JoshC.

Yep, the lift has been installed. As tactic said, they've been vocal about improving accessibility, and I know behind the scenes there has been a genuine want to improve accessibility too. I know they've looked at a lot of options to making Hyperia as accessible as possible to as many different people as possible (whether some of these ideas come to fruition remains to be seen). Also, the Inferno lift was working again last season (I don't know how long for, but it was in use for at least part of the year!)

The Sparkle Project is giving Colossus' entrance some new stuff: Interestingly, the park have said that there will be "No blue on the entrance, but it will have the stained glass effect" (Passholder Group)

Interesting one that. It's on the load side, but away from the entrance to the station, and too far in to be part of a front row queue, or where staff would stand during dispatch. My best guest at the moment would be a storage room, either for computers which might control AV in the station or for staff uniform, if they decide to have themed/styled uniforms for the ride. Could also be used to store evac equipment, etc. Or they're forward thinking, and they'll put the computers that run the VR in there when they chuck compulsory headsets on in Year 3 😉

The Shark Cabins were only on a temporary planning permission until the end of this month. They are now set to stay longer. Whether the park are still, long-term, considering a "permanent" hotel is unclear. I guess we'll wait and see. But I guess for now, there's more important things to focus on.

Yes it is and if you think otherwise you're delusional.

The park have recently announced that this year's Mardi Gras event will be taking place from 29th March to 14th April, as opposed to in May. They also currently have an early bird ticket offer, where if you book for a visit before 25th April by the start of March, your entrance ticket costs £29. I'd say both of those show that it won't open in April (as it's the park's way of getting people to visit). May still feels possible. I'd say track will completed by mid-March. Given there's already been a lot of electrical work, 2 months for testing, landscaping, styling (which has also already started) feels plausible. So yeah, I'm saying mid-to-late May is likely the aim at the moment.

Simple, effective. I like it.

Whilst the park have been pretty good at tarting up the park in recent years, I will hold my breath on Slammer's removal. They've said it before (internally, admittedly) and they've publicly said stuff that hasn't happened or been delayed (Tidal fire, Stealth SRQ, etc). Obviously it makes sense to remove it and put a ride in its place, given the proximity to Hyperia, but we shall see. As for Labyrinth, obviously it's been a prime spot for Fright Nights mazes. And of course, it's good to have a permanently set up maze, rather than having to re-build a maze each year. At the same time, it's not the largest space, and with mazes being upcharge, I'm not sure they can create a standard maze which is worth the £10 charge.. So it might be a prime spot for a different type of experience. Whether it's an alone experience, a non-maze experience or something else, I think that's the direction the park should go with that space, if they choose to use it for FN. I'm also not sure 4 upcharge indoor mazes is the way the park needs to go.

Been open for 3 seasons, which is the standard IP contract that Merlin used to go for (especially for smaller attractions). Certainly possible that the Black Mirror IP expired and the park chose to not renew, especially since Merlin seem to be erring away from IPs

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3DwDhTt2jh/?igsh=cXZmYjBrYTR4dTdl The main drop is twisting up

Top 25 European parks? oooh, that's a doozy of a question... 1. Phantasialand 2. Parc Asterix 3. Efteling 4. Thorpe Park 5. Walibi Holland 6. Walibi Belgium 7. Djurs Sommerland 8. Heide Park 9. Legendia 10. Alton Towers 11. Movie Park Germany 12. Linnanmäki 13. Toverland 14. TusenFryd 15. Hansa Park 16. Plopsaland 17. Fårup Sommerland 18. Tivoli Gardens 19. Hellendoorn 20. Legoland Billund 21. Liseberg 22. Chessington 23. Energylandia 24. Legoland Windsor 25. Bellewaerde This was difficult and probably would change order. Legendia I visited 6 years ago, and I hear the park isn't as good as it was then. So that may change. I'd be interested to go back to Liseberg and see how I feel about it; I just didn't vibe with it when I visited 7 years ago.

The main lift hill tower is rising:

Update on the Colossus work. The shop is feeling a bit less Legoland-y now:

Swinging Seashells has been scrapped and will not return anywhere.

This is a photoshop, along with the poster's other post in the Hyperia thread. @towersnurd we are all for people sharing their thoughts of how they want things to look, and sharing photoshopped images. But please make sure you say this. If these aren't your photos then link where you found them.

The monster is well and truly reborn...

Colossus is currently looking fresh

Interesting, I feel the opposite. The image has been the key concept art image, and really drives home the height and scale of it to me. And I think 'tallest and fastest' coaster is enough of a draw in its own right. In construction news: Here's another look at the non-inverting Immelmann... And lift hill supports have gone in today:

Ehhh, I wouldn't say this is classic Merlin. This is something any park would do, and indeed something other parks do. This isn't a more contrived, Wicker Man esque world first which is a key focus of the advertising. The key focus of Hyperia is the fact it is tall and fast, and breaks notable, legitimate records. Mentioning tallest inversion in Europe and a unique element (which could well be the highlight of the ride) seems pretty reasonable within extra talk for the ride. Cedar Point do it regularly with their coasters. I think Valravn broke like 6 records, with some being awkwardly specific. Phantasialand did it with Taron: "roller coaster with most track cross overs", plus "longest and fastest multi launch coaster" I get the joke about Merlin doing silly records, but as secondary things, I think it's fine and not out of the ordinary for any major park. They will 100% do a big TV advert. I expect once they have a solid known opening date they feel comfortable advertising to the public, marketing in general will kick up a notch

Europe's tallest inversion and the most airtime of any UK coaster:

Trims on the exit to the non-inverting Immelmann (the element prior to the outerbank dive): hopefully one of those 'just in case' trims, like the one at the bottom of Swarm's drop, but we shall see

We're (perhaps overly) lenient with the silly posting, but it's a step too far creating threads with no reference tbh Harmonicas blow, and you suck for posting this

What happens when the retrack Inferno in 9 years and rename it Nemesis Inferno Reborn though?

Don't know what you're talking about. Anyone who does something like that would be ridiculous..... 👀

This is quite possibly the clearest post you've ever posted. Must be a lie.