JoshC.

There's no question about it: the ride's that the park have refurbished needed it, and it's a good way of keeping the park fresh without adding 'new' stuff. But they're now at a point / very near a point where they can't really do that any more - they need to add proper new stuff (and, really, they should have already added new stuff). I'm just a bit concerned that in a time when investments have been limited within theme parks in Merlin, whether we'll see the stuff that they really need. 2010 was a great year tbh. Dragon Falls was fine. Bubbleworks wasn't in an awful state (sure, it had the sponsorship, but it all worked). Runaway Mine Train, though ageing, wasn't in a state. Tomb Blaster's effects were all fine. And they had the success of Wild Asia and Wanyama Village. Even 2011 and 2012 were good, with signs of promise and the Madagascar IP doing the trick for them. It's arguably from 2013 when the lukewarm Zufari came about that their problems truly surfaced and came to light, and it's only recently they've picked themselves back up imo.

Hersheypark are getting a new area next year, Chocolatetown, and the headline ride will be the awfully-named Candymonium, a 210ft tall B&M coaster, which will be the park's highest, fastest and longest coaster:

Not strictly a Merlin thing, but I have a point. With the extreme heat all around Europe, parks have added extra effects to some of their water rides to make them extra wet. Examples: Constant water jets on Hellendoorn's (Netherlands) rapids Constant hose pipe pointed at the course on Walibi Holland's splash battle Waterfall effect which normally turns off remains on on Toverland's rapids. And plenty of parks are happily allow staff to spray staff with water guns / pipes on water rides. And of course, plenty of modern water rides have been built so that their splashes can be adjusted according to the weather, meaning that parks can have them on maximum wetness. It's a shame that Merlin parks / the wider UK industry don't do these things. Yes, there's the safety fears and such, but it feels stifling. And, more generally, UK parks are way behind on the water ride front. When was the last time a UK park added a new water ride? Aside from a couple of very small travelling log flumes at small parks, it's probably Storm Surge in 2011? It's crazy. Sure, the hot weather is not the norm, but the parks aren't in a position to cope when it does arrive. And modern water rides can be modified for all weather conditions. It's a shame.

Odd. When Wild Asia was announced, the park felt like it was heading in a positive direction and going places, and then 2010 ended up being arguably one of the best seasons for the park (not necessarily in terms of numbers, but in terms of how the place felt). To me, Chessington feels a bit stuck going forward: no 'new' rides since 2013 (only rethemes or like-for-like replacements). Moving forward, they can retheme Tomb Blaster and Land of the Dragons, but after that, they pretty much exhaust all worthwhile retheming projects. So they need to do new stuff. How likely that is remains to be seen.. LTDPs are vague and plans change. All that suggests is that they've considered installing a coaster. There's nothing concrete to suggest a new coaster is coming soon. The most important question though - did you do the bouncy castle? Are you in a position where you can't wait to revisit to have another go??

I think the most shocking thing about that article is that Towers was open past 5pm.

I'd be surprised if it is. The challenge doesn't claim to be a live action experience, which suggests no actors. I'm more expecting something low-key, like the eating challenge they used to do in the BBQ, or a silly Big 6 style challenge like Towers do over summer. I hope that Screamplexx is less embarrassing this year (and at least they've stopped advertising it as 4D when it was 2D). Another show is intriguing and could have potential. Also, lol at the website still bragging that Living Nightmare is the world's first maze to have scenes from season 7, with the show getting ready to start it's 10th season...

The website has been updated, and suggest 3 new things: https://www.thorpepark.com/fright-nights Mazes not coming back are Vulcan Peak, Dead Creek Woods and of course Saw Alive. Neither of last year's scare zones are advertised either, whilst everything else from last year is returning. The new fears each have a description: So 1 new maze, 1 new show and a 'challenge' (which very much sounds like it could be a new eating challenge to be frank..).

The area which houses Zadra, Dragon's Castle, opened today (without Zadra obviously). The area includes two kiddie coasters, many themed kids rides, an arcade, and many themed buildings with shops and restaurants. The coasters currently aren't themed, but should be next year when the area 'officially opens'. There's meant to be a trackless dark ride in the area but I don't think that's open yet (likely for next year). Zadra is apparently planned to open on the 15th August. However, given the track isn't finished yet, that is potentially very optimistic. The park have previously said they hoped to have it open this autumn, with theming potentially to come next year. A huge album of photos of the area and Zadra here. The album also shows photos of the light-blue track for the Vekoma double launch coaster on site. I don't think that's started construction yet, but I imagine will do when Zadra is finished. That should open spring next year.

It's a bouncy castle course and a beach area in one, due to open very soon I believe: Shows the state of things when Thorpe get a bouncy castle and make a huge thing and TV advert out of it, and Chessington do the same and don't say a thing.. Though I wonder if that's intentional?

A new attractions, Spyders, for Halloween this year. I believe that Curse of the Lost Tomb is indeed gone.

I'm under the impression that it's on limited operating hours for the time being. Nothing wrong with the ride!

So long as I can walk through the Tidal Wave queue and not ride it, I'm game.

Calling @Mark9 - It's back open as of today!

Tulleys are such size queens. For all the length Colony had, it didn't really do much

I haven't done it myself, but it's a couple of trains to Harderwijk, and then there's a special bus from that station direct to Walibi. Simple journey, but would take just under 2 hours. Driving from Amsterdam takes about an hour I think.

The Daily Mail producing excellent quality news articles as ever I see...

Two new mazes (Colony retheme and a brand new one) plus a new show for this year.

I was pleasantly surprised by Untamed's restraints. The shin guards didn't affect anything for me, and the lap bar wasn't an issue. Sure, during the aggressive airtime you push right up against it, but that's the same for any ride that has aggressive airtime (even Goliath - Walibi Holland one that is - is like that during the finale). I can see why people dislike them, but I have no issue with them.

I imagine Creek Woods Sawmill isn't the name and instead part of the story (like Platform 15's Creek Tours). Feels almost tiring the amount of times they're beating on that dead horse for names. Those posters hint at least to some sort of massacre-style story is say: people who want to kill you in an abandoned sawmill. Fairly standard theme, but can work oh so well. On a slightly different note, we're seeing another maze in Old Town. If Platform and whatever-silly-name-was-given-to-the-other-outdoor-maze return, that's three mazes congested into a tight area. Feels frustrating given that one of the few good things last year (and the past couple of years) was a focus on spreading the scary stuff around the park.

Another article, with a closer look at the seats: http://www.attractionsmanagement.com/index.cfm?pagetype=news&codeID=342466 Certainly appears to be from a non-major manufacturer.

Wow, you posted that a vitelotte, must be a good idea.. (this joke would work a lot better if Old Town was a French area I know. sad times </3)

That picture is this year's "key visual" for FN I believe. Note the different 'characters', including: -Zombies -Monster -Ghosts -Chainsaw man Maybe they've learnt after last year that having 100* mazes with the same scary thing (zombies) is a bad idea? *possible understatement

Those Walibi queue times made me wince. I find Walibi a lot like what Thorpe could have been like if things had turned out slightly differently. And I don't mean that in a bad way either. But I get the 'amusement park' vibe you mention. I've never quite liked Dwervelwind as much as most; had a couple of uncomfortable rides on it, and never really got amazing spinning on it. But it's really cute and still a decent ride; excited we're getting a Mack spinner in the UK with Paultons now.. It still amazes how small Toverland is in terms of visitor numbers (they're still like 4th/5th most visited in Netherlands) and age, yet it's still got this massive B&M and stunning huge new area. They're really a park that has a hugely bright future, and yeah, can only echo your view of just go!

Pendulum rides not having much luck: Warning: Bloody scary

Stealth will be closed part of tomorrow and Monday: This time of year is usually when Stealth requires a cable change, so likely because of that. Given in the past this used to take a week, it's good that they're still able to do it in a day now.