britcitchris

I used to love Trocadero. The Sega World used to be superb and the Pepsi Max Big Drop was a fantastic drop tower. I was really sorry to hear of it closing. Chris.

I didn't see any sign, saying otherwise. You should be fine Chris.

Proposal on Stealth eh? Nice one. I used to fancy the idea of proposing on a Roller Coaster (preferably the Big One,) but there's no chance of that, now Chris.

I find Colossus very rough and I don't blame the restraints. It's the track that is rough as a badgers back side. I used to love the ride when it first opened, now I won't ride it unless it's a short queue.My first go on R.I.T.A, I banged my head so hard on the harness, as it turned after the launch, that I was dizzy for a while, after the ride :(Chris.

Great value Chris.

Thanks guys. James: the train is called Merlin and is the latest addition to the set. King Arthur And Cheyenne are used to transport goods and provide the occasional special service :)Luke: I think it is a pnematic system that makes a similar sound to Rush. I also remember it sounding much louder when I was younger and it used to thrill me, to hear the the whoosh sound, followd by the tyres sound on the boat, from across the park :)Chris.

The third park we visited was Wicksteed Park in Kettering. It's a very unique park and a great laid back place to visit. It has a large lake and a wonderful lakeside railway that has had over ten million passengers, since it opened back in 1921.After paying a car park fee, you don't have to pay for anything more, unless you want to. For the rides, you can purchase tokens or wrist bands.It was quite busy when we arrived.The queue for the tokens and wristbands was very long.Wicksteed is home to Europe's first double Pirate Ship.We met up with my mum and dad The kids loved the bumper cars.Ben on the jets.Tea Cup fun with Lydia.We all had fun on the Astro Slide.A rather uncomfortable Pinfari.A really colourful Ladybird Coaster.My mum and dad brought a picnic for us all We all had fun on the tiny log flume. The queue for the very unique water chute. Charles Wicksteed designed and built this in 1926.The fantastic lakeside train.The very unique Nautic Jets. They looked lots of fun.Pretty gardens.I wanted a ride on the train before we went home.We had a great visit to Wicksteed Park. I have many fond childhood memories of the park and it was a very nostalgic day for me. It's such a laid back place and you just can't beat, lazing around with a picnic, inbetween the rides. Chris.

Great report from a dire park.....We went there for the first time last year and although we had fun, the state of the park was extremely off putting. I really hope they can obtain some investment as they have potential. Personally, I loved Dragon Coaster. Such a unique experience being on a diesel powered coaster and I loved Knightmare :)Your jousting photos are great btw :)Chris.

What an intriguing start to the report I hope you get through the jet lag and I'm really interested in your future reports :)Chris.

Thanks, James! I'd be interested in what you make of the Wicksteed Park report, when I post it!Chris.

With the money grabbing but fun Warwick Castle behind us, we drove to Alton Towers, the next morning. We had stayed in a Premier Inn at Solihull, so the drive wasn't too far.We arrived around half ten to a fairly quiet car park...We were greeted with a very long queue for the monorail, which didn't really make sense as the car park seemed a bit quiet. It turned out the Monorail had broken down.After a 10-15 minute walk, we arrived at the fantastic entrance.Once inside, Ben started planning I love this tree. The Towers. A magnificent building.Our party split up to ride different things. As I was on my own at this point, I managed two goes in a row on Thirteen via the single rider queue. I was on within 5 minutes This was my first encounter on Thirteen and I loved it. The theming of the station and trains is excellent and the ride itself is really fun. The surprise at the end was brilliant After my Thirteen experience I had a go on Hex. I hate waiting through the pre ride film but I just love the ride itself. 'Stunning' doesn't do it justice.I didn't ride R.I.T.A. as I find it quite overated but I practiced my ride photography on it, instead.Flying Toadstools.I joined up with Debbie, Lydia and Ben at the Go Go Go Show, which was truly awful. Still, Ben liked it and got some autogrpahs afterwards.A BMX event was going on.We all regrouped and had a proper cooked dinner at Woodcutters restaurant. I had a cheeky Peroni with mine and the food was delicious. However, I was a few seconds late asking for my Pass Holder discount and was refused it :cursing: Fortunately, cutomer services sorted it out at the end of the day :thumbup1: After lunch, I took Ben on the Runaway Mine Train. It was faster than I remembered it and we really enjoyed it.We rode Duel and I got the highest score!I like this section of Towers.Battle Galleons.Ben hitches a lift The gardens are magnificent.Cable Cars in the distance.Near Kantanga Canyon, I spotted this pretty water fall.We all rode Log Flume and Kantanga Canyon. We had such a blast on these two rides We split up again for the final part of the day and I rode Oblivion and Nemesis with Kane, Lydia and Georgia. Both were pretty much walk on and it was just bliss, riding Nemesis again. It's one of my favourite coasters in the world.Monorail back to the car.Well, we had a cracking day at Alton Towers. It was our first visit in a few years and it was great to see the changes made since our last visit. We felt really lucky with the short queues. Oblivion was walk on all day and almost all the major rides were 15-20 minute waits. The staff were helpful and friendly and customer services did a great job on refunding our owed savings on our lovely dinner. Towers surpassed themselves on our visit and I'd love to return soon.Hope you enjoy the report. Next part is from Wicksteed Park in Kettering....Chris.

Stunning picture.

Which areas would you like to see improved?Do you like the union jack theming on some of the rides? I love it on The Big One and Avalanche Chris.

Hmm, I'm sure the Tower will look great after a big investment on it but the new costs for the attractions? It seems to me that they are milking the public for everything they have and not just covering the their costs.... I respect that Merlin are a business and the whole idea of a business is to make profit, but you need to also give the public a good deal in return and not milk them dry..... Merlin risk many people not returning, once they realise this.....Chris.

Thought I'd revive this thread, if I may What are people's opinions on the park nowadays? I went last year and loved it. The park has had some serious money spent on it and looks a heck of a lot better now. I can't wait to see Nick Land for myself. The old roller coaster looks brilliant after the re-themeing. I'm still against the admission charges for non riders and also against the food ban but it's still a great park with a brilliant variety of rides.Chris.

After saving up our Tesco Clubcard Vouchers for a long time, we used them up on some Merlin passes. The plan was was 3 fold. 1: Over the period of a week, during the summer holidays; Journey up to Warwick to visit Warwick Castle and then Alton Towers, the next day. (Hotel in Solihull as base.) Part 2 was to journey south to Kettering and meet my folks at Wicksteed Park, a park I used to frequent as a kid and one that I have lots of memories of. Part 3 was to carry on south to the inlaws in Essex and use that as a base for Thorpe Park and Chessington. A busy week but one that I was hugely looking forward to.....So, on to our first park/attraction then - Warwick Castle.After parking in the very unusual car park (no defined spaces, just woodland,) we trekked to the entrance. Some of the walk is quite pretty though This Archer outside the entrance was doing a brilliant job of entertaining the arrivals.Quite a character.Now I have to say that I was quite taken aback by the pricing and money grabbing tactics at Warwick Castle. This was our first visit and I was hoping for something cultured. Those that have been will know I was in for a surprise then..... Non pass holders had to pay a whopping £24 to get in and then cough up a further £7.80 for the Dungeons and another £4 for the new Merlin: The Tower Even Standard Annual Pass Holders had to cough up for these attractions. Shocking..... Once inside, there are countless stalls/attractions that charge you for something. I quickly realised that this was not much more than a glorified theme park, minus the rides..... Once I had gotten over this realisation, I relaxed into the day and the family all enjoyed themselves. The sun was out and there were lots of people enjoying themselves. Some more pictures. The following shots are from inside the main hall and is really great to look around.Family shot.The Birds of Prey display was excellent.The Battle re-enactment was great but you had to sit a mile away from it.The walk around the towers is brilliant but tiring.Stunning views.The Towers walk ends with an underground section where you get to try on different helmets and see various weapons. This by far, was my favourite bit.My son, Ben really liked this bit, too The teens try some head gear on.As do I.Love the hat, Kane These chaps were brilliant. They did a show which exposes all the cobblers in Hollywood stage fighting. Comical and informative.We bought Ben a small wooden sword Warwick Castle's trebuchet is a marvel and it's a must, to see it launch a fireball. Sadly I fluffed my photo of the launch, so here is a photo before the actual launch itself.So, a great day out but I must say that the pricing and money grabbing took some getting used to. £6 car park fee, too!! We did treat the teens to the Dungeons and they enjoyed it but said the London ones were better. I can't say that we'll be hurrying back to Warwick Castle but we did enjoy it. The actors are top notch and there is plenty to see and do. Just take plenty of moola in your wallet.Chris.

I'm really pleased Nemmie won. It is one of my all time favourite coasters. 100% pure adrenalin. Well done Nemesis!Chris.

Yeah, I haven't been on this site for a looooong time. Thanks for the welcoming! As for Thirteen, I rode it for the first time last week. I thought it was an excellent and well themed 'mild' thrill coaster. As I was on my own in the morning, at the park, I used the Single Rider Queue and was on it within 5 minutes, so I rode it twice in a row Chris.

Friendships are funny 'ol things really. At the ripe ol age of 41, I should know. I have seen them come and go but there are always some who will stay in the picture. A friend and I fell out back in '98. All contact fell by the way side and it was a real shame as I was best man at his wedding. A few weeks ago, a friend and I went to see Iron Maiden at the O2 and I bumped into my ex friend and his family, amidst thousands of people. His wife hugged me and cried and it was a very emotional experience. It's hard to say if we will become great friends again but we are now back in touch and this encounter has really made me think philosophically about certain aspects of life....Chris.

I was bowled over by it. From the work put into the station and maze exterior, to the intricate detailing inside the building. Then there is the excellent ride layout itself, to the theming around the track layout. I was also impressed by the option of the dvd, of the onride experience itself (although we didn't purchase it.) Everything adds up to making it a brilliantly themed and world class experience. I often find that UK parks don't inject decent amounts of money for elaborately themed rides, like our American counter parts but Saw: The Ride is a fantastic exception. It would not be out of place in say, Universal Studios Chris.

There are a few factors in me being really pleased with the day, despite only 6 rides. I was expecting it to be busier than what we encountered, so yeah, I was pleased... and because of the busy queues, I had great opportunities to practice on my photography. I got some shots of Stealth that I was really pleased with :DChris.

I went for the first time in a few years on Monday and thoroughly loved my visit. The park was busy but not as busy as I was expecting and between 11.15 and 5pm, we managed 6 rides. These were Saw x 2, Saw Alive x 1, Stealth x 1, Tidal Wave x 1 and Nemesis Inferno x 1. This visit was my first encounter on the Saw attractions and I immediately fell in love with Saw the ride. The themeing is just world class and the ride itself is a great experience. I am a big fan of Adventure Island's Rage but Saw is truly something else. I thought that Saw Alive was good fun and not as scary as I thought it might be. Just as well, as I'm a complete 'fraidy cat of attractions like these! Over all, we had a great visit. The weather was lovely, the queues and ride dispatching were well managed and most importantly of all, all the rides were running. Usually, there a few rides out of order when I get to visit, so yesterday was a real brucie bonus for me! When I return home, I might get some images posted from our day.Well done Thorpe Park.Chris.

...To make way for development........It's a sad day for coasters. Truly sad.

Hi, visited Thorpe on Sat (5th April 08) with my step son. Here's an account.Park was fairly quiet with Stealth and Colossus having the larger of the queues. The new 4D film, Time Voyagers was pretty good and the 4D effects were very good. Much better than the ones at Legoland. Stealth and Colossus were on 1 train operation although Stealth went on to two trains in the afternoon, more than halving it's queue time as a result. Weather was nice and dry in the morning but showery in the afternoon. Park population was mostly chavs with piled on make up and sports clothes and plenty of young lads dressed like Boys In The Hood. Boy, did I feel old. Ride Count: Stealth x 2 Nemesis Inferno x 2 Detonator x 2 Samurai x 1 Slammer x 1 Time Voyagers x 1 Vampire at Chessington x 3!!!!! (See below.) Some grumbles: It was fantastic riding the mighty Stealth again but very annoying that Thorpe are too tight to run two trains when the ride has big queues. I hear of European parks that do their best to keep queues down and it's about time this happened here, considering the entrance fees. Colossus broke down on the hill lift for a looong time, had only 1 train running and it's track still has not had a much needed refurbishment. The track makes the ride look very neglected and considering how popular the ride is (despite it being rougher than a badger's back side), Thorpe should really start investing in some long term care for a coaster that used to be great to ride. An idiot on Detonator undid then re-fastened his seat belt whilst at the top of the ride. This forced the ride ops to call an engineer over to slowly lower the ride so they could check his belt was fastened correctly. We left the queue and came back later. What a berk. Despite the grumbles, my step son had a fun day and he enjoyed his first visit to Thorpe. When we entered Chessington to meet the rest of the family, it was really quiet (5 pm and raining) and I whored Vampire for 3 rides before we went home. I took my step son on with me on my last go, for his first ever go on it and he really enjoyed it. It really is quite an experience, swinging to and fro at speed inbetween the tree tops. Great stuff. The family had enjoyed their visit to Chessington, especially the animal shows and they they also enjoyed the new Sea Life exhibit. Regards.Chris.

Marc, I can't remember where we were when I saw you as I was looking about all over the place for the family. I just remember thinking at the time 'I recognise that person from somewhere...' and then of course the penny dropped last night whilst looking at the forum.