MattyMoo

This. I had the exact same problem when I went in May last year - I did eventually get on though luckily as I love Ramases I haven't been to any Merlin parks this year (yet)

Same - we visited in April this year - bit of a mission getting to Universal when staying in Disney without a hire car I'm not a Potter fan at all, but I was blown away by both Potter Lands - felt such a noob not working out you had to go behind the tube station entrance to get to one bit, d'oh! Theming of all things Harry Potter is just off the scale and you'd be forgiven for thinking that was a bona-fide street in London and/or Leicester Square station. Agree Hulk queue is dated.... as to Dr. Doom, I was fearing a Detty style drop but nothing of the sort, in fact it did anything but fill me with "doom" and was rather pleasant It's old but we both really enjoyed Disaster! - can't see why that stays in place of Twister but there you go.

7 Rides currently down - the usual 3 plus Peeking Heights, Canopy Capers (!), Black Buccaneer and AMAZU Tree Top Adventure - but perhaps the weather isn't helping today, granted. Park sounds busy though: Bubbleworks 75, Dragon's Fury 60, Vampire 45 Just looked at Alton's times - everything 0 minutes, except Sonic at 5 and Mr Bloom at 20? Wow.

That tunnel on WC16 looks ideal for a train carriage to me... but I could be completely wrong!

At least it's painted the same colour as X

I won't queue for more than 30 minutes for anything, I just CBA... although that said the girlfriend and I did queue for nearly an hour to meet Baymax at Hollywood Studios Orlando but that is entirely different He had a problem and kept deflating!

True but doubt that will appease the guests on park. Bad times at Chessie. I saw Vampire peak at 2 hours yesterday - anyone know what's the longest queue that can be accommodated?

Don't worry Ryan, there's over 40 attractions!

6 rides currently - Dragon Falls, Monkey Swinger, Dragon's Fury, Rattlesnake, Safari Skyway and Tombblaster. That's outrageous. Vampire has a 2 hour wait, Tiny Truckers 1 hour, Seastorm 40 minutes, Peeking Heights 45 minutes, Scorpion Express 50 minutes, Ramases Revenge 30 minutes (Whaaaaat!), Kobra 70 minutes, Bubbleworks 40 minutes and Black Bucanner 45 minutes. I thought Bubbleworks would be longer than that all things considered

I'm in shock by that - more shock than when I found out Lorikeet Lagoon had been closed all season.

Just doing a scan of the CWoA Facebook as I like to now and again... some classic reading on there at the moment regarding ride availability (or lack of) Going to be lots of "come back for free" vouchers being handed out today as the website currently saying Dragon's Fury, Rattlesnake, Safari Skyway and Tomb Blaster are all closed today, with Monkey Swinger temporarily unavailable. EDIT: Looking on complaints on FB - Tiny Truckers has a Fast-track queue? The humanity...!

Bit off topic but I totally fangirled over ToT when at Disneyworld Orlando in April. Immense in every way. Had been on the DLP version too and loved that. As much as I'd love to see it, I can't really see Merlin reaching Disney levels of dark rides/immersion in theming any time soon - however, props to The SWARM which I do love.

That drain issue sounds vile - that must be quite some stench if it's caused people to actually throw up because of it, wow! I'm sure the cardboard will do the job *thumbs up* That's really sad if that's true regarding the Lorikeets - there's obviously some issue/problem behind it being closed, that would make sense - "essential maintenance" for 4 months, would not make sense.

Even at 32 and 27 years old respectively, the other half and I would genuinely be very disappointed if Lorikeet Lagoon was closed when we visited without it being stated on the website. It's a nice - different - little attraction. Would be sorry to see it go, but it wouldn't surprise me with how things seem to be going at Chessie. I know I harp on about it but it really was a fantastic place in the 90s, truly magical memories from back then!

Just looking on CWoA's Facebook: "Oh Chessington, how times have changed. 20 years ago you were a place full of joy and excitement. Now you are old, in need of repairs and a refreshers course in service. What happend? Where did it all go wrong? Went to write my feedback on your touchscreen and that too didn't work properly. Just had to laugh." EDIT to ask - what's the deal with this smell around Dragon's Fury that people complain about? Is it sewers, rubbish, or both? Also Lorikeetgate continues, people saying that some staff saying the birds are ill, others saying it's never reopening. CWoA of course say the classic "essential maintenance". That's lasted since the season started. Brilliant.

Go and complain about it and they'll give you a Fasttrack to add to the problem!

Can I butt in to say that I hate Nando's and don't "get" it whatsoever. Bye!

I would be incredibly surprised if the budget was £30m. As I understand it, there was already talk of cost cutting after the initial tenders for construction were submitted and then resubmitted. All this said - I am hopeful - of WC16 being decent, I could even end up visiting a Merlin park again in 2016 because of it. (I haven't even seen Angry Birds Land in the "flesh" I haven't been to Thorpe in so long)

WHAAAAT! I had no idea Lorikeet Lagoon has been closed - what happened there?! I <3 the Lorikeets!

Am working from home today so have This Morning on in the background - Leah Washington is being interviewed currently.

Oooooh time travel - maybe WC16 is Dr. Who themed?

^ Red wine hangovers are the worst and a gift from Satan himself, from experience. Closely followed by cider. And as to partly what Smidget was saying - I hate the whole "shaming" BS that seems to be the "thing" nowadays. I also am growing a stronger and stronger dislike for Social Media more and more every day, mainly because of lazy slactivism/being seen to "care" about an issue because everyone else is. Makes me feel sick.

So did you find the website before Jart did? Or are TT's forum times 1 hr out because of daylight saving time and all that malarky!

As my girlfriend always says when I talk to her about Merlin parks - "Why can't they just make a nice happy ride for once?" Either way - I guess it's good to finally be going full steam ahead in terms of advertising, hype etc.

I'm just doing some digging - the website itself isn't actually on Google yet, but it's appearance on forums, twitter etc. are. "Jart" wasn't the first poster of that link I can find - MarkC, a new user also with 1 post, posted it on TowersTimes at 8.12pm. Always suggests Merlin PR Meddling when a 1 post brand new user just happens to join a forum and then make a post with a link to a brand new website for a new attraction