JoshC.

How will you cope with only the likes of Taron, Black Mamba, Chiapas, Maus au Chocolat, Winjas, River Quest... to keep you entertained?

Ate at RCR for the first time. It's clearly designed to be a premium option, though the food doesn't quite match the price. But I guess you're paying for the experience just as much as the food. I was a little disappointed at how bland some of the tracks to the tables were (I was expecting a couple more loops and twists about!), but it's fun to watch. Definitely a worthy investment and adds a lot more choice to the mix.

I was going to write a full out review / blog post on my views of Galactica after experiencing it for the first time this weekend. But then I realised there's not a lot to say. The VR isn't great quality (I personally found Ghost Train's old VR slightly better). The audio is far too quiet. My first go I had an issue where the video was tilted. And it all feels very quick, like it crammed too much in. But at the same time, it is interesting. It's something that really draws you in, you are intrigued by it, you are curious about what will happen. It's likeable. The branding is very good as well. And throughput wasn't as bad as I expected.. So yeah, it's alright. Nothing special, nothing awful.

Having trouble linking video so will link article with video in it: http://www.looopings.nl/weblog/7924/Phantasialand-kondigt-langste-flying-coaster-ter-wereld-aan.html Coming to Phantasialand for presumably 2018, F.L.Y. - the world's longest flying coaster and first flying coaster to feature a launch, because why not? Steampunk theme still looks likely too.

Thanks for the report! It's always great seeing Thorpe from a first-timer perspective, even more interesting from someone from a different country. I was around on the Thursday you were there (I think I actually I saw you at one point!), and it wasn't the best day for ride availability. Such a shame with the beautiful weather that day, but it seems like you enjoyed yourself; certainly helped by having 2 days and the VIP event being opened up to you. Totally agree about the Dome. It feels very dated, and they need to completely redo rather than little bits at a time. Google translate hasn't made it very clear, but it sounds like you enjoyed the Ghost Train? Great to hear if so. Thanks again for the report!

Just to restate my point: I didn't find the ride last week any lighter than my ride in April (the waterfall projection seemed less bright, but that was about it). My little brother was fine. I know there's complaints about it being too dimly lit, but it might be the case that it's not as common a complaint as people are suggesting.

Recently did Gruffalo and I'm pleased to say that all effects were working on my run... I stand by my previous thought that the biggest issue is that each scene requires you to be looking in a certain direction, which can cause issues when people are sat in circular boats. Also, having now experienced at normal speed (rather than the sluggish speed of my previous ride), I do feel like things unfold a bit too quickly, and you're not given enough time to take in every scene. I guess that will always be an issue though, you could slow the ride down in theory, but you reduce the throughput, which you don't really want to do for a major attraction. And to throw a spanner in the works - I've seen loads of people on forums and Facebook pages saying it's too dimly lit (and hence 'dark'), which is scaring little kids. My little brother was fine, actually enjoyed the experience to be honest. For comparison, he screamed all the way through Bubbleworks last year.

From Tatenhill Airfield FB A nice overview of the site, and it's quite easy to see how much of the layout is already marked out.

They always refer to it as the 'Thorpe Shark Hotel'.

A small interview with the project manager of Gruffalo... http://backstage.merlinentertainments.biz/bringing-the-nations-favourite-bedtime-story-to-life/

redevelopment riːdɪˈvɛləpmənt/ noun the action or process of developing something again or differently. "the redevelopment of the university website" construction of new buildings in an urban area, typically after demolishing the existing buildings. "the town is undergoing significant redevelopment" So, so long as something happens to the spot in the future, the are have been redeveloped. Behind the scenes planning counts as redevelopment.

Thorpe have released EIGHT new pin badges this weekend... I don't think the photo does justice to some of them (the Stealth one in particular looks a lot nicer in person! Also, the X one is lenticular, which is pretty awesome. They're priced at £3 per pin (as standard with all pins), or a 'Starter Pack' featuring the TP logo, Swarm, Tidal and Stealth pins plus the lanyard in the photo for £12. As ever, Merlin showing that they know how the make merch..

If that's the cost of a decent sized plate, I can at least understand why the ones at Pizza Pasta are so small (and all different shapes)!

Of course, it is true to say that in terms of attendance figures, Merlin (including theme parks, Legolands and midways) is second only to Disney. But as everyone knows, quantity does not equal quality.

Technically, the second VR story is meant to go from 'shouting I want to get off' to the finale. Anything after the shouting is all holding sequence (which last year was just the green mist!). It's been designed so that the holding sequence isn't obvious, but it can be cut into at any time and the story makes sense. So, in one sense, you've experienced the attraction when it has been running very well. But it does mean you've lost out on some of the best VR sequences. It's a weird one, as you'll want to be slightly held up!

It's been working more recently every day, but it is going off less regularly than it did last season.

So, details about new Dodonpa have been revealed... -Firstly, the park have decided to rename the ride Do Dodonpa, because why not? -The airtime hill has indeed been replaced by a vertical loop, with the following stats: 1) 49m / 160ft tall, making it the second tallest inverting loop on a roller coaster. 2) 39.7m in diameter, making it the largest diameter of any loop on a roller coaster. Previous record was 38.8m apparently. So we now have parks competing for the 'World's tallest loop', 'World's tallest inverting loop' and 'World's largest diameter loop' records. What is the industry coming to ey... Oh, and Do Dodonpa now goes a tiny bit fastest, with an acceleration of 0-111mph in 1.8 seconds, rather than 107mph. Yay! And here's a testing video, featuring weirdly awesome launch noise:

Pégase Express has soft opened ahead of it's grand opening on June 11th (or rather June 11st)... Photos of stuff... And something which no doubt make English speakers smirk... A POV if that's your thing has surfaced too... Haven't watched it, but from what I gather, all the effects definitely aren't working yet, so the sign above does hold true.

Well they do say it's a blink and you'll miss it ride...

A point for everyone to remember though: the TEA reports should be taken with a huge tablespoon of salt. The numbers they give aren't necessarily accurate and some places (especially Merlin parks) don't like giving out attendance figures at all.

A photo of Symbolica's roof, featuring the garden and 800 solar panels, from the park's Facebook. Less than a month to go...

A disappointing Mack is still probably better than, say, your average Intamin. Also if people are finding this disappointing, UK enthusiasts should lower their expectations for Icon. Slower, likely weaker, launches, and a more drawn out layout that doesn't exactly do much more than this. Dragging back to Star Trek, I standby my original views that it looks fun, and is easily in the top 3 best-looking coaster additions for Europe this year.

I have a review, with spoilers, of Ninjago here - It is a fun ride, and something which will definitely help appeal to the older kids who visit Legoland. It's clear that the queue line wasn't finished on Saturday - exterior walls still needing to be built, interior walls and floors needing painting / dusting, etc., but the ride itself is fully ready, so it's only a very minor thing which I doubt many people picked up on. The ride team were really getting people through quickly (and safely of course), so the throughput must be good. Fingers crossed they can keep that up. Means that a full queue would only take about an hour, which is impressive. Also nice to see themed uniforms (ninja cloaks) for the staff. There's also this nice Lego feature, where people can build their own Lego things and attach it to the hill: So yeah, Ninjago is a fab attraction really. It won't set the world on fire, but it's fun and perfect for Legoland. Would recommend people try it if they can.

It's been a while since I dedicated a whole blog post to a ride review, but this seems like a suitable time to do one. WARNING: There will spoilers. If you don't know what the ride system is, or want to completely avoid knowing what some of the effects used in the ride are, turn back now. For those completely unaware, it is a 3D-screen based shooter ride, where you use hand motion to 'fire'. Sitting in rows of four, with your 3D glasses, a lap bar comes down with a motion sensor. In the queue line, a short (and badly presented!) video explains you must swipe your arm forward to fire, keeping it at least 8 inches above the sensor, and to aim high, point your hand / arm higher. Vague, but simple enough I suppose. The ride passes a variety of screens, some you stop at, some you don't, along with the odd bit of physical theming. There is also some real theming in front of the screens that the animations did interact with which was awesome. There was also a few special effect, include heat blasts, mist, wind and flashing lights (which cleverly disguises the ORP), all matching up with what's happening on screen. During the first scene, you quickly realise that the fire and aim idea isn't very simple. It is difficult to really know where you ball of energy that you're firing is going to land. So you just have to resort to the 'fire as many times as physically possible' tactic, hoping for the best. Towards the end of the ride, I got the hang of it a bit more, but that is a bit too late in the ride. It's a shame that there isn't a more involved / detailed explanation in the queue line as to how the system works, as it does take a while for most to adjust to it - and judging from the low scores from families, it does seem to be a difficult one for many to grasp. There is a vague story to the ride, but it's difficult to follow. You start off in training, before having to take down various bad guys, which leads to the big finale of the defeating the Great Devourer; a giant snake. But things happen so quickly that it's easy to get lost. You also battle alongside different ninjas during the ride, all of whom have their own special power. When they appear, you hear them say 'Use *insert their power there*', and I must admit I was confused as to whether I should be making different hand movements or if this was generic talk. However, the ride is very fast-paced, and it doesn't really need a story beyond 'Beat the bad guys', so it works well. After coming off, I was left surprised. Most shooter rides I'm just keen to find out if I've got the best score, but this left with a big smile on my face, and actually wanting to talk about the ride itself. It was a great ride, and I wanted to talk to others about how the cars moved, about the special effects, about what happened in terms of the story. The score wasn't the forefront of my mind. And the only other shooter to leave me feeling like that was Maus au Chocolat at Phantasialand. And, I was also keen to do it again, so I could experience the ride again. Not just so I could compete with people again, but so I could experience the fast-paced, crazy middle section, so I could get more interaction with the heat and wind effects. So I could experience the ride again, and not just some game. After a second time, I did understand things a bit more. The hand motion system was easier to use (though I ended up with a worse score...somehow). The story made more sense (when a different ninja with a different power appears, the shape of the balls you fire changes for example). Things seemed much clearer. And again, I loved the ride, not just the competitive element. Ninjago really is a great investment for Windsor. It feels very different to the rest of the park (in a good way), has a great throughput (full queue only takes about an hour!), themed uniforms, and offers something for the older end of the target market (and the adults!). It's something that has major re-ride value, and feels like something which would only improve as you ride it more (since things make more sense / are easier to use).

What Dom said. Review to come in the next couple of days.