General Discussion

Hi everyone, Earlier this year, as part of my Television Production degree, I researched and wrote the script for a documentary detailing the history of roller coasters within the UK. I was privileged enough to be given an interview with John Wardley. I've since graduated and felt like people might be interested in the interview. I'm sure none of what he says is news to you lot, but still.. enjoy! CJ: How does the roller coaster industry today compare to the 1980’s? JW: Well the biggest change has been through the use of computer technology, both in terms of calculating the dynamics of the rides themselves and in terms of being able to control the track bending and …

thought id start a topic on knock off rides! here is the latest one! a zamperla knock off

I saw this topic in Coaster Force and though this could prove interesting. ‐----- For me the 2010s mean quite a few things depending upon which country or continent or even park I look at.Europe:The Good:I am extremely pleased that parks are developing more coasters which are focused on providing thrills rather than trying to break records or out-do other parks. Rides like the Smiler and Formula Rossa appear to outliers, and I'm pleased to see rides like Taron, Lost Gravity, Baron 1898, Wicker Man etc. being opened.Generally mainland Europe's parks have been doing well with some of my favourite major parks expanding with an array of different ride …

Calling all you Londoners. What is it? Good question. It is arty stuff mixed with pretty lights Wher is it? 4 locations around London ( "across the West End and King's Cross" Mayfair, King's Cross, Piccadilly, Regent Street and St James's,Trafalgar Square and Westminster) When is it? Starts tonight and runs for 4 nights (14th to 17th Jan) Why the hell am I mentioning it on a theme park site? Ohh lots of reasons. 1) People who make theme park rides get there ideas for lighting from some where - I went to a similar arty thing called the Bell and bumped into Pete Cliff (guy who designs all the scarefest mazes and ents for Alton Towers). 2) If you have a go…

Figured we may as well have a Mack thread since they're awesome. At this year's IAAPA, Mack revealed their "Xtreme Spinning Coaster" concept... (Image from CF Twitter) In short: -3 launches -Spinning cars train -4 track inversions The interesting parts come with the ability to add a turntable in the station (like Pulsar at Walibi Belgium), so there can be 2 trains, with one in load and one on the circuit - see 1:18 in the video. However, more interesting is the ability to have two separate stations and a traverser between the circuit; allowing for 2 different types of trains, with the vi…

Theme Park Insider Article

Well, as a small project, I've been researching what Ride Manufacturers are at what park. Just been a bit of randomness to be honest. Anyways, I've done the 3 major Merlin parks and here's the results:(Not sure about everything to be honest. If I've made a mistake or something, feel free to correct me . Also, I know some people don't class In House as a manufacturer, so that's why they're separated from the rest, and why the manufacturer count is x / x+1.)Thorpe Park Manufacturers:B&M (Inferno)Intamin (Colossus, Stealth, Rumba Rapids)Gerstlauer (Saw)Vekoma (X:\WTF)Mack (Flying Fish, SIAT, Loggers Leap, Rocky Express)S&S (Rush and Slammer)Fabbri (Detonator and Quan…

Manufactures Ride mechanics love and hate Interesting video by a ride mechanic on their favourite and least favourite ride manufactures to work with. Favourite - B&M, Vekoma, Gerstlauer, GCI Least favourite - Zamperla, Intamin, Larson, Skyline, Undecided - Premier

Feel like people like Peaj and people who did/or have done Brave it Alone would like this. And the question is, would you?

TBH I'm am rather annoyed that so many of englands top themed parks are owned by one company, not meaning it disrespectfully but I think it's holding back our themed parks.Other theme parks in toher countreis are owned by seperate companies and I feel that this is why they are to such a better standard than UK parks, I fele thats its because this Comapnies owns the parks we don't get as many new rides as other countries and some of the rides we get seem rushed becasue of this fact and there doesn't seem to be to much competition, I feel it would do britain a world of good to have it's theme parks owned by different companies.For instance if Thorpe Park where to be owned b…

To sign up for a chance to be chosen - http://merlinannualpass.co.uk/phototrial.aspx

Dunno where exactly to put this, but this needs a topic due to how important this is to some on here (I.e. Marc )...LINK Outrage has followed on the MAP Facebook page, but they have retorted that free parking will last until you get your 2011 Pass (Which for me is October, SWISH!)...But regardless, silly Merlin is SILLY...

As we plunge into another full-throttle year of theme parks and attractions, I thought I would bring up the topic of the Merlin drinks capsule. The drinks capsule has been a successful thing for a couple of years now and Merlin annual pass on facebook have said themselves that they will be releasing drinks capsules to chessington and Warwick castle this month. We have had no further update on this since they released the information of a new drinks capsule way in December 2012: It is said that the drinks capsules will now last the entire lifetime of your pass but this has confused many, I believe that if you purchase a capsule in January and your pass expires in June, …

Hi everybody, Has anybody taking up this offer or think its worth it?http://www.capitalfm.com/london/charity/buy-merlin-annual-pass-nearly-half-price/Any thoughts will be much appreciated. ST

I was having a look at buying a MAP and I was wondering if there will be a half price annual pass sale at the begining of 2013? I would like to get it cheaper and still be able to save money Thanks

Thoughts and opinions? I just purchased a Premium Membership for £15.99 a month

VIP passholders had extra time in the park? Disgusting.

It's time to vote for the best coasters in the world, first poll is for the best woodies.Voting deadline is 5th December.http://www.ushsho.com/bestrollercoasterpoll.htm Coaster fanatics have their trusty helper here: http://www.coasterfanatics.com/sec_poll/

Here are the links for Mitch Hawkers Steel Poll http://www.bestrollercoasterpoll.com/ Coaster Fanatics Template is here. http://www.coasterfanatics.com/sec_poll/default.asp?test=true

Hi guys. I was reading a Merlin-bashing thread over on CoasterForce earlier, and I noticed a really interesting series of posts that a poster made in that particular thread talking about their recent trip to Alton Towers, in which they made numerous comments inferring that Alton Towers is not an especially relaxed park visit for them: The full series of posts I'm referring to begins here: https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/wtf-merlin.38748/post-1132260 Their post really inspired me, and it got me thinking about some of the more relaxed and more stressful theme parks I've ever been to. So with that in mind, my question to you today is; what are …

Hi guys. Often when at a theme park, you'll find an attraction you really like and want to reride it. Sometimes, you might even be inclined to ride it over and over. You might ride it as many times as you can hack, or as many times as you're able to queue for it for. So my question to you today is; what is the highest number of rides you've ever had on one attraction in a single day? I'll get the ball rolling with my answer. My current record is 6 rides on Silver Star at Europa Park, and this was set very recently, on 29th April 2022. For some idea of previous record holders, here's my top 3: Silver Star at Europa Park - 6 rides…

Rightio here goes - My niece turns 10 in March (I feel SO old) and my sister wants to take her somewhere - well I suggested Thorpe because my niece is a bit of a little thrillseeker and loves watching vids of coaster and such online (she said to me the other week "I watched a POV of Stealth ). Anyway, as it will be her 10th my sister was thinking along the lines of taking her away - she has looked into Disneyland Paris but told me some ridiculous price for it - so was just wondering, because a lot of you here have been to DLP, are there any reasonable deals or good places to stay? I went back in 2000 with college and stayed in one of the disney hotels but they are a …

So, as Thorpe are completely silent on anything new for next year, and as it's very almost the new year, I thought it would be interesting to have a little discussion about all the new and exciting things happening around the theme park world this year (CBeebies Land - Woo!). This is not a 'tell me what I could just go a Google' thread, and I realise discussing lots of new things that we'll very likely not actually get to ride is a bit counter-intuitive. However, if, like me, you spend a fair bit of time perusing theme park stuff on the internet, it's always interesting to have a chat about what everyone is potentially going to be talking about this year. So to start off…

Disclaimer: I apologise in advance, as this post is quite long. There is a TL;DR at the bottom for those who would like one. Hi guys. As many of you probably know, Duel, Alton Towers’ interactive haunted house-style dark ride, recently closed for a retheme and is reopening in 2023. Speculation is rife throughout the UK enthusiast community about what this retheme could entail and what it might be like, but one thing I’ve noticed is that there are a considerable number of people who wish for the park to go down the nostalgia route. These people are clamouring for the ride to be returned brick by brick to exactly how it was when it first opened in 1992, as though the 2…

Looking through the forums I don't think there is a topic for all our ORP's? I'm sure we've all got loads gathering dust somewhere, so lets see them, old and new. I'll start. Clicking through some old photos I found a small collection from 2006, when PA were already offering an emailed file of photos for a small price - catch up Merlin! Completely unaware that Hurricane Condor was about to destroy my testicles A particularly uninteresting one form Dragon Khan Some ugly as hell merged photo composition on Splash And quite bizarrely looking like I'm sitting on a park bench, not a woodie, riding Stampida I know I have a stack of old ones from the early 90's o…