General Discussion

Hi guys. Here in the UK, we have four Merlin parks: Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington and Legoland Windsor. Operations are a contentious topic surrounding the Merlin parks, particularly as of late; people talk a lot about throughputs, ride availability and the like with regard to these properties. However, there’s arguably some variation between the four properties in terms of many of these metrics, so with this in mind, I’d be keen to know; which Merlin park is best operated, in your view? Which one performs best in terms of metrics like throughputs? Personally, I would put Alton Towers at the top of the pile. But if I were to rank them, I would say the …

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

Hi guys. 2024 is set to be a pretty big year for UK roller coasters, with four different roller coaster-related projects happening for next year. These are: Hyperia at Thorpe Park, a Mack HyperCoaster that will be the UK’s tallest and fastest roller coaster. Nemesis 2.0 at Alton Towers, the rebirth of the much-loved B&M Inverted Coaster that is widely accepted to be the most revered UK coaster. Drayton Manor’s new coaster, an Intamin lift and launch coaster with spinning trains. Legoland Windsor’s new coaster, a duo of Zierer family shuttle coasters. It’s certainly a big year for UK roller coasters when you look at this motley crew of u…

Hi everyone, Hope you don't mind me posting this. I've been a 'lurker' here a good number of years, a year or so ago I posted an interview I'd conducted with John Wardley as part of my TV Production course. Since then I've been working in the "real world", I'm currently researching for an upcoming Channel 5 series featuring user generated content. We're currently looking for videos people have shot of 'angry' or annoyed people at theme parks or other leisure places. This is a fantastic example, except the quality is far too poor to be used: Queue jumper on Colossus: So things like queue jumpers, arguments, people annoyed about being stuck on a broken down ride etc …

Hey everyone I'm 17 and I'm planning on trying to get a job at Brighton Pier in the summer time (this year or the next two).and I wondered if anyone knew what it was like to work there (like good pay/nice place to work etc) if anyone could help out many thanks!

Thought this would be an interesting to see peoples opinions so choose your answers via the pole and give your reasons below.

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…

My first official Pandemic topic, here's the scenario. I'm an American visiting Europe for the first time. Recommend me twenty rollercoasters in Europe that I absolutely have to ride. Money and time are no object. Go.

Hi guys. Whenever the topic of records and stats comes up in discussion, I’ve noticed that enthusiasts often like to trot out the age-old mantra of “size isn’t everything”, “it’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with it” or something of that general ilk. But one does have to ask whether this saying always holds true. So my question to you today is; do you think this saying holds true in every instance? Can a ride ever benefit from being bigger? Can a smaller ride ever be held back by the fact that it isn’t bigger? Personally, I’ll admit that I’m not sure that the adage of “size isn’t everything” is necessarily true in every instance, and I can raise…

Today at school I had to do some research for graphics and one of the links I ended up on was this: http://www.kdt2.com/ Of course, me being me I explored the site and found some of the amazing projects in the theme park world that they had worked on. From theming right through to special effects there are some greatly recognizable projects. I then had a free lesson and with nothing else to do decided to research some more of these design/theming websites that have worked on theme park projects outside of the Merlin Studios we all know. Firstly I came across: http://www.primeplay.com/ Very interesting to see all the different types of design for a generic indoor pla…

Pick 1/6 for the 3 questions

Hi guys. Often, parks will have a large-scale consensus opinion that most enthusiasts seem to have about them, and in many cases, you might conform to that opinion. However, there might sometimes be cases where you think differently to the hive mentality. For instance, there might be that highly rated park you don't get the hype for, or that panned park that you don't get the hate for. So my question to you today is; what are some parks you like more than most and parks you like less than most? I'll get the ball rolling with my answers: Parks I like more than most Thorpe Park - Thorpe Park is the unloved step-child of the major UK parks, and it's almo…

Hi guys. In a Thorpe Park trip report thread I was just reading over on CoasterForce, Serena from CoasterForce made this really interesting post: “Okay, I'll bite. Families with young children who go to Thorpe Park simply don't do their research. It's not the parks fault if they have a disappointing day. It's like going to a vegan restaurant and moaning there's no meat options. If you look at their marketing, Thorpe don't bill themselves as a family park. It's almost always groups of young adults / teens in their photos. That's their target demographic, clearly. When talking about "what is there to do for families…

So, 2020. It goes without saying that this was a tough year for everyone; with everything else going on in the world, theme park visits feel like a pretty unimportant thing to talk about, but with everything else being so awful, they provided a much needed escape for those whom felt comfortable to and/or were able to visit. It has been a very different year, and with that in mind, theme park visit lists will look very different this year. With this in mind, did you manage to visit any parks this year, and if so, which ones? I took the opportunity of a "step-back" from normal times to re-visit and support some of the independent parks in the UK. …

Hi guys. With Omicron sending countries into lockdown, closing parks in some places and wrecking people’s theme park travel plans, I thought we could do with a little positivity around here this evening! So why don’t we take a journey into a land of dreams? Let’s go to one where COVID preferably doesn’t exist and you have an unlimited pot of money and an unlimited amount of land with which to build your dream theme park. Planning restrictions are also non-existent, so height and noise restrictions are no object either! So my question to you this evening is; if you were given the chance to build the theme park of your dreams, what rides would you put into it? And if you wa…

Hi guys. Over the years, I’m sure that most of us have visited quite a few different theme parks; each year, I personally visit a mixture of old favourites alongside trying to mix the odd new park or two in there as well to enhance my repertoire and increase my coaster and park counts. Trying to visit new parks can sometimes mean that there isn’t enough time to revisit some previously visited parks, however, and as the years rattle on, a park can sometimes get pushed down and down the list until you realise that you haven’t visited in a number of years. With this in mind, my question for you today is; which major theme park have you gone the longest without visiting? Whic…

Hi guys don't know if there is a topic for this but here goes : The nights are drawing in and Halloween is fast approaching,so our thoughts are inevitably turning to the terrors dwelling in the dark. Now, not too far away, there’s something very sinister and very real awaiting us in the shadows. Outbreak Brighton is a new attraction hidden in the depths of the Sussex countryside. It promises an extreme, immersive, physical horror experience for anyone brave enough to enter its world. Described as Secret Cinema meets 28 Days Later, crossed with Tough Mudder all in one place, it’s the ultimate destination for anyone who wants their deepest darkest fears burst into life…

Hi Guys! Next week I’m off to Florida for a couple of weeks and will be doing all of the theme parks (Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens, etc.). I’ve not been before so very excited but wondered if anyone has any quick tips or things to be aware of? Done a lot of research but just realised that here is probably one of the best places to ask!

Hi guys. Disney and Universal are arguably the two biggest names in the theme park industry, and their brand of park is quite a different product to any others on Earth. While many parks seem to have the big coasters as their main selling point, the big 2 aim for a more holistic experience, with the coasters often being sidelined in favour of a greater emphasis on different elements, such as dark rides, shows, and immersive themed environments. As such, these premium parks often don’t tend to build especially extreme coasters, particularly in the case of Disney and particularly in more recent years. Don’t get me wrong, the big players have built thrill rides, but they oft…

Well, they are slowly cropping up all over the place, so a topic about them seems appropriate. The latest one to open, Hades 360, had an inversion thrown into it when it was refurbrished, replacing an airtime hill. Here's a POV from the lovely TPR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtfZYEnS8dE Looks awful. Otherwise, not much against the inversion actually; though to lose an airtime hill for it is a shame.. Discuss...

Hello everyone just wanted to let you all know on 21st/22nd March 2017 you can book stays throughtout 2017 for 50% off at https://www.altontowers.com/holidayclub50march/ with Promo Code : MAP50.

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

Hi guys. In the UK theme park industry, Merlin theme parks are a very dominant force, and this is arguably most apparent in the arena of roller coaster hardware. If you were to ask an average enthusiast what their favourite UK coaster is, there’s a good chance that it would be at a Merlin theme park, and I dare say that most people’s UK top 10s would be relatively saturated with Merlin-operated coasters, with parks like Alton Towers and Thorpe Park in particular arguably having two of the UK’s most revered thrill coaster selections. With this in mind, I’d be intrigued to know; what is your favourite UK coaster not located at a theme park operated by Merlin Entertainments?…

Have a spooktacular time

Twenty-five years ago, Thorpe Park was a completely different place to today. It was a much more family-oriented park with no inverting rides, only two roller coasters and more in the way of gentle rides and educational experiences. Chessington on the other hand had more in the way of intense rides at the time with Vampire, Rameses Revenge, Rodeo and the newly opened Rattlesnake. The latter was definitely considered to be the most thrilling of the Surrey theme parks throughout the ‘90s. 1998 was the year Tussauds Group purchased Thorpe, although I have been wondering whether they always had vision to swap the target audiences of Chessington with Thorpe, and wh…