JoshC.

I think going cashless in some places is a good idea. When I was at uni, one of the food places on campus went cashless to help speed up the paying system (people could pay by debit card or by the uni's own top-up card system, which is similar to contactless payments in terms of speed), and it worked well. So there is potential there. But as others say, it isn't a great idea for all. Teenagers visiting in groups probably won't have cards, or be willing/allowed to take a card, severely limiting their choice. Imagine what school trips will be like (many bring packed lunches, but a fair few don't). And for those that only bring cash into the park, they're pretty screwed too. I think they've been too forward with this. They tried it in Fin's over Fright Nights, and that seemed to work. But one successful trial in one place isn't enough to say they should role it out across pretty much all F&B places, especially with little advertising.

And here lies my biggest issue. They've got a roller coaster themed to one of the biggest TV shows in the world (even if it is a bit past its best). It's not a major investment, sure, but it doesn't mean that they can't push it and milk it. But instead of focusing on the attraction, even if it is the 15/10 scare rating claim thing, they're just tacking on rubbish like this. They have a whole scope of potential for things they could do to get people talking, yet they scrape the bottom of the barrel. But I guess all publicity is good publicity, and this is getting a fair few people talking, so they'll be happy...

Mini Rookburgh update... An entrance archway had been formed on Berlin street, taking out a small part of the bakery that was there. This will probably be the more grander entrance to the area, with access likely also possible from around the Fantasy area where the advertising signage is. As for construction, it is thought that all digging is done at long last, and some more footers have been placed. So hopefully we'll see more track go up soon.

That looks fantastic; Finnish Taron! Between this and Junker at PowerLand, Finland have got a very tasty-looking line up coming along.

From SSC...

Tiki Waka's circuit was completed at the beginning of the month, but the Tiki Trail still is not. Testing still hasn't begun as a result and the area isn't near completion yet, so the opening of Exotic World (which was meant to be this week) has been delayed, with no new date set yet. If anyone wants to hear a snippet of the IMA score audio, here you go... https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156041715906276&id=20116456275

So the thing is a new show, called Dragon Slayer - https://www.warwick-castle.com/dragon-slayer/ The show incorporates fire jousts, battles, stunts, horse processions, fire, projection mapping and more. It's set around the mythical, and "forgotten", story of the Guy of Warwick. The shows take place on selected dates in August, ticketed as a separate event, and is 90 minutes long! Special food will be available too. Prices start from £15, with the standard 20% discount available for Annual Passholders. Perhaps a tad expensive, but I reckon it could be something pretty special.

Me again... This looks BEAUTIFUL. https://phantasialandblog.de/huettenbau-nach-mass-in-africa/

Peckish is still around this year - on the sneak peek of the map, you can (just about!) see it. Pulled Meat appears to have a bitten the dust, though I wouldn't be surprised if it returned during Fright Nights, and even summer if it's busy enough..

In an article written last week, the park's CEO has said they're still experiencing problems with digging the tunnel for Valkyria's drop. Apparently, they've only managed to dig 5 out of 8 metres down so far, with the clay-ground being the major issue. The park still hope that the ride will be finished this summer, but they're saying 'it will open when it opens"... Source - https://www.expressen.se/gt/lerkaos-hotar-lisebergs-rekordsatsning-I-sommar-/

I imagine that's more a case of comfort. Colossus' restraints are extremely tight and I imagine tall people struggle to get in and out of them, let alone sit in them comfortably. Your best bet would be to try the test seat out before queueing, and seeing how you feel. Maybe try talking to staff too and seeing what they say.

If you are taller than the max height restriction, you will not be able to ride. Staff will have height sticks and will check if you look too tall. If a ride doesn't have a max height restriction, and you fit in comfortably and meet the other restrictions, you'll be fine.

Carthage Land, in Tunisia, opened with a spinning coaster this past week, which features the largest full scale King Kong animatronic in the world. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1634168873334350&id=128162647268321 Because, you know, why not?

Neat video (in English!) about the new rockwork... It's growing on me, that's for sure..

Short interview with Bradley Wynne about Wicker Man: http://www.attractionsmanagement.com/detail.cfm?pagetype=detail&subject=news&codeID=336828 Nothing particularly new it interesting, but it does confirm that Holovis were involved with the pre show. In other news, it looks highly likely the ride will (soft) open today..

As expected, Phantasialand have got Universal Rocks to redo the Deep in Africa area, to include rockwork of similar quality to Klugheim: https://phantasialandblog.de/wenn-felsen-eine-seele-bekommen/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post This closed season has also seen continued renovation of the Chinese hotel and the partial removal of the bakery on Berlin street, which will eventually be used as an entrance into Rookburgh next year.

Sorry, I didn't word it particularly well, so just to clarify what I was trying to say. There are plenty of places where people can discuss their honest views. Forums, social media, blogs, vlogs, etc all exist, and all have people sharing their honest opinions on various topics. So if you want to find out people's opinions, you visit those places, maybe follow particular people who you're interested in hearing from, and go from there. But if you're trying to set up a small scale blog, how many people are going to be interested in signing up / following for you to just give the same old opinion they can get in bucketloads elsewhere? Unless you've got a very good, persuasive opinion, not many. So if you create a blog which focuses just on the positives, it helps give the blog a bit more purpose (and a break from negative stuff), seperates you from the crowd a bit and helps build relationships with parks. You don't have to lie either. Say you hated a certain ride, you just don't talk about. Say you find a ride boring to ride, but beautiful to look at, focus on the aesthetics and write a blog about rides that look good. It all helps in creating a unique brand for a blog. The minute you start looking at negatives too, you're just another person sharing an opinion on stuff. It gives you less views, less of a following, less park connections, etc. That's why it gets them nowhere. For the record, I totally agree with you about not trusting some blogs' views. Some blogs' are effectively free marketing tools for parks - they say the best things about parks, and all those parks have to do is let them go on a ride a day early and give out some free food. Other blogs and sites are a lot more selective with how they present their opinions (or are like us and just provide news! ), which is fine. It's simply a case of trying to figure out which sites you like best because you feel you can relate to their style! We try our best to just provide facts and unbiased opinions, as well as short reviews on the site. No doubt as people are aware, we go along to some preview events - we never like to base our opinions of attractions on these preview events, as there's always a bit of a buzz around them. Equally, we always give honest feedback to the parks about them, as well as what we'd like to see. I'm sure there's other sites like us too (though obviously not as good as us )

From SkyScraperCity... They haven't got anywhere near the full height for this and it still looks huge at the moment.

Jordan has worked for Merlin, more specifically, Thorpe, since 2015 (she has said so in comments on her blog). That actually predates when her blog really kicked off. As I'm sure many have realised, Merlin, though again more specifically Thorpe, love to do these stories where they give someone a very specific, crazy-sounding job. They did it in 2009, where they gave some bloke a 'sick cleaner for Saw' role, coaster testers in around 2012 for Swarm, etc. Chessington do it with their zoo too. Towers did it when they launched Th13teen too, with another "roller coaster expert turned tester". The stunt with Jordan is no different - they've got someone to pretend they've got this awesome job, so they'll get people talking. Instead of focusing on the ride, they focused on Jordan's expertise, so when people read the article, they think "wow, she's done a lot, and she thinks this new thing is great - let's go". It's as simple as that. It just so happens they had someone who would fit the role of a 'roller coaster expert' working at the park, so it's easier to get her to talk about real things than make something up. It also happens she has a blog on theme parks too. If anyone reads Jordan's blog, you'll realise she rarely posts anything negative about any parks. As is common with many small-scale blogs, they post positive stuff only, and add a personal touch by saying whether they like it or not. They may have plenty of negative thoughts too, but it gets them nowhere posting them, as there's far too many criticism blogs (constructive or otherwise) out there. We at TPM actually had an interview with Jordan back in November if anyone is interested in giving it another read - https://www.thorpeparkmania.co.uk/articles/27-11-2017/Jordan+Middleton+Q+and+A Tl;dr - People can keep their professional and personal opinions seperate if they choose to. Try not to be so pessimistic guys! Also a gentle mod-type comment: we at TPM love to keep conversation flowing and don't like to discourage people sharing their opinions, but try to keep things not-rude, especially as we're talking about a person within the community who can't really defend themselves. Cheers.

Not everything Alton Towers does is to save money or make money...

Same again today. Fair play to the park for opening and doing what they can, plus the free return ticket.

The retheme by itself? Probably not. The whole 'Year of The Walking Dead', huge push on Annual Passes, multiple events throughout the year, and lack of anything of note in the south part of the country? That will, almost definitely.

A selection of photos posted by Pablo A over on Coasterforce... Lift hill going up... Picking up the pace now. Don't see any reason why this won't be open for summer tbh..

'Theme Park Updates' has another update with loads of testing photos. Here's my favourite one: That gap between the the wheel and track on the left hand side

I don't see how including live actors in promo material is any different to when Towers did it with Th13teen... Find it funny how people moan about Merlin adding and relying and live action experiences, then when they add one which doesn't, people still moan.