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I think the marketing for the "Year of the Walking Dead" isn't the best, and I cant see how this can help being people to the park. Having it advertised as a "Year Of..." seems generous. Its not. Its a Fright Night/Summer Holiday of The Walking Dead. Yes the ride is there but if you close it for exclusive use, the normal ticket buyer (which lets face it, they want to get people to buy a day ticket and upgrade with the Pay for a day, come back all year thingy) gets absolutely no walking dead until certain times of the year. Even if the ride is open, there is 1 walking dead thing. I wouldn't call that a year celebration, more of a New for 2018 and some seasonal specials - Which I recon would of made more impact if they announced late in the year than they did. Nothing else on the island is walking dead themed all year round, only the ride (when its open) which I feel is a shame and a lost marketing opportunity for the park and it wouldn't surprise me if people were put off upgrading as they went thinking there will be more walking dead than in reality. Out of interest, is anyone with a pass actually bothered about exclusive ride time? The idea of the pre-season day I get, maybe opening mid-week for pass holders only (on a non-scheduled day), stuff like the eXpo event for pass holders makes sense, but closing a ride that anyone with a pass could ride at any time just for pass holders seems a little bit pointless.... I am a pass holder and not overly fussed about the events. I pay for year-round access and happy with that to be honest.

Tower of Terror has an even lower height restriction and thats far more ominous then any of Wicker Man.

Wicker Man. I think it’s fair to say that I had very mixed feelings during the construction and build-up process for this ride. Whilst I was happy to see a new wooden coaster finally grace the UK line-up, I had reservations about how good it would be; there weren’t any huge drops in the layout, so would it pick up enough speed to be thrilling? On approaching the ride, the excitement builds from the moment you see the hugely impressive Wicker Man structure and entrance signage come into view with the music droning in the background. I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing – it’s such a compelling sight, nothing looks out of place and everything just ‘works’. Moving into the queue-line, the design is fantastic with so many vantage points for the ride – small items of theming are expertly placed creating brilliant photo opportunities. Throughout queuing there are many good places to watch the coaster from, and it’s so pleasing to see that everyone seems to be enjoying it. I really like how the smoke effect is pulled around the corner by the train after exiting the second tunnel, in particular. Being surrounded by the roar of a wooden coaster combined with the soundtrack, theming and screams of joy is really something quite special. Onto the preshow, I enjoyed this and found it delivers a lot in a short space of time. The transition is clever and the show lasts just long enough to stay interesting whilst not becoming a burden after a few rides. I found the theatrics and changes in atmosphere particularly impressive, however it was a shame on one of the rides I had that the automatic doors at the back of the room kept opening. Exiting into the station, the lighting and dispatch/unload audio keeps the theme consistent and is very impressive. With the thematic elements done to a very high standard, how well would the coaster itself hold up? After five rides on two separate occasions, I absolutely love it. Dispatching out of the station, the pre-lift section is very Nemesis Inferno-esque (with the mist-filled tunnel) and sets the scene for the ride very well. Ascending the lift hill, the views of the ride are excellent and the audio helps to build anticipation throughout. The first corner and drop help to build up the speed, and the tunnel adds a level of disorientation, as you exit already facing the ground. The section that follows is truly sublime; after going over the second hill in the tunnel, you emerge blinded from the light to be thrown (yes, THROWN) first to the right, then to the left and into a ground-hugging turn. This is my absolute favourite section of the ride; the forces are much better than I expected and the transition from right-to-left is just so much fun. Diving through the Wicker Man structure and up into the turnaround, this offers a nice view of the queue-line and theming structure before hitting the two small bumps (which are much better than they look!) and then plunging to the right through the structure into yet another fantastic and unexpected sideways-banked drop. I found that the flat corner goes a long way to making the ride feel longer, as it gives you time to process the elements you’ve been through before heading into the next section. The straight drop which follows provides a nice feeling of weightlessness, however on the back row at the end of a rainy day there was some incredible airtime there! Following this is a sharp right-hand-turn through the structure, before turning left under the lift-hill and into the brake run leaving the clank of the lift chain ringing in your ears. After some time to think it through, I can say in full confidence that Wicker Man is genuinely one of the best roller coasters I have ever ridden. Firstly, it’s the first time Alton have delivered a fully complete theme under Merlin, with no obvious corners cut and nothing looks out of place. I could nit-pick, but it's the best we've had in the UK for years - so I won't. The coaster itself is great fun and is a superb example of a wooden coaster. Combined, it’s a masterpiece. My only concerns going forward are the reliability issues the ride is currently having, and maintenance of effects. The fire, smoke and audio add a lot to the overall experience, and with the fire already broken, I only hope that Alton can manage to maintain them to a high standard. Thanks for reading, a few more photos below. Wicker Man = AMAZING.

I believe they're planning to open it in July-time. It's just the drop that needs doing, so it's nothing major really. The commissioning process won't take too long to complete, so it's just a case of finishing off the station building and surrounding area.

I don't think Wicker Man is too scary. Predictable example from me, but Valhalla is a family ride system yet is based around viking afterlife, gods etc. I remember being terrified of it (back in 2004 when it was a hugely theatrical and impactful experience) with the loud audio, noises, effects, darkness - but it's something I'll always remember, something that captured my imagination and very quickly became my favourite ride. Wicker Man's pre-show is brilliant as it achieves the same level of class atmosphere that Valhalla's lift hill used to, it's loud and atmospheric - but I wouldn't say there is anything unsuitable for a family audience there.

Figaro Bros, the company, was formed in February 2018. The Figaro Brothers, the characters of The Big Top, were introduced in the 2015 incarnation, which was also notoriously well known for including many Derren Brown Easter Eggs. The brothers were the Ringleader, Kenny the Clown and Big Baby. The Ringleader and Big Baby were characters within the maze. Kenny the Clown was a nod to Paul McKenna, a hypnotist who Derren once was friends with, but had a falling out with. The name Figaro came from the name of one of Derren's pet parrots, as did the name for Madame Mephisto. I believe the Ringleader, who had a bit of an Eastern European accent in adverts and announcements, was to be called Rasputin, after Derren's third parrots, but that was never formally announced... Anyway, I digress... What it likely is is that this newly formed company is made up of a former employee(s) of Thorpe who has decided to work on their own projects now. They're probably using their work at Thorpe as an example to help get their exposure up. It happens regularly enough - people get experience at a large company, then use that experience and the contacts they make to start up their own company, or join a startup company, with a greater say in things.

Regardless of what they've said, as a coaster, it is a family ride focused on entertaining the younger market. From my rides, I can't say that the coaster does anything to particularly entertain me; an older member of the family. The coaster will entertain the younger-side of the market, and the older-side will simply go along with it and have a fun, low-key enjoyable ride. And that's fine. But then, you've got the theme, pre-show and overall presentation of the ride which makes it largely incompatible to those who would enjoy the ride most! As you say, it's not kid-friendly. The height restriction is neither here nor there to me. From my experience, the ride will be a MASSIVE hit with 6-8 year olds (which, nicely, is when kids start to hit 1.2m), but the presentation shuns that group away. It's a similar issue to what Th13teen had - that's a coaster which was always designed to be a big hit with the slightly older kids, 8-11 years I'd say, but was marketed way too intense and extreme. Fortunately, as time has passed, that issue has died away. Can that happen with Wicker Man though, given the scary stuff is part of the ride's experience, and not just some adverts which will disappear after a year? Of course, I'd like to say again that others who I rode it with (who had been on it before) said it was running slowly, and that did impact their experience too. Maybe I've done it on a bad day, especially given all the other reviews are largely positive! But of course, I can only go off what I've experienced, and I've experienced a family coaster designed for kids given a theme too scary for kids.

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Fixed that for you...

City parks are the easiest and cheapest, Madrid is a good shout here (plus Parque Warner isn't that hard to get to via public transport either)... Efteling is a good one via public transport too (either Amsterdam or Rotterdam airports), and Asterix is just as doable (coaches from Lourve in central Paris or CDG airport)... Verona airport is a good central base for the northern Italian parks as well, though not sure on the public transport side of things there...

Pluk is right in that travel will always be your biggest expense, so it depends on your options that way. As something a bit more out there, the two major parks in Poland (Energylandia and Legendia) are booming at the moment. Flights are pretty cheap, they're both within an hour or so of each other, and entry to the parks is like £15 each. Bit different, and a bit more unknown since less people have done it, but maybe worth considering. There's the lovely cluster pluk mentioned too, with Phantasialand, Movie Park Germany, Toverland and Efteling all within a couple of hours of each other. Whenever I've done that parks, I've driven that way, which is a longer, but cheaper and less faff. If you can get cheap flights, you could do that pretty well. Don't forget Liseberg either. Again, if you can find a cheap flight to Gothenburg, it's a ridiculously easy park to travel to and would be inexpensive in that sense.

I got my rides on Wicker Man yesterday (3 to be precise), and, well, it's good, but I have one major problem with it. Let's go back to what I was expecting from Wicker Man: As a coaster, this is what Wicker Man is. It's a fun family coaster; it's got its moments of fun and 'woah' bits, but it's quiet low-key: there's nothing during the course which made me, as someone who would be an older member of the family, think 'Wow, that was fun'. It was all very bog standard. And that's fine, as that gives a coaster for the younger age of the ride's market (6-8 years old) a perfect coaster to ride. But then that's where's the problem lies, as they've done sort of done a Th13teen again. The pre-show (which might I add, I thought was brilliant) is, in my opinion, too scary and over the top for that age range. 6-8 year old me would have HATED it, to the point I'd have been afraid to go on the ride. The pitch black brakes at the end of the ride are equally going to be unnerving and too creepy there too (and would have benefitted from something actually happening in there anyways aside from a blast of smoke). I don't know how well I've explained this, but I remain really unconvinced by this for now. We've got a coaster, which I enjoy, and fills in a gap in the market. We've got a theme and pre-show which I enjoy. But the two don't work together, creating a weird identity crisis of a proper family ride once again trying too hard to be scary. And unlike Th13teen, this isn't something which will die away in time, since the scary stuff is present in the attraction. Maybe I'm making something out of nothing. Maybe 6 year olds are braver these days, I was a wimp back then, I'm over-exaggerating, or whatever. But to me, there is a clear divide in the ride experience which is given and the ride experience it is styled towards. HOWEVER. I did ride with some people who have ridden it before, and they did say it was running noticeably slower today; both from an off and on ride perspective. That was regardless of time of riding (about 12pm, 2pm, 4pm) or where I was riding (near the front, back, middle respectively). So maybe I've caught Wicker Man on a bad day, in which case, I look forward to being able to catch it on a good day. For more positive stuff: -I love the queue -I love the audio -I love the statue -I like the trains -The random effect on the brakes at the end did catch me off guard on my first time. So yeah, to round off. I got the coaster I was expecting. And it's a good representation of what a 'low-thrill' family coaster can do. But with the presentation of the theme and story, they've got a mismatch on their hands. Hopefully I've caught it on a bad day. But if I have, one has to wonder if that was bad luck, or how many more bad days there are to come...

What really costs the money is not the parks, but the travelling. Your gate cost will be pretty insignificant compared to travel, with accomodation being somewhere in the middle but highly tailorable depending on the level of squalor you are willing to endure. So it kind of depends what way you want to look at it. If you are after a single park quick trip you are probably best off looking at flights to airports near parks and going to wherever Ryanair are willing to fly you for £15 each way. If you want to get the best value for money you are best off looking for a cluster of parks, flying there as reasonably as you can, and travelling about a bit. I'd always hire a car for convenience, but public transport can be better value (if the parks are on bus routes that is,you don't want to end up paying for taxis!). Germany is very good for this option. Because you are only flying once your cost per park will be much lower than repeated trips, but it will obviously be a higher one off overall spend than a quick single park trip. I'd always advise saving a bit longer and making your trip more worthwhile by visiting multiple parks. - Driving to Astrix can work out pretty cheap with a night ferry crossing. Loads of rural villages with cheap overnight accommodation on the route back. - Could be combined with a further drive to Disney, but that is one place the ticket price is significant. Some really good on site hotel deals including park entry crop up off season though. - I did Holiday Park, Tripsdrill, Mountains and Europa in one 8 day fly drive. I didn't slum it, packed stuff in, and that cost me about £500 before food and drink, which I don't thinks ablot but it could be done much cheaper. - There's a similar cluster centered around Phantasia/Move Park to the north, which are probably closer together and cheaper overall.

If you haven’t already, go and buy the ICON soundtrack from iTunes. It’s amazing, and a bargain. I actually didn’t know about it until Amanda told me it was available. A great decision by BPB. So there’s no marketing about for ICON. Oh well; the queues will hopefully be Blackpool’s normal pleasant experiences!

Baron, they were heavy handed on Helix and Balder all the way back in 2016, doesn't seem to be a new thing and never affected the fun anyway. I'll happily watch the throughput suffer if the ride experience remains the same. I'm glad to read that it hasn't been affected but I'll reserve judgement till I've been reunited with the beast. With how weird Sweden has been with parks in the past (see Kolmarden), I wouldn't be shocked to hear it's a new H&S ruling...

? has it JD1292? Easy to spot?! My word there is nothing like jumping on the bandwagon...

To be fair, the video's music has all the hallmarks of an IMAscore produced track. Repetitive chord progression/hook, heavy bass line and more synths than a 90's rave... I'm not bashing them, but overexposure has made their work pretty easy to spot these days.

Even if it doesn't open this year, at least one can stare at this beautiful station building...

Would they launch a marketing campaign about the last year of a maze? Would they launch a marketing campaign about Saw during the year of the walking dead? Combine the two... maybe it's the final goodbye for Saw: Alive before it comes another WD attraction? Remove the blood written words, take the dolls out, stick some walkers in there, sorted!

The park will extend closing time if they think the park is going to be significantly busier than expected, if ride reliability has been particularly poor or if there's been other issues. It's usually up to the duty manager of the park for the day to decide if closing is extended. Today the weather was very nice and the park started off very busy (apparently there were extremely long queues to buy tickets?). So they probably decided to err on the side of caution, stay open later (to a time which until this year was actually standard for them really), and deal with guest complaints before they even happened. Good move really.

Disagree with it never had soul. It was a great example of a British dark ride at the peak of creativity, bold ideas, massive set pieces and it was something you can’t find anywhere else. You can find a generic laser ride at any major theme park in the world. You’re quite right there are probably no plans or budget other than just to keep it running for the sake of having an extra attraction. I guess this Alton Tower’s Twitter quote sums up the current situation: “It’s better than nothing”

I'm so sorry.

There's only one solution: