JoshC.

Oooh, have fun! And yes, I fully expect this to open in April 2020!

It's going vertical... (PabloA on CF) Not even Hyperion was vertical this time last year... Definitely one to watch is this.

Installment the second... Some facts (with Robin Hood's in brackets)... Length: 1085m (1005m) Speed: 57.2mph (49.7mph) Height: 120ft (105ft) The drop out of the station goes into a 45 degree outward bank turn, which is now built (but I can't seem to put a picture of it in..)

There's one week left to go on voting, and it is genuinely one of the tightest votes we've had in years. Your vote will make all the difference in pretty much every category, so please vote!

The restrictions changed last year, where the park decided to be more strict following long-term considerations after the Smiler incident. Each ride has operating conditions set out by the manufacturer. In many cases, these aren't strict and have several variables related to them (a ride running for 10 hours straight is not going to stall the second the temperature goes 0.1C below the recommended temperature, for example). Merlin are now following these recommendations strictly though. Following them strictly means that if the temperature does go below 0.1C or whatever, even for a second, the park stop running the ride, and require the temperature to be at the minimum operating temperature for a set period of time thereafter. It's a ridiculous system, as with something as complex as rides, a flat cut off condition - bar for extremes - is a bad idea. So the conditions aren't new, but how the park view them is.

Tbf Linnanmäki looks like a solid enough park as it is, just lacked the killer ride. Taiga should take it from a 'visit one day park' to a 'let's plan a trip specifically for this' park for a fair few European enthusiasts. Keep forgetting Walibi RA is getting their Gerst next year. It's slipped under the radar somewhat after the initial buzz. It's got a non-launched semi-shuttle ending, featuring a switch track to get you back to the station, I believe. Still not sure how I feel about that fad..

Track is going on place, as can be seen on the park's Instagram...

Okay, back to Linnanmäki, where Taiga is almost complete... Source 2019 is going to be so much fun with this

*Checks votes* I see you've yet to vote, so make sure you do otherwise it may not win...

Gardaland bring back Sequoia Adventure after a couple of years being SBNO Heide Park bring back Colossos after a couple of years being SBNO. Alton Towers bring back the CATCF space into use after a couple of years being SBNO. Chessington bring (back) a 3D glasses maze after a couple of years (of 3D glasses) being SBNO. Your move Thorpe?

Sorry, yes, the STC is the new SLC effectively. See the Vekoma thread for a bit more detail - There's also a fan made POV that's been made...

Keep those votes coming in folks, I don't want to have to beg every other day for votes!

Well this is what no one expected... Not even a duelling coaster investment, but a new Vekoma Suspended Thrill Coaster and Junior Boomerang. The STC features an inversion, and should be the first to open in Europe (an STC is rumoured to open somewhere in the world in 2020). The STC looks fun, and combined with the potential interaction of the Boomerang, it'll be fab to ride imo.

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. There's not enough money being given to the park to invest in cleaning these parts of the park.

Freizeitpark Plohn's Mack BigDipper, Dynamite, has gone vertical... https://m.facebook.com/FreizeitparkPlohn/posts/10157084026084170 This now makes three posts in a row not related to Linnanmäki in a row?! We feeling okay guys...

The first inversion was designed between Thorpe and B&M. Merlin and B&M still have a good working relationship even now thanks to the work they did together at Towers with Secret Weapons. The reason the wing over drop has been mimicked on most wing coasters is because it looks iconic and makes the best use of the seating arrangement. Personally I think enthusiasts sometimes overstate the importance of a ride's story. You use Swarm as an example, but the exact same could be said of Nemesis at Towers. And if we look further afield, Taron at Phantasialand for example. These rides have stories attached to them, but no one will really know what they are unless you look online. And arguably Swarm does it's storytelling best since it spells the story out in the queue... These sorts of hyoerbole (along with your Swarm one) means nothing. I'm guessing you haven't ridden every wing, invert, Eurofighter, etc. for starters. And even if they are the worst examples of their respective types, does it matter that much if they're good rides in their own right? Haha, not going to lie, but it still makes me laugh when people think this will happen. It's experienced so many delays, the cost of it keeps rising, and management has changed hands so many times. It's not going to happen. Can I have Saturday's lottery numbers please, since you seem to own a crystal ball? John Wardley is retired. Wickerman is a different ball game because Wardley had fought for so long to get a wooden coaster at Towers for so long, and still has contact with many people who work for Merlin. It would have perhaps been more a gesture of courtesy to, in the early planning phase, contact him to say "we're planning a wooden coaster, and we'd love your input". He was contacted too late for him to do anything of note. He wouldn't be involved in any future projects for Thorpe. He's retired. He didn't have as much involvement with Thorpe as he did with Towers. There's no reason for him to be involved. Thorpe don't plan on being an international park though. None of Merlin's parks do. I don't agree with that - Merlin should absolutely try to make Thorpe more of an international destination given its location. But for whatever reason, they don't want to. So why you'd consider that thought I don't know. Doesn't mean they can't still add high quality additions. Don't see why it needs to be "world-class" though. As long as it's good quality and good fun, does it matter if it's a Top 10 ride or whatever? Not really. Sounds like you're just setting yourself up to be disappointed to be honest.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2021082041313559&id=358205034267943 Wood is on site. I hope the construction crew don't get any Zadras...

It's the most wonderful time of the year - it's the Thorpe Park Mania Awards! Once again, we are using SurveyMonkey to collect the results. If you've never used it before, don't worry - it's dead easy! We've condensed things down a bit this year, to spice up the competition... PARK AWARDS: -Best UK Park -Best UK Coaster -Best UK Flat Ride -Best UK Water Ride -Best UK Dark Ride -Worst UK Ride -Best International Park -Best International Coaster -Best New-for-2018 Attraction (can be in the UK) -Most Disappointing Merlin Moment 2018 -Best Looking Attraction for 2019 -Best Manufacturer FORUM AWARDS: -Best Member -Best Team Member -Best Quality Posts -Most Knowledgeable Member -Most Dedicated Member -Most Sarcastic Member -Most Likely to be Banned in 2018 -Funniest Member -Biggest Fanboy/girl -Sexiest Male -Sexiest Female -Storm Surge Award -Member you'd like to see more of  And here's some clarifications in case any of the above are confusing... You don't have to vote for all the categories if you don't want! Please you forum usernames rather than real names - makes things easier For the park awards, feel free to vote for parks / rides you like the look of the best (especially the case of International Awards, where members might not have been on many / any foreign rides). Storm Surge Award: Vote for the member who you think reminds you of Storm Surge or should be awarded a Storm Surge for their efforts in TPM. Member you'd like to see more of Award: Vote for the member who you'd like to see post on the forums more often / see at meets / generally get to know a bit better! These are of course meant to be a bit of fun, so just enjoy the ride! Link is HERE and an alternative can be found here Voting will close Sunday 23rd December, 8pm, with winners announced at a point after. Get those votes coming in!

Chocolonely isn't a terrible chocolate brand either tbf, which makes it even more of a plus. They have a good business relationship with Efteling at the mo, so will be interesting to see if that changes over the next couple of years.

Still showing 2 likes for me, so must be having some trouble viewing things my end. As for cleaning, to clear things up... The park will jetwash all pathways on park during the entire closed season They do this during the season too (before the park opens for the day usually), but only in areas which are majorly dirty. This is done by the park's usual on site cleaning team. They don't clean buildings, rides, etc. The main reason for this is because it requires different equipment, different training, etc. Ultimately this boils down to not enough money being available to be invested in cleaning these parts of the park.

It's a good video and I'm looking forward to there being more. But the social media accounts are very dodgy still. Like yesterday, posting a video on Instagram of a water-skier, which only served a purpose of "look at us, we're on a boat". And at time of writing, it's got a measly two likes. With their social media, it certainly seems like they take the approach of 'if we throw enough darts, we'll eventually hit the bullseye".

Bringing it back to 2019, courtesy of Fan Club Walibi... More details of the new land for next year, which is being called 'Karma World'. The plan is for all areas to be rethemed by 2022 and will follow the '_____ world' naming. Not a fan of that idea as it can sound tiresome, but heyho. They seem to have strayed away from the original Bollywood theme a bit, which makes sense given Popcorn Revenge, so it'll be interesting to see how the whole area feels. Construction update from this week... On top of this, there is another rethemed area coming - Fun World, which I believe will be the kids area near Psyke Underground. This will also get a brand new kiddie coaster for 2019. This is all part of the park's €100m 5 year investment strategy, which started this year. It originally stated that the park's entrance would be revamped for 2019 too but I haven't heard anything on that yet. But watch this space...

Very interested to see what they end up getting. So much possibility, and with Tayto, so much potential... 2021 is shaping up to be a very tasty year for Europe...

Couple more details... https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/11199/Dit-wordt-de-nieuwe-achtbaan-van-de-Efteling.html Basically, "duelling" Mack powered coasters that run in opposite directions. Still think these coasters are bit lackluster and won't reach the same high standards Efteling attractions usually have. But for a quick fix attraction targeted towards the younger side of the market, it's not awful I guess

Another photo, from the park's Instagram... Looking fine.