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Couldn't quite believe what I heard earlier but it's true. One of many artists I didn't listen to often but still had a lot of respect for. Tonight we've lost another icon in music. R.I.P Avicii

Nexo Knights Kingdom Castle... sorry I keep picking on you I don't mean to. It will be known as Haunted House. Just the same as it's known as Atlantis over Atlantis: Submarine Voyage. It's solely to reflect what it's all about. I don't think Ghost works whatsoever.

I'm already classing 2018 as a negative year in all honesty. We've gained Wicker Man (a fantastic coaster) and Icon (hopefully another fantastic coaster), but we've lost one of the most wonderful coasters ever to grace the UK lineup. No new coaster can make up for that, IMO. In addition, there's Alton operating on a shoestring budget (a park opening a major new coaster shouldn't be operating a schedule which sees four major coasters open at 11am), Blackpool cutting hours, the less said about Thorpe the better and I can't even face visiting Chessington. We've got two new coasters but the negatives still outweigh the positives, IMO.

- Taron is quite possibly the best coaster I have ever ridden. It has everything. - Black Mamba > Nemesis - Chiapas is exceptional but I prefer Ripsaw Falls overall. - River Quest is wild. Like wtf was that. - Temple of the Nighthawk needs to be binned. - Maus au Chocolate is great. - Europa > Phantasia [/fin]

What a bizarre discussion. It's all fair and well for a theme park fan to say "You should really plan your day fully in advance/work your way around the park in a specific order", but who honestly expects a member of the general public to be that forward-thinking and knowledgeable about the park's operations when anticipating what should be a leisurely day out at a park? I can't speak for everyone, but the only modus operandi I tend to stick to when visiting a park is to leave the newest attraction(s) until later in the day, but Towers' operating schedule has basically done away with that unless you're of a very specific age group/demographic. I have never, particularly in off-peak season, had to plan out a schedule of rides prior to visiting a park, and I'd say there have only been two occasions where I've done a noticeably disappointing number of rides, one of which would have seen no benefit at all from forward-planning. Visitors are paying more than they ever have to enter these parks, and yet Merlin are maintaining cuts that are very clearly having a big impact on a substantial number of guests' days out. Expecting people to accommodate this by putting a schedule on, or in any other way restraining a relaxed day out that they've paid for, is ignorant and against much of what theme parks were intended to be in the first place.