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Just got back from first trip to Europa. Wow. Where to start. Stayed in hotel Colleseio which was impressive, and to be honest a strange experience in itself that such a lavish hotel was linked to a theme park. 3 days on park and 1 day Rulantica. &nbsp The aesthetics of the park are incredible, it’s impossible not to feel the passion and pride that the Mack family have for their park. Everywhere you look it’s packed with hidden gems and is fresh, vibrant and visually stunning. More so, even after 3 days I know there’s so much more to discover, and the rich theming throughout really does elevate this park. The ride selection is second to none. I went for the coasters, but fell in love with the dark rides! Pirates detail was impressive, but live all the little hidden gems throughout the park. In terms of the biggies. Voltron was my no1 followed by Wodan and Silver Star, but also really enjoyed blue fire, the last inversion really something. Heard people talking up the ops for years, and was always questioning why people went on about them so much. Well not any more! Absolute perfection and efficiency. So obvious that the park is all about guest experience, the no nonsense approach in the stations is so refreshing to see, and keeps the queues down to sub 20 even on popular rides on a fairly busy day! Overall can’t wait to get back, going to be hard to find a park to top the all round package that Europa provides, yes there’s parks with better coasters etc, but it’s the combo of the selection of rides, theming, cleanliness, food and beverage offerings and most of all OPERATIONS! If you havent been. Get out there!!

So to bring some additional clarity to the situation... -The park are awaiting a part. This is evident by the fact staff aren't working on it actively. This means it'll be closed a while. Even when the part arrives, they will require time to test it. -It is likely a bigger / more expensive / specialist part, hence why the park didn't have one already. This takes time to acquire; it's not like they ring up Intamin and say "Can we have 1 [thing from catalogue] please?" and Intamin ship it out the next day from their warehouse either. -Time frame is unclear at the moment. How long is a piece of string. -Thorpe have no intention of getting rid of Stealth.

I've had my suspicions all but confirmed in that Stealth's and Rita's are indeed unrelated. Thorpe will do their utmost to keep Stealth going, and I don't think we're anywhere near the point where they're considering getting rid of it. For those old enough to remember, Thorpe literally clung onto dear life with Slammer. It was closed more than it was open for a couple of years. S&S stopped manufacturing parts, so Thorpe sourced things elsewhere. They dedicated a lot of money and man hours into getting the thing running. Only once it had absolutely gone past the financial point of no return did they give up the ghost. And Stealth is obviously different; it is still such an iconic ride for the park, is a genuine reason that people visit, and generates money from merch sales. I'm not saying to take Stealth for granted, but at this point, there is no reason to think Stealth is facing an imminent closure in the next couple of years.

Just to make it clear, Intamin have in no way stopped providing support for their Accelerators. Whilst it's true they don't offer the model any more (or at least, no one has considered doing so for over a decade), it in no way means they've washed their hands of it. Thorpe/Merlin and Intamin maintain a respectable working relationship, and that is also related to the current issue(s).

SAW's station now has a brand new pre-boarding video on the TV. No longer loops Rules Of The Game like it used to.

There was a small red crane in the plaza yesterday and the launch bunker doors were open

I had ultimate FastTrack a couple weeks back and I had a few front row and back row rides throughout the day. They normally let FastTrack through pretty instantly regardless of how many people are on the stairs, it’s random and depends on the host so I wouldn’t really worry too much about it.

Wow - that came out of the blue. I love the waterside location, and it’s cool to see it could be different to anything they’ve done before. An interesting choice of location however given how poorly the other parks have done in the area, not to mention Disney’s values and focus on inclusivity. Still. It’s very exiting to see Disney spending so much money on their parks again recently. This could very well end up being the cheaper option to visit from the UK compared with a trip to Orlando (although you wouldn’t have all the neighbouring parks of course). And it would also open up a great Disney stopover for people flying to Europe from Asia and Australia. Good news for DLP and Universal GB.

For sure! Hopefully it’ll be back within the next few weeks

I'm at the park on Thursday so might see what's going on then

Doesn’t look like it opened at all again today. Am going to the park tomorrow, so will take a look then

It ALWAYS goes silent when there's a long term closure. See Hyperia last year. It is not within the best interests of the park(s) to announce publicly any technical issues with the rides. Aren't Rita & Stealth trains the same? Just likely that the hydraulic launched coasters have a bit of a shorter lifespan. Presumably down to the launch system itself being incredibly high energy for short bursts of time so wear and tear is bound to happen. Fairly telling with there being only 10 Intamin ones operating with the last brand new one built in 2010.

Anyone know what happened?? All I have heard is the train only went half way up the top hat, rolled back and been closed since. Anyone know if this is true? I am getting concerned for stealth now guys. I really hope if Rita closes they salvage the parts and do everything to keep stealth open. Imagine Rita trains on the stealth circuit. That is if they repainted them back to Rita original colours but would still be so cool to see. Anyone reckon that's possible? I fear stealth only has a season or two left depending on operations for the rest of this season. It's literally gone silent. What if this issue continues to occur.

Let's hope it opens soon. Planning on going next week, so I am too hopeful.

Anymore news from the park today?

Skyride planned to open tomorrow now. If it was just down to the heat then they should've said that, instead of "working hard to create a truly magical experience", there isn't a lot magical about a transportation ride

With the recent announcement of the Universal theme park for the UK, I’ve been wondering about the prospect of other similar mega-parks opening up in this country. There was of course the proposal for the Swanscombe Peninsula theme park, but this has been kicked into the long grass. Then I had an idea. Many British theme parks aren’t really themed around British culture, and with the rise in popularity of immersive experiences and living museums, I think this would be a good opportunity to trial a combined theme park and living museum attraction, that educates the British public on their country’s history through rides and experiences. I’m not expecting this to be the UK’s next thrill park, but more of a family park that appeals to all ages, consisting of a mixture of moderate rides and immersive experiences. Like many theme parks, this park would be split into different lands, with each one corresponding to a period of British history. There would be a big emphasis on theming to fit in with the area’s period, with rides camouflaged or located indoors wherever possible. Some of my ideas for areas include: - A Roman Britain themed area. - A Tudor and Shakespeare themed area. - An area themed around British myths, legends and folklore. - An area themed to British farming, particularly in the West Country. - An area themed to a remote Scottish fishing village at risk from the effects of global warming. - An area themed to a Welsh mining village, in an area where the future of coal mining is uncertain. - A peaceful “flora and fauna” area with no thrill rides, home to native British plants and wildlife. - An area themed to Wartime Britain, with emphasis on the two world wars and global domination of the British Empire during that period. - A science and technology area themed around British industry and inventions, celebrating the innovations of the past alongside those of today and tomorrow. - An area themed to British pop culture from the 1960s to the 90s, with an emphasis on the arts, sport and leisure. - The park’s hub, themed to a traditional market town in the South East of England. - A transit system to connect park areas together. Could be a replica of the London Underground. Each area would consist of: 1 rollercoaster, water or dark ride 1 flat thrill ride 2 childrens’ rides 1 immersive attraction 1 food outlet So to round things up, this would essentially combine the thrilling aspects of a theme park with the educational side of museums, and the Insta-worthy appeal of immersive experiences. Do you think such an attraction would work in the UK?