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I will buy everyone on this forum a drink at the local spoons if Big Top returns. I will actually go through it butt naked if it did. Time to just accept that it’s gone for good. *sees the lineup announcement for Fright nights. Well guess that’s me sticking to Alton Towers Scarefest and Tulleys Shocktoberfest

It’s humbling and a genuine pleasure to see the love for Big Top - but believe me, there is no announcement coming, no surprise return. And trust me - the park know just how much of a following the maze has and how much everybody wants to see it return. They just can’t deliver it anymore.

Please if Thorpe Management are watching just bring it back now for this reason. 😂😂😂

Great conversation about Chessington guys. I went yesterday, it's nice to take a few years break from parks as Chessington is looking really good right now (to me at least). Of all three ex Tussauds parks, it looks in the best position for the 2020's. We pretty much looked around the entire Zoo and theme park and there's small bits of improvement all over the park. There's obviously some flaws such as Toadies which looks baaaad but on the flip side, Sir Squirtlot was on which I haven't seen for years. They need to make a statement on Bucaneer because saying its run aground is coy. Park was relatively quiet with 10-20 minute queues across the board. Saw some shows, had a pint or two at the hotel which I think is Merlins best hotel as far as the theme and view stands. Lord Lorikeet I like these little tributes across the park to the past. Ashok here, the wood carvings near the penguin enclosure from a tree that was cut down to expand the area. They are charming and respectful. Wanyama Village is the best part of Chessington. It's what separates theme parks from amusement parks. Chessington is easily our best answer to the European competitors IMO. I liked how fresh a lot of the park actually looked. Rattlesnake had a slight refurb a few years back with all the snakes fixed and now looks much nicer then it did through the 00's. The animatronics still need work Wasn't much of a fan of Bucaneer just being left around near Griffins. This park needs a successor to Fury. It can't cope with the demand and has never been able to. As the ride offering decreases, they need to get some investment in. I like that they are refurbishing rides one by one through the place and I approve of the effort in the Zoo offering. The place still needs some ride investment. With so much on the market, when will Chessington actually build something fresh and new?

A brief Rookburgh update. Construction of the hotel is very much underway and it's now clearer how this will be integrated into the area. It will be formed of 3 (or potentially 4 / 3 with a 4th to come in later years) 'towers', formed of multiple floors. It's expected that there will be 5-6 floors in each tower, with 5 rooms per floor. These towers will be woven into the top end of the Rookburgh site, near the end of the launch tracks. See below for a rough plan: (image from cslkenny) Though it was previously speculated the hotel may be Shark Hotel-esque and formed from themed containers, they are being made 'properly'. See a construction update here: Work is continuing onsite with some theming going on around the outskirts and more buildings being built on the made site. Views onto the site are extremely limited so hard to tell exactly how much progress has been made. It'll be interesting to see how the hotel is priced. The rooms are quite small, certainly not much bigger than the Shark Hotel ones. But they do offer a really unique experience in literally being surrounded by a coaster, and will likely be highly themed. One would hope they're soundproofed though; wouldn't be a fan of be woken up by a coaster being tested at 6am..

Hersheypark are getting a new area next year, Chocolatetown, and the headline ride will be the awfully-named Candymonium, a 210ft tall B&M coaster, which will be the park's highest, fastest and longest coaster:

I think European park guests typically enjoy water rides more, but more importantly have a better understanding of park rules and safety, which is why the U.K. has such stringent rules especially of late. I think most of the UK industry is arguably behind a lot of other countries when it comes to park progression. Not just the big things, but the little things too such as theming, immersion and even basic customer service. We’ve only recently had our first GCI/wooden coaster in 20+ years and I think we will be waiting at least another five before we ever see an RMC. If we even ever get one! Paultons is currently the most likely U.K. park to invest in a water ride that actually gets you wet but we shall see. We have seen at least three major water rides close in the U.K. in recent years, not including the ones in Blackpool, Pleasureland or Adventure Island.

At least it wasn't the Daily Mail: RIDERS LEFT DANGLING MID-AIR IN NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE ON DANGEROUS RIDE

I think the most shocking thing about that article is that Towers was open past 5pm.

Loggers Leap says hi Sorry folks, it ain’t coming back!

I'd say you were done out of a lot more then £20 to be honest.

I absolutely agree with you that the way Cedar Point takes care of its heritage rides is to be respected and admired. It’s something that often goes under the radar with this magnificent park given the focus on all the newer coasters they have.

StevenVig being unnecessarily sarcastic about a justified comment? Shock horror