General Discussion

What do you mean we don't have an Intamin thread?! Oh well, here goes... Intamin last year announced several new ride types to their offering. They've now uploaded some videos... Ultra Splash: A take on Mack's PowerSplash (aka Pulsar) model Giga Splash A take on Mack's SuperSplash model (see SuperSplash at Plopsaland) Vertical LSM coaster: A take on Premier's Sky Rocket II model Hot Racer: A take on RMC's single rail (Raptor) concept. Unlike RMC Raptors, a specific focus on launches (something RMC have said they wish to avoid with the Raptors altogether)…

Hey all, I have been looking around the net and I have noticed that as early since the 80's rides have had ORP but I have been wondering how was it done back then before digital cameras? did they have to pay before to get your photo or did someone have to take it manually and how long did they take? Thanks Mr Fish

Okay, so we have "Your Thorpe Park", "Your Alton Towers", but what if you had unlimited money and a huge plot of land? What themes and attractions would you have? Go into as much detail as you want!

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/

choose which one is better

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. In recent memory, two (as far as I'm aware) theme parks have won the Golden Ticket Award for Best Theme Park in the World. They're two pretty different theme parks, but they share the award in common, and they are Europa Park in Germany and Cedar Point in the USA (or Ohio, to be more precise). So my question to you today is; which of these two GTA winners do you prefer? I obviously can't pass judgement, having never visited Cedar Point. For what it's worth, though, I have visited Europa Park, and I have to say that I think the park is more than deserving of its high reputation; it's unbelievably versatile! You have awesome coasters (for me at least; S…

Home haunts, yay or nay, have you ever been in one, worked in one, share videos, pictures and experiences here!

Hi guys. Some on here have been theme park enthusiasts for a very long time, and over a period of multiple years, you’re bound to learn a thing or two. Whether you’ve learned what you most enjoy or whether you’ve learned how to get the best out of a park or ride, years of visiting parks is bound to have taught you things and shaped your perspectives in some way. I know it certainly has for me! With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; what have you learned in your years as a theme park enthusiast? What have your years of park visiting experience taught you, and what new perspectives have you gained from years of coaster riding and park visiting? I’ll get t…

Simulator Theme Park Plunge Kills Six Death on Maurer Sohne Spinning Coaster1 dead in major accident at Tibidabo, Barcelona.All in under a month. This is worrying :PCould theme park bosses possibly be making cut-backs due to the recession, resulting in less thorough checks taking place?

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…

Hi guys. Europa Park and Phantasialand are Germany’s biggest, and arguably most revered, theme parks, and both of them get a high amount of praise from enthusiasts. But I’d be intrigued to know; which of the two do you personally prefer? I’ve visited neither, although I am rectifying that in April with my first visit to Europa Park, which I’m very excited about! But which park do you prefer? A similar thread done on another forum I’m on is currently seeing Phantasialand emerge victorious, but I’m intrigued to see how things play out on here!

Mods - if this is better placed elsewhere, please move! I'm fascinated by what people will pay for on eBay that's theme park related so thought I'd start a topic to discuss/share odd items etc. relating to our beloved Merlin Theme Parks. Some recent auctions I've found - these are "Sold" items, not unsold items with high start prices - real life money changed hands! I've omitted some listings for genuine old-skool memorabilia (Thorpe Rangers etc) as I can see there is actual value in that... I do know that everything has a price depending on how much people want it! Air Pin badge: £82.00 Thirteen Staff badge: £72.00 Alton Towers 2016 & DBGT Staff Ba…

Disclaimer: This post is extremely long, and if you don't like data analysis and geeky maths talk, I'd suggest you run for the hills and don't look back, because this post has quite a bit of it! Hi guys. There are a lot of theme parks in Europe, as well as a lot of roller coasters. So naturally, people (myself included) tend to ask questions like “which park has Europe’s best roller coaster lineup?” or “which parks are quality-over-quantity and which parks are quantity-over-quality?”, amongst others. As such, while it’s not really a discussion thread as such, I thought it might be fun to try to take a quantitative look into some of these questions and try to answer t…

Dear All, This is a really random question, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any resources for Theme Park "Floor Plans" or "Ride Layouts". I must admit, I just love looking at these sorts of details when it comes to the theme park experience, and was hoping to find somewhere that shows the Merlin Parks, and maybe a few other places like PortAventura, Efteling etc. I found this account on Flikr that has loads of Walt Disney World, and they are fascinating! - https://www.flickr.com/photos/63631877@N00/albums/ Any others that you know of would be great to see! Thanks, Jammy3112

I am currently a final year student and would appreciate any information that helps me complete my dissertation. All information provided will remain anonymous and confidential. So I am trying to find out what is it about the newness of rides that excites you and how important do you think it is for TPs to tell a story through each ride? Finally I would like to know if there are some rides that you go on that give you the same amount of enjoyment no matter how many times you go on them and why do you think that is?

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…

This is the product of 2 former GCI employees. GCI being a company whom makes insane woodies, I am very interested to see what they bring to the coaster community! source: http://skylineattractions.com/

Hey Guys, Just wondering what everyone thinks of theme parks using mobile apps nowadays e.g. Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Legoland etc.. I think a lot of American theme parks use mobile apps as well like Disney and Universal, but anyway.. If anyone has used a theme park mobile app before then let me know, I'm curious to find out how the experience was. Thanks

So due to boredom I have decided to make a thread to rank the Merlin Parks. This will be by recent investments and just how each park fall in the hierarchy. I think this will be a lot harder than Cedar Fair and Six Flags as Merlin is pretty even with their parks tbh. I'm gonna be ranking all of the abroad parks but I will lump the Legoland's into one category because ranking them individually would take a while. A Tier: Alton Towers Easily the most loved Merlin Park. When this park receives a coaster, its usually very high quality and unique. They usually have good in between years to boot, with constant money being thrown into their hotels, t…

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!

Just downloaded the THORPE PARK app for Andorid, it has been a long time coming... Overall opinion, this is a very good app, lots packed into and it has been well worth the wait. I like the options to show you the way to places and you can take the challenge of certain rides. Suggestions for improvements are: IT says you need to be 140 cm to ride X On Wet Wet Wet, if you are less than 0 cm tall, you must be accompanying children? A find my car locator would be nice What are the opinions of others and is the IOS version giving the same functionality or do the features differ?

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 …

These two factors are what divide theme park enthusiasts, there will be people who prefer roller coasters to dark rides or vice versa or maybe even both. As you may know by my signature as of November 2016, I prefer the physical feeling you get at amusement parks as opposed to the theme given. I'm not saying I don't like theme because when it's done with a good physical experience, I absolutely love it (e.g. Space Mountain: Mission 2 or Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror). To summarise, my top 15 isn't made by the theme of the roller coasters but instead the actual force by them. So my questions to you all: Do you prefer the feeling of being out …

Looking to get out to some european parks soon and wonder what are the cheapest parks to get out to? can aynone speak from expirence? I'm not looking for like 5* trips, either, thanks!