General Discussion

It looks like Merlin and Alton Towers is getting a bit more of a bashing. The Metro has the following. Personally I quite like the Ride Me flashing notebook book. Very funky. http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/22/alton...s-emblazoned-with-the-slogan-ride-me-5258188/ So what do you think? Sorry Link Fixed

Pretty much what it says on the tin. Mine Is Detonator, still gives me many, many butterflys in the queueline! So which scares you the most?

You know I've just realised, we don't have a topic discussing what rides we actually like. Sure we talk about each indiviual ride at Thorpe Park and to a lesser degree Alton Towers and Chessington, but what about all those little rides that you may have ridden that have been virtually ignored.I'll start the ball rolling with five of my favourite non UK Merlin rides. 1. Superman de AceroA lot of discussion about Floorless coasters always centres about the non event of the floorless aspect if you aren't in the front row. Well that mattered so little to me as Superman is one of those perfect rides that is virtually ignored, and yet is absolutely brilliant and my favourite ro…

I vote For Rita as it provides the best launch and good airtime, although RNRC has some great inversions.

Relative newcomers to the coaster manafacturing world, RMC seem to be the current in vogue choice for parks worldwide looking for something a bit new and interesting. While wood purists argue the validity of their hybrids to be considered woodies at all, it's hard to deny the coasters they create sure look fun, whatever they are. Unfortunately not many of us in the UK will have ridden one with none having been built here. Do we want to see one in the UK, and when and where do we think one could be likely? I'm gagging for one, but can't see where one is likely to ordered. Thorpe is probably the most likely? Maybe Paultons? Also, it seems a …

So I was snooping around TPR of all places and I found this which was interesting. Seems very exciting, A win, win I feel as RMC get tonnes of extra contacts from Vekoma expanding their business model to around the world and Obviously Vekoma it just puts their name out there more. What do you people think of it, I feel it is quite exciting!

I decided to put this in General Theme Park Discussion, since this idea could easily be elaborated upon through discussion, but it's also something of a personal request. I'm in my final term of a film and television course at uni, and I've chosen to write my dissertation on the artistic qualities of rollercoasters, using Nemesis (and potentially, for comparison, Nemesis Inferno) as a case study. When I say "artistic qualities", I mean it in the broadest possible way: The architecture of the coaster itself. The ride's theme, both in terms of visual elements and of deeper thematic implications (e.g., what Nemesis' backstory implies about our natural…

S&S have just announced a new coaster concept in time for IAAPA with footage of a working prototype ~ AXIS

The two new lands of the southern parks. Both have the best themeing in their parks. But which is better overall. This can include themeing, quality of ride and shops. FIGHT!!

As spooky times are fast approaching I thought I'd create a little topic where we could express our creative ideas for potential mazes/scarezones etc. Not park specific either so go wild! The first idea I have is a maze for Thorpe Park, not too sure on a name yet so ideas are welcomed... UNTITLED A maze focusing and playing on the nostalgia of Thorpe Park. Taking you back in time to have your childhood memories distorted and warped into a mushy nightmare. Primarily the characters involved would be the old Rangers. Their severed heads would be scattered around and occasionally they'd pop out whilst the pitch changed carousel song would play, us…

Soo just wondered really, what people prefer most? Scarefest Mazes, or Fright Night Mazes? Why/who/what/where/how?

A new rollercoaster simulation game is coming to Xbox. I have to say it looks pretty awful looking at the trailer. What do people think?

Hi guys. As technology advances, screens are growing ever more present within dark rides. Initially, it was Universal and Disney who pioneered the use of screens on rides, but regional parks eventually cottoned on, and most new dark rides built nowadays have some form of screen within them. However, screens are somewhat of a contentious topic among enthusiasts, with many complaining that their use has killed creativity within dark rides. So my question to you today is; how do you feel about screens on dark rides? Do you hate them? Do you not mind them? Do you like them? Or are you undecided? Or does it depend on the context? Personally, I don't mind screens at…

Thought this would be a nice topic to discuss this company that post loads of Facebook (and because it's hard to guarantee at first what they're working on). But for those that don't know, Scruffy Dog is a theming company based in Birmingham. Their first project that got us lot knowing of them was the Shark structure at Thorpe. Since then they've done a lot of work with Merlin working on the FN mazes, IAC, hotel interiors at Chessington, some stuff for the Woodland Village at Towers, new sets for Lego City and Heartlake City. Here's some of the Lego stuff in their paint workshop. MBV And Shark So they've done quite a lot of work for Merlin and a lot of…

Hi guys. Size is often used as a marketing tool by parks, but many enthusiasts (myself included) believe that size isn't everything. For my money, it's not the size that matters, it's what you do with it. So my question to you today is; are there some coasters that work against that traditional assumption that "bigger is better"? Can you think of small coasters that you think make the most of the size that they have, and also some larger coasters that you think squander their size somewhat? I'll get the ball rolling with my suggestions. For a smaller coaster that makes smashing use of its size, I'm going to nominate Mine Blower at Fun Spot Kissimme…

Being an enthusiast, there are a hell of a lot of "things" that trigger us. For example, things that trigger me: When a ride has assigned seating and they don't let you wait for the front/back (I know it's a policy and it improves throughputs so they have to, but surely if you're willing to wait longer you deserve the front/back). People holding up the queue leaving a 10 metre gap and taking 5 minutes to notice. Whenever Colossus runs on one train. GP friends who have been to Busch Gardens saying that Sheikra goes "inwards" on the drop (the amount of times I hear that, it drives me crazy). Anyone generally saying something about a ride w…

So you all know of my love for Vampy, but these unfortunately pretty much died out with Arrow. The reason I'm making this topic is that designing rollercoasters is my dream job, and I think I may have come up with a way inversions could work on these (however, I'm probably wrong, so correct me if I am). Basically, I think a long inline twist could work on a swinging coaster, as the swinging would probably work in your favour (if I got the physics right) at the right speed (not too fast, not too slow). There wouldn't be too much swinging during the inversion, however a bit after. Could this work? Please let me know. We do…

The report is out! http://www.teaconnect.org/images/files/TEA_159_241229_160525.pdf Key notes: MK has hit over 20 million, Towers down 25% to just over 1.9 million as Merlin only gain 0.2% overall with Disney gaining 3.something and Universal 11% to go from 40 mill to 44 million guests a year.

Hi guys. The TEA/AECOM Theme Index for 2021 came out today, and it makes for interesting reading: https://aecom.com/wp-content/uploads/documents/reports/AECOM-Theme-Index-2021.pdf As I said, this report makes for thoroughly interesting reading, in my view! Some particular points of interest include: The attendance recouped at parks seemed to drastically vary; some parks had increases of over 200% and nearly reached 2019 levels, while some remained a considerable way off. Magic Kingdom remains the world’s most visited theme park, with 12,691,000 guests passing through its gates in 2021 (an 82% increase on 2020). Interestingly, Disney’s cast …

So what do you think is the best B&M Rollercoaster in the UK? Is it Air: The World's First Flying Coaster Nemesis: Europe's First Inverted Coaster Nemesis Inferno: The World's only Inverted Coaster to feature a set of Interlocking Corkscrews Oblivion: The World's First Vertical Drop Coaster Or our newest B&M... THE SWARM: Europe's Tallest and Fastest B&M Wing Coaster Vote!

Hi guys what do you think the best water ride in the UK is?? Vote in the poll or comment below if you think it is none of the options in the poll! Thanks guys!

Easy thread for today. What rides have you been stuck on and what rides have you been evacuated from? For example I was stuck on Inferno's break run for twenty minutes once. So.. *coughs* - Icon. Stuck on the break run in the pouring rain for ten minutes. Got given a poncho. Nice. - Detonator. Stuck at the top for fifteen minutes. Had to be winched slowly down. We ate cookies that I had in my pocket. Got comped a free ticket to come back. Cheers Thorpe. - Dragon Falls. Boat stopped at the bottom of lift one. Got an exit pass. - Stealth. Kind of launched but then slowed immediately and stopped on the launch track. Eventually made it back to the…

There's no way around it - coronavirus is going to affect our daily lives in one way or another. And with open season just around the corner, it remains to be seen how parks around the UK and the rest of the western wordl will cope and what measures they'll put in place, as well as how long it will be before Chinese parks (which have been closed for weeks already) begin to reopen. I figured it would be interesting to have a thread to track what's going on, and people's reactions... Merlin Parks The current stance across Merlin's UK parks and attractions is pretty simple: if you feel unwell don't come. If you have coronavirus-like symptoms when at the park…

An article on the BBC this morning which is interesting in places about the technology of roller coasters http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24553630 Now, I'm sure the same thing was said when Vekoma cobbled together two inversions on a corkscrew, but could it be approaching the truth at long last? Where can the industry go when speed, height and inversions have already been pushed to such extremes? Will the future all be virtual? Will the current records last for all of time? Are there no other records or innovations worth chasing for the cost? I don't believe it for a second!

I am aware that stand up coasters aren't really what everyone likes and that may be the reason they don't continue fabricating them. I have said lots in the Bolliger and Mabillard topic but I want to do a topic on this specifically so that B&M discussions can continue normally without lots of stand up coaster posts dominating it. Personally I think that they should carry on but using new restraints but many may disagree. I believe that there should be a future for stand ups but mainly I'm not going to stay solid with my thoughts I mainly want to see how other people interpret this. Should there be a future for stand ups? What ways should they change if so? Do th…