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Well think of it this way. Atleast they put in this rather than a damned bouncy castle!! 😛

I swear just before the 2019 season started we were told through another one of Sickstone’s pre-season videos that the Dome’s interior was going to be be completed in two “phases”; presumably the first part ripping out the old Atlantis theming early last year, and for 2020 by modernising the interior? Yeeeeaaaahhhhh, something tells me that idea might have been scrapped. So we are now permanently left with a poor man’s version of the Alton Towers Dungeon - black walls galore.

This looks awful. The Dome always looked amazing as "Port Atlantis", now it just looks run-down. Why would they remove all that fantastic theming and leave it looking so dull and bland? Unless it was dangerous or falling down, I can't understand it. See this parallels with what's happened at PB over the last 5/10 years, removal of theming and "fun" features in favour of a bland, corporate look.

It's been a long while since I've done a proper blog post, but I've dusted off my keyboard to do one I'd been thinking about for a while.. Over the past couple of years, there's some rides I've done which are a ton of fun, but don't really seem to get the attention they deserve. Mostly for reasons that they're rides in parks that aren't high up people's lists, or there's better rides at those parks. So I figured I'd just throw a little list out there. This isn't going to be a list of "under-hyped" rides; I'm not necessarily saying any of these are top-tier rides which everyone should ride. But these are just solid rides which deserve a bit of limelight cast of them... 5. Gaz Express, Parc Bagatelle Situated about an hour from Calais, Bagatelle's ease to get to doesn't compensate for the fact the park is quite meh. However, Gaz Express is a shining beacon of light. Manufactured by French company Soquet in 1987, Gaz Express is a really fun family-thrill coaster which is situated largely over water. It's not particularly high or fast, but features a couple of nice pops of airtime, some nice helices, whilst also diving in and out of buildings. And you get to go round twice too! To top it off, there's loads of water features around the ride, as well as a really cool fire effect, making it a really nice-looking ride for spectators too! 4. Discovery Club, Avonturenpark Hellendoorn It's no secret that I look shooting dark rides, and this one is really quirky. Sitting in outward-facing circular cars, the idea is that you're basically exploring a house with loads of spooky stuff that could come alive. It's a classic storyline which works, and with a fun soundtrack and sound effects, good theming and the unpredictable, and sometimes wild, spinning of the cars, it makes for a great experience. Hellendoorn itself is a decent park, a little under-rated in my opinion, but this 21 year old Mack dark ride is probably the crowning jewel of the park! 3. Kyöpelinvuoren Hotelli, Linnanmäki This ghost train has no right to be as good as it frankly. For a city park like Linnanmäki which doesn't really *do* theming, it stands out really well. And inside, it's just immaculately themed and styled - it's creepy from the word go. The ride itself is pretty fantastic. Good length, no dead spots, lots of turns and plenty of surprises and special effects. It just hits the nail on the head at every point. I believe it was refreshed a few years back, which, along with the likes of Taiga, shows that when the park sets itself a target, they hit it perfectly. 2. Popcorn Revenge, Walibi Belgium I've talked about Popcorn Revenge a lot on here, so another paragraph or two won't hurt. Popcorn Revenge is genuinely bloody brilliant. Early I said this list wasn't necessarily going to be about top-tier rides. Popcorn Revenge is perhaps the exception here. For those who don't know, this is a trackless, screen-based shooting dark ride, which takes around a movie theatre where pieces of popcorn have come alive and have taken over the film. You have to shot the popcorn with different flavoured sauce guns to take back control. The ride is non-linear and where you go depends on what car you get in. The scenes on the screens are brilliant. The real theming is great as well. This all just comes together for an absolutely brilliant ride experience. I truly hope I'm not over-stating this and setting anyone who eventually rides it up for a disappointing, but this is genuinely one of my favourite rides and it's a damn shame it's not talked about more frankly. 1. K2, Karls Erlebnis-Dorf Elstal This is also something I've talked about a bit before in the past. Karls is, primarily, a strawberry farm business. However, they have branched out over the years to have permanent farmer markets, which have also integrated 'amusement park' style sections. The one in Elstal, just outside Berlin, is the most developed, and by far the crowning jewel is K2. K2 is an abc tube coaster, which also has wooden cars. The ride is themed to potato farming, and features an underground dark ride section where you see potatoes being grown, amongst other surprises. The ride then goes up 80ft high - which feels a lot higher when you only have a seatbelt as your restraint in a wooden cart! - before going round twists, turns and mini airtime hills. The ride is killed a bit by a MCBR, but is still great fun, and a real surprise. The quality of the theming is amazing too, and wouldn't look out of place at the likes of Phantasialand (indeed, the queue is of a similar style and standard to Maus au Chocolat). Just in general, this ride ticks every single box and it's an absolute joy and treasure to experience. If you ever head to Berlin and want a quick theme park-like fix, this really is the place to go (certainly much better than the nearby 'proper' parks!).

Also worth noting, none of the staff have been invited back for training. Does seem like they’re leaving it till the last minute

It's just a bit confusing Matt. The only positive comment about this entire ride before this discussion was where Matt Creek said something nice and then you replied saying it looked naff. Then there was silence, then Josh posted the POV and then a very weird moment where you said this. as if people on here have been absolutely clamouring for a pair of mack powered coasters. I don't see where you got this impression from. So to conclude, congratulations to Efteling for sparking the conversation on TPM. 🙌

Awww did we disagree with you? I mean, sure, you could try and defend your corner and continue the conversation. Forums aren't dead because people disagree with opinions, they're dead because people don't seem to like being disagreed with.

So people don't share opinions and discuss things people say the TPM forums are dead. We then discuss things and people share views (which is what this place is for) and people don't like it. I give up and will say no more.

Interesting to see a vlogger concerned that rides weren't testing during their 30min walk down Monks, park therefore must be far behind Alton Towers in terms of readiness for July 4th.

Looks like an upgraded flying fish.

And here’s a reminder of what the dome used to look like. It’s not perfect but definitely better than the mediocrity shown in the newer pictures. Everything looked so much better pre-2019.

Looks more underwhelming than a deprived shopping centre, let alone a theme park. Sure the Atlantis theming was cheesy, dated and possibly made the place look like a Blackpool arcade. But it gave the place a fun, characterful appearing and like Josh said still fitted the park. Sadly it’s the norm more times than not for one step forwards two/three back, but it is what it is! I guess. The other signage looks alright I guess.

If I'm being totally honest, this doesn't look up to Efteling's usual standard. Sure it's only a junior coaster, but it just doesn't look inspiring at all; the layout looks worse than say, Scorpion Express or RMT, and there isn't really much theming beyond the station, just landscaping. And then there's the cattlepen queue, I wouldn't really expect that at Efteling, I mean even the Dragon at Legoland Windsor has a proper themed queueline. I'm obviously not in the target audience for this but for an investment from Efteling and as a replacement for Bob, this just looks disappointing IMO.