JoshC.

A short Press Release from the park has also been released: http://www.efteling.com/NL/Over-de-Efteling/Pers-en-Publicaties/Persberichten/persberichten-persberichten/persbericht-nieuw-in-2017.html (warning: it mentions roughly what the ride system is, so is best avoided if you want to avoid all spoilers). The dark ride itself is costing 35 million euros (approx £26 million), and is of course being designed for all the family and to be suitable for all nationalities. It sounds as if they are planning to make it all very interactive too. So all sounds incredibly exciting. On a completely different note, was anyone else amused by the similarities between the press release for this and WC16?

Efteling have announced on their Facebook page that Symbolica, the long awaited dark ride, will open in 2017 in the centre of the park. EDIT: Concept art...

^In fairness, most staff members at Thorpe won't have a clue what Derren's exact role is. Most will know as much as we do, and have likely just been told what to say if anyone asks; which will be the same vague response.

I'd retheme Stealth to Stealth VR. Riders would wear VR headsets, and the video would be of an extension of Stealth (twice the track length) that you go through at twice the real speed. Pretty sure it'd be the world's first Launched VR Coaster too, which is great.

Plopsaland aren't going to be Heiding away from posting construction pictures it seems... (From Plopsa's Twitter) I don't think it's been mentioned here yet, but apparently the construction of this is being split into two halves, with the coaster opening this year, and the majority of the theming coming next year.

Crudely speaking, marketing is designed to get people talking. And let's face it, for a video that probably took 30 minutes to shoot and edit, this isn't half bad.

Loggers Leap.

Just noticed there's some new photos on the Mind Gap section. Nothing too exciting, unless you like seeing bricks being laid or looking at beams, but it's...something I guess?

It also appears Clue 6 is now live. Clue to the clue: It's another video that tells us next to nothing.

A new Tweet from Thorpe; most likely designed to keep the hype train ticking along. https://twitter.com/THORPEPARK/status/685385502313152512/photo/1 Bit of an obscure one; had to look at it a few times...

A shame that it's finally bitten the dust, even though it was an inevitability given its form from the past couple of seasons. I wonder if they've considered ripping it out and doing a full out replacement of it in their long term plan?

A view of the station, airtime hills and inclined top hat.

Rush is meant to receive more specific attention every 3 to 4 years. The last time it had such extensive work done to it was the 2011/12 closed season I believe.

Fixed that for you

Which is exactly what I was saying; it's a Shrek attraction, so I would only expect Shrek. I wasn't aware of the 'and friends' idea.

^ I believe you are mistaken. The 3 queues all join up at a 'batching area' outside the building and enter through one door. It's possible the queue line will change from the plans, but there is only one door for all queues to go through into the building.

I've no problem with the name really; it sells itself and will no doubt make people want do a double take when deciding where to eat. Does seem like a missed opportunity though, especially with Air's space retheme, to not go for a more snazzy / quirky name.

Roughly opposite the entrance/exit to the arcade. It's the octagonal shape in the first picture I posted (though the tower will be square).

How does 13 tables compare to the likes of other restaurants like this? It just doesn't sound like a lot. Wonder if this will require you to reserve a table?

I must be missing something here... Why is the idea of me seeing Shrek lol-worthy?

That image will have nothing to do with WC16. Plans for the 'watchtower' piece of theming were submitted and it looks something like this: (Thanks to TTP) The doors are also not in the right place compared to the plans, as seen in the top right image below. Scruffy Dog also work on a variety of non-theme park projects; they are quite a small and varied company still! However, any picture they post will always get a lot of theme park hype, even if it's not for any park. The giant ducks they posted a couple of months back weren't for theme parks, they were for product advertising outside train stations! However, whilst we're on the subject of Scruffy's social media posts, there's one which I think might be related to this... Posted back in June, it conveniently shows a character who's face is covered by an unnecessary drop down menu, and cuts off what he's holding (but could well be a pocket watch). Shameless speculation on my part of course, and the style of the background doesn't seem to fit with what we currently know, but it could have some relation?

Beginning of a new year, which means a whole new season of theme parks is just round the corner! So, what theme parks are you thinking of visiting in 2016? What trips have you got planned, are in the middle of planning or still umming and ahhing over? Discuss away (and prepared to feel envious over whatever Benin has got planned for the next 12 months...)

I believe that this is nothing more than a long-standing myth creating by enthusiasts many years ago! --- Looking at some previous Merlin renames (Rita, Sonic Spinball, X, Detonator: Bombs Away, etc.), they've stuck with the key name of the ride's old name. And given the Galactica trademark, I think 'Air Galactica' is very much a possible name. If not, then I expect it to just be Galactica.

Ah fair enough. In my experiences, Nemesis and Air have been the two favourites outside the enthusiast world. I was more thinking of it from the brand as a whole, which has always seemed to have been pushed more than Air's, but I guess that's only natural from the huge enthusiast following it has.

^Curious to know why you say Air is more successful than Nemesis? I agree with you in that it's successful and even iconic (much more than enthusiasts give it credit for sure). But however I look at it, Nemesis is just more successful in every way?