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Flat rides probably don't draw in guests. For Merlin's rediculously high rate of return targets its pretty clear why very few flat rides are built. They cant sell them as a world's first so they stick a bunch of actors to them to make them an "experience" which in turn leads to negative feedback due to the low throughput and the attraction being inconsistent. So they now have an expensive to run actor led experience that will last 1-3 years. This phenomenon is bad for the park but is being made significantly worse by the fact that the old flat rides have come to the end of their life. They need replacing. Which means instead of just all new attractions being inadequate and short lived, replacement ones now suffer the same fate.

Having finally ridden Wildfire, I think there’s a few things that should be pointed out with it. It is a truely brilliant coaster and in my opinion the best coaster in Europe. HOWEVER, this ride does have two MAJOR flaws. 1, if you ride it early in the day it is very sluggish and slow compared to what it is in the afternoon once it “warms up”. This is quite a flaw given the other RMC I have done (Steel Vengeance) is consistent no matter what time of day you ride it. Flaw number 2 does not apply to me specifically but more to “larger riders” and that is the restraints. Wildfire’s (and Steel Vengeance’s or indeed any RMC) leg bracket may not affect me necessarily as I leave that much of a gap between my legs and the bracket BUT if you are somebody with larger legs, these restraints WILL cause you some major discomfort. This coupled with the lap bar itself crushing down on your lap will absolutely nullify most of if not all of the airtime that RMC coasters are famous for. Those flaws aside, Wildfire is a brilliant coaster with one of the greatest first drops in the business and in general a good fun layout. May not be as airtime heavy as I expected but it still had enough decent pops of airtime in its layout and also features some good hangtime. It is simply a stunning coaster to look at with its layout interacting with the rock work and the views from the ride of the surrounding area with the lake and surrounding woodlands and because of the fact it NEVER has any sort of queue, marathoning it over and over is dead easy. Certainly worth a trip to Sweden to ride!!

Proof Varney is actually Thanos. Merlin will never reopen it unless it’s themed to a Donaldson I.P.