JoshC.

I'd be very surprised if they decide to open Living Nightmare over I'm a Celebrity. Living Nightmare requires significantly more actors (IAC requires 4 minimum, LN probably a solid 8), and it didn't exactly generate any more popularity than you'd expect. Scare attractions don't work outside of Fright Nights, and hopefully this lesson has finally sunk in at Thorpe. The actors have escaped the jungle, they're not going to live a nightmare instead. I expect the license for IAC ran out, Thorpe didn't want to renew. The space will probably stay the same; they'll re-use the theming and route for something else. It cost a lot of money, they'll want to get as much as they can out of it, rather than flatten it for a new maze.

Hello! Myself and a couple of friends have are trying out making a theme park food blog on Instagram. It's still very much in its infancy for now, but we're planning on building on it over the coming days / weeks. Basically just photos of food at theme parks; a big part of the experience (for us at least!), but something which can sometimes be overlooked or underappreciated. Would really appreciate any follows, and also keen to hear people's views too! https://www.instagram.com/screamsandicecreams/ [Disclaimer - this isn't associated with TPM, but rather a separate side project for me]

It certainly could make a difference, and in fact it probably would,, butere is a small chance that it could not. And usually it's impossible to predict with certainty what difference it will make. I also don't doubt Intamin's capability to do it, but I do question Thorpe's willingness to do so, given the large amount of money it would cost.

That, and size doesn't really matter. Colossus aside, I'd take any of Thorpe's major coasters over Olympia.

I guess the issue with opening late is that people associate Blackpool evening / nightlife with not the Pleasure Beach. Shifting the opening hours would be a catastrophe if they couldn't get people on board. Equally, I do think they should try it. It'd require a good level of marketing, but given the rewards it could reap, they should be giving it some serious thought.

It'll be winter maintenance. One train will have been serviced now / in the weekdays during the event, and the train that's been running for the event will be serviced over the next couple of months. It will be running two trains come the main season, although only time will tell if the extra pressure of having it open over Christmas causes a delay to the operating of it. If it's been planned and thought through properly, though, it'll be fine.

Once again I thought we had a thread for this long long ago, but it appears not... Ride Sims is relaunching on the 5th, with a bunch of new sims and stuff.. I know lots of people liked playing these in the past, and I'm sure a new wave of enthusiasts will love it..

When it comes to time - if you have a partner who doesn't enjoy parks / prefers to not go to parks on their holidays, have kids / family to look after or provide for, have a career where holiday time isn't as flexible, or any other number of things, it obviously makes it difficult to plan trips. As for the cost, that's a bit more workable, especially if you have the time. Do multiple parks in one trip (saves on travel costs), be thrifty with accommodation and travel at cheaper times (which are usually more inconvenient), you can really cut the costs. That's not to say it's cheap, as sadly this is an expensive hobby. But then again, so are many other hobbies - just a case of picking your poison I guess! I see it as a really lucky situation to be in too - without a bit of good fortune, being in the position to go on these trips wouldn't be possible. It's sometimes easy to take it for granted too I think!

Only two months between updates?! Wowza! Image found on CoasterForce.. A new large theming piece has been finished. Not sure what it's meant to be.. Clearly some Wicker Man inspiration there, but will it light up Heide in the same way? ?

I've worded that poorly. My point was more that contracts with IPs almost always mean that another brand can't use that space - you wouldn't (or, at the very least, shouldn't) see any adverts for Aldi, Pepperami and whatever else in the queue for Gruffalo, Saw, CBeebies, etc. Since a big complaint in the past was that external adverts take away from the story / theme of the ride, I was saying a bonus of IPs is that you won't see them there. Agree that, generally speaking, the adverts they do have are generally a bit naff, though.

The external ads have been around for a long time. It's a decision that comes when the parks / Merlin higher-ups have partnership/sponsorship/advertising deals with these brands. Usually, they say "we have X number of screens, guests will see them Y number of times a day, and will see them for Z number of minutes", and the brands will pay a nice lump of money to have their names plastered on there. Little to no consideration comes goes into where those screens are and the surrounding area. This is one of the benefits, from a thematic storytelling perspective, of having attractions themed to IPs, since it means no other brands can advertise in that space.

I mean, it does depend on what the flat ride is, the theme, etc tbf. But in general, any big coaster will bring in more people than a flat.. I still don't get why anyone would want Thorpe to invest in a 32 year old coaster, that would need a lot of work after being SBNO for 5+ years, when they could spend that money and get a brand new, modern ride which - chances are - would be significantly better?

A fair point, and certainly Thorpe / Merlin should be taking note of the successes of Winter Wonderland. However, the attendances aren't really comparable. WW is a free event, with a significantly broader market, and a very different focus (Christmas). Theme parks ultimately exist because of the rides. Winter Wonderland ultimately exists as a Christmas market with rides. Very different things. Tulley's doesn't get anywhere near any of the parks. A busy day for Shocktoberfest is in the region of 4000 people, and they get about 60k visitors across the whole event in a year. Thorpe can get that in 4 days. Towers get that many in their fireworks event (over 2 days). I've never known if it's true, but one rumour which floated about when it was introduced back in 2010 was that it was an agreement with the council, to help ease traffic on public roads. Of course, that doesn't give reason for the high price or the chaos that ensues in the car park, and that's something which needs addressing. Practically every major theme park charges for car park these days. It's just a thing now. Doesn't mean it's necessarily right, but that is the situation. Bringing this back to Icon / BPB.. I wonder how the park performed financially? Attendance is of course one way to measure success and popularity, but it's hard to gauge (and they never publicly release stats). But if attendance is down, it might not be all doom and gloom. If the park is making more money per person (and based off the significant amount of Icon merch I've seen about, that alone could have helped), or seeing improvements elsewhere, it's a good start. Of course, we'll never know, but I wouldn't be surprised if BPB have seen some form of a small, instant hit as a result of Icon. As a general commentary though, it's funny seeing people express concern about Icon's lack of instant success. It's well known Merlin follow the thought process of 'any (major) new ride needs to be an instant hit'. And many people mock that philosophy. Yet when a different park does something which isn't an instant success, and very easily could be a long term success, people panic.

Simple topic again - what's parks / attractions are you looking at visiting in 2019? I'll start it off... Definites -UK Merlin quartet -Phantasialand -Walibi Belgium -Walibi Holland Most Probablies -Linnanmäki -Paultons Maybes -Fantasy Island -Lightwater Valley -Europa Park -Hellendoorn -Slagharen -Duinrell -Drievliet Longshots / I'm hoping -Heide Park -Hansa Park -Skyline Park -Legoland Deutschland -Gardaland

Build a brand new coaster that isn't Knightmare would be my option.

The structure is coming up... Source - Coaster Fans and News

And the public vote has ended. Huzzah. Tl;dr - Nemesis is still the best, Thorpe still has the best flats, but sucks at Fright Nights and dark rides. Next year's best-looking ride might not open till 2020. Cedar Creek won basically everything. Benin is still sarcastic. MattyMoo is still funny. I'm a charlatan because people think I know as much as Wumbamillo. But thanks for voting me best member guys (5th year in a row!)

What sort of pillock breaks into a theme park and records themselves, including their face?

It's that time of year. Did quiet a bit of thinking and done a fair amount of rejigging... 1. Taron, Phantasialand 2. Helix, Liseberg 3. Nemesis, Alton Towers 4. Balder, Liseberg 5. Joris en de Draak, Efteling 6. Troy, Toverland 7. Lost Gravity, Walibi Holland 8. The Swarm, Thorpe Park 9. Black Mamba, Phantasialand 10. Hyperion, Energylandia Swarm has dropped down massively, in part down to me just having done it so much I guess. But I still think it's pretty darn good. Lost Gravity is a weird one, because I know I really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure how much of the ranking is based on a bit of rose-tinted glasses. Look forward to riding it again next year.. Lech at Legendia just misses, due to it being too intense. It's a shame, because if it was a little less intense on the drop / first inversion, it'd be a Top 5 coaster easily...

Little over 24 hours to cast your vote. It only takes a few seconds!

Thorpe said themselves that TWD was more than a roller coaster. As a roller coaster, it is a bit naff, and everyone knows it. It's a good thing Thorpe don't acknowledge it as one of the country's top coasters. It isn't, so it helps manage expectations.

Energylandia have confirmed via the latest edition of the German Kirmes and Parks Revue magazine that Zadra will open sometime in autumn 2019, with the rest of the Dragon's Castle area opening in 2020. On top of that, the park will also open their Vekoma multi-launch (which may or may not be over water, not quite clear) in 2020. Up until now, it hadn't been clear when that would open. The coaster will be an extended version of Vekoma's new off-the-shelf Shockwave model, the first of which is opening in Dragon Valley Theme Park, China. Below is the standard Shockwave model... The standard Shockwave's stats: Speed: 62.1mph (100kmph) Length: 1095m Height: 38.5m Inversions: 5 (loop, batwing, 2 corkscrews) Energylandia's version: Speed: 62.1mph Length: 1320m Height: 38.5m Inversions: 4 (loop, batwing, corkscrew) [Thank to CoasterForce member eKs_Prod for posting the info] So it seems the first half of Energylandia's is much the same as above, with changes presumably after the batwing to incorporate the second launch. The Shockwave model looks really good fun, and with new Vekoma being fab, I'm sure this will be too. Can't help but feel turning it into a multi-launch seems a bit forced and for the sake of it; should have gotten a custom multi-launch. But can't really complain too much. The only other point I have is that I wonder how similar it will feel to Formula, the park's current Vekoma launch, or if it will end up rendering it obsolete already...

No one.

Walibi Rhône-Alpes' Gerst has a name, description and logo...