It was a day filled with proclamations of "Brilliant – just brilliant!"
There's nothing like the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain to guarantee a cheer-i-o day!
We started at not quite 5 o'clock in the morning with a television news crew.
That's right; the sun wasn't up yet.
But we were!
And yes, we had a little breakfast set out.
Club founder Andy and his fellow countrymen and -women were delighted with the choice of hot beverage.
Two of our Food & Beverage crew members quietly admitted to me they'd had bad dreams about somehow creating an international incident by purchasing the wrong brand of tea bags. (Yes, we tend to sweat the small things.)
After several satisfying cups of tea and breakfast muffins (chocolate-chocolate chip seemed to be the most popular selection, interestingly enough), Andy hopped in a Mammoth boat with four members of his club plus Nicole, our guess-I-should-have-worn-waterproof-mascara reporter:
They had a wild ride! I think they woke up all the campers next door:
Andy's such a pro – he wrapped his towel in such a way that the Mammoth logo shows on camera.
He enthusiastically chatted with Nicole about why his club chose to visit Holiday World to help celebrate their 25th anniversary.
Nicole and Kirk from 14 WFIE-TV played right along with the early fun:
After a walk-back tour of our roller coasters, the full tour group of 66 took their first official ride of the day … on Voyage.
There were quite a few chuckles when they saw their little "Keep Calm and Ride Voyage" refrigerator magnet momento.
Truth be told, we were hoping they wouldn't proclaim us "cheeky" for changing the wording of the iconic 1939 British safety poster.
"Brilliant!" was the first reaction and we rebellious Americans breathed a sigh of relief.
The joke was on all of us, though; we served the group lunch in our 4th of July section. There was no mention of hard feelings regarding that revolution thing – in fact several club members took a spin on the ride which boasts that proud name.
But the ride that got them cheering the loudest was our Voyage:
Andy had a good chuckle with Lauren Koch, especially when he insisted that her fiance take a "walk of shame" after riding Voyage hands-down.
Hands-down. And clutching the grab bar.
One last ride and then our friends were off to the next park on their 17-day itinerary.
Wait! One final trainload to go … who could resist those smiles?
And those accents.
"What accents?" Andy quipped.
"It's all of you who speak with an accent."
Residents from both sides of the pond agreed, however, that a lovely chap from Wales might occasionally need subtitles.
Or maybe always.
