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You literally mentioned the other day you emailed John Wardley. Can't divulge the source indeed.

I’m delighted to be able to say that all of the original Haunted House theming that predates Duel will survive the refurbishment. This confirmsfu that the original set pieces seen in the queline for The Invitation will/have been reinstated . My source that is the most credible around inferred that all the hideous Duel theming is going to be removed. My source is very optimistic about the future of this Alton Towers classic. Unfortunately due to confidentiality I cannot disclose who or what my source is. I don’t know if Emily Alton will have a bigger role. However I was reassured”everything I like and remember about the original haunted house will remain, together with a huge amount more. I deem the “together with a huge amount more” sentence to be important. Personally I think this means Emily has repossessed Duel,evicted the Zombies and will appear a few times. @Trooper Looper I know you like myself are fond of this Alton Towers classic. I hope my hint at the future of The Haunted House fills you with optimism. @Matt N I know your also intrigued about the future of The Haunted House/Duel.

Looks like Valhalla as a band entering Eurovision

There were birds eye view photos of Alton Towers posted online a few days ago. It appears Enterprise has returned to its location and is being reassembled. Personally I think this could be Zodiac relocated from Thorpe Park,as Alton Towers’s ride was beyond saving. If Zodiac has been relocated to Alton Towers the recently disassembled Rocky Express from Old Town could move to its location. There was talk of Enterprise relocating to Thorpe Park as spares or a replacement for Zodiac. Despite this plans can always change.

Little update after a trip to energylandias winter kingdom event, I'll likely write a little report up 1) Kondaa 2) Nemesis 3) Zadra 4) Taron 5) Hyperion 6) Wodan 7) Kumba 8) Silver Star 9) Stealth 10) Oblivion

Lovely idea in theory, but will never work completely in a theme park environment. No theme park has enough space to have over 10,000 guests roaming and never having to wait for an attraction. Genie+ and Lightening Lane at the American Disney parks is a compete disaster IMO. It's turned the parks into rich peoples playgrounds and even they have awful times with the system and it is is near impossible to wait less then half an hour for even the smallest rides. Europa Park which still runs it on some of the bigger rides, and is a park that could maybe do it, still has a stand by line. Virtual Queuing falls apart whenever there's even a slight issue. Ride breakdowns, reduced capacity, guest action. The real issue is theme park guests turn their brains off when they get beyond the front gate. The more barriers put in the way, the harder the day becomes. It becomes a system where those in the know such as AP holders are the ones that get the real benefits but the average guest will never really feel like it works. The closest I can relate this too is the RAP queue for disabled guests. In theory, that could be a wonderful system and really benefit the guests who are unable to wait. But that is completely open to abuse. People hate to hear this but it's the AP holders, the ones who know how to get around the system that are making that whole thing a nightmare for everyone to use.

With my year now over in terms of new rides (and probably parks in general), here's my Top 10% of coasters, with new-for-2022 ones in bold: 1 Taron Phantasialand 2 Taiga Linnanmäki 3 Untamed Walibi Holland 4 Skyrush Hersheypark 5 Helix Liseberg 6 Oz'Iris Parc Asterix 7 Balder Liseberg 8 Lost Gravity Walibi Holland 9 Der Schwur des Kärnan Hansa Park 10 Phoenix Knoebels 11 Jersey Devil Coaster Six Flags Great Adventure 12 Nemesis Alton Towers 13 Joris en de Draak Efteling 14 Colossos - Kampf der Giganten Heide Park 15 Goliath Walibi Holland 16 Kingda Ka Six Flags Great Adventure 17 Candymonium Hersheypark 18 El Toro (SFGAd) Six Flags Great Adventure 19 Troy Toverland 20 Black Mamba Phantasialand 21 Hyperion Energylandia 22 Lech Coaster Legendia 23 Lisebergbanan Liseberg 24 Van Helsing's Factory Movie Park Germany 25 Pulsar Walibi Belgium 26 Nitro (SFGAd) Six Flags Great Adventure 27 The Swarm Thorpe Park 28 Nemesis Inferno Thorpe Park 29 Colorado Adventure Phantasialand Notable new additions missing out here are Batman The Ride, SFGAd (#32), Ride to Happiness (#41) and FLY (#43). New rides for me which disappointed were Flucht von Novgorod, Storm Runner, Great Bear and Talon. New rides which surprised me, but aren't really in the upper echelons of the count, were Lightning Racer, Krake and Steel Force.