JoshC.

Hate to be 'that guy', but I hate the fact that they've decided to big themselves up over the fact they're going to be doing some TLC to the park. Things like repainting wore-looking areas, relaying paths and improving signage shouldn't be something that is made a big song and dance about - it should just be done. Don't get me wrong, the fact that they are (planning on) doing it is great - but just do it! Well, it does. It's a new experience, likely under a new name, so it's a new attraction. It's a shame that they're not adding a completely 'new' attraction to the line up, but Air 2016 will still be a new attraction. And if the rumours are true about Air, it will be more than just a retheme anyway in fairness.

Colossus (3) Loggers Leap (10) Nemesis Inferno (6) SAW- The Ride (5) Slammer (0) Stealth (6) Tidal Wave (5) Inferno + Slammer - Slammer out; second time lucky. Reset... Colossus (5) Loggers Leap (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) SAW- The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Tidal Wave (5)

So whilst Flying Aces currently has the tallest loop in the world (at about 171ft), it won't for much long. This Intamin shuttle coaster at Wanda City Hefei, in China, will have a 187ft tall non-inverting loop, which is currently being constructed... On a side note, this Wanda park is also rumoured to be getting duelling tilt coasters too, which is nice.

[/smug]

No way is 'hypnosis' going to be any part of this ride. Just no. However, I could see subliminal messages or the like featuring within the attraction. Perhaps in things like queue line / pre-show videos, audio, etc. Make people 'look out' for certain things, or have an unexplained 'uneasy feeling' about something. That would certainly be a possibility in my books. Of course, the trouble with this is it has potential to really damage the re-rideability factor of the attraction.

So the first British man, Timothy Peek, has arrived at the International Space Station. Nice to see Britain getting more and more space-involved. Apparently he celebrated by having some out of this world tea.

As a similar suggestion to VR, could Augmented Reality be a possibility? Again, it's an upcoming thing and works well with the not being able to distinguish what is and what is not real (arguably more so than VR). Would change the entertainment industry too. It then means the park have more opportunity to use 'real' theming. I doubt that there's technology advanced enough for it to work well enough yet, and VR would be a more plausible suggestion, but it seems like an "out there" chance to me at the moment.

A member on Coaster Friends has created a rendering of what Lost Gravity apparently looks like so far... Source: http://www.coasterfriends.de/forum/9263-2016-neuheit-lost-gravity-mack-rides-walibi-holland-niederlande-20.html If this is a spinning coaster, those airtime hills are going to be insane to say the least.

Well that clue was rather...unexpected. Doesn't really 'fit' with the style we've seen so far. The clues so far have all had some relevance in some way, even if it is obscure, so I wonder whether this has some equally obscure hidden meaning?

The results are, and the votes have been counted and verified. Due to some technical issues and Tommy's laptop dying, I'm posting the results on his behalf. And so... Park Awards Best UK Park: 1st - Alton Towers (21) 2nd - Thorpe Park (15) 3rd - Chessington (3) Best UK Coaster: 1st - Nemesis (12) 2nd - The Swarm, The Smiler (7) 3rd - TStealth (5) Best Flat: 1st - Slammer (16) 2nd - Rush (7) 3rd - Detonator, Samurai (3) Best Water Ride: 1st - Valhalla (12) 2nd - Loggers Leap (8) 3rd - Tidal Wave (4) Best Dark Ride: 1st - Hex (24) 2nd - Valhalla (3) 3rd - Bubbleworks, Tomb Blaster (2) Best UK Themed Experience: 1st - Hex (8) 2nd - I'm a Celebrity (4) 3rd - London Dungeons (3) Worst UK Ride: 1st - Storm Surge (9) 2nd - Rita (3) 3rd - Slammer, Samurai, Smiler, Zodiac (2) Best International Park: 1st - Islands of Adventure, Europa Park, Port Aventura (5) 2nd - Phantasialand, Efteling (4) 3rd - Cedar Point (3) Best International Coaster: 1st - Shambhala (5) 2nd - Baron 1898 (4) 3rd - Manta (3) Best New Attraction for 2015: 1st - Baron 1898 (7) 2nd - Fury 325 (4) 3rd - Oblivion: The Black Hole, Cú Chulainn (2) Best International Themed Experience: 1st - Tower of Terror (4) 2nd - Baron 1898, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (3) 3rd - Haunted Mansion (2) Most Uncomfortable Ride: 1st - Furius Baco, Colossus (4) 2nd - Rita (3) 3rd - Saw - The Ride (2) Most Disappointing Merlin Moment 2015: 1st - Smiler Crash (12) 2nd - I'm a Celebrity (7) 3rd - Fright Nights (5) Best Looking New Attraction for 2016: 1st - WC16 (17) 2nd - Taron (7) 3rd - Lost Kingdom (3) Best Manufacturer: 1st - B&M (24) 2nd - Mack (7) 3rd - Gerstlauer (5) Member Awards: Best Member: 1st - Phill Pritchard, JoshC. 2nd - pluk 3rd - Peaj Best Admin: 1st - Mark9 2nd - Marc 3rd - IanNem Best Moderator: 1st - pluk 2nd - Tommy 3rd - Peaj Best New Member of 2015: 1st - Celia Mae, SmilerGeorge 2nd - IanS 3rd - Horcruxer, imindetonator, Bucky Best Quality Posts: 1st - JoshC. 2nd - pluk 3rd - Mark9, electricBill, Coaster Jamie, CoasterDude, TPJames Best Meet of 2015: 1st - Oakwood, Fright Nights, 2nd - Thorpe Park Open Meet, Alton Towers and Drayton Manor, Disneyland Paris 3rd - Ministry of Sound Most Knowledgeable Member: 1st - electricBill, JoshC. 2nd - Phill Pritchard 3rd - scarycoasterboy, Mark9, pluk Most Dedicated: 1st - JoshC. 2nd - Matt Creek 3rd - Peaj Most Sarcastic: 1st - Benin 2nd - Loose Steel Bluth, Mark9 3rd - scarycoasterboy Most Likely to be Banned in 2016: 1st - JordanLuke2009, Coaster Jamie 2nd - Cornflakes 3rd - Marc, ProjectLC Funniest Member: 1st - pluk 2nd - toofpikk, Benin, Mark9, Ryan, Bucky Biggest Fanboy/girl: 1st - Matt Creek 2nd - JoshC. 3rd - Coaster Jamie Sexiest Male: 1st - Matt Creek 2nd - ItsHurtingMeInside 3rd - Ryan Sexiest Female: 1st - Smidget, RubyRed95 2nd - Matt Creek 3rd - Mer Storm Surge Award: 1st - Matt Creek, Coaster Jamie 2nd - Jordanluke2009 3rd - CoasterDude Cutest Couple: 1st - IanNem and Sarah 2nd - "Jadam" (scarycoasterboy and J.S217) 3rd - Tommy and Loose Steel Bluth Member You'd Like to See More Of: 1st - topsyturvy15 2nd - toofpikk, saffy, Peaj, Mr Fish, Zach, pluk, RubyRed95, Paige, Horcruxer, SmilerGeorge, BenC., Bucky, Fred, AstroDan, Trax, Dan9, Whatever and, of course, Jart! The member awards were very close, as can be seen from the numerous ties and such! And even between 1st/2nd and 2nd/3rd, it was very close; usually only 1 or 2 votes in it. In total, 51 members voted, and 70 members were nominated for at least 1 Award! Thanks to Tommy for setting this up again, and to everyone who took part!

I've had a quick look and can't see any deleted post that fits the times. So (unfortunately!), it seems like it was just a mistake whereby Matt was just a little bit too keen to lock a certain ride in the Slammer.. Indeed I think you are! However, take happiness in knowing that if Slammer can be *nearly* eliminated, then there's a good chance it can *actually* be eliminated. So, to clarify, Slammer is still in and the game carries on from SCB's above post. Happy Ride Gaming folks, and may the odds ever be out of Slammer's favour.

Slammer - Colossus (5) Depth Charge (6) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Loggers Leap (8) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (1) Rush (6) SAW - The Ride (5) Slammer (0) Stealth (7) Storm In A Teacup (4) Tidal Wave (5) X (6) It's happened. It's finally happened. Reset. Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Loggers Leap (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rush (5) SAW - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm In A Teacup (5) Tidal Wave (5) X (5)

I think some people are taking the 1000 people thing a bit too literal. Naturally, any large scale project will have a large number of people behind it, including designers, builders, consultants, musicians, etc, etc. When you think about it, they can easily say someone was "involved" with the project, even if they're involvement was very minimal. Of course, the 1000 people thing is just there to make people go "Ooohhh, that's a lot of people, must be special".

^In all likelihood, the engineers will only work Monday to Friday.

Something seemingly to keep the attention on this ticking along. Be interesting to see if this of any relevance in the grand scheme of things.

It'll be general work on Colossus most likely. Happens every so often (I think it last happened in 2010 / 2011?).

The park have confirmed that Klughiem will feature two new coasters. The second will be called 'Raik', and is a Vekoma family Boomerang. Given the positioning of footers, it seems possible that the lift and end of circuit will go underneath River Quest's first drop.

Yeah, no... Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (2) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Loggers Leap (6) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (4) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (4) SAW - The Ride (5) Slammer (7) Stealth (5) Storm In A Teacup (5) The Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Vortex (5) X (5) IAC + Slammer -

Nice name; I like it. Doesn't exactly scream spinning coaster to me, but who knows!

For me personally, the standard expectation for any ride should be that it will be enjoyable and "good". So having low expectations is essentially the same as assuming something will be bad. I do get what you're saying though, what with the 'future of theme parks' and all that. But whether that claim is worthwhile or not should have no leanings towards the quality of the attraction itself.

You see, I just hate that argument personally. If you're "pleasantly surprised" that an attraction is enjoyable, when they're meant to be enjoyable, then quite frankly, there's something up. With any ride / attraction / experience, you should go into it expecting that you will enjoy it and have fun. Or, failing that,at least appreciate it for what it is. You shouldn't have to hype it up as a best ride ever, or expect it to be bad. Then, if a ride fails to meet that expectation, it's a bad ride. If it meets it, you have a good ride.

I get where a fair amount of the negativity comes from. In particular, I can see why people I very sceptical about whether a Merlin theme park can sustain a large-scale dark ride long term. But for people to go into it with low expectations is just silly really. If you're going into an attraction expecting it to be bad, then why are you going into it at all? It seems pointless. I can get it in some circumstances - for example, if you're riding a coaster which is known to be rough, but you still want to try it out, etc. But if you're following the construction of something completely new and expect it to be bad, why even bother?

Yeah, as Ryan says, this happens quite often, at all different times, on all the forums: http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/3156-samurai/?p=141946 http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33243 http://forum.towerstimes.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=115&t=36548&p=635207 it's just the stock image that the 'Ride Traders' site uses.

Some new concept art for the wooden coaster, from Plopsa's FB: Confirms the name too. Looking forward to this!