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  1. God he's good. Must be why he's a mod. Waff zooooooom splosh splish splash I was takin a bath rub a dub dub things are lookng UP. I'm desperate, so where can I.P. We need more time, lord.
    8 points
  2. This is a placeholder post. I will edit this post when vertical construction starts, claiming the exact date and time it will go vertical. It's the perfect crime.
    8 points
  3. I would sell my soul for Exodus to open tomorrow just so we never have to listen to this nonsense ever again.
    7 points
  4. I've got scheduled Youtube videos predicting that vertical construction will commence the day after tomorrow for the rest of the week therefore I'll be correct for sure #Influencer #MTYMOO
    5 points
  5. Plot twist. Coaster Jamie is parm pap!! He makes his return after so long!!
    3 points
  6. Funny how everyone who kNEw SomEtHInG about Exodus going vertical nearly 3 weeks ago... but it hasn't happened yet innit. Proof, if it were needed, that Exodus' construction is planned around Jack Silkstone's annual leave ❤️
    3 points
  7. MattyMoo

    Fright Nights 2023

    Pleased to confirm that I'll be on the ISLAND LIKE NO OTHER on Friday 13th, officially the sPOoPiEsT day in the world for FRIGHT NIGHTS, and I look forward to having an incredible experience in the mazes, with 15 actors surrounding me at all times, each referring to me by name and then the one off the posters escorting me to a secret maze within the maze where Russ Gaines then greets me with a Coke freestyle of my choosing and a selection of doughnuts from DOUGHNUT TIME, before handing me a real life Easter Egg with the words THE CURSE on it, a nod to the maze THE CURSE if you don't know, before then returning to the maze via the - relocated - new Tidal Wave fire effect room, upon which Alice off the videos jump scares me out of a MACK RIDES timber box, where I then run out of the maze and am given an Ultimate fastrack wristband and a bespoke game of DOBBLE. Jokes aside though - echoing what my m80 Jessica says, considering it's £10 a maze, I will genuinely - for the first time ever - go to guest services and moan if a run through is ruined by numpties. Or, hopefully the staff just forget to scan our booking like they did last year.
    3 points
  8. Mark9

    Florida 2023 - A snapshot

    Quick run down of my trip to Florida last time. My last trip in February 2022 saw me lose a lot of trust in the Disney company, their parks were an absolute hassle. Magic Kingdom - Much better this time around. Even without Splash Mountain, the queues were just a lot shorter. Genie+ is relatively strong here and with a lot more rides, the spread across the rides is good. I really like Tron Lightcycle Run. I acknowledge that it is way too short but the strong launch and the excellent soundtrack make this an enjoyable ride. The outside area gives the ride a great visual and the lighting package is beautiful. Animal Kingdom - Now 6 years since investment, this has become the quietest park and as a consequence, remains the most enjoyable and relaxed of the four parks. It also for me has the most consistent rides with the only weak link being Kali River Rapids. Everything else is Disney's best. The park has the best food across the parks and remains strong to its central theme of conservation. Epcot - Meh. Just a one and done park for me. Each ride is fine but not worth going on more then once. Didn't even get on Testrack due to reliability issues. Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind is fine but it's a lot of faff to get on and I just find the eight minutes of pre-show beyond tedious and completely self indulgent. The ride is really fun with good air time. But we are essentially have a vekoma family spinning rollercoaster with hours of queuing that goes with it. The two songs we got were good but they completely drown out the commentary from the Guardians as you're riding. Hollywood Studios - This day was tough. Started out with no Rise of the Resistance, Rock 'N' Rollercoaster and Slinky Dog and that caused massive backlogs everywhere. The only ride that worked all day was Runaway Railroad and Star Tours, everything else was an hour wait or more with multiple bouts of downtime. This was the toughest day at Disney, Hollywood Studios just needs more filler rides. Everything is top tier but nothing is there to soak up the people. Genie+ is strongest here but if you're in stand by, it is a miserable day out. Seaworld - This park opens at 10 but the only ride open by 11 was Kraken. Dismal start to the day and it was unbearably hot waiting outside Pipeline with no cover. Pipeline is the worst B&M I have been on, a rare misfire for me. For some reason the vest restraints dug into my shoulders the entire time. Yuck. The ride itself, the seats clunk up and down and for a ride that is relatively full of air time, the seats thud up and down over the hills. I found the whole thing just really uncomfortable but I do realise this could just be me. Manta, Kraken and Mako were excellent as per usual. Ice Breaker was weird with awful restraints. The ride starts off fairly good but the restraint does keep getting tighter and tighter as it goes on. Busch Gardens - Williamsburg is far better. The ride line up is just a tad stronger. Iron Grawzi is well hyped and it is good. but best rollercoaster in the world I'm not so sure. For one the operations absolutely suck. 5 minute dispatches every single time. The ride is also.. for me.. too short. You race into the break run at full speed so it feels like it has a lot more to give. There are some great elements though such as the first drop which made me grey out each time. Some of the air time is pretty good, others is excellent. It has some of the odd transitions that Twisted Timbers and Wildcats Revenge has which are actually more painful than enjoyable. So yeah, I'm undecided on where I sit with it. Montu was fine, Sheikra didn't seem as impressive after Griffon, I liked Cheetah Hunt this time around. Tigris has vile restraints and Scorpion is excellent. Galatic Starcruiser - The soon to be closed hotel experience was by far one of the finest things I've ever completed in my life. It was so engaging, full of great plot twists and excitement and there's a part of me that thinks if it had been just a little bit cheaper, it could have succeeded. Thanks for reading. 😃
    3 points
  9. I think these signs are supposed to be ski slope related which is vaguely ish related to Oktoberfest as they have some skis dotted about the area and a ski lift you can sit in.
    3 points
  10. This really is getting there now isn’t it. Still can’t quite believe Thorpe are getting a new coaster tbh Really looking forward to seeing how massive this is “in real life”. I did my usual peek at Stealth on the M3-M25 junction yesterday and it occurred to me just how visible the new one would be from there, let alone from inside the park. Going back to the name trademark business - that was a great find @coasterverse! Hyperia is an odd one, but with names I always think it’s difficult at first. I remember the smiler was questioned a lot, but it’s the perfect name for it isn’t it- it just is the smiler. If it does turn out to be the name, it will settle in and become as fitting as any other.
    3 points
  11. I don't think you can blame the public for misunderstanding this one, Thorpe Park themselves market it as one of the most terrifying experiences out there.
    3 points
  12. Glitch

    Fright Nights 2023

    Wouldn’t cost a lot though to rip it all out put some chain link fences in and strobe it all out and then bring back what fright nights was known for….. I would love an anniversary year, when is the next one, whereby we got: Asylum Curse Ex10 Cabin - maybe reimagined with the black mirror theme Actors in animal masks - minus the movie theme Big top Some nod to creek perhaps just a scare zone or a walk down by the still accessible part of monks walk. And some sorta freak show or scary show which isn’t a dance party to top it all off. For me fright nights became boring when it opened the doors to a family audience and the MAP group used it as childcare for a few extra hours in the evening…. You really shouldn’t see prams at this event that’s what Chessingtons for. I was watching Jacks video the other day where he remember the 2013 event I want to say and oh man do I miss those days. Dance parties just don’t do it for me neither do entertainers pretending to be freaks. Get the real thing or don’t bother.
    3 points
  13. MattyMoo

    Fright Nights 2023

    BAN THIS MEMBER FOR BEING ANTI-MERLIN. You must not criticize this incredible ALL NEW addition to 2023 FRIGHT NIGHTS.
    3 points
  14. It looks like deliveries are taking a *step* in the right direction...
    2 points
  15. MattyMoo

    Colossus

    Blimey, 2024 promises to be big - what with this and another single section of track going to be replaced 🔥
    2 points
  16. That when I hit the brake run I desperately want to ride it again. Of course there's other factors that could affect that (busy park/cred run so limited time), but I just want to come off and go "yes that was good". Granted my trips have been non-existent for a few years now, but Untamed was a great example of not being the tallest or fastest coaster I've ridden but coming off it with a sense of enjoyment and eagerness to ride it over and over again. Lost Gravity had a similar response though not as strong. Cedar Point after doing TTD was a pure adrenaline rush. However I came off a number of coasters there including Millennium Force with very little desire to re-ride them. Whether it be comparison to other coasters or just kinda falling flat. If I went super analytical I'd wager most at the top would be B&M Inverts. But the likes of Raptor down the bottom with a top 3 of Nemesis, Katun and Oz'Iris, all very different coasters to each other but ones I could ride over and over. Stats are meaningless if the actual ride is dull and doesn't have any wow factor. Which is why I'm dubious over Exodus.
    2 points
  17. When I was on swarm yesterday I saw loads of gold supports, probably about 20. There were still definitively more white the gold but still a fair few gold. There was also a crane on the island behind swarm yesterday, not sure if that was for a new support delivery or if they were getting started on moving the supports to the site.
    2 points
  18. Yeah that’s pretty accurate but most of the white supports were in higher number piles - from what I assume (I forgot to ask a Thorpe employee 🙃), the supports that are by their retrospective signposts determine the order in which they’re going to be installed - the supports by the number 1 signpost were primarily gold from what I remember, so at the very least I think we’ll see some gold supports installed to clear some space, and as they’re being installed there’ll be more deliveries that come in and it’ll probably keep going like that until all deliveries have been made.
    2 points
  19. I also have an issue with getting one run through with your ticket as mazes such as Survival games have multiple routes so you could be in there for 5 minutes or 20 minutes. It seems a waste of money, I usually just linger from the group and try and lengthen my experience and interact with actors to give them the opportunity to scare me more.
    2 points
  20. I've just come across this old tread (from 2014) on theme park reviews forums looks like in science week, Chessington did some graphic info boards of its history - with some great photos and images of the park and old Ariel shots etc, that I've never seen before. Does anyone have any better/clearer images of these boards when Chessington did this? or know where the images came from (often Merlin steal from elsewhere lol). Its just I'd like to see these images better. or if anyone knows where these boards are? I'm sure maybe the park brought them out for other science weeks or nostalgia stuff in subsequent years? https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/39923-photo-tr-chessington-woa-24-03-14/
    2 points
  21. Ah great thank you - see you at the pre-video live stream. I hadn’t realised Oktoberfest was anything to do with skiing to be honest! All of this had completely passed me by
    2 points
  22. No problem, I'll be uploading a 15 minute video about these new ski-slope themed signs on my Youtube channel this evening.
    2 points
  23. It's been pointed out to me since that Hyperia is the daughter of the river god Inachus in ancient Greek mythology, so whilst I still think it's a bit of a cop out (loosely connecting ancient Greek mythology with the fact that Exodus is a hypercoaster) this does certainly make it at least a little better in my book. This ticks a lot of boxes... Exodus either being themed around Ancient Egyptian or Ancient Greek mythology Exodus being built on a lake therefore naming it after the daughter of a Greek god that was 'the river god' That weird angel thing that was left over from Loggers Leap looks like it could fit in with Greek mythology As far as I'm concerned, the name is 100% going to be Hyperia at this point - all signs point towards it. To be honest, I'd have preferred 'Inachus' if I was making the decision - but I suppose that doesn't give them the double-meaning that Hyperia does. It'll grow on me, I'm sure... but at the minute I still think Exodus is an infinitely better name.
    2 points
  24. Ding dong, your opinion is wrong. But seriously, a couple of points: -I've had chats with Parma Violet and have removed some complete nonsensical rubbish they've posted. -Parm Prat's posts are every once in a while, and not constant/every other post -Parmesan Pamela posts at this point are a running joke post. In the past, we've had "Topspin", "4.5/10", "If I wanted to look at trees, I'd go to a garden centre". More recently we've had "Jart" and "Tidal Wave's fire" -More importantly, I think the sense of relief we'll get once Exodus opens and Parma Ham's posts become less frequent and annoying will be much more satisfying than us banning Ramp App (and them inevitably coming back as Parm Pap 2: Electric Boogaloo). It's a bit annoying, yes. Personally I find it significantly less annoying than the people on Twitter who are "in the know" and post future stuff as "#spectulation" and going 'it's just my opinion,👀 #Newfor2024'.
    2 points
  25. Broken clocks tend to be right twice a day. Reference to spinning cars, well Mack are doing them on other rides. Could open in May? Well if not March for presumably the 2024 opening will likely be after Easter holidays as seems to be the new normal these days. Ergo May isn't exactly a difficult guess. Logical guessing with a side order of utter tosh that got old about a day after it started that none of the Mods can be bothered to do much about. Which leads me to presume it's something encouraged by the Mods in the name of engagement or they can't be bothered to do anything.
    2 points
  26. Was saying to someone the other day - it would be quite hilarious if looking back once confirmed and built, that all of Parm Pap's posts actually suddenly made some sort of sense.
    2 points
  27. MattyMoo

    SAW: The Ride

    Just to advise you can now play a game again because SAW: THE RIDE is now OPEN.
    2 points
  28. Apparently Track arriving next week and construction due to go vertical at the end of the week or the start of the week after if everything stays on plan. Mini heat wave next week should help that along. Station footers phase 1 have gone in, and work is now progressing on footers for the lift hill and the top end of the site where the double turnaround elements will be. Pace seems to be picking up frantically, but still think march is aggressive given the volume of work to do on site including the reinstating of the lake!
    2 points
  29. I think the youtube videos we are all excited for is Jack Silkstone's walk throughs of each maze where he is getting hounded by like 10 actors at all time for the duration of the maze near enough. I am sure those videos ABSOLUTELY represent the treatment that us commoners get....when we actually pay the 10 quid!!
    2 points
  30. MattyMoo

    Fright Nights 2023

    Look forward to watching a reaction video to a stream of the THORPE PARK RESORT Youtube video later on tonight on the big screen.
    2 points
  31. Benin

    Legoland

    Correction. TWO new coasters as its duelling. However, I feel no one cares because its at Legoland. Which I agree with.
    2 points
  32. Rode Ghost Train twice a couple of weeks ago and even though I still don't think it's nearly as bad as people make it out to be, I still do have a fair few gripes with it. Firstly, I'll list some of the changes that I noticed since my first runthrough on opening day: The actor doing the batching into the preshow gives more of a talk at the start now - you know, your usual health and safety stuff really. Don't touch the actors, turn your phones off, etc. Not a huge fan of it and prefer the more simplistic approach that they had on opening day of the batching person just telling people to "keep moving, keep standing", but understand that this is needed because of morons unable to grasp the fact that you should never touch an actor. Got held in the second preshow space in both runthroughs, and although not a new feature, this is something I didn't get to experience in my first go as we were just all ushered straight through onto the train. I like it, I wish more time was made so that everybody can experience is regardless if there's a delay or not, but again I understand the reasons for this not being the case. The runner in the crypt that reveals the spirit has finally been painted black! Makes the reveal a lot less obvious now... however on my second runthrough of the day, the curtain hiding said spirit was open - so if you knew what to look for, you could literally see it sat there ready to come flying out. But on the other hand, the lighting for this still really is atrocious. It's a total blink-and-you-miss-it moment. I took my friend on it for his first ever runthroughs of it, and I still don't think he noticed it after even our second go to be honest. The lighting either needs a rework, or the effect needs to be totally stripped out and re-looked at over closed season to be more effective. I personally think if they removed the rails that make it fly overhead and perhaps make an even bigger model (think the size of Emily Alton in the final jumpscare in The Curse, maybe even bigger) come out from the wall? Could probably be done via some retractable arm - that way it can be a big jumpscare moment that stays in place for long enough for guests to actually notice it, rather than having it whiz over the top of guests heads and risk them not even seeing it. The audio on the train seemed better, but still needs more work to be genuinely scary in my opinion. It's still far too quiet for any of the jumpscare sound effects to be genuinely impactful - I think the main issue is a real lack of bass. The nun costumes are significantly better now - actual robes and face makeup rather than the god awful Tesco halloween costume junk they were using beforehand. Not sure if it was a quiet day for actors then or if the park have reduced the actors in the attraction (already), but we only had one nun on the train in both our runthroughs that day which does significantly dampen the scare if you're on the wrong side of the train... which we were. Twice. The fake shop ending is still pretty decent and the new costume they're using for it is miles better than the Thorpe Park blue fleece they were using on opening day - although is nowhere near as impactful as the demon from Derren's heyday. Yes, I'm still salty about that. On our first runthrough we also experienced a breakdown on the train after the crypt scene - the actors were doing their best to keep up the breakdown monologue as to not disrupt the experience, but the breakdown lasted long enough that you could notice the audio loop which got a bit awkward after a while. Really got to feel for those actors as they need to be on their A game 110% of the time - if you've got lacklustre actors, the attraction falls completely flat on its face (which, to be honest, is not something we had trouble with. All of the actors did an incredible job - especially the lady called Becca, who's the current face for Fright Nights. She puts all her energy into this attraction and it really pays off). We also had the fake shop finale actor come out about 30 seconds too early on our first runthrough which totally spoiled the scare - they came through the fake door before the lights and projector even turned off, so you could see everything. They then just stood there looking around waiting for the lights to go off so they could do the usual scare thing of just lurching at people from behind the fence. A real shame as it totally ruined the experience for a lot of us when the very last thing of the attraction (which usually provides an amazing scare tbh) falls flat on its face. I really hope they put a little bit more time and energy into Ghost Train over closed season, things I'm longing for are: Something over the windows to simulate movement - perhaps curtains or LED strip lights like on Sub-Terra's elevator section Fogger in the crypt to absolutely cover the floor in a thick fog to sell the illusion that you're in a crypt Everything else works for what the attraction is to be honest, it just needs tidying up and some effects need enhancing to really sell the complete package.
    1 point
  33. Benin

    Fright Nights 2023

    Universal probably have done a toymaker character at one point. Also the Chucky franchise exists. Halloween events are rarely the most imaginative.
    1 point
  34. There’s some aerial shots that have been posted on Instagram of the site. Looks to be all but complete footer wise, maybe 20 left in some various stages of completion. Also looks like there’s an access route prepared to reach the back of the site, so I would say not far off going vertical at all now.
    1 point
  35. Soz for double post, but the new 16+ restriction for admittance to Tulleys is coming as a shock and disappointment to people online it seems... they do keep posting about it mind you... I reckon it could make quite a difference to crowd levels, potentially. I know we noticed some teens filming in mazes on Snapchat and the like, but I'm not saying that's limited to under 16s (over 16s would obvs be on Facebook xoxo)
    1 point
  36. I'm with Benin here, stats seem to correlate very little with rides I enjoy versus ones I don't. 1. Imagination. This covers a lot of different things but basically, I prefer a well themed, well designed, well paced rollercoaster compared to an off the shelf, generic model. I like to be surprised, taken aback, shown different things. Things like Ride to Happiness, Taron, Toutatis, Nemesis are perfect examples. 2. High capacity/Reliable. I think there's a lot to be said for excellent operations and a lot of enthuisiasts forgive broken down rides and shoddy operations way too easily. My most recent example is Iron Grawzi. It doesn't matter how excellent it is, if you spend 5 minutes in the break run because of shoddy operations, everyone is going to look and feel bored out of their minds when they get off of the thing. Rides that I love because of their ease of riding are Nemesis, Blue Fire, El Toro. 3. Fun. Ultimately I want to get off a ride and be overwhelmed and want to run back round and do it all again. Toutatis, El Toro, Nemesis, Ride to Happiness fit those bills and I will just ride and ride and never get bored.
    1 point
  37. I love theoretical throughputs, even on 8 cars there is absolutely no way it could get 950 people per hour. Its absolute maximum was 750 on 8 cars which it last did in 2005.
    1 point
  38. JoshC.

    Park Operations

    Sadly no clue. I know it's quite a recent change (last couple of years), so not a result of the Smiler incident, or any other theme park accident that I'm aware of. It could just be a 'Stealth-like' scenario where they choose to rotate the annual maintenance of cars. So they have 7 cars available, with the 8th being serviced / used as a quick spare part replacement, a la Stealth, where the 3rd train is always being serviced. But again, I stress I have no idea. Definitely cynical, in that this wouldn't have been the reason. The park would not have gone "Inferno is running too efficiently, never has a long queue queue to sell enough Fastrack, we need to slow it down". The departments in charge of Operations and Fastrack are completely different, and beyond communicating throughput numbers, will have little interaction with one another. And certainly the Fastrack department would not be able to ask them to slow down, nor would anyone higher up. However, whatever the reason for the slowing in operations and reducing throughput over the years, it is certainly a by-product that Fastrack is more appealing. And I'm sure they're likely to sell more tickets as a result. A recent change on bigger rides I've noticed is that staff now have headsets to communicate with each other, rather than the phones. This means they can be in constant communication with each other, and don't have to stop to do so. This has pros and cons, but there's now no longer this scenario of people walking over to a phone to have a goss with each other.
    1 point
  39. JoshC.

    Park Operations

    8 followed by a closed bracket - aka ) - gives 😎. It's an old school way of doing the sunglasses emoji which our forum software still uses. As you note, your averages are across quite a small sample, which isn't the most reliable. But it still gives some useful insight. This is pretty good, especially considering you mentioned there was some guest faff. Again, given there was guest faff, that's not bad. With it's onload/offload platform, batching procedures and the way bag collection is dealt with, Stealth should be pretty consistent. Saw hasn't operated with 8 cars for a number of years, and likely won't ever again. 770 is pretty painful for its popularity, although really not all that surprising for what it is these days. This is going to be hit hard next year being near Exodus. I mean, this is painful, but sadly what we've come to expect from Colossus these days. I can't remember the last time it ever did well, but it simply just doesn't do well these days. Another one that will be hit hard next year. Christ knows what the park have done to Inferno. Quite a few years ago (well, I guess we're getting close to a decade now, but whatever), Inferno was a throughput machine. The 1000pph mark was standard. Nowadays, 700 mark is good. It's better than like 5 years ago, when 600 was good, but it's really a sad situation to see. This really highlights the need not so much for Exodus to be a throughput machine, but to be able to have a solidly high throughput which it can easily maintain for years to come.
    1 point
  40. Bringing this back
    1 point
  41. jessica2

    Fright Nights 2023

    Theme of new maze could be good as I guess scary/creepy dolls can be effective. Not sure how you make an entire maze out of it (e.g. in the attic at AT there is a toy scene which is cool) but I guess we will see. It does also put me off going to fright nights nowadays the fact that you get one chance (unless you're buying multiple entries) at having a good run through on a maze, so I tend to go on what I predict will be the quietest day (maybe the first Sunday), and STILL the couple of times I've gone I've ended up in a huge group with a load of teenagers and there's hardly any actors in most of the rooms hah. Go figure... I will say, mazes like asylum with strobes, loud noise and general chaos meant that, even though you were going through in quite large groups in a conga line, you still always got good scares and in a way it didn't matter so much about where you were in the group, it was still intense. I think thorpe may now be missing a maze which has an intensity like asylum (and to some extent creek freak) had, but who knows maybe stitches will bring that. Haven't done survival games so can't comment on that. I hope they do consider things like this when designing mazes, I.e. how will it perform in sub optimal conditions, rather than when one influencer goes round with the full cohort of actors.
    1 point
  42. 9th September 2023: Brean Theme Park Hi guys. Today was an exciting day; I went for my first ever visit to Brean Theme Park, near Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset! Now I know that that might not sound too exciting to many of you, but I was glad to finally tick it off seeing as it’s actually my closest semi-major theme park! Oddly given that I’ve lived in the South West of England my whole life and amassed a coaster count of over 100, I had never been to Brean Theme Park (or any theme park in my local South West region, for that matter) before today. I’d walked past the outside of it during a camping trip to Brean when I was no older than about 8, but I’d never been inside and seen what delights it had to offer. With that in mind, I was excited to tick off my closest non-kiddie +3 and finally see what my closest theme park is like! I was originally planning to do this as a solo trip via train and bus, but my mum decided she didn’t like the idea of me going to Brean alone and kindly offered to drive me there, and my nan decided that she fancied joining us. The 3 of us set off from Gloucestershire at a bit before 10am, and with the drive taking just over an hour, we arrived in Brean in very good time for the 11am opening time: After parking up, we headed into the park and got Fun Cards. As I was riding the coasters, I put 14 credits on mine, and my mum and nan put credits on theirs to play a game of Congo Adventure Golf while I rode the coasters. After paying, I split off from my mum and nan and headed into the main theme park itself: Upon entering the park, I was initially unsure whether any of the coasters were even open, as they looked very empty and showed little sign of being operational. However, I did find one coaster that was open upon closer inspection, so I headed over to it… Astro Storm Astro Storm was open and had a very short-looking queue consisting of around 6 people, so I decided to take a ride on it. This queue ended up taking around 10-15 minutes all in, which I wasn’t too displeased with, in all honesty. Interestingly, though, I noticed that the operators were very casually walking across the track and between the unload and load stations in a way that you definitely wouldn’t see at a park like Alton Towers, and it’s also the first coaster where I’ve ever had the operator push me out of the station! That’s not a criticism, but just something interesting I noticed. But enough about that; how was the ride? Well, I was interested to ride it given that it was a former resident of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and I have to say that it wasn’t too bad at all for a ride at a park of this calibre! Sure, it’s not going to blow any minds on the world stage, and I’d argue that the claim that it’s “Europe’s best indoor coaster” is a bit debatable, but the ride was quite good fun for what it is, with some fun twists and turns! I was also quite pleasantly surprised by the theming; there were some nice effects, although there were quite a few air cannons that did make me jump! Overall, Astro Storm was a perfectly fine enclosed coaster with some surprising theming: After getting off Astro Storm, I headed over to the next coaster… Bulldog Coaster Bulldog Coaster was open and on a very short queue consisting of only 2 other people, so I decided to have a go on it. The wait was very short, only taking the time that it took for the train to negotiate the remainder of the circuit and unload the riders in it; I can’t complain about that! So, how was the ride? Well, it was the second Pinfari coaster I’ve ridden, and the first looping Pinfari Zyklon I’ve ridden, and similar to the first Pinfari coaster I rode, Creepy Crawler at Oakwood, I wasn’t a huge fan. The restraint was very uncomfortable, and although the signature loop was admittedly quite forceful, the layout was pretty rough in numerous places, with a fair amount of bracing required. It’s admittedly an impressive headliner for a park like Brean, but I’m afraid to say that I wasn’t a fan: After getting off Bulldog Coaster, I made my way to the final credit I needed… Magic Mouse Magic Mouse was open and had a relatively short-looking queue consisting of around 10-15 people, so I decided to take a ride on it. This queue, similarly to that of Astro Storm, took around 10-15 minutes, which I can’t really complain about. I did notice that they were only loading one group per car regardless of the group size, though, and it was similar on Astro Storm; I rode in a car on my own on both rides, even though I could quite easily have been batched in alongside other groups that came before me in both cases. It wasn’t really a problem today, but it was just something I noticed. That’s besides the point, though; how was the ride? Well, Magic Mouse was my 7th Reverchon spinning wild mouse coaster, so I’m quite well versed in how these coasters ride by this point, and I’m not a fan of them at all, as I’m not a fan of the wild mouse ride style in general. This was one of the smoother ones I’ve done, though, and with me being in a car on my own, it span a lot; I was a little bit light-headed getting off! Overall, Magic Mouse was pretty much par-for-the-course for these Reverchon spinning coasters; I don’t really rate them at all, I’m afraid: After getting off Magic Mouse, it was around 12pm, so as my Fun Card credits had run out and I’d ridden all 3 of the coasters I wanted to ride, I met back up with my mum and nan, who’d finished their game of Congo Adventure Golf. They both tied with each other, but said that they’d very much enjoyed their game! After meeting back up, we exited the park: Before heading back home, we took a stroll along a very foggy Brean Beach. This must easily be the foggiest I’ve ever seen a beach; you couldn’t even see the sea!: After our brief beachside stroll, we headed back to the car and headed home, stopping in Sedgemoor services for a spot of lunch on the way back. So, that concludes our day (or, more accurately, morning) at Brean Theme Park in Somerset! I know this probably hasn’t been the most exciting report, and I apologise for that, but I was very glad to finally visit my closest theme park and grab the +3 that it had to offer, and if nothing else, it made for a fun morning on a hot day like today! None of the coasters are anything particularly earth-shattering in the grand scheme of things, but I didn’t go in expecting top 10/20 candidates or anything, and for a park of the calibre that it is, I think Brean is a perfectly fine place. Now I’ve been, it’s not somewhere I’d rush back to, but I’m glad that I finally went and ticked off my closest theme park, and I had a nice morning there. Thanks for reading! Despite this probably not being the most interesting report, I hope you still enjoyed it! It won’t be long at all until you next see a trip report from me, as I’m headed to two theme parks next week; I’ll be taking my annual visit to Thorpe Park on Friday 15th September, swiftly followed by my first visit to Chessington in nearly a decade on Sunday 17th September!
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  43. Brean always strikes me as an odd place! Have a great time at Thorpe and Chessington next week!
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  44. On the subject of Exodus, it seems possible that the core beams for maintenance building will be erected very soon. I thought that that route might have been used to move supports and track onsite, so it's interesting that's the first thing to be built (with parts then moved on site out of park hours through the park)
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  45. Apparently going vertical is not in the area you'd expect, whatever that means. So therefore, I expect a number of supports to appear where Slammer is SBNO #MattyMoo83IconExclusive
    1 point
  46. Stitches! The final announcement. I like the look of this. Peoples thoughts? New scare maze for 2023! Step into the disturbing realm of Howell’s Toy Emporium, where charming memories of childhood twist into a harrowing nightmare🧸 Join the Toymaker as she opens the doors to her workshop and gives you a blood-curdling snippet into the inner-workings of her factory😱 Keep your wits about you though, we’ve a feeling you may uncover some sinister revelations within… As you step into the quaint toy shop, a wave of nostalgic warmth embraces you. But be warned, beneath the innocent exterior lies a malevolent secret — an evil that awakens within the deranged toys when the lights go out🫣 Conjure your bravery as you navigate the eerie corridors of this malevolent toy factory and witness your cherished childhood companions morph into tormentors before your eyes😭 This sinister scare maze will shatter your perception of innocence and plunge you into your worst nightmare! Enter 'Stitches' if you dare, for once you cross the threshold, there's no retreat from the horrors that lie within... Will you outwit the clutches of the Toymaker’s wicked creations, or are you destined to become a permanent resident of her collection? It's time to rally your crew, summon your fearless spirit, and embrace the darkness at Thorpe Park Fright Nights.
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  47. Tatum-Riley

    Fright Nights 2023

    I can’t lie, this lineup is cringing me out more by the day. I obviously will remain optimistic but this does not feel like Fright Nights at all. Along with the reimagined Lycanthorpe/Amity it just seems so family friendly. I do need to stop comparing to the past but when we’ve had the likes of The Asylum, Experiment 10 and My Bloody Valentine this does not excite me. I understand this is likely to be a show and not necessarily a scare attraction so obviously the theme doesn’t have to be as scary. I am looking forward to the other announcements but for now I am reluctant.
    1 point
  48. MattyMoo

    Fright Nights 2023

    Thorpe Park's socials are on a roll today - they've just posted the next FN announcement before the "official reveal" at 7pm, but with a picture of Colossus. Creature Campus sounds like something from Chessington.
    1 point
  49. 1 point
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