timbarrett 0 #1 January 7, 2005 Can't take the weather in UK any longer so i have booked in for some tunnel time with Aerokart in Paris. I have used the tunnel in Orlando and had a great time with Rusty Lewis as my coach... Any advice for the Paris version? I thought I would work with one of their coaches but I am not sure how that works...any info/thoughts/opinions gratefully received about any aspect of the place..even how to get there... thanks"Work hard, play hard and don't whinge" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spike 0 #2 January 11, 2005 Cancel the booking. If you liked the Orlando tunnel then you won't like Aerokart. The Paris tunnel is of a different design with an open mesh sided chamber. My experience was that at Orlando you can just push off the wall, at Paris when you get to the edge you fall of the column and onto the padding. At Orlando you can talk (or at least shout) and be heard, in Paris "no one can hear you scream" as they say in the movies. I found the digital video debriefing facilities at Orlando far better than what they have at Paris. At Orlando they have a creepers and a creeper area. If you take your own creepers to Paris, try using them and you'll be asked to stop. If your booking an hour at Orlando you'll break even on the Paris costs (including flight expenses). Orlando you make your booking, you know when your in the tunnel and for how long. At Paris, its all a bit vague. You know how much time you've bought, but the operators decide when to put you in and for how long. So you might have 2 minutes at the start of the day and two minutes at the end of the day, but you won't be able to plan ahead. As you can tell I didn't enjoy my time at the Paris tunnel. I won't be going a second time. If you want a really cheap alternative to Orlando, try the Skyventure tunnel in Malaysia. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lemonjelly 0 #3 January 11, 2005 DO NOT CANCEL THE BOOKING!!!!!!! I've just got back from Paris. OK, you may wait an extra 1/2 hour later than your booking time, but you are all then taken in a group. If you have booked sessions, you get those sessions during that time! This was my first time in a tunnel, I had no problem pushing myself off the sides of the net (after my 2nd session) Also, if you're going near the edges, turn and go back - NO PROBLEM! When we arrived, we were greeted and warmly welcomed by ALL staff. Moreover, we were coached by a World Champion skygod. All instructors were more than keen to help in any way. in fact, they went out of their way. I had an awesome time there and I would highly recommend it to you. I'll be back as often as I can. Outstanding!!************************************************* RED LIGHTS & OFF LANDINGS ARE JUST MY THANG http://www.redlightrob.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hkf 0 #4 January 11, 2005 QuoteIf you liked the Orlando tunnel then you won't like Aerokart. This may have been your experience, but that dosen't make it so for everybody else, I've been to both, and there are differences but I liked them both. Maybe they are like Dropzones some people love one and hate another whereas others feel the opposite. I was Freeflying in the paris one, but saw the instructors coaching RW and they looked very skillful and professional. Options for getting there are either Ferry/Eurotunnel and drive which isn't to bad as it's this side of Paris. Or geet to Paris by train/plane and get metro to St Lazare then get a mainline train toCormeilles En Parisis. It's a 10 minute walk from the station, turn right onto main road and keep walking. Hope this helps Enjoy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lemonjelly 0 #5 January 11, 2005 Also, We paid £23 return fro flights (inc taxes) and stayed at the hotel recommended for 18 euros each per night. How can that possibly cost as much as Flying to Orlando AND paying tunnel time!!! Complete crap regarding 2mins at beginning of the day and 2 mins at the end************************************************* RED LIGHTS & OFF LANDINGS ARE JUST MY THANG http://www.redlightrob.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moth 0 #6 January 11, 2005 HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR TUNNEL TIME AT PARIS?????? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spike 0 #7 January 12, 2005 QuoteThis was my first time in a tunnel, I had no problem pushing myself off the sides of the net (after my 2nd session)You're clearly a natural at flying your body. Whereas I still find it a challenge after nearly 20 hours in 3 different tunnels around the world. Have you tried a solid walled tunnel? or what are you basing your comparison on? QuoteAlso, if you're going near the edges, turn and go back - NO PROBLEM! Your very words reveal you don't know what your talking about. How do you turn and go back when you've already fallen off the air column? Which is what happens when you get to the net. In the solid wall tunnels, this drop off in workable air just doesn't happen in the same way. QuoteHow can that possibly cost as much as Flying to Orlando AND paying tunnel time!!!Simple maths, Skyventure per minute is cheaper than Aerokart. GBPound to EU€ = 1:1.3884 GBPound to US$ = 1:1.8136 Aerokart costs one off discount registration €20 / 1.3884 = GBP£14.40 Discounted session cost = €48 (2 mins) / 1.3884 = GBP£34.57 Skyventure Orlando costs Block booking time = US$575 (60 mins) = US$19.17 (2 mins) / 1.8136 = GBP£10.57 If you book now for February via Expedia you can get a flight from Heathrow to Orlando for GBP£291. 24 minutes at Aerokart will cost you GBP£429.24 24 minutes at Skyventure Orlando will cost you GBP£126.82, leaving GBP£302.42, more than enough to cover the flight and I've excluded travel costs to Eurokart. The break even point where it costs about the same to fly at either Orlando or Paris is less than 30 minutes, any time over that and its cheaper to go to Orlando. QuoteComplete crap regarding 2mins at beginning of the day and 2 mins at the endNo, not complete crap, complete fact actually. This was my experience at Aerokart. The fact is that if you call Orlando you can book your minutes exactly when you want them during the day. Paris doesn't operate a booking system in this way so you don't know when you will have your time during the day. I WAS at the Aerokart tunnel first thing in the morning waiting for the gates to open. I WAS there all day till closing time before I got all of my time in. I WAS left wondering when it was going to be my turn next. This was my experience, yours may have been different, but that doesn't give you the right to describe my experience as complete crap. You will note that I made no criticism of the coaches at Aerokart. I agree that they have some excellent coaches there, but this equally applies to those available at Orlando. Politeness costs nothing and working out the best deal sometimes takes a little effort. But niether is hard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Plummets 0 #8 January 12, 2005 Hi Tim, I must admit I found the Orlando tunnel far better, I shared 20 minutes in the Paris Tunnel with a mate who was struggling with AFF. The rest of the group in was a french stag party, they weren't allowed to wear their red wigs but didn't remove the lipstick or false breasts ! Was an interesting spectacle Apart from it being unfeasably hot in there (it was summer, and little sign of any cooling) I seriously struggled to get off the deck. Partly due to me being a fat fucker at 245lbs partly because I wasn't allowed to wear my "slower" suit as it was 2 piece. Someone did say that one of the fans wasn't working properly but who knows, still managed to work on my de-arching. From your wing loading I guess your around 220lbs, may have to work on those de-arching skills "Life is a bowl of deadly nightshade, stay way way out on the rim brother" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paulipod 0 #9 January 12, 2005 Generally hotter air also has less lifting capacity .... so its not all down to being porky Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
choll15 0 #10 January 17, 2005 FWIW I've just got back from a weekend at Aerokart doing 4-way in there. Having used Orlando and Paris they are both quite different, but there are pros and cons of each. Paris is more expensive for sure and on rough calculations a weekend trip to Orlando works out about the same as a trip to Aerokart including tunnel time and flights etc. Depends what you want and how much time you want to spend travelling I guess. In my experience, the French definitely have a more laid back attitude to running the tunnel. The session times are fairly flexible, but on this trip they seemed to be fairly well organised and accomodating. Biggest thing to watch is that dead air for sure! Esp. if you're relatively inexperienced or trying funky block moves with 4 of you in there! Despite the padding, the falls can hurt! (Bruises to vouch for that one) We flew with easyjet to CDG and taxied to/fro. Word of caution - French Taxis have a Sunday surcharge so was a bit more coming back to airport! All in all - good fun - but still can't wait for Bedford to open! Chris H www.southparc.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zoter 0 #11 January 17, 2005 If your booking an hour at Orlando you'll break even on the Paris costs (including flight expenses). *** Please re -evaluate your post with the 'real' costs vs fantasy costs....(dont forget to inlcude...transfers to from airports, accomodation, taxes etc) 'Tunnel' time stateside is cheaper than Paris.....practical costs for UK based jumpers is not.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spike 0 #12 January 18, 2005 QuotePlease re -evaluate your post with the 'real' costs vs fantasy costs....(dont forget to inlcude...transfers to from airports, accomodation, taxes etc)Zoter, these aren't fantasy costs, do the maths yourself. I left out the costs you mention because they're almost the same between Paris and the US and are in any case such a small component of the total that they have a negligible impact on the total cost of a trip. Just to make it clear, 3 hours of tunnel over a 5 night stay, including flights, taxes, transfers, hotels and tunnel time. Item Paris Orlando Flight £23.00 £291.00 Hotel £82.70 £64.80 Transfer £18.00 £13.97 Tunnel £3125.89 £951.14 ============================ Total £3249.59 £1320.91 Paris £3249.59 Orlando £1320.91 ================ Saving £1928.68 is that clear enough? The fact is that tunnel time in Paris is 3 times the cost of Orlando and thats a huge differential if your doing more than 30 minutes or so of tunnel time. The flight cost of £291 included tax. In the US you can catch the bus from the airport to International Drive for US$1.50 or you can splash out on a Mears Shuttle for US$25 return. The equivalent would be EU€25 for a Paris shuttle. EU€25 / 1.3884 = GBP£18.00 US$25 / 1.8136 = GBP£13.79, cheaper in the US by GBP£4 odd. Hotels, well Lemonjelly quoted EU€18 a night so we'll take that figure for the Paris hotel. The Super6 motel (walking distance to the tunnel) in the US costs US$30 US$30 / 1.8136 = GBP£16.54 EU€18 / 1.3884 = GBP£12.96, cheaper in Paris by a whopping GBP£3.58 per night. So if you stay for 5 nights, the difference in hotel costs is going to be a massive saving of GBP£18 odd if you stay in Paris rather than Orlando. As I said, the hotel and transfers costs are a negligble component of the total cost and do little to offset the fact that per minute Paris is 3 times dearer than Orlando. Personally I'd rather go to Orlando and save 1,000's than go Paris to save 10's! You may not like the time spent flying to Orlando. But there's nothing impractical about it for UK citizens. Have you seen how many Brits holiday in Orlando? Still dubious about the comparative costs? Shall we work out the difference in subsistence, the cost of a Big Mac against Le Mac Royale next? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squiffy 2 #13 January 19, 2005 Spike speaks the truth - we were in the same team for last season and we went through these figures at lenght!!!!!!! IMHO they have there pros and cons - Paris more space for 4 way, very constant air flow - bad air at the edge (I even saw one of Vmax fall off - admittedly she was couching and not with the rest of the team) and I found the wall netting off-putting - kept thinking that I would get fouled on it. Orlando - good air up to the wall, calmer seating area while waiting to enter the tunnel - can almost hear your coach , you can stand on the bottom netting but it is smaller - on 4 way you often find your legs touching the wall - which can end up in a false flying position. You pays your money you takes your choice. Ash Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
btucker 0 #14 January 19, 2005 2 and 3 way are fine in Orlando. For 4way you need all flyers to be proficent at flying the tunnel + have atleast a simple system for entry and exit. Never flown Paris but more room for 4way sounds darn good to me. Perhaps a two way in paris is not ecconmic - your paying for space that you don't need and you can only split it two ways. One if your using a coach. If a tunnel stopped you from using a creeper (which you had to bring) that's decision made then isn't it! They obviously don't get it! Spend up big at another tunnel or jump it -i.e. you could put it towards a player-coach. Blue skies, hard air. PS: Time of year and weather is important. In the summer Orlando is crap. No idea about AeroKart is it conditioned? Tunnels are better when it's cold - the air has a harder edge to it Remember you need to lead up, can you loan some weight so you don't have to lug it. I'm sure this would be a non issue @ any skyventure site. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
