James6

Is it true this is the highest swinging ship in the UK ?I've seen pictures of it and whilst it definatley swings miles higher than, The Blade, there's this double swinging ship at Wicksteed Park and, to be honest, at the back, you get near Rush amount of air from what I remember.

Hello , I'm a new kid, really sorry if I break any rules unintentionally.A few weeks ago, when I went to Thorpe, I rode Colossus and was surprised at how smooth it was compared to previous seasons , it really seemed to have improved , to be honest I was dreading the ride when I was instructed to go to one of the end cars but was left beaming at the end when I found I could ride my favourite ride again and enjoy it anywhere on the train!Once again sorry if any mistakes have been made.

Vampire is a great, fun, atmospheric coaster. I certainly am very, very happy its staying

Well it's not exactly difficult to see that there's a difference between the two, and most of the GP do notice to be honest. And even then, you quite clearly know about it, so why be pedantic to a new member?

I think anything has a higher capacity than Jungle coaster to be honest , I think me giving people a 5 minute piggy back around a park would have a higher throughput.

Duel and Skyride I sort of get, but Air and Thirteen?!

Duel and Skyride I sort of get, but Air and Thirteen?!

For those moaning about X Flight's lack of covers... Look pretty awesome to me, especially as there is one red train and one black train.
Also, sad to hear about that Verbolten news!

I'd heard all the reviews, seen all the pictures and eventually saw it for myself yesterday. I also want to point out there will be spoiler throughout. With sky-high expectations I was amazed to find that they still blown out of the water, the place is quite frankly unbelievable. The only problem is that it highlighted just how lacking in quality Alton/Thorpe/Chessington and other UK attractions really are. We arrived about quarter to 10, with the park having opened at 9 and headed to where else but Black Mamba. "Best Coaster in Europe" and other similar claims surround this ride, and I was glad to hear I wouldn't be disappointed. Unbelievably, for me, it topped Nemesis, something I never thought would happen. (This may be down to my last ride on Nemesis being poor by it's standards, but we'll see) The theming, the layout, the forcefulness, everything was perfection and I loved it. The station was also immense, with it blacking out apart from a few green lights upon dispatch, combined with a brilliant dispatch theme.From here I struggle to remember where we went, our longest queue was for Black Mamba at first of 10 minutes, other than that, everything was a walk on all day. Feng Ju PalaceSome rides seemed to suffer from being in a different language, this was one of them. Whilst the ride building was awe-inspiring, the ride and pre-show itself seemed poor. Not a patch on Hex (when everything is working)Winjas Fear and ForceAs someone who loves Fury and Spinball I was extremely excited about these two, like most rides at Phantasialand they had great reviews. Firstly I'd like to point out that even without the cars automatically moving through the station, dispatches were much MUCH faster than both of our UK examples. Anyway on to the ride, whilst I knew there were track effects I'd managed to prevent finding out what they were. Therefore my first ride the lift, and tilt took me by huge surprise. From there cars span, twisted like you wouldn't believe. Absolutely no braking through any of the block sections (unlike S/F) and was glass smooth (unlike S/F) Then came the track effects. Fear was my definite favourite of the two, and had a "see-saw" effect taking me by surprise. And Force had a strange track effect where the whole thing fell to one side!Maus Au ChocolatAs someone who didn't care for Toy Story Midway Mania, I wasn't particularly excited about this ride, and sadly, whilst it was "good" I just don't like the idea behind these rides. I think they are such cop outs when it comes to shooting rides and was actually bored by the end of it. It was better than TSMM, and the queue theming was beyond belief. WellenflugThis wave swinger at the centre of the park was an incredible centrepiece, with the genius idea of adding fountains which followed the oscillation of the seats. Also showed how poorly run Twirling Toadstool is. Temple of the NighthawkThis ride disappointed me as I thought of the potential of what Phantasialand could do with a ride of this magnitude. Apparently the longest roller coaster in the dark in the world, nothing ever really happens due to the fact it's pitch black the whole way. A shame as there were a couple of forceful sections. Even if it was outside it would be improved.River QuestSurprise Surprise, had heard incredible things and it lived up. Luckily we didn't get too wet which was good as despite the sun, it was freezing. Wasn't going to miss out on it though! Brilliant theming topped up with an outstanding ride system. The drops were huge!TalocanI love Ripsaw, and was therefore itching to give this a go. Whilst the newer Huss restraints are an improvement, they are not exactly the most comfortable. Anyway the ride itself was very long, forceful and again themed within an inch of it's life with an explosion of fire after every inversion. One negative, if your facing away from the front, the ride experience is slightly reduced. Much like the ones in our parks, an awesome spectator attraction.Sieber Mine/Hollywood Tour/ Geister Ricke (Haunted Mansion)Nice dark ride filler attractions, A nice break of chilling with various scenes directly taken from Disney rides. The sheer quantity of animatronics was truly staggering, the same with all of the older dark rides. Mystery CastleMindblowing. I was expecting a bit of a "bounce"What resulted was actually a vertical launch that felt a similar force to Rita, before various drops and other launches. Unbelievably good and the queue was astonishing. One of my all time favourite ridesAnd saving the best till last...COLORADO ADVENTUREThose who I talk to know my love for BTM at DLP, for many reasons. It therefore goes to say that Colorado Adventure blew even that out of the water. I love mine trains, it's a family thing and this was seriously top notch. Seemed the last an age and was actually extremely thrilling with huge drops, in the back there were various pops of airtime! (I managed to complete the hands up challenge in the back ) Words don't describe or convey how good the ride is, never laughed or enjoyed a ride so much. It's just a shame some of the theming had been taken out because of the destruction of the log flumes. What. A. Ride.That about wraps up the park ride wise, although I've probably forgotten a few. On to other aspects, the place was just amazing. No fake "fronts" to buildings or cheap replacements or rusting coasters or failing effects or litter or breakdowns, I could go on and on. The park is impeccable in every way. How places such as Alton can't keep standards to even half the level of Phantasialand is beyond me. There were at least half a dozen shows on throughout the day, we only saw one in the end but would have loved to see more. "Jump" was a new stunt spectacular, and really was awesome and beyond anything I'm used to or expected at a theme park! Makes me even more excited for Europa Park in the summer! I don't really know what else to say as nothing I say explains just how great a day we had. Would put it up there with my favourite days at a park. Other notes- World class theming- Group of Chinese walking round China etc, lots of incredible little touches- People in costume everywhere- Awesome theming- Park seemed packed with people but walk on queue's!- Incredible staff all more than happy to talk in English and find out what we thought, one specifically came over to me after my first ride on Mamba to ask my thoughts- Some of the best theming I've seen- One breakdown on Winjas Force which lasted about, 5 minutes?- A perfectly sized park with a huge number of rides, but small enough where rides are near each other- Unbelievable theming - Most rides being on full capacity, and even those not still were walk on.- Annoyingly, the only people to cause any annoyance all day, was a group of Irish people, shouting out very rude remarks throughout very dark rides. They made it quite embarrassing to be British to be honest as apart from that everyone was just happy and enjoyed there day. - Also I found it very nice that by paying for one day of entry, you got a second day later in the season for free, a nice gesture. Overall, Colorado Adventure and Black Mamba are now two of my favourite coasters, Mystery Castle is my favourite dark ride.(Just a note, Mystery Castle is essentially what I was expecting Sub Terra to be, albeit a LOT smaller. Quite scary with a build up and then a small shooting/dropping dark ride, why it couldn't have been along those lines I don't know )Total ride count (approximately)1x Talocan3 x Mystery Castle3x Black Mamba8/9 x Colorado Adventure1 x River Quest1x Feng Ju Palace1 x Sieber Mine1 x Haunted Mansion1 x Hollywood Tour1x Temple of the Nighthawk1x Wellenflug1x Maus Au Chocolat1x Wurmlimg Express3 x Winjas Fear2 x Winjas Force1x Tower ride in the middle of WinjasWORLD CLASS

I'd heard all the reviews, seen all the pictures and eventually saw it for myself yesterday. I also want to point out there will be spoiler throughout. With sky-high expectations I was amazed to find that they still blown out of the water, the place is quite frankly unbelievable. The only problem is that it highlighted just how lacking in quality Alton/Thorpe/Chessington and other UK attractions really are. We arrived about quarter to 10, with the park having opened at 9 and headed to where else but Black Mamba. "Best Coaster in Europe" and other similar claims surround this ride, and I was glad to hear I wouldn't be disappointed. Unbelievably, for me, it topped Nemesis, something I never thought would happen. (This may be down to my last ride on Nemesis being poor by it's standards, but we'll see) The theming, the layout, the forcefulness, everything was perfection and I loved it. The station was also immense, with it blacking out apart from a few green lights upon dispatch, combined with a brilliant dispatch theme.From here I struggle to remember where we went, our longest queue was for Black Mamba at first of 10 minutes, other than that, everything was a walk on all day. Feng Ju PalaceSome rides seemed to suffer from being in a different language, this was one of them. Whilst the ride building was awe-inspiring, the ride and pre-show itself seemed poor. Not a patch on Hex (when everything is working)Winjas Fear and ForceAs someone who loves Fury and Spinball I was extremely excited about these two, like most rides at Phantasialand they had great reviews. Firstly I'd like to point out that even without the cars automatically moving through the station, dispatches were much MUCH faster than both of our UK examples. Anyway on to the ride, whilst I knew there were track effects I'd managed to prevent finding out what they were. Therefore my first ride the lift, and tilt took me by huge surprise. From there cars span, twisted like you wouldn't believe. Absolutely no braking through any of the block sections (unlike S/F) and was glass smooth (unlike S/F) Then came the track effects. Fear was my definite favourite of the two, and had a "see-saw" effect taking me by surprise. And Force had a strange track effect where the whole thing fell to one side!Maus Au ChocolatAs someone who didn't care for Toy Story Midway Mania, I wasn't particularly excited about this ride, and sadly, whilst it was "good" I just don't like the idea behind these rides. I think they are such cop outs when it comes to shooting rides and was actually bored by the end of it. It was better than TSMM, and the queue theming was beyond belief. WellenflugThis wave swinger at the centre of the park was an incredible centrepiece, with the genius idea of adding fountains which followed the oscillation of the seats. Also showed how poorly run Twirling Toadstool is. Temple of the NighthawkThis ride disappointed me as I thought of the potential of what Phantasialand could do with a ride of this magnitude. Apparently the longest roller coaster in the dark in the world, nothing ever really happens due to the fact it's pitch black the whole way. A shame as there were a couple of forceful sections. Even if it was outside it would be improved.River QuestSurprise Surprise, had heard incredible things and it lived up. Luckily we didn't get too wet which was good as despite the sun, it was freezing. Wasn't going to miss out on it though! Brilliant theming topped up with an outstanding ride system. The drops were huge!TalocanI love Ripsaw, and was therefore itching to give this a go. Whilst the newer Huss restraints are an improvement, they are not exactly the most comfortable. Anyway the ride itself was very long, forceful and again themed within an inch of it's life with an explosion of fire after every inversion. One negative, if your facing away from the front, the ride experience is slightly reduced. Much like the ones in our parks, an awesome spectator attraction.Sieber Mine/Hollywood Tour/ Geister Ricke (Haunted Mansion)Nice dark ride filler attractions, A nice break of chilling with various scenes directly taken from Disney rides. The sheer quantity of animatronics was truly staggering, the same with all of the older dark rides. Mystery CastleMindblowing. I was expecting a bit of a "bounce"What resulted was actually a vertical launch that felt a similar force to Rita, before various drops and other launches. Unbelievably good and the queue was astonishing. One of my all time favourite ridesAnd saving the best till last...COLORADO ADVENTUREThose who I talk to know my love for BTM at DLP, for many reasons. It therefore goes to say that Colorado Adventure blew even that out of the water. I love mine trains, it's a family thing and this was seriously top notch. Seemed the last an age and was actually extremely thrilling with huge drops, in the back there were various pops of airtime! (I managed to complete the hands up challenge in the back ) Words don't describe or convey how good the ride is, never laughed or enjoyed a ride so much. It's just a shame some of the theming had been taken out because of the destruction of the log flumes. What. A. Ride.That about wraps up the park ride wise, although I've probably forgotten a few. On to other aspects, the place was just amazing. No fake "fronts" to buildings or cheap replacements or rusting coasters or failing effects or litter or breakdowns, I could go on and on. The park is impeccable in every way. How places such as Alton can't keep standards to even half the level of Phantasialand is beyond me. There were at least half a dozen shows on throughout the day, we only saw one in the end but would have loved to see more. "Jump" was a new stunt spectacular, and really was awesome and beyond anything I'm used to or expected at a theme park! Makes me even more excited for Europa Park in the summer! I don't really know what else to say as nothing I say explains just how great a day we had. Would put it up there with my favourite days at a park. Other notes- World class theming- Group of Chinese walking round China etc, lots of incredible little touches- People in costume everywhere- Awesome theming- Park seemed packed with people but walk on queue's!- Incredible staff all more than happy to talk in English and find out what we thought, one specifically came over to me after my first ride on Mamba to ask my thoughts- Some of the best theming I've seen- One breakdown on Winjas Force which lasted about, 5 minutes?- A perfectly sized park with a huge number of rides, but small enough where rides are near each other- Unbelievable theming - Most rides being on full capacity, and even those not still were walk on.- Annoyingly, the only people to cause any annoyance all day, was a group of Irish people, shouting out very rude remarks throughout very dark rides. They made it quite embarrassing to be British to be honest as apart from that everyone was just happy and enjoyed there day. - Also I found it very nice that by paying for one day of entry, you got a second day later in the season for free, a nice gesture. Overall, Colorado Adventure and Black Mamba are now two of my favourite coasters, Mystery Castle is my favourite dark ride.(Just a note, Mystery Castle is essentially what I was expecting Sub Terra to be, albeit a LOT smaller. Quite scary with a build up and then a small shooting/dropping dark ride, why it couldn't have been along those lines I don't know )Total ride count (approximately)1x Talocan3 x Mystery Castle3x Black Mamba8/9 x Colorado Adventure1 x River Quest1x Feng Ju Palace1 x Sieber Mine1 x Haunted Mansion1 x Hollywood Tour1x Temple of the Nighthawk1x Wellenflug1x Maus Au Chocolat1x Wurmlimg Express3 x Winjas Fear2 x Winjas Force1x Tower ride in the middle of WinjasWORLD CLASS

I'd heard all the reviews, seen all the pictures and eventually saw it for myself yesterday. I also want to point out there will be spoiler throughout. With sky-high expectations I was amazed to find that they still blown out of the water, the place is quite frankly unbelievable. The only problem is that it highlighted just how lacking in quality Alton/Thorpe/Chessington and other UK attractions really are. We arrived about quarter to 10, with the park having opened at 9 and headed to where else but Black Mamba. "Best Coaster in Europe" and other similar claims surround this ride, and I was glad to hear I wouldn't be disappointed. Unbelievably, for me, it topped Nemesis, something I never thought would happen. (This may be down to my last ride on Nemesis being poor by it's standards, but we'll see) The theming, the layout, the forcefulness, everything was perfection and I loved it. The station was also immense, with it blacking out apart from a few green lights upon dispatch, combined with a brilliant dispatch theme.From here I struggle to remember where we went, our longest queue was for Black Mamba at first of 10 minutes, other than that, everything was a walk on all day. Feng Ju PalaceSome rides seemed to suffer from being in a different language, this was one of them. Whilst the ride building was awe-inspiring, the ride and pre-show itself seemed poor. Not a patch on Hex (when everything is working)Winjas Fear and ForceAs someone who loves Fury and Spinball I was extremely excited about these two, like most rides at Phantasialand they had great reviews. Firstly I'd like to point out that even without the cars automatically moving through the station, dispatches were much MUCH faster than both of our UK examples. Anyway on to the ride, whilst I knew there were track effects I'd managed to prevent finding out what they were. Therefore my first ride the lift, and tilt took me by huge surprise. From there cars span, twisted like you wouldn't believe. Absolutely no braking through any of the block sections (unlike S/F) and was glass smooth (unlike S/F) Then came the track effects. Fear was my definite favourite of the two, and had a "see-saw" effect taking me by surprise. And Force had a strange track effect where the whole thing fell to one side!Maus Au ChocolatAs someone who didn't care for Toy Story Midway Mania, I wasn't particularly excited about this ride, and sadly, whilst it was "good" I just don't like the idea behind these rides. I think they are such cop outs when it comes to shooting rides and was actually bored by the end of it. It was better than TSMM, and the queue theming was beyond belief. WellenflugThis wave swinger at the centre of the park was an incredible centrepiece, with the genius idea of adding fountains which followed the oscillation of the seats. Also showed how poorly run Twirling Toadstool is. Temple of the NighthawkThis ride disappointed me as I thought of the potential of what Phantasialand could do with a ride of this magnitude. Apparently the longest roller coaster in the dark in the world, nothing ever really happens due to the fact it's pitch black the whole way. A shame as there were a couple of forceful sections. Even if it was outside it would be improved.River QuestSurprise Surprise, had heard incredible things and it lived up. Luckily we didn't get too wet which was good as despite the sun, it was freezing. Wasn't going to miss out on it though! Brilliant theming topped up with an outstanding ride system. The drops were huge!TalocanI love Ripsaw, and was therefore itching to give this a go. Whilst the newer Huss restraints are an improvement, they are not exactly the most comfortable. Anyway the ride itself was very long, forceful and again themed within an inch of it's life with an explosion of fire after every inversion. One negative, if your facing away from the front, the ride experience is slightly reduced. Much like the ones in our parks, an awesome spectator attraction.Sieber Mine/Hollywood Tour/ Geister Ricke (Haunted Mansion)Nice dark ride filler attractions, A nice break of chilling with various scenes directly taken from Disney rides. The sheer quantity of animatronics was truly staggering, the same with all of the older dark rides. Mystery CastleMindblowing. I was expecting a bit of a "bounce"What resulted was actually a vertical launch that felt a similar force to Rita, before various drops and other launches. Unbelievably good and the queue was astonishing. One of my all time favourite ridesAnd saving the best till last...COLORADO ADVENTUREThose who I talk to know my love for BTM at DLP, for many reasons. It therefore goes to say that Colorado Adventure blew even that out of the water. I love mine trains, it's a family thing and this was seriously top notch. Seemed the last an age and was actually extremely thrilling with huge drops, in the back there were various pops of airtime! (I managed to complete the hands up challenge in the back ) Words don't describe or convey how good the ride is, never laughed or enjoyed a ride so much. It's just a shame some of the theming had been taken out because of the destruction of the log flumes. What. A. Ride.That about wraps up the park ride wise, although I've probably forgotten a few. On to other aspects, the place was just amazing. No fake "fronts" to buildings or cheap replacements or rusting coasters or failing effects or litter or breakdowns, I could go on and on. The park is impeccable in every way. How places such as Alton can't keep standards to even half the level of Phantasialand is beyond me. There were at least half a dozen shows on throughout the day, we only saw one in the end but would have loved to see more. "Jump" was a new stunt spectacular, and really was awesome and beyond anything I'm used to or expected at a theme park! Makes me even more excited for Europa Park in the summer! I don't really know what else to say as nothing I say explains just how great a day we had. Would put it up there with my favourite days at a park. Other notes- World class theming- Group of Chinese walking round China etc, lots of incredible little touches- People in costume everywhere- Awesome theming- Park seemed packed with people but walk on queue's!- Incredible staff all more than happy to talk in English and find out what we thought, one specifically came over to me after my first ride on Mamba to ask my thoughts- Some of the best theming I've seen- One breakdown on Winjas Force which lasted about, 5 minutes?- A perfectly sized park with a huge number of rides, but small enough where rides are near each other- Unbelievable theming - Most rides being on full capacity, and even those not still were walk on.- Annoyingly, the only people to cause any annoyance all day, was a group of Irish people, shouting out very rude remarks throughout very dark rides. They made it quite embarrassing to be British to be honest as apart from that everyone was just happy and enjoyed there day. - Also I found it very nice that by paying for one day of entry, you got a second day later in the season for free, a nice gesture. Overall, Colorado Adventure and Black Mamba are now two of my favourite coasters, Mystery Castle is my favourite dark ride.(Just a note, Mystery Castle is essentially what I was expecting Sub Terra to be, albeit a LOT smaller. Quite scary with a build up and then a small shooting/dropping dark ride, why it couldn't have been along those lines I don't know )Total ride count (approximately)1x Talocan3 x Mystery Castle3x Black Mamba8/9 x Colorado Adventure1 x River Quest1x Feng Ju Palace1 x Sieber Mine1 x Haunted Mansion1 x Hollywood Tour1x Temple of the Nighthawk1x Wellenflug1x Maus Au Chocolat1x Wurmlimg Express3 x Winjas Fear2 x Winjas Force1x Tower ride in the middle of WinjasWORLD CLASS

When did I say they were completely different things? It's easy to change the meaning of what people say to make you seem superior, quite funny really.They're both roller coasters, but on completely different scales... Surely that's fairly easy to see? Or are you too busy trying to put everyone else down for your own benefit?

Well it's not exactly difficult to see that there's a difference between the two, and most of the GP do notice to be honest. And even then, you quite clearly know about it, so why be pedantic to a new member?

It's not hard, it's clear that Runaway Train was his first roller coaster, but as it's a powered coaster, and of a small size it doesn't "count", Vampire was therefore his first "proper" coaster. (gravity driven)Being difficult for no reason maybe?

You know it's incredible, when the only thing you can fault is that the wheels are too bright and don't quite match

To just make a point:
a. ...Which is never used, and if you actually read the initial post, the point that was being got at, was that it could be put to better use.b. As already mentioned, this starts, and ends at Vortex. Once again, if you read the initial post, you'll find the point that was being made, was that in the queue at the entrance, there is little more than the view of a shabby wooden-clad entrance.c. Thanks for stating the obvious, now stop being needlessly rude and read the initial post, and comment constructively.d. What, and you know about marketing? Aside from anything else, I think you'll find music at the park is not marketing; it's guest experience.e. Seen as everything posted was factually correct, I have no idea what you are on about.Don't apologize, you were needlessly ripped for doing nothing wrong, and rightfully should be offended.Tpkabz, I really couldn't care less about forum etiquette, I'm going to be in your face. You are repetitively rude and offensive to people, and this is essentially bullying. Why don't you take your head out of your a**e and actually give someone else's opinion and comments the same amount of time and respect you deserve people to give your belittling replies.

Oh my god, they're doing all they can and it's a very reliable manufacturer. It's likely everything will be fine.

Oh my god, they're doing all they can and it's a very reliable manufacturer. It's likely everything will be fine.

^^ Wait a second, best event? Only event...

^ It's a Merlin thing, TH13TEEN and KRAKE are also done in the same way

3 is a yes, it takes admission from £15 to £12

Saw the quickest dispatches I've ever seen on Colossus yesterday, most of the time the train was ready to be, or already dispatched as the other train was entering the break run, much better than the 5-10 minute dispatch times on AP day. Oh and just to add, after yesterday Colossus is IMO the best ride at Thorpe, and this opinion was surprisingly backed up by the guys I visited with yesterday. Not even a twinge of roughness or pain, BUT it seems to be that now, the further forward you sit in the train, the more bumpy/vibratory.

95ft.

What happened to the water vacuums people said hadn't arrived in time for AP day?

One positive from today?Colossus was running the fastest and smoothest it has in years