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I don't get the fuss behind Helix TBH, I was hugely disappointed with it after YEARS of people banging on about it. The launches were naff, the airtime wasn't half as much as expected, the restraint dug into my leg more and more as I went through (Icon and Blue Fire doesn't do this as bad), and the whole thing rattled and was not as smooth as it should have been. That added with numerous technical issues made for a not so pleasant time with it. I know i'm in minority, so no need for backlash. I am however entitled to my opinion. Odd considering I like Icon!

Taziker Industrial have written a fantastic article on the retracking of The Big One - lots of good info! https://ti.uk.com/case-studies/the-big-one-rollercoaster

Top five parks that I love with all my being and would recommend whole heatedly. But please bare in mind this doesn't always have the groundbreaking rides, its all about that sweet, sweet theme as I at heart prefer escapism to just being thrilled. 5. Chessington. Nostalgia is important. Chessington has that nostalgia for me and every time I go I enjoy it far more then a lot of bigger, high budget parks. Whether its exploring the Zoo which makes this the more unique Merlin park or sitting in the hotel bar overlooking the savannah, this feels like the chill out park that I love. Vampire is a classic, Fury is great and the nostalgia for operating these rides will always make it a special place for me. 4. Phantasialand. Wonderful place. Naturally Chiapas and Taron are the standouts. There are parts of the park that are pretty weak such as the awful Winjas Force, Temple of the Knight-hawk and the tedious Chinese Vekoma madhouse. But the charm remains around the rest of the place and its always hotly anticipated. 3. Disneys Animal Kingdom. Immersion is the name of the game and this is the most consistent, natural and beautiful parks that Disney offers. From the wonderful food and drink (siting in Nomad lounge is a pleasure) too the unique Kilimanjaro Safari which is the ultimate E-ticket, a trip to Animal Kingdom has become more and more integral the more I go to Disney World. Pandora has only made the park more important. 2. Efteling. I don't think any theme park is as timeless, beautiful and charming as Efteling. European theme parks can be divided into two categories, the modern like Phantasialand and PortAventura or the classic like Alton Towers and Efteling. This place is gorgeous and a pleasure to explore. 1. Europa Park. Yeah this is an obvious Number one. It's a theme park I've been going to for nearly twenty years and it has everything that I require from a theme park. Whether its escapism with well themed rides or beautiful resorts, Bundles of rides and walk throughs, good food and lots of cheap beer. Yeah this has it all. My personal favourite is walking through the diamond cave and watching Alpine Express zooming through every two minutes. It's wonderful.

Top five parks that people love but I don't really enjoy as much as others and I won't use the word over-rated because that implies that I think the place is rubbish when it actually isn't apart from the Number 1 park which really is awful. 5. Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I don't mind the pleasure beach as such. I like Icon and I like the Wallace and Gromit ride. Big Dipper is okay as well. But everything else is just a bit bad. It doesn't help that Blackpool as a place really needs to sink into the sea and never return. 4. Islands of Adventure. I know why people love this place but I've never felt any love for it. Sheds. Thorpe Park on steroids. The first park to destroy not one but two B&M's. Thats a cardinal sin. It also has that really bad log flume where you just travel past cardboard scenery but nobody talks about it because the final drops look pretty on instagram. 3. Disneyland (CA). The grand-daddy of the Western themed area, Disneyland holds an amazing amount of nostalgia for so many people. It was Walt's park, he walked those streets, came up with the groundbreaking hub and spoke, the man was a genius. But this was a park for a different generation and these days, Disneyland is a struggle. It's tiny, full of low throughput attractions and is frustrating when all queues spill out into walkways all over the place. Nah. 2. Liseberg. I like Liseberg. But its a park that gets ridiculously busy all the time and is a real hassle to get around. I've been twice and I like Helix a lot, Lisebergbananananananana is wonderful, I liked Kanonen and I don't so much mind Balder. Valraven is boring. I find this park such a pain to get around because it was clearly designed with a smaller amount of people in mind. During my last trip when it was open 6pm-12am, the park was empty and it was lovely to be around. We could appreciate the rides and layout and how beautiful parts of it are. But on a busier day, forget it. I don't like the escalator up to Helix and the drop tower and I find the park annoying to get around. 1. PortAventura. The typical love for this place comes down to two things; It's hot and has good opening hours. For me it has two rides worth doing in Shambhala and Dragon Khan, a pretty good show and then you have 10 hours of wasting time because there's nothing else that I enjoy to ride or see. And worse is the queue-jumping. This isn't exclusive to PortAventura (The Madrid parks have exactly the same problem). But PA is far busier and full of queue skipping children. The only park where I recommend buying Fast-lane because if everyone queue jumps anyway you may as well do it within the park rules.

I'm hearing Omnipollo soft serves in steins.