Purple Tips: 6 Terrifying Roller Coasters

Wind Shear at Divo Ostrov Amusement Park, Russia

Batman The Ride at Six Flags, Georgia, USA

Shambhala at PortAventura, Spain

Formula Rossa at Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi

Expedition Everest at Disney World, USA

Cobra at Tivoli Friheden, Denmark

A Night Less Ordinary: The Stanley Hotel