JoshC.

Yay Mark. I have to admit that Baron 1898 disappointed me on my most recent visit. 2 years back it was really floaty, you got airtime on the airtime hill, and it just flowed very well. Now it's aged like B&Ms do and become a bit more 'forceful', which has turned the floaty moments into quite bland moments. It's a real shame. Hopefully it'll continue to age well and might become properly forceful which will improve the ride. I really love Joris though (especially the Fire side), speedy, relentless and just full out fun. I haven't done Wodan, but I do think it is probably my favourite woodie, and the back row is <3

Rocky gets a steady ridership. Sure it never has a queue, but rides like Rocky rarely do at theme parks. It's the same for Rockin' Tugs and Frog Hoppers; you will see them at plenty of theme parks all across the world, but they'll rarely have a queue even in dedicated kid areas at family parks. These sorts of attractions have a large appeal but their 'popularity' (ie ridership and queue length) will never reflect that, because they're never high up on anyone's list. They're just rides people will ride occasionally, and the young families will ride in their dribs and drabs. It might not look like they are pulling in the numbers, but they just there to give younger guests a bit more choice.

I mean of course I'd like to see it upgraded, etc. But given the track record Merlin have of getting rid of log flumes at the moment, and the fact I'm not wholly convinced we'd see them create a brand new one which would be to my liking, I'm just selfishly glad to see that, for now, we still get a half-decent log flume in the UK!

Part of me thinks that whatever kids / low-key family ride they added, it would get moaned at for not being something you expect at Thorpe. A Rockin' Tug is a ride which you'd find at a lot of parks, but because Thorpe have added one that isn't themed to the surrounding area, it gets mocked. Frog Hoppers are pretty common too and work as a 'little extra', but again, Thorpe are getting mocked for it. And the mis-match of theme as a moan-point feels pointless, when basically all of Thorpe's investment since at least 2012 (arguably earlier) hasn't 'fit in' with its surrounding, bar I'm a Celeb. Just feels like a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. And in fairness, the total investment cost of the two new rides is going to be in the thousands. The investment needed for any closed-off area of the park will be in the millions. So it's not really a case of investing in one over the other.

My point was more they're at least doing something to the log flume, in the sense that they're adding things to fit around it, paying attention it, etc. It's not being left whilst development happens around it, it's being included in it. Makes me feel a bit more confident that it might be around for a bit longer than, say, 1 or 2 more seasons.

I still don't get the hate. >People say Thorpe should include more kid/family rides. >Thorpe introduce such rides (admittedly on the cheap). >People complain that Thorpe introduce kid rides. Yeah alright, they look a bit naff and out of place. It's clear they've been added in very cheaply and as a side project to help keep the family side of things happy in the short term. But Thorpe have introduced 2 0.9m attractions which are attractive to the younger market, and will help boost the 'things to do' quota for those people. It hasn't happened instead of anything else, hasn't got in the way of future development, and causes no real harm to anyone. I just don't understand the hate outside of 'they don't fit in with the brown-coloured area'?

I have.

Looks nice to be honest, let's just hope they can pull it off with the final product. More importantly, it's great to see a Merlin park investing in a log flume rather than ripping them down. Log flumes are fab rides and it's good to see we still have one not-awful one in the UK.

Probably not, but that's because the gravel part of the car park can't be fully tarmaced as it's used a flood relief zone (I think). Probably similar rules for the grass part too. The money could be reinvested into staffing the car park, better signage, etc. There has been money pumped into moving the pedestrian entrance to make that safer too, for example. The change in locker price is largely down to the new £1 coin being introduced. The lockers cannot take the new £1 coin and I believe there is currently no way to retrospectively allow them to. So it was easier to make it accept only £2 coins rather than have many people waste new coins in there and subsequently complain.

Nice music, looking forwardto hearing it in person!

There's also a difference between several people asking about it once, and some people asking about it several times in successive days / weeks / months expecting a different response. Let's face it, they'd no use in digging into these replies to look for a hidden meaning. The only thing we can conclude is that there's no universal single response, which there should be. But not enough people will pick up on that I guess.

The LC in LC12 stood for 'Long Count', which related to the Mayan Calendar and 2012 end of the world vibe.

Who remembers when they did the 'anyone over the age of 12 must be accompanying someone under the age of 12' rule a few years back?

What have Walibi been smoking and can I have some of it please?

X had quite a few issues before its closure - lots of lengthy shutdowns! And don't forget it ran 2 trains pretty much all the time too. Not saying X couldn't be related, but it was far from 'running fine'!

In other shocking news, it's been hot today and the sky is blue.

I find it interesting that Towers are doing these videos going into a bit more depth about shutdowns, etc. after they're bought up in the media. Yet Merlin parks will only ever give the 'This ride has currently ceased operation due to an unexpected delay' line to guests when it is happening. Makes you wonder if they gave a bit more information about shutdowns, would the public feel more at ease knowing the situation is under control? Seeing a coaster stuck half way up a lift hill and hearing it's an 'unexpected delay' sounds more concerning than being told, say, 'The computer system that runs the ride noticed something odd, so it's just doing checks again' or something.

I'd be very surprised if it was weather based given that it's been fine in all other years, and Ghost Train probably has more troubles with indoor temperatures and that hasn't closed. As ever with lengthy closures, they're almost always related to waiting for a new part or (as seen in recent years) to allow for modifications related to new procedures under the H&S mask. I doubt anyone knows the exact reason though.

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.